Blacksad: Under the Skin similar games & best alternatives

Blacksad: Under the Skin - Trailer
Blacksad: Under the Skin - blacksad-under-the-skin_1.avif
Blacksad: Under the Skin - blacksad-under-the-skin_2.avif
Blacksad: Under the Skin - blacksad-under-the-skin_3.avif
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Blacksad: Under the Skin - blacksad-under-the-skin_5.avif
Blacksad: Under the Skin - blacksad-under-the-skin_6.avif

Blacksad: Under the Skin

Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 5, Mac, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch • 2019

Should you play it?

BLACKSAD: Under the Skin - A dark corruption scandal in the heart of the New York City's underworld for charismatic detective John Blacksad!

What works
  • Engaging noir story with multiple endings
  • Immersive jazz soundtrack and atmosphere
  • Meaningful player choices shaping character
  • Interesting anthropomorphic characters
  • Deduction mechanics add depth
Things to keep in mind
  • Clunky and slow controls
  • Technical issues and bugs
  • Unskippable cutscenes hinder replay
  • Limited exploration and linear progression
  • Some qtes frustrating and poorly balanced

What to play next

Top picks

Games that feel the closest overall

  • Sherlock Holmes The Awakened

  • Yesterday Origins

  • I Frog-ot

  • Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments

  • Chicken Police - Paint it RED!

  • Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter

  • AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES - nirvanA Initiative

  • AI: The Somnium Files

  • Grim Fandango Remastered

Search more ->

Hidden Gems

Less popular games with surprisingly high similarity

  • Mindlock - The Apartment

  • Simon the Sorcerer Origins

  • The 25th Ward: The Silver Case
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Similarity map

Explore nearby similar games and see why they’re close.

How to use the graph
Similarity map

Each dot is a game. They are arranged from the same motivation profile as in the “Why this game works” section below. Closer dots usually mean more similar reasons to play (exploration, competition, relaxation, etc.)—not that one game is “better” than another.

  • Purple star: this page’s game — everything on the map is relative to it.
  • 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 out and see more games.

Why don’t the axes read like a score? This view uses t-SNE: it only keeps who is close to whom. The scales are not “good to bad” or hours played—they separate groups on the map. Read distance between dots, not the axis numbers (hidden on purpose).

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

Why this game works

A motivational profile of the game, with the closest similar game for each player motivation.

  • Autonomy

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  • Domination

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  • Escapism

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    "Dark noir story and immersive atmosphere provide strong escape from reality."

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  • Expectation

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  • Experimenting

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  • Exploration

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  • Expression

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  • Fantasy

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  • Growth

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  • Health

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  • Idle

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  • Intimacy

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  • Leadership

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  • Relaxation

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  • Violence

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Last update: 16/07/2026