LISA: The Painful similar games & best alternatives

LISA: The Painful - Trailer
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LISA: The Painful - lisa-the-painful_2.avif
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LISA: The Painful - lisa-the-painful_6.avif

LISA: The Painful

Linux, PC (Microsoft Windows), Mac • 2014

Should you play it?

The miserable journey of a broken man...

What works

  • Deep and impactful story
  • Unique dark humor
  • Challenging tactical combat
  • Large cast of memorable characters
  • Immersive post-apocalyptic atmosphere

Things to keep in mind

  • Punishing difficulty and permadeath
  • Some players may find themes too dark or disturbing
  • Lack of map or guidance can cause confusion
  • Slow pacing early in the game
  • Some visual and technical glitches

What to play next

Top picks

Games that feels the closest overall

  • Mewgenics

  • Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass

  • Kingdoms of the Dump

  • Dark Deity 2

  • Epic Battle Fantasy 5

  • Epic Battle Fantasy 4

Less leadership-focused

Games that feels like LISA: The Painful but with less leadership over others

  • Changed

  • The Hex

  • Squishy the Suicidal Pig

  • Underhero

  • FOS

  • House

More fellowship-oriented

Games that feels like LISA: The Painful but with a stronger sense of community

  • In Stars And Time

  • Super Lesbian Animal RPG

  • Ikenfell

  • Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling

  • DELTARUNE

  • Look Outside

Less social

Games that feels like LISA: The Painful but with less teamwork and cooperation

  • Doom & Destiny

  • HorrorVale

  • Epic Battle Fantasy 3

  • Knights of Pen and Paper 2

  • The Albino Hunter (Original)

  • Sakura Gozen

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).

LISA: The Painful: Broadly representative of its motivational profile, with a few distinct shifts. 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, Cooperation. It leans lower than usual among comparable games on Relaxation.

Last update: 03/08/2026