The immersive sim genre is simultaneously one of the broadest and most specific genres in gaming, with roots in the form of classic games such as Thief, System Shock, and the iconic Deus Ex, these games are known for their emergent gameplay and player freedom, often facilitated by a versatile set of tools and creative level design that encouraged experimentation.

Immersive sims focus on giving the player a variety of choices, with levels and objectives that are designed with multiple solutions in mind. However, until recently, the immersive-sim genre has received little in the way of attention outside of games from studios like Arkane. This has left a sizable niche for indie games to fill, each providing its own unique take on the classic gameplay of the genre.

8 Deadeye Deepfake Simulacrum - A Deceptively Simple Indie Title

Steam User Rating: 99%

Although Deadeye Deepfake Simulacrum features a simplistic visual style, its mechanics and gameplay are far from that. Deadeye Deepfake tasks players with completing contracts in a variety of ways in order to pay off an insurmountable debt, tied together with a mysterious and well-written story.

3:03

Related

Great Top-Down Shooter Games On Steam That Deserve More Attention

Top-down shooters are a great way to see all of the action on the field, but not all get the right attention they deserve, like these Steam examples.

Deadeye Deepfake's gameplay is built around high-lethality, top-down shooter gameplay, and hacking mechanics that allow the player to tackle the game's challenges and obstacles in a variety of ways. It's this freedom of choice and variety of tools that elevates Deadeye Deepfake's gameplay and cements it as an indie immersive sim worth playing, even in its Early Access state.

7 Streets Of Rogue - A Rogue-lite Immersive Sim

Steam User Rating: 96%

Similarly to Deadeye Deepfake, Streets of Rogue brings a top-down perspective to the immersive sim. However, Streets of Rogue combines its immersive-sim gameplay with influences from old-school GTA games and a rogue-lite structure that dramatically boosts its replay value.

Streets of Rogue tasks players with making their way through a variety of open levels, each taking place in a diverse selection of areas, completing a variety of missions in order to progress. Streets of Rogue features a broad assortment of playable characters, items, and factions to interact with, all of which enable its immersive-sim gameplay by allowing the player to use their tools to complete missions in creative ways.

6 Ctrl Alt Ego - A Mind-Bending Immersive-Sim Puzzler

Steam User Rating: 96%

With inspirations in the form of Prey and Portal, Ctrl Alt Ego is a unique immersive sim that focuses its efforts on clever puzzles that players can solve in a variety of ways. Ctrl Alt Ego facilitates this through a set of powerful tools that are fun to use, allowing the player to overcome the game's challenges in their own way.

Ctrl Alt Ego features a variety of unique mechanics that help it stand out from the immersive-sim crowd. However, the game's classic stealth, light combat, and opportunities for Pacifism make it an enjoyable experience for both newcomers and immersive sim veterans alike.

5 Blood West - A Stealth-Focused Wild West RPG

Steam User Rating: 90%

This Wild West RPG takes inspiration from the immersive sim genre with its open areas, focus on stealth, and potential to attack challenges from a variety of angles. While Blood West may not delve as deeply into its immersive sim influences as some fans might hope, it still provides a fun and challenging sandbox to play with.

6:16

Related

Best First-Person RPGs, Ranked

First-Person RPGs are among some of the most immersive games out there, and these are stellar examples that will keep players engaged for hours.

In Blood West, players take on the role of an undead gunslinger tasked with hunting down relics, collecting artifacts, and slaying monsters. Blood West takes heavy inspiration from games such as Thief and STALKER, and allows players to complete quests in full stealth or rush in guns blazing, though the former is certainly encouraged. Players will also spend a lot of time in Blood West managing their inventory and their dwindling resources, as well as deliberating over the RPG progression of their character.

4 Pathologic 2 - An Unforgiving Combination Of RPG, Survival, And Immersive Sim

Steam User Rating: 92%

This sequel to the cult-classic indie game streamlines and expands upon the original with new ideas while staying true to its roots. However, Pathologic 2 is a deeply unforgiving game that can often be inaccessible to more casual players.

Pathologic 2 is arguably not as expansive in its mechanics as other indie immersive sims, but the freedom and exploration that it offers throughout its story-driven gameplay are sure to appeal to fans of the genre. More specifically, Pathologic 2's survival mechanics make certain resources a necessity in order to survive, and the game often pushes the player to acquire these resources while allowing them to choose how they want to go about it.

3 Gloomwood - A Combination Of Thief And Resident Evil

Steam User Rating: 94%

This game, published by New Blood Interactive and co-developed by David Szymanski (the creator of DUSK), takes heavy influence from old-school Thief games, a classic series of immersive sims from Looking Glass Studios. Gloomwood, like Thief, focuses on stealth gameplay and detailed level design that allows the player to maneuver through areas in a variety of ways, encouraging creativity and experimentation.

Related

10 Best Stealth Survival Games

These games mix survival and stealth to great effect.

Despite its classic gameplay, Gloomwood sets itself apart by combining its Thief-inspired mechanics with survival horror gameplay inspired by the likes of Resident Evil 4. The game's dynamic, grid-based inventory system takes clear inspiration from Resident Evil. Furthermore, in true survival-horror fashion, players can only save their game at specific locations, which Gloomwood represents with phonographs.

2 Shadows Of Doubt - A Procedurally-Generated, Neo-Noir Detective Game

Steam User Rating: 92%

Set in a gloomy, noir-themed city, and visualized with a well-crafted voxel-based art style, Shadows of Doubt is a highly immersive sandbox game that puts players in the shoes of a private investigator. Shadows of Doubt features stealth-focused gameplay and mechanics that center around solving crimes, with highly detailed procedural generation that makes it very replayable.

Shadows of Doubt fully simulates its procedurally generated city, giving each citizen their own name, job, home, and routine. The detective gameplay of Shadows of Doubt leans heavily on this deep simulation, allowing players to solve cases in whichever way they see fit.

1 Teardown - A Destructive Sandbox

Steam User Rating: 95%

Teardown may be a far cry from games like Thief and Deus Ex, both in its structure and visual style, but this game is a unique and well-crafted immersive sandbox that's worth a shot. The game's fully destructible environments, dynamic player tools, and heist-focused gameplay allow for an abundance of player agency that the immersive sim genre is known for.

Teardown's fully destructible, voxel-based environments and physics allow for some truly creative problem-solving, making each objective an intriguing puzzle. Teardown's heist-style missions also facilitate sandbox gameplay that's often frantic, and its variety of seventeen distinct tools gives the player an abundance of options.

MORE: Beginner Tips For Gloomwood