15 Games You Need To Play If You Love 'A Dark Room'

How it's similar: Starting simply with only a blank page and a counter collecting candy, this game definitely takes you by surprise and features a myriad of unexpected turns. The first major turn being the rollout of questing and gear, as you try to thrive in a candy-based economy. It’s not surprising to find that the team behind A Dark Room have even mentioned how the original Candy Box! inspired some of how they approached their development. How it differs: The game exudes a sweet sense of humor and delicious (get it?) spontaneity. As the title suggests, the entire theme is based around candy, with players working to increase how much candy they have through various means, whether it be various quests or other types of adventures. It’s always interesting to see how committed they are to a proverbial bit. It's a simple but extremely enjoyable guilty pleasure, kind of like eating actual candy. Release: 2013 Genres (Video game): Online text-based role-playing game Platform(s): Web browser

How it's similar: It would have been tempting to call it A Darker Room, but The Ensign is the second game released by the team behind A Dark Room. The story actually picks up before the events of the first game, so timeframe-wise it's more of a prequel, expanding on the mysterious surroundings and world that was alluded to in the first game. It fills in some of the gaps that were left open, and it's a great accompaniment for those wanting more from that universe. How it differs: Though its look and style is similar to that of A Dark Room, it truly is a much different beast, as it now takes on the form of a rogue-like game. There are still resources to acquire and things to upgrade, though now getting too bold often leads to a swift boot to the title screen and a reset of all progress, in classic rogue-like fashion. This new interpretation offers an unexpected challenge and a fresh way to experience the next chapter. Release: 2014 Genres (Video game): Text-based game Platform: iOS

How it's similar: A Dark Room definitely shows that good things come in unexpected packages. In this same way, Kingdom of Loathing is a gift waiting to be unwrapped. It’s wrapping paper is similarly monochrome, as stick figure characters populate the text-adorned screen. Kingdom of Loathing really does a great job of inviting you to explore and discover its line-art-filled world. And like A Dark Room, it fills out its world almost exclusively through its enticing writing. How it differs: Its quirky humor is just as strong as its inventive structure. Much delight is found in discovering its zany storylines and taking part in extremely quotable escapades. Classes chosen are unlike just about any other game, with Pastamancers and Disco Bandits taking prominence over bog-standard warriors and mages.

How it's similar: Spaceplan and A Dark Room definitely some incremental DNA. For starters, they both make progress through a mix of interaction and automation, with buyable items and upgrades that help you speed up your output tenfold. Rather than infinite clickers, each game has an unraveling story arc that can be seen to its end. This narrative twist is engaging as not only is it addictive to level up, but much like flipping the pages of a book, you can’t wait to see where it goes next. How it differs: Where A Dark Room is more noir in tone, the sci-fi vibe of Spaceplan is cheerfully lighthearted. Orbiting an unnamed planet on a satellite, the game's goal focuses on growing potatoes and building more powerful potato structures to produce energy in an effort to save Earth. The computer terminal in charge of the satellite, named the Word Outputter, adds a lot of color to the experience with its dry-wit. Release: 2017 Genres (Video game): Incremental game Platforms: Android, Microsoft Windows, iOS, macOS

How it's similar: One of the most standout aspects of A Dark Room is how it uses a simplistic approach to convey a greater narrative, which is definitely a sentiment shared by Papers, Please. In this game, you play an administrator at the border of a fictional country, checking IDs to let people in. It has a minimalist style of gameplay, consisting of checking passports, looking at rule books, and stamping approved or not approved. Within these parameters unfurls a plot that hints at bigger themes of the morality of government systems and the people who come into contact with them. How it differs: It’s a little more observation-based, with its focus on reading documents, looking for discrepancies between forms, and balancing trying to do your job adequately while at the same time trying to look out for your fellow man. Trust us, it's harder than it sounds. Release: 2013 Genres (Video game): Puzzle video game, Adventure game, Simulation Video Game Platforms: iOS, PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation Vita, macOS, Macintosh operating systems, Linux

How it's similar: Reminiscent of A Dark Room, Stone Story RPG opens with a black screen and text explaining how you can’t see your surroundings. Quickly, you’re thrust into a barrage of ASCII art that outlines a vast quest full of crafting, upgradable foundries, and a dark mysterious world that must be forged. Despite the fact that is a very sparse style, it’s lushly animated and is incredibly striking for how minimal it is! How it differs: It’s role-playing in a most unusual portrayal. The player doesn’t directly control the hero, instead giving them a heading and occasionally activating an ability to gain an edge, while the character acts autonomously. The game also offers an in-game language to write lines of script for the character to further influence the way the character behaves. The mechanics are incredibly fluid and thorough and definitely help elevate this RPG to cult-like status. Release: 2019 Genres (Video game): Role-playing game Platforms: Microsoft Windows, Linux, Mac

How it's similar: Crime-drama? Murder-mystery? Alternate Garfield timeline? Technically it could be all three! Much like A Dark Room, AI Dungeon 2 houses a positively madcap world of possibilities beyond its stark aesthetic. The game presents the opportunity to embark on a quest of your own design, with each round starting with a generated plot, usually after choosing some basic details about the world. From there, really anything can happen. It's great at getting players in the mindset of improv as you 'yes and no' back and forth with the AI to create a story. It can learn from what you type, and campaigns often don’t end the same way they start. How it differs: As it's a non-authored experience, it sometimes misconstrues a word here and there, or misinterprets the actions or dialogue you write (though that's often a big part of the fun!). Not knowing where it’ll go, and hopping along for the ride. Unlikely to pass a Turing test, it’s often surprising how much more often it works then it doesn’t, yet even when it falters, it’s often equally hilarious and entertaining. With the ability to create your own prompts and play other made by human players, limitless amusements are but a few keystrokes away. Release: 2019 Genres (Video game): Interactive fiction Platforms: IBM PC compatible, iOS

How it's similar: The mysterious and extending story that contours A Dark Room is a large part of the appeal. For those who are keen on this interactive storytelling element, Lifeline gives a double serving through its intriguing, conversation-based plot. The 'text' in text-adventure shows up more literally here, as you receive text message updates from a stranded astronaut named Taylor, whose communication device can only reach you. Through the dialogue choices you select, you help Taylor navigate and survive the unknown planet. How it differs: The gameplay of Lifeline focuses less on gathering resources and more on conversation. Choosing what messages to relay to Taylor adds a lot to the immersive feel. Almost like a macro version of A Dark Room's idle element, Taylor will respond in real time, sometimes taking longer to reply when he's busy or when he's about to go to sleep. The game is written by Dave Justus, author of the comic counterpart to Wolf Among Us. It has even been expanded into a series, with several other titles each revolving around different stories and characters. Release: 2015 Genres (Video game): Text-based action Platforms: Android, iOS, Microsoft Windows, macOS

How it's similar: Much like the evolving plot and UI of A Dark Room, Baba Is You starts out quaint and expands as you go. Traversing levels as an adorable sheep, words and symbols are at your disposal as you put together analogies in order to change the rules of the game. Its outward appearance hides much of what’s underneath, as some of its later incarnations unfold to new depths. How it differs: Baba Is You takes on a more puzzle-based approach, where you can play with the creative limits of what you’re given. A lot of the fun comes from seeing how much the game’s rules can be bent and at all the unexpected combinations that can be made. Physically moving the text and altering each level is a novel idea that invites creative solutions.

How it's similar: Kingsway is a medieval game arranged in the constructs of a Windows 95 operating system. Quests come in via email, while battles play out in pop-up windows and diagnostic pages that resemble a bygone era of the internet. Both Kingsway and A Dark Room display a sort of reverence for classic software to get across their game—one an archetypal text adventure and the other a vintage computer—while creatively using these constraints to their benefit. How it differs: Being an RPG, Kingsway comes up with eerily clever and intentionally obtuse ways to present the familiar characteristics of the genre’s trappings and adapting them to the quirks of a nostalgic PC. Much of the thrill comes in getting to see the work-around ways that faithfully translate these elements into the game's stylistic interface. Release: 2017 Genres (Video game): Role-playing game Platforms: Microsoft Windows

How it's similar: The entirety of Trimps is a text, menu and progress-meter driven affair. At a glance, it doesn’t seem to resemble a game but more that of a financial portfolio. In similar fashion to A Dark Room, there’s a point where you have to start gathering resources and trapping Trimps to work for you and collect exponentially more resources—all in the questionable pursuit of an insatiable 'more'. How it differs: The main divergence is that it’s not as much ‘played’ as it is automated. Being an idle game, the goal is more of accumulation, with slight interaction. Part of the joy stems from seeing the efficiency for efficiencies' sake, and seeing large numbers. Never really demanding one's full attention, it can always be played in the background while watching a favorite show, or checking your phone. Release: 2015 (est) Genres (Video game): Resource management game Platform: Kongregate

How it's similar: For fans of the namesake book, or the accompanying movie, it might come as a delight to discover that there exists a game penned by its creator Douglas Adams. Originally released in 1977, the adventure is entirely told through crawling text as you follow the exploits of Arthur Dent, a human trying to deal with planet-destroying aliens with a bureaucratic bent. Aside from being a text-adventure, its story might share more with A Dark Room than meets the eye. How it differs: The game is riotously funny, and simultaneously quite difficult, with many of its puzzles solved through its own absurdist logic. An attempt at the Babbelfish, one of its more famous puzzles, doubles as a test in mental fortitude as it's hard to play certain parts while keeping straight face. In an effort to preserve the game, it’s been remastered by the BBC in a celebration of its 30th anniversary, so you can enjoy updated graphics with the age-old story.

How it's similar: While A Dark Room is not a pure 'clicker', it does share many elements of this emerging subgenera. But maybe the ability to click and not-click was the most enticing part for some, and in that case Time Clickers offers a clicking-paradise. With each click, you upgrade your arsenal of guns and turrets, and reaching new exponential levels. How it differs: Taking a different approach to A Dark Room's stark presentation, Time Clickers goes the opposite route; the game's whole aesthetic is bold and in your face. There's constant player feedback, with bright colors and flashy effects. Just looking at it could make for a nice screensaver. Release: 2015 Genres (Video game): First-person shooter, clicker Platforms: Android, iOS, Microsoft Windows, Linux, macOS

How it's similar: The first rule of Frog Fractions is not to talk about Frog Fractions. But some rules are made to be broken! As one of the most original (and addicting) games in recent years, it’s something that has to be experienced firsthand to really appreciate all it has to offer. To explain it too much would rob it of some of its subversive charm. Let’s just say that like A Dark Room, it has a lot of layers to peel back. How it differs: It’s often not concerned with adhering to the structure of a game, and more of its ability to deliver on a punchline. Though it can be completed in maybe generously half an hour, what they deliver on is timeless. If either the concept of frogs or fractions appeals to you, then it would be best to not look up anything further about this particular game and to simply give it a shot. Release: 2012 Genres (Video game): Indie Platforms: Adobe Flash Player, Microsoft Windows

How it's similar: Hack Mud is a text-adventure MMO composed entirely of seemingly overwhelming computer-speak and the occasional digital error as flourish. Its conceit is tied into the notion of a PVP hacking world, where players try to orchestrate scripts in order to dupe or siphon in-game money from other players. The results are rarely expected, similar to A Dark Room, though in this case its boundaries are being pushed by the creativity of other players. How it differs: A hacking fantasy without the legal repercussions, it's incredibly daunting compared to A Dark Room (or most other games for that matter). The game opens with a multi-hour tutorial before it even begins and often relies on knowledge of actually leaning how the script works. Though if one is willing to put in the time, it has a skill ceiling that very well may be non-existent. Release: 2016 Genres (Video game): Simulation Video Game, MUD, Indie game Platforms: Microsoft Windows, Linux, Macintosh operating systems, macOS