Cold Waters similar games & best alternatives

Cold Waters - Trailer
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Cold Waters

PC (Microsoft Windows), Mac • 2017

Should you play it?

Spiritual Successor to the Microprose Classic “Red Storm Rising”.

What works

  • Realistic and immersive submarine warfare
  • Challenging and rewarding gameplay
  • Active and supportive modding community
  • Good value especially on sale
  • Steep learning curve with growth opportunities

Things to keep in mind

  • No multiplayer or cooperative play
  • Limited base game content without mods
  • Some ai detection inconsistencies
  • Graphics and models somewhat dated
  • Campaign missions can feel repetitive

What to play next

Top picks

Games that feels the closest overall

  • Task Force Admiral - Vol.1: American Carrier Battles

  • Graviteam Tactics: Tunisia 1943

  • Victory At Sea

  • Regiments

  • Men of War: Red Tide

  • Battlestations: Midway

More fantastical

Games that feels like Cold Waters but with more imaginative fiction

  • Silent Hunter® III

  • Rogue Waters

  • The Pirate: Caribbean Hunt

  • Airship: Kingdoms Adrift

  • Space Reign

  • Waves of Steel

More expressive

Games that feels like Cold Waters but with more self-expression and customization

  • NavalArt

  • HighFleet

  • No Plan B

  • War on the Sea

  • Sea Power : Naval Combat in the Missile Age

  • Ultimate Admiral: Age of Sail

More social

Games that feels like Cold Waters but with more teamwork and cooperation

  • Dangerous Waters

  • Faces of War

  • AI War 2

  • World of Sea Battle

  • Destroyer: The U-Boat Hunter

  • Boat Crew

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).

Cold Waters: Less representative of its motivational profile, with noticeable differences. Motivations that often define this kind of title include Violence, Survival, Fellowship, Intimacy. Here, the score leans higher than usual among comparable games on Leadership. It leans lower than usual among comparable games on Fantasy, Expression.

Last update: 04/08/2026