A Guidebook of Babel similar games & best alternatives

A Guidebook of Babel

PC (Microsoft Windows), Mac, Nintendo Switch • 2022

Should you play it?

A narrative-driven puzzle adventure game with the butterfly effect at its core. Board the Babel, a mysterious cruise ship that takes you on a whimsical journey to the afterlife. Use a special pen to help fellow travelers fulfill their wishes by rewriting the past, changing how the future unfolds.

What works

  • Unique butterfly effect mechanic
  • Engaging multi-perspective narrative
  • Charming hand-drawn art style
  • Thoughtful puzzle design with notebook system
  • Emotional and imaginative storytelling

Things to keep in mind

  • Slow pacing and some repetitive backtracking
  • Some players find puzzles too easy or hand-holding excessive
  • Translation and localization issues
  • Limited gameplay complexity and replayability
  • Some narrative elements and character portrayals controversial or underdeveloped

What to play next

Top picks

Games that feels the closest overall

  • A Tiny Sticker Tale

  • NAIRI: Tower of Shirin

  • Chaos on Deponia

  • Anna's Quest

  • Deponia: The Complete Journey

  • Edna & Harvey: The Breakout - Anniversary Edition

Less expressive

Games that feels like A Guidebook of Babel but with less self-expression and customization

  • Voodoo Detective

  • The Last Door: Season 2 - Collector's Edition

  • Deponia Doomsday

  • The Rise of the Golden Idol

  • The Darkside Detective: A Fumble in the Dark

  • VirtuaVerse

More violent

Games that feels like A Guidebook of Babel but with more combat and destruction

  • Edna & Harvey: Harvey's New Eyes

  • Fran Bow

  • Agatha Knife

  • Creepy Tale 3: Ingrid Penance

  • Metal Dead

  • The Hex

More fellowship-oriented

Games that feels like A Guidebook of Babel but with a stronger sense of community

  • Mondealy: Day One

  • FixFox

  • Rakuen

  • Mr. Saitou

  • Newfound Courage

  • HIVESWAP: ACT 1

Choose your own criteria ->

Similarity map

How to use the graph

Similarity map

Each dot is a game placed from its motivation profile relative to this page’s game. Direction shows which motivation differs most; distance along that axis shows how large the gap is.

  • Purple star: this page’s game at the centre — everything is relative to it.
  • Direction: each axis is a main motivational difference vs this game (e.g. more / less competitive).
  • Distance on an axis: how large that difference is (ring scales show +/− points).
  • Coloured chips: click to highlight games that mainly differ on that motivation; click again to reset.
  • Dotted line: link between this page’s game and the one selected for comparison.
  • Hover a dot to preview that game in the panel on the right; click to keep that comparison.
  • Scroll or double-click the chart to zoom.

How to read the map This is a polar difference map: direction = which motivation differs, and distance = how much (same units as the sidebar deltas).

A Guidebook of Babel: A very typical example of its motivational profile. Motivations that often define this kind of title include Survival, Violence, Competition, Thrill. Here, the score leans higher than usual among comparable games on Strategy, Fantasy. It leans lower than usual among comparable games on Fellowship.

Last update: 13/08/2026