Videocult’s Rain World is finally getting a definitive edition on Nintendo Switch 2, nearly a decade after the original PC release. That is good news for Switch owners and awkward news for PC players, who already own it, love it, and cannot get any more of it. The good news: seven Rain World alternatives on Steam scratch some part of the same itch, whether that’s the atmospheric loneliness, the ecosystem-first predator dance, or the punishing “learn the world or die” loop.
Quick comparison
| Game | Best for | Free plan | Starting price | Standout feature |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hollow Knight | Atmosphere and animation | Free demo | Around $15 | Hand-drawn world, dense lore, huge map |
| Noita | Learn-or-die difficulty | No | Around $20 | Every pixel is simulated |
| Don’t Starve | Emergent ecosystem survival | No | Around $10 | Punishing crafting with a hostile world |
| Environmental Station Alpha | Direct atmospheric platformer heir | No | Around $12 | Cryptic Metroidvania in one solo dev’s style |
| Sundered | Chaotic 2D combat with a mood | No | Around $20 | Hand-drawn horror in a shifting map |
| Ori and the Will of the Wisps | Beautiful platforming, kinder curve | No | Around $30 | Precise movement, tuned combat |
| Salt and Sanctuary | Soulslike in Rain World’s mood | No | Around $18 | Slow, deliberate 2D Dark Souls |
Why Rain World hits different
Videocult’s game is not really a platformer. It’s an ecosystem simulator that puts a slugcat inside it and asks the player to survive. Every predator hunts, every prey flees, and none of it is scripted. Reddit threads on r/rainworld keep circling three specific hooks: the ecosystem’s indifference, the movement physics that reward experimentation, and the visual language that never over-explains.
Nothing on Steam matches all three at once. The picks below hit at least one hard.
The alternatives
Hollow Knight, best for atmosphere
Hollow Knight is the first game most Rain World veterans try next, and the fit is real for the “sit inside a world that feels ancient” reason. Team Cherry hand-animated every enemy and every biome, the map opens slowly, and the story is delivered through lore fragments rather than cutscenes. Silksong, Team Cherry’s follow-up, launched on Steam in September 2025 and is a natural double-header with the original.
Where it falls short: Combat is much more central than in Rain World. Hollow Knight rewards mastery of a moveset. Rain World rewards refusing to fight when possible.
Pricing:
- Free: A demo is available on the developer’s site
- Paid: Around $15 on Steam, and it’s been that price since launch
- vs Rain World: Cheaper, more directed, more forgiving
Migrating from Rain World: Nothing to move. Both games use Steam Cloud saves independently.
Download: Steam
Bottom line: The default recommendation. Play this first.
Noita, best for learn-or-die difficulty
Noita is a wand-crafting roguelike where every pixel is physically simulated. Water flows, lava melts stone, gunpowder chains, and the alchemy system will absolutely kill a player who forgets which combination just made toxic sludge. The Rain World comparison lands on the “the world does not care about you” register more than any other game on this list.
Where it falls short: The learning cliff is genuinely brutal. First runs end in seconds. Some Noita fans still can’t reliably beat the base game after a hundred hours.
Pricing:
- Free: No
- Paid: Around $20 on Steam
- vs Rain World: Similar price, similar patience requirement, entirely different genre
Migrating from Rain World: N/A.
Download: Steam
Bottom line: Buy this when the phrase “the world is trying to kill me” sounds appealing rather than tiring.
Don't Starve, best for emergent ecosystem survival
Don’t Starve is Klei Entertainment’s crafting survival game in a hand-illustrated Tim Burton-adjacent world. Days pass, seasons rotate, creatures hunt each other, and the player has to fit into all of that without dying to hunger, insanity, or an unexpected hound wave. Don’t Starve Together adds co-op if a Rain World fan wants company.
Where it falls short: The world is procedural, not authored. Rain World fans who love the crafted beauty of Videocult’s biomes may find Don’t Starve’s randomness less satisfying.
Pricing:
- Free: No
- Paid: Around $10 on Steam, one of the best-value games on this list
- vs Rain World: Cheaper, longer, more forgiving in the early hours
Migrating from Rain World: N/A.
Download: Steam
Bottom line: The best “the world eats you if you’re not paying attention” pick.
Environmental Station Alpha, best atmospheric platformer heir
Environmental Station Alpha is a solo-developer Metroidvania that Rain World fans keep passing between each other on Reddit. It looks like a Game Boy Color game, has a cryptic story about a research station gone wrong, and hides its best secrets behind puzzles that the game never explains. It’s the closest match on this list for Rain World’s “figure out what this is by playing it” philosophy.
Where it falls short: The pixel art is extremely low resolution. Some players bounce off the visuals before the puzzle design pays off.
Pricing:
- Free: No
- Paid: Around $12 on Steam
- vs Rain World: Much smaller in scope, but similar in soul
Migrating from Rain World: N/A.
Download: Steam
Bottom line: The best pick for a player who loved decoding Rain World’s world without a wiki.
Sundered, best for chaotic 2D combat
Sundered is Thunder Lotus Games’ hand-drawn Metroidvania where the map physically rearranges itself around the player. Enemy hordes appear in waves and the mood is closer to Lovecraft than Rain World’s biological cruelty, but the sense of being surrounded by systems that don’t answer to the player is the same.
Where it falls short: The combat is repetitive if the horde encounters wear on the player. Fans of quieter Rain World stretches may find Sundered too loud.
Pricing:
- Free: No
- Paid: Around $20 on Steam
- vs Rain World: Louder, faster, more overtly horror
Migrating from Rain World: N/A.
Download: Steam
Bottom line: Good when the mood is “I want the tension of Rain World, without the patience.”
Ori and the Will of the Wisps, best kinder curve
Ori and the Will of the Wisps is what a Rain World fan gives to a friend who liked the trailer but hated dying every 30 seconds. Moon Studios built precise movement, tuned platforming, and a hand-painted world that feels curated rather than emergent. The story is direct where Rain World’s is oblique.
Where it falls short: It holds the player’s hand more than the reference material. Rain World veterans may feel unchallenged.
Pricing:
- Free: No
- Paid: Around $30 on Steam
- vs Rain World: The prettiest pick on the list, and the most forgiving
Migrating from Rain World: N/A.
Download: Steam
Bottom line: Best on-ramp for a friend who liked the Rain World idea but not the Rain World pace.
Salt and Sanctuary, best soulslike in Rain World's mood
Salt and Sanctuary takes Dark Souls’ whole design language and flattens it into 2D. Slow, deliberate combat. A world that punishes recklessness. A story that expects the player to piece it together from item descriptions. The tonal overlap with Rain World is real, even though the combat system couldn’t be less similar.
Where it falls short: No co-op that most players will actually use online. Combat rewards patience over creativity.
Pricing:
- Free: No
- Paid: Around $18 on Steam
- vs Rain World: Combat-first vs ecosystem-first
Migrating from Rain World: N/A.
Download: Steam
Bottom line: Pick this for a Rain World fan who also happens to like Dark Souls.
How to choose
Pick Hollow Knight if only one game is coming home. It’s the default answer and it earns it.
Pick Noita if the answer to “why did you die in Rain World?” is “the alchemy exploded, obviously.”
Pick Don’t Starve if the ecosystem mattered more than the movement.
Pick Environmental Station Alpha for the cryptic puzzle-solving side of Rain World.
Pick Ori and the Will of the Wisps for a friend who bounced off Rain World’s difficulty but liked the mood.
Skip Below if latency is a concern. It’s beautiful and Rain World-adjacent, but its early hours put off enough players that Hollow Knight is a safer first buy.
FAQ
Is Rain World coming to Switch 2?
Yes. Nintendo confirmed at a Direct that Rain World is getting a definitive edition on Switch 2, though the release window has slid from earlier assumptions. The PC version continues to receive updates and DLC (Downpour and the More Slugcats Expansion).
What game plays most like Rain World?
There isn’t a perfect match. Environmental Station Alpha comes closest for the “cryptic Metroidvania” feel, Hollow Knight comes closest for atmosphere, and Don’t Starve comes closest for the “hostile world where you’re not the apex predator” mechanic.
Is Rain World playable on Mac or Linux?
Rain World’s Steam page lists Windows only for native support. Mac and Linux players run it through Proton or CrossOver, and most report solid performance. If native Linux matters, Hollow Knight and Noita both ship native Linux builds.
Which Rain World alternative is the cheapest?
Don’t Starve is the cheapest full game on this list at around $10, and it goes lower during Klei’s regular sales. The base We Were Here in the Age Twisters comparison is free, but it’s a different genre.
Do any of these have co-op like Rain World Downpour?
Hollow Knight and Ori do not. Don’t Starve Together, Sundered, and Salt and Sanctuary all support co-op. If four-player co-op is the reason to keep coming back to Rain World, Don’t Starve Together is the closest match.
