Cleo - a pirate's tale similar games & best alternatives

Cleo - a pirate's tale - Trailer
Cleo - a pirate's tale - cleo-a-pirate-s-tale_1.avif
Cleo - a pirate's tale - cleo-a-pirate-s-tale_2.avif
Cleo - a pirate's tale - cleo-a-pirate-s-tale_3.avif
Cleo - a pirate's tale - cleo-a-pirate-s-tale_4.avif
Cleo - a pirate's tale - cleo-a-pirate-s-tale_5.avif
Cleo - a pirate's tale - cleo-a-pirate-s-tale_6.avif

Cleo - a pirate's tale

PC (Microsoft Windows), Mac, Nintendo Switch • 2021

Should you play it?

Cleo is a solo-developed, top-down, pixel-art, retro, pirate adventure with a lot of nostalgic flair, humor and a linear story, inspired by the old Zelda games and the classic LucasArts adventure games.

What works

  • Charming pixel art and animation
  • Excellent voice acting
  • Engaging and well-written story
  • Accessible and enjoyable puzzles
  • Unique card mini-game (kraken fodder)

Things to keep in mind

  • Short game length
  • Some minor ui and control quirks
  • Mandatory luck-based mini-game sections
  • Few minor translation and text issues
  • Limited replayability beyond story

What to play next

Top picks

Games that feels the closest overall

  • Children of Silentown

  • The Darkside Detective

  • Loco Motive

  • Follow the meaning

  • Lucy Dreaming

  • The Darkside Detective: A Fumble in the Dark

Less thrilling

Games that feels like Cleo - a pirate's tale but with less suspense and thrill

  • Elroy and the Aliens

  • Darkestville Castle

  • The Inner World

  • Nelly Cootalot: The Fowl Fleet

  • The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition

  • FoxTail

More expressive

Games that feels like Cleo - a pirate's tale but with more self-expression and customization

  • A Tiny Sticker Tale

  • A Guidebook of Babel

  • Chaos on Deponia

  • Leisure Suit Larry - Wet Dreams Dry Twice

  • Edna & Harvey: The Breakout

  • NAIRI: Tower of Shirin

More intimate

Games that feels like Cleo - a pirate's tale but with more focus on close relationships

  • Mr. Saitou

  • Anna's Quest

  • Mercury Abbey

  • Night Reverie: Prologue

  • Evan's Remains

  • Kathy Rain

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).

Cleo - a pirate's tale: A very typical example of its motivational profile. Motivations that often define this kind of title include Survival, Violence, Competition, Thrill. It leans lower than usual among comparable games on Intimacy, Expression, Fellowship.

Last update: 03/08/2026