Receiver similar games & best alternatives

Receiver

Linux, PC (Microsoft Windows), Mac • 2013

Should you play it?

Receiver was created for the 7-day FPS challenge to explore gun handling mechanics, randomized levels, and unordered storytelling. Armed only with a handgun and an audio cassette player, you must uncover the secrets of the Mindkill in a building complex infested with automated turrets and hovering shock drones.

What works

  • Unique and realistic gun mechanics
  • High tension and suspense
  • Challenging and rewarding skill development
  • Atmospheric cyber-noir setting
  • Randomized maps and replayability

Things to keep in mind

  • Limited content and enemy variety
  • Poor optimization and bugs
  • Steep learning curve
  • Lack of social or multiplayer features
  • Repetitive environments and objectives

What to play next

Top picks

Games that feels the closest overall

  • Viscerafest

  • Zardy's Maze

  • Heavy Bullets

  • SiN Gold

  • HOLE

  • They Killed Your Cat

More expressive

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

  • Haydee

  • BRUTALISTICK VR

  • PAPERHEAD EP.0

  • Beyond Citadel

  • SULFUR

  • Selaco

More fantastical

Games that feels like Receiver but with more imaginative fiction

  • Eldritch

  • Skin Deep

  • Ion Fury

  • Spirits of Xanadu

  • The spy who shot me™

  • Beyond Sunset

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).

Receiver: Less representative of its motivational profile, with noticeable differences. Motivations that often define this kind of title include Violence, Survival, Fellowship, Intimacy. It leans lower than usual among comparable games on Fantasy, Expression, Relaxation.

Last update: 03/08/2026