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Platformer hidden gems on Steam
Every game here is tagged Platformer on Steam, sits between 1,000 and 5,000 reviews, is rated at least 80% positive, and carries a catch drawn from its own negative reviews. Showing the 60 most reviewed of 130. How these pages are made.
A 3D platformer where SpongeBob uses cosmic costumes to navigate wish worlds, featuring platforming skills and character interactions. It offers a lighthearted, nostalgic adventure with familiar characters and music.
What players likedPlayers compare it to Battle for Bikini Bottom, praising its fun platforming, varied levels, and authentic SpongeBob humor.
The catchLevels are linear and near identical, so the platforming and combat turn repetitive fast.
Games like SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake →
Touhou Luna Nights is a Metroidvania action game featuring time manipulation and a tense graze system. Explore a unique world with attractive dot graphics.
What players likedPlayers praise this challenging Metroidvania for its unique time-stop mechanics, rewarding gameplay, and beautiful pixel art.
The catchSold as a metroidvania but the map is small, linear and barely worth exploring.
Games like Touhou Luna Nights →
This is a free-to-play parkour simulator with meme-inspired, scuffed physics and graphics. It features a unique movement system for bhop and surf, with multiplayer and combat modes.
What players likedThere is no substantive information in the provided review to answer the question.
The catchLevels and movement are buggy, and the physics fight you more than the obstacles do.
Games like *NEW* SCUFFED EPIC BHOP SIMULATOR 2023 (POG CHAMP) →
BEEP85% positive from 4,694 reviews2011Deck Unsupported
This is a challenging physics-based platformer where players use a gravity gun to navigate hazards and defeat enemies. Its core loop involves manipulating objects and the environment with the gravity gun for exploration and combat.
What players likedPlayers praise BEEP as a challenging, precise puzzle platformer reminiscent of Portal, blending physics and anti-gravity for a unique experience.
The catchIt plays like a dated browser flash game and feels dull by modern standards.
Games like BEEP →
PICO PARK 289% positive from 4,611 reviews2024Deck Verified
PICO PARK 2 is a cooperative 2D action-puzzle game for 2-8 players, featuring teamwork-based level progression and multiple game modes. It offers local and online cross-platform play with an optional smartphone controller.
What players likedPICO PARK 2 is a challenging and fun co-op puzzle game that tests patience and encourages discussion.
The catchEveryone needs their own copy and the price feels steep for how simple it is.
Games like PICO PARK 2 →
20XX91% positive from 4,555 reviews20172% finish itDeck Playable
20XX is a co-op roguelike action platformer where players jump, shoot, and collect powerups through randomized levels. It features permanent death with persistent upgrades and challenging boss battles.
What players likedPlayers praise 20XX as an excellent Mega Man-like, especially compared to Mega Man X, with good design and enemy feel.
The catchLevels are randomly stitched from a small pool and start repeating after a few runs.
Games like 20XX →
VVVVVV96% positive from 4,519 reviews2010Deck Verified
VVVVVV is a challenging retro platformer where players reverse gravity instead of jumping to navigate minimalist levels. It offers fast-paced exploration with frequent checkpoints and a chiptune soundtrack.
What players likedPlayers praise its unique gravity-flipping platforming, tight controls, and challenging precision, comparing it to other games that have adopted similar mechanics.
The catchControls are slippery and floaty, which fights the precision the levels demand.
Games like VVVVVV →
Caveblazers85% positive from 4,516 reviews20177% finish itDeck Verified
Caveblazers is an action platformer roguelike with procedurally generated levels and item discovery. Players explore a dangerous cave, facing unique bosses and smart AI enemies.
What players likedPlayers praise this challenging action roguelike platformer for its satisfying mastery, replayability, and fun co-op.
The catchCombat is unrewarding and enemies can be skipped entirely
Games like Caveblazers →
Abe's Oddysee is a 2D puzzle-platformer where players use speech and environmental interaction to solve puzzles and escape danger. The game features stealth and puzzle-solving with a dark, satirical tone.
What players likedPlayers praise its engaging worldbuilding, unique speaking system, and challenging puzzles, reminiscent of classic platformers.
The catchConstant trial and error deaths, with checkpoints so far apart that replays drag.
Games like Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee® →
Retro action-platformer where you switch characters with unique abilities to explore and fight demons. Your choices impact difficulty and the ending.
What players likedPlayers praise it as a fun, charming homage to 8-bit Castlevania, especially Castlevania 3, with great art and music.
The catchMovement, shooting and platforming feel stiff and clunky like an NES game.
Games like Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon →
Teeworlds89% positive from 4,366 reviews2015Deck Playable
Teeworlds is a free, open-source 2D multiplayer shooter. Players customize characters and compete in fast-paced matches with unique physics.
What players likedPlayers praise Teeworlds as a deep, technical arena shooter combining retro platforming with modern FPS controls and movement.
The catchEmpty servers make it hard to find a real deathmatch; only race mods stay busy.
Games like Teeworlds →
This is a 2D platformer where players control Mickey Mouse to rescue Minnie. The core loop involves platforming, combat, and exploration across magical worlds.
What players likedPlayers praise this charming, solid platformer for its impressive remake, beautiful graphics, and nostalgic appeal, making it great for families.
The catchIt often refuses to launch on modern Windows, crashing or stalling on a white screen.
Games like Castle of Illusion →
This is a 3D platformer where players navigate colorful worlds, solve puzzles, and defeat enemies. It features cooperative multiplayer and a focus on creative problem-solving.
What players likedPlayers praise its intuitive controls, incredible music, and whimsical world-building, often comparing it to Super Mario 3D World and LittleBigPlanet.
The catchCo-op is riddled with lag, desync and a bug that swaps which player you control.
Games like Sackboy™: A Big Adventure →
This is a side-scrolling action game featuring fast-paced ninja combat with a plasma sword. Players traverse a large interconnected world, fighting diverse enemies with agile movement.
What players likedThis remake of Strider is a fun game, praised for its faithful recreation of the original.
The catchCapcom patched in Enigma DRM a decade after release, and performance suffered.
Games like STRIDER™ / ストライダー飛竜® →
This is a comic-style platformer where players use a grappling hook and slicing abilities to alter the environment. It features a humorous story and a destructible world with indie music.
What players likedPlayers praise its unique terrain deformation mechanics, unlike other 3D platformers, for its impressive physics-based arsenal.
The catchFloaty, over-sensitive controls make the platforming feel rough and imprecise.
Games like Tiny and Big: Grandpa's Leftovers →
POPUCOM87% positive from 4,146 reviews20252% finish itDeck Verified
This is a multiplayer co-op platform adventure game focused on color-based puzzle solving and combat. Players use color switching and match-3 shooting mechanics to overcome challenges with friends.
What players likedPlayers praise POPUCOM as a charming co-op puzzle-platformer with challenging mechanics, reminiscent of other puzzle-shooters.
The catchOnline co-op ping spikes to 999ms once bosses fill the screen with projectiles.
Games like POPUCOM →
Grimhook98% positive from 4,079 reviews2023Deck Playable
Fast-paced first-person action-adventure with platforming and combat. Players use abilities to traverse and fight robotic enemies in a hand-painted, somber world.
What players likedPlayers praise its smooth grappling hook movement, parkour, and engaging combat, feeling like a promising demo for a full game.
The catchRuns badly for its simple visuals, with poor optimisation and creeping input lag.
Games like Grimhook →
This is a hand-drawn point-and-click puzzle adventure where players craft items and solve puzzles to help forest creatures in a kind, magical world. Dialog is visualized through animated bubbles.
What players likedPlayers praise its beautiful art and character design, finding it a painterly experience despite limited gameplay.
The catchIt ends after roughly fifteen minutes and plays more like a demo than a game.
Games like Tukoni: Prologue →
A 3D platformer where players use Quantum Masks to bend reality. It features fast-paced action and character switching.
What players likedPlayers praise "Crash Bandicoot 4" as a faithful, challenging, and fun return to the classic formula, reminiscent of the original trilogy.
The catchCompletionist challenges are punishingly difficult
Games like Crash Bandicoot™ 4: It’s About Time →
Outland80% positive from 3,948 reviews20145% finish it
A 2D platformer with a polarity-switching mechanic. Players use light and dark powers to navigate challenges.
What players likedOutland is a visually striking Metroidvania with an evolving light/dark color-switching mechanic and epic boss fights.
The catchMovement and combat feel stiff and imprecise, which makes later fights frustrating.
Games like Outland →
A retro-inspired rhythm platformer where players automatically run and must time jumps and slides to the music. It offers challenging, skill-based gameplay with a captivating aesthetic.
What players likedPlayers praise its meditative, intense rhythm-running gameplay, reminiscent of its original Wii version.
The catchThere are no checkpoints, so one mistake sends you back to the level start.
Games like BIT.TRIP RUNNER →
Apotheon90% positive from 3,853 reviews20157% finish itDeck Verified
This is a 2D action-adventure game where players fight gods with bronze-age weapons. It features brutal combat, exploration of Mount Olympus, and a narrative based on Greek mythology.
What players likedPlayers praise its classic art style, excellent setting, and satisfying combat and story.
The catchCrashes hit often, especially when loading new areas, costing chunks of progress.
Games like Apotheon →
Action-adventure platformer with drill-based combat and a humorous, violent tone. Explore Hell, exterminate monsters, and upgrade your drill.
What players likedPlayers praise its creative enemies and juvenile humor, reminiscent of Hazbin Hotel, in a fast-paced action-platformer.
The catchThe unskippable minigame kill animations repeat constantly and turn tedious fast.
Games like Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit →
Abe's Oddysee remake. Puzzle-platformer with stealth and environmental interaction.
What players likedPlayers praise it as a great remake of a classic puzzle platformer, capturing the original's unique world and difficulty.
The catchClunky, unresponsive movement causes most deaths rather than the puzzles themselves.
Games like Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty →
A side-scrolling Metroidvania action game with deep combat and gear customization. Explore a dark world, fight monsters, and uncover mysteries.
What players likedPlayers praise its good graphics, music, atmosphere, and varied weapons/skills, making it a unique and mesmerizing experience.
The catchThe map is broken and unreadable, which leaves you lost in a large metroidvania.
Games like Vigil: The Longest Night →
The End Is Nigh94% positive from 3,444 reviews201712% finish itDeck Verified
This is a challenging adventure platformer about collecting items and overcoming difficult levels. The game features a dark, stressful atmosphere as you guide a survivor on a quest.
What players likedPlayers compare it to Super Meat Boy and Celeste, praising its precise movement and challenging, polished platforming.
The catchThe later half hands you limited lives, so dying too often restarts a whole area.
Games like The End Is Nigh →
HAAK90% positive from 3,424 reviews202234% finish itDeck Verified
A pixel art Metroidvania action-platformer with a hook mechanic in a retro-futuristic wasteland. Explore, fight mutants, and solve puzzles with multiple endings.
What players likedPlayers praise HAAK as a polished Metroidvania with fluid gameplay, a well-crafted map, and an engaging post-apocalyptic story.
The catchEndless dull dialogue interrupts the platforming, and the writing is not worth reading.
Games like HAAK →
This is a 2.5D puzzle-platformer adventure game with cooperative gameplay. Players solve puzzles and engage in combat using unique hero abilities.
What players likedPlayers praise Trine 5 as a magical, beautiful, and fun physics-based puzzler with improved combat and boss fights.
The catchGame breaking bugs and co-op crashes block progress, often at boss fights.
Games like Trine 5: A Clockwork Conspiracy →
This is a challenging puzzle platformer where players guide a pig to his demise through difficult levels. It features complex puzzles, precise platforming, and a dark, humorous tone.
The catchOne mistake softlocks the long levels and forces a slow restart from the beginning.
Games like Squishy the Suicidal Pig →
A narrative puzzle-platformer where you switch between 2D and 3D to control a girl and her shadow, using time rewind to solve puzzles in surreal dreamscapes.
What players likedPlayers praise its artistic puzzle mechanics, reminiscent of Little Nightmares, for creative use of light and shadow.
The catchThe story stays so vague that most players finish without knowing what it was about.
Games like Shady Part of Me →
Guacamelee! 291% positive from 3,335 reviews201813% finish itDeck Verified
This is a Metroidvania action-platformer featuring brawling combat and dimension-shifting mechanics. It offers a vibrant, culturally inspired adventure with cooperative play.
What players likedPlayers praise Guacamelee! 2 as an innovative, story-driven metroidvania with fun characters and satisfying melee combat.
The catchPunishing pixel-perfect platforming and instant death traps overshadow the fun combat.
Games like Guacamelee! 2 →
This is a first-person physics-based climbing adventure game where players ascend mountains, master holds, and collect gear. It offers a challenging, trial-and-error experience with a serene, picturesque feel.
What players likedPlayers praise its challenging, movement-based climbing gameplay, often compared to Foddian games, for its fulfilling and immersive experience.
The catchOne slip can erase hours of climbing because the peaks have no checkpoints.
Games like Peaks of Yore →
This is a brutally hard 2D platformer with electronic music. Players run, jump, and smash through levels with unique mechanics.
The catchDifficulty comes from trial and error and unfair deaths rather than tight platforming.
Games like Electronic Super Joy →
Soda Crisis93% positive from 3,211 reviews202236% finish itDeck Verified
This is a fast-paced, side-scrolling shooter with smooth movement mechanics and quick retries. Players fight futuristic enemies with advanced gear in a challenging rescue mission.
The catchAiming is locked to your movement direction, which makes the gunplay feel clumsy.
Games like Soda Crisis →
Retro-inspired 2D action platformer where players blast through levels with the AVGN. Features challenging gameplay, power-ups, and secrets for fans of old-school difficulty.
What players likedPlayers praise its tough but fair gameplay and pretty graphics, reminiscent of classic platformers.
The catchDifficulty is punishing for its own sake, with cheap instant death blocks everywhere.
Games like Angry Video Game Nerd Adventures →
2D platform-puzzler where you change seasons to solve environmental puzzles. Explore a magical world with a fox, aided by a string quartet soundtrack.
What players likedPlayers praise its artistic identity and atmosphere, comparing it to a 2D adventure-puzzle game where you play as a fox.
The catchJumping and movement suffer constant input lag, so simple platforming keeps failing.
Games like Seasons after Fall →
Cinematic platformer with solo and co-op campaigns. Players shoot enemies and solve puzzles as a chicken to overthrow a penguin regime.
What players likedPlayers praise its originality and entertaining side-scrolling action, reminiscent of classic arcade shooters with a unique premise.
The catchControls are clunky and the shooting is too simple, so combat gets boring fast.
Games like Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken →
Metroidvania platformer about digging underground, exploring, and upgrading gear. It features combat and puzzle-solving in a subterranean world.
What players likedPlayers praise SteamWorld Dig 2 as a fantastic Metroidvania that improves upon its predecessor with a great mining and exploration loop.
The catchIt leans on precise platforming instead of digging, and the movement feels floaty.
Games like SteamWorld Dig 2 →
Rhythm-based auto-runner platformer with a focus on timing actions to music. Features vibrant visuals and a charismatic narrator.
What players likedPlayers praise its rhythmic precision platforming and unique levels, comparing it to other reactive runner games.
The catchThe levels are samey reskins, so nothing new shows up after the first half hour.
Games like BIT.TRIP Presents... Runner2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien →
Action-platformer where Shantae uses pirate gear to explore islands, fight monsters, and solve puzzles. It features a humorous tone and Metroidvania-style progression.
What players likedPlayers praise its Metroidvania platforming, comparing it to Mario, for its fantastic game feel, level design, and engaging pirate gear mechanics.
The catchConstant backtracking through the same areas, with navigation that often leaves you lost.
Games like Shantae and the Pirate's Curse →
Nihilumbra88% positive from 2,995 reviews201335% finish itDeck Playable
Nihilumbra is a 2D puzzle-platformer where players use colors to alter the environment and gain abilities. It features a dark, atmospheric narrative about escaping an encroaching void.
What players likedPlayers praise its unique narrative and puzzle-platforming, often comparing it to Limbo for its atmospheric storytelling and challenging gameplay.
The catchThe narrator talks over everything and keeps telling you what to think and feel.
Games like Nihilumbra →
The Cave87% positive from 2,904 reviews20133% finish itDeck Verified
This is a 2D puzzle-adventure game where players switch between three characters to solve environmental puzzles. It features a dark, humorous tone and a unique, seamless cave environment.
What players likedPlayers praise this charming puzzle-platformer, comparing it to games like Trine and Unravel, for its unique character abilities and replayability.
The catchConstant slow backtracking makes puzzles a chore, and it expects three playthroughs.
Games like The Cave →
Papo & Yo93% positive from 2,870 reviews201332% finish itDeck Playable
A narrative puzzle-adventure game where players use a monster's emotions to solve environmental puzzles. It's a surreal, personal story about friendship and addiction.
What players likedPlayers praise its unique, impactful experience, often comparing it to a profound journey rather than other games.
The catchThe puzzles boil down to running between highlighted switches and get boring fast.
Games like Papo & Yo →
Dreaming Sarah91% positive from 2,858 reviews201512% finish itDeck Verified
Surreal adventure platformer with puzzle elements. Explore Sarah's dream world, collect items, and talk to characters to help her wake up.
What players likedPlayers praise this Metroidvania for its surreal, dreamlike world, enjoyable exploration, and memorable soundtrack.
The catchExploration offers no direction, so players wander lost with no idea where to go.
Games like Dreaming Sarah →
This is a narrative-driven 2D action-adventure game with puzzle-solving and combat. Players explore a vibrant world, using diverse tools to overcome challenges and uncover a cosmic mystery.
What players likedPlayers praise its engaging story, unique characters, and colorful world, comparing it to games with good combat, movement, and puzzles.
The catchClunky, unpolished controls with no coyote time or input buffering fight you constantly.
Games like Phoenotopia: Awakening →
30XX90% positive from 2,783 reviews20236% finish itDeck Playable
Roguelike action platformer that rebuilds its levels, items and powers every run. Play Ace with combo techniques or Nina with Power Fusion, solo or in local and online co-op.
What players likedPlayers praise this Mega Man X-like roguelite for its balanced gameplay, Hades-style modifiers, and engaging story progression.
The catchIt lands as a messier, less polished step down from the earlier 20XX.
Games like 30XX →
Wavetale88% positive from 2,742 reviews202216% finish itDeck Playable
This is a story-driven action-adventure game where players walk on water and swing between buildings. It features exploration, combat, and character interaction in a decaying archipelago.
What players likedWavetale is a charming adventure, praised for its beautiful world, engaging story, and fantastic surfing traversal, reminiscent of Journey or Sly Cooper.
The catchCombat is one button and most of the game is repetitive travel with no challenge.
Games like Wavetale →
This is a 3D action-adventure game featuring combat and platforming. Players control two characters and use time manipulation for combat and traversal.
What players likedPlayers praise its innovative parkour and classic story, feeling like an epic, definitive conclusion to the trilogy.
The catchThe PC port is riddled with bugs and crashes, sometimes blocking progress entirely.
Games like Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones™ →
Valfaris83% positive from 2,729 reviews20192% finish itDeck Verified
Valfaris is a 2D action-platformer with a heavy metal aesthetic. Players blast through hordes of enemies with brutal weapons in a gore-filled, pixel-art world.
What players likedPlayers praise Valfaris as a challenging, improved successor to Slain, featuring gorgeous pixel art, a gloomy atmosphere, and great music.
The catchClunky controls lock aiming to eight directions and force you to stop moving to shoot.
Games like Valfaris →
This is a free-to-play retro-style platformer where players jump on enemies and solve puzzles to rescue a kidnapped love. It offers a casual, lighthearted adventure with smooth controls and well-paced checkpoints.
What players likedPlayers praise "Super Blue Boy Planet" as a small, challenging game reminiscent of 20-30 year old titles, offering a refreshing alternative to modern fast-paced games.
The catchRepetitive, annoying bosses with abrupt difficulty spikes
Games like Super Blue Boy Planet →
This is an action-exploration platformer with deep combat customization. Players explore ruins, fight demons and angels using swordsmanship and sorcery.
The catchClunky controls, constant stunlocks and knockback off platforms make it frustrating.
Games like Valdis Story: Abyssal City →
Stealth action game where players use heightened senses to outwit enemies. Offers choice between ghost or assassin playstyles with upgradeable tools and techniques.
What players likedPlayers praise its masterful stealth mechanics, gorgeous art style, and responsive controls, making it a top-tier side-scrolling action platformer.
The catchFrequent crashes and visual glitches, worst on Steam Deck and Linux.
Games like Mark of the Ninja: Remastered →
Fast-paced action platformer with gravity shifting. Navigate floating islands and water blobs as an octopus.
The catchThe constantly rotating camera leaves a lot of players dizzy and motion sick.
Games like Airscape - The Fall of Gravity →
2.5D puzzle platformer where players rearrange signs to navigate 3D environments. It features a unique sign-manipulation mechanic for progression.
What players likedPlayers praise its unique 2D/3D puzzle-platforming mechanics, often comparing it to "Continuity" or "Portal" for its clever design and engaging challenges.
The catchThe visual novelty wears off fast and the puzzles turn repetitive and dull.
Games like The Pedestrian →
La-Mulana80% positive from 2,607 reviews20136% finish itDeck Verified
This is a challenging retro-inspired action-adventure game focused on exploration and puzzle-solving within ancient ruins. Players navigate traps and monsters to uncover secrets, offering a demanding and immersive experience.
What players likedNo comparisons to other games are present in the provided review.
The catchCryptic puzzles and difficulty effectively require a guide
Games like La-Mulana →
This is a modern action-adventure platformer with a focus on transforming into different monsters to explore and solve puzzles. It features hand-drawn animation and a soundtrack from renowned composers.
What players likedPlayers praise its engaging and challenging gameplay, responsive controls, and crisp visuals, comparing it to classic Sega Master System games.
The catchEnemies and hazards are placed to push you into cheap, untelegraphed deaths.
Games like Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom →
Action-adventure platformer with shape-shifting mechanics and a retro-modern visual style. Explore, fight monsters, and transform into animals to break a curse.
What players likedPlayers praise this perfect remake as a nostalgic "love letter" to classic Arcade and Megadrive titles, offering accessible gameplay and lovely graphics.
The catchMovement is slippery and floaty, and hitboxes and knockback make deaths feel unfair.
Games like Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap →
This is a challenging action platformer with a one-button combat system where stylish kills earn checkpoints. It features intense platforming and beat-em-up action with a Lovecraftian horror feel.
What players likedPlayers praise its brutal difficulty and combat-platforming, reminiscent of masocore games.
The catchNearly every action shares one button, so deaths come from fighting the controls.
Games like They Bleed Pixels →
Angvik88% positive from 2,531 reviews201467% finish itDeck Unsupported
Platform action game with permadeath. Collect aids and fight creatures in a challenging world.
What players likedAngvik is a charming, unforgiving platformer reminiscent of Ghosts 'n Goblins and Dark Souls, praised for its satisfying challenge and replayability.
The catchNo saves or checkpoints means every death restarts the same levels from scratch.
Games like Angvik →
Combat platformer with fast-paced movement and unique character abilities. Explore stages, collect items, and battle aliens in an adventure.
What players likedPlayers praise Freedom Planet as a polished, fast-paced "Sonic-like" with cool combat, challenging bosses, and engaging level exploration.
The catchBoss fights spike difficulty with hard-to-dodge attack patterns
Games like Freedom Planet →
