EXAPUNKS similar games & best alternatives

EXAPUNKS - Trailer
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EXAPUNKS

Linux, PC (Microsoft Windows), Mac • 2018

Should you play it?

The year is 1997. You used to be a hacker, but now you have the phage. You made a deal: one hack, one dose. There’s nothing left to lose… except your life.

What works

  • Deep and challenging programming puzzles
  • Immersive cyberpunk story and atmosphere
  • High replayability with optimization and multiplayer
  • Well-designed tutorial and documentation
  • Strong community and user-generated content support

Things to keep in mind

  • Steep learning curve for non-programmers
  • Limited social and cooperative gameplay
  • Can be frustrating due to difficulty
  • Requires focused attention, not casual play
  • Some players find story and dialog limited

What to play next

Top picks

Games that feels the closest overall

  • SHENZHEN I/O

  • SpaceChem

  • Opus Magnum

  • Offspring Fling!

  • MOLEK-SYNTEZ

  • Slime-san: Superslime Edition

Less status-driven

Games that feels like EXAPUNKS but with less focus on status and recognition

  • Clockwork Cleanup

  • Mimic Logic

  • Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo

  • tERRORbane

  • Modulus: Factory Automation

  • Isles of Sea and Sky

Less fantastical

Games that feels like EXAPUNKS but with less imaginative fiction

  • Silicon Zeroes

  • Turing Complete

  • SIC-1

  • Kaizen: A Factory Story

  • ABI-DOS

  • TIS-100

Choose your own criteria ->

From the same developer

From the same developer, ranked by motivational fit.

  • SHENZHEN I/O

  • Opus Magnum

  • SpaceChem

  • MOLEK-SYNTEZ

  • Last Call BBS

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).

EXAPUNKS: 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 Status. It leans lower than usual among comparable games on Violence, Survival.

Last update: 03/08/2026