It’s such an overcrowded genre isn’t it?
Well it's not really a genre, just a mode of perspective.
Disco Elysium ditched combat for an everything-is-dialogue-approach and it is really really good.
this post was submitted on 11 Apr 2025
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Played the hell out of DE and I agree! :D
What actual genre do you like to play? Might get some more relevant recommendations. Otherwise, top-down is just a POV and there are a ton of genres that have been made this way.
- Factorio - Factory Building
- Door Kickers - Tactical CQB
- Dwarf Fortress - Roguelite Town Management
- The Battle for Wesnoth - Turn-based RPG
- GTA1/2/London 1969 - The best GTAs
- FTL - Roguelite space adventure. Real-time with pause.
Minesweeper
Solitaire - classic top down perspective.
Come to think of it, so was that Space Pinball game too.
played hundreds of hours of both lol
I could never get on with Minesweeper. I bet it's something to do with my ADHD and Discalculia.
Heat Signature - https://store.steampowered.com/app/268130/Heat_Signature/
That looks amazing! Wishlisted :) I love the mechanic of intentionally blowing yourself out into space to escape an imminently exploding ship and then remote controlling your own ship to then rescue you lol
Not sure how old you are, have you played the first and second GTA?
Very old and yes I have (when they came out in fact 🤣)
Snap
"Can't live without electricity"
Basically routing a pcb with extra dopamine
Oh I like that one, it's like a really colourful version of Power to the People.
Kenshi. There is really not a single game out there that I can really compare it to and they have a very strong community, showing the game has a high replayability value
Voidigo is pretty unique I think. Chaotic roguelite with unique and sometimes asinine weaponry. Sure, it can sometimes feel a bit like Enter the Gungeon, but I feel the art style separates it a good bit from that and other top down shooters. Plus the guns and melee can be a bit crazy in their own right.
Factorio is a game in which you build and maintain factories. You will be mining resources, researching technologies, building infrastructure, automating production and fighting enemies.
How is this genuinely different?
The game defined the factory builder genre. Everything that followed (Dyson sphere project, satisfactory, shapez, etc etc etc) came after factorio (nicknamed cracktorio because of its addictive qualities) was released.
Gameplay wise it's a top down with some vehicles and weapons, which is not unique at all, but the core of the gameplay loop was unique and spawned an entire sub genre of build games.
For the akshuallys in the room, it is possible that there were factory line builders before factorio that I'm not aware of, but none had the depth and breadth and definitely none were as popular/iconic.
That's a really great question. I will leave it to other people in the comments to answer.
I took OP's question to mean, "Give me some top-down game suggestions".
Now that I read it again, I see your point. But also, I can't think of any of the suggestions in this thread as being unique.
20 minutes till dawn and disfigure are my go-to topdowns
I'm not really into manic shooters but I do enjoy watching other people play them.
Rimworld?
I forgot the name of it (Ex Machina? 🤔), but there is a top down diablo-like game with somewhat QWOPish controls and physics based combat. You control movement normally (assuming you're standing), but you have to actually swing your sword around with the mouse and because it's a top down view, this becomes a real challenge. It's also presented as a soul like, so the AI is generally actually good at combat, and it's also slow, and heavy feeling.
I don't think it ever got finished, though. It was semi-popular for about a week before I never really saw it anymore.
Try Cogmind, Caves of Qud or Dwarf Fortress maybe?
Does Dungeons 3 or 4 count? If so, these games are great.
Maybe this is not what you are looking for but I like Creeper World 3!
Ooh it wasn't but I like the look of that one! the 2D representing a 3D world thing is really interesting.
Tormentor X Punisher is quite unique :)
I enjoy watching people play manic shooters more than playing them myself. I just get overwhelmed really quickly by them.
Sorry for the source, but this list is gold: https://www.reddit.com/r/CRPG/wiki/recommendations/
Ooh thanks :)
Would Terra Invicta count for you? Or do you mean top down in a 2d sense?
This one feels a bit more like Risk in space and I never got on with Risk, or in fact any of the Civ series of games, which this also reminds me of a bit. I sort of meant top down in the Desperadoes 3 style but I'm totally open to other ideas :)
Desperadoes 3 style
Ah, I gitchu bru!
I really liked Commandos 2 and 3, which look similar. Did you ever play them? There were modernized remasters recently too.
Also, Shadow Tactics maybe?
Sunless Sea
Dreamweb.
90's cyberpunk point'n'click with a dark mature story and a rocking soundtrack.
Idk if it counts but "shady part of me" was an excellent game.
It's more up and to the side then top down it is a really fun platformer with interesting light mechanics and worth checking out.
Wow, that looks amazing! and 85% off on Steam... Think I'll grab that right now :)
Cocoon is very different, the worlds inside worlds puzzles are mind-breaking but really fun. Highly recommended!
RTS like AoE or Warcraft
Bullet Hells like Assault Android Cactus
Hotline Miami
every 4X game
V Rising, Diablo or Baldurs Gate
Xenonauts, part 2 is in early access
Warhammer 40k: chaos gate
Project zomboid
But yeah top down is not a genre, that's like saying third person or first person is overcrowded.
I apologize if my recommendations are not what you are looking for but have you tried:
Disco Elysium? Cuz that game blew my fucking mind. I voice acting and characters are superb.
Signalis. Its such a lovely artsy game thats like resident evil but more story driven imo (less survival).
I love poe2 with wasd movement. I beg you to try it out. It was something i was hesitant at first but now I wish all arpg's had this feature.
Kenshi is also a great option but I don't think its for everyone. Still recommend it though cuz the world is very mysterious in first playthrough.
Thank you so much to everyone who commented with suggestions! Some really surprising ones in there too that I'm very much looking forwards to playing soon. So far thanks to this post I've grabbed Heat Signature as well as Shady Part of Me and I'm replaying Dysmantle. I've also wishlisted Creeper World 3: Arc Eternal and will nab that the minute it goes on sale.
Edit: Ooh and I'm also looking forward to the release of Outworld Station on Tuesday. That looks like a really interesting top down, space station factory automation game :)