29 Top-Down Games That Are Out of This World

Gaming as a whole has evolved a lot over the generations of consoles, handhelds, and yes, PC capabilities. But, that doesn’t mean that some of what was done in the past should be “left in the past”. Look at the top down genre for example. At first, it was the “best way” to make fulfilling and expansive games. And now? They are still a great genre full of memorable titles!

#29 Age of Mythology: Retold

Platform: PC X/S
Release Date: July 12, 2024

Steam | Xbox

Titles like Age of Mythology: Retold are meant to be enjoyed in the top-down perspective because they allow you to see more of the map, and thus make your next moves more carefully.

Within this title, you’ll pick a civilization based not only on who you want to be, but the very gods and monsters you want backing you up as you journey and expand through the world. You can use these godly and monstrous skills and summons to help aid your empire or to help smite your rivals when they pop up.

The clashes you’ll be involved in will be worthy of legend. Just make sure you’re on the right side of that legend, okay?

#28 Hades 2

Platform: PC
Release Date: May 6, 2024

Steam 

Sometimes, you just love that there’s a sequel to one of the best games ever made; as you know, it’ll likely follow up on everything the first one did but put new twists on it. Sure enough, Hades 2 feels exactly what a true sequel to the beloved top-down roguelike should be. One of the key twists is that you’re now the daughter of Hades, and it’s your mission to work your way through hordes of enemies not to defy your father, but to save him!

With new powers from the gods and new romances you can undergo, there are plenty of ways to play and enjoy this title.

#27 Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor

Platform: PC
Release Date: February 14, 2024

Steam 

If you were a fan of the original title, but you don’t want to risk working with “inferior dwarves” once again, you’ll want to try out Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor. In the game, you’ll still have access to all the classes and abilities of the original dwarven party, with the twist that you can house them all in yourself.

Yep, you’ll be a one dwarf army that will head down to the planet Hoxxes to try and get the various minerals and materials that lurk deep within it. You’ll need all the power you can get, given that there are plenty of bugs who want to take a bite out of you.

Use both auto-gunning turrets and powers to set up your line of defense so you can get the job done and get paid.

#26 Brotato

Platform: PC JUNE 23, 2023
Release Date: SWITCH AUGUST 03, 2023

Steam | Nintendo

While not as popular as before, thanks to modern technology innovations, the top-down shooter is still a classic genre many people enjoy. In fact, thanks to certain “survivor” titles, one could make the fair argument that it’s going through a bit of a resurgence. One title that is banking off of that is Brotato.

The title puts you as the titular Brotato, who comes from Potato World, because, of course, he does. But Brotato is not having a good time as he’s crash-landed on a world full of deadly creatures! Now, the potato must fight back with various weapons to try and last long enough to get rescued.

Do you think you can survive this task?

#25 20 Minutes Till Dawn

Platform: PC
Release Date: JUNE 08, 2023

Steam

It must sound like an easy thing, right? To play a game for twenty minutes and not lose? But in 20 Minutes Till Dawn, you’ll find out really quickly why nothing in that game comes easy.

Your task is simple: you’ll pick a character from a roster and then give them certain “builds” to outfit them with weapons and abilities. Once the game starts, you’ll be overrun by monsters and must kill enough of them to last the time limit.

The better you do, the more you can upgrade your stuff. Even if you fail, you can pass on what you’ve gotten to the next character and make them better.

#24 Big Ambitions

Platform: PC
Release Date: March 10, 2023

Steam

Have you ever wanted to run a business? Have you ever wanted to run multiple businesses? Have you ever dreamed of being so rich and powerful that you could basically take over New York City? If you said “yes” to any of these, you’d want to get Big Ambitions. This simulator title puts you as someone on the literal bottom of the totem pole, but you have dreams of making your way up it! You’ll start building businesses and profiting from your work as best you can. How you take things and where you go next are up to you! The more you do, the more you can achieve. Just make sure that the money keeps flowing it!

#23 Darkwood

Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, etc.

Survival horror games aren’t exempt from being top-down ones. And Darkwood is a game that embraces this genre and tries to turn it on its head. Because in this horror title, you’ll spend your days roaming around the world and getting supplies so that you can last the nights.

Because in the dark there are terrors…

The world will adapt to you, and will be constantly changing as you explore it. Find what you need, learn more about what this world is, and shape it with every day you survive in…if you survive that is.

#22 Ape Out

Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows, macOS, Macintosh operating systems

Definitely one of the more unique games on this list, Ape Out is defined as a “wildly intense and colorfully stylized smash ‘em up about primal escape, rhythmic violence, and frenetic jazz.”

So yeah, it’s that.

In the game, you’ll be trying to make your escape, but the world builds around you as you try to get out. It’ll be up to you to unleash your “primal instincts” in order to survive not just the people trying to stop you, but the world as it tries to trap you.

Think you can make it out of this visually-stylish title?

#21 Heat Signature

Platform: Microsoft Windows

In Heat Signature, you play as a person who is tasked with sneaking onto ships to complete “impossible missions”.

These missions include robbing ships while they’re at the dock, or going and taking out special VIPS because your “employers” need them gone. Or maybe it’ll be to rescue a friend in need. Either way, you’ll need to be smart about how you handle the mission.

With a variety of gadgets at your disposal, you’ll work your way through each mission and try to survive. The twist here is if things go south, you can pause the game in real-time and explore how you can figure your way out of it.

Jump in and see just how good you are.

#20 Solasta: Crown of the Magister

Platforms: macOS, Microsoft Windows, Macintosh operating systems

For those wanting a deep team experience, Solasta: Crown of the Magister is for you. In the game you’ll play as four characters, each with their own special skills and traits that complement one another, and you’ll go through tabletop style adventures!

The world of the game is deep, and you can make it as fun as you want as you go through your journeys!

As if that’s not enough, you can make your own dungeons and see where it takes you!!

#19 Bloons TD Battles 2

Platforms: Android, iOS, Microsoft Windows, Macintosh operating systems

Who doesn’t love Tower Defense?

In the game Bloons TD Battles 2, you’ll need to be a hero and put your skills to the test in order to outclass enemies in a frenetic battle for supremacy!

You’ll face off against players close to your skill levels and see who comes out on top. 22 Monkey Towers with 15 unique upgrades each to customize your build and ensure you have the best defenses and offenses out there!

#18 Hero Siege

Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Android, iOS, Microsoft Windows, Linux, Macintosh operating systems

Want an awesome hack-n-slash adventure that will give you all sorts of fun and replayability? Well you’re in luck! Because in Hero Siege, that’s exactly what you’ll get to do!

You’ll have the option between 17 different classes of characters to use, and then as you hack and slash and slice and dice your way through enemies you’ll be able to grow them, build their abilities, and so on.

Add that to a randomly generated world, and a ton of boss fights? And you got yourself quite an adventure.

#17 The Ascent

Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Series S, Microsoft Windows

While a certain OTHER Cyberpunk title is not doing so hot, The Ascent is one that you can dive into right now and have a VERY fun time with.

Because you play as a character who is literally owned by a corporation in a world turned cyber. But one day, the corporation shuts down, and the district you are in is in immense dangers.

You must now customize yourself and battle across the district in order to learn the truth and survive all that’s coming. It’s time to see what you are without the corporation looking after you…

#16 Children Of Morta

Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Linux, Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, macOS, Classic Mac OS

In most RPG titles, you play as a singular hero, but in Children Of Morta, you play as a whole family of them. Doesn’t that sound fun?

Your family is tasked with fighting corruption, and you must do it together! But who you take on your “family adventure” is up to you. And yet, as you fight together, you grow together! Pick the family members you think best stands a chance against evil, and fight with your friends in Co-Op to get the job done!

With a deep world, lots of enemies, and a fun family, this is going to be special.

#15 Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number

Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Android, Xbox, PC

Don’t worry, we’ll be talking about the original game a little later, but for now, let’s talk Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number.

This game follows the story of the original, and builds it up to a crescendo you need to see to believe. Mainly because you’ll be following different factions as they try and survive the onslaught that is coming. You’ll need to think fast in intense combat sequences, all the while enjoying a riveting soundtrack.

Find out what it takes to survive in this version of Miami, and more importantly, IF you can survive in this version of Miami.

#14 Crypt of the Necrodancer

Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Android, PlayStation 4, iOS

Crypt of the Necrodancer is a game that amazed many with how fun and unique it is.

Because this title blends music, rhythm game mechanics, and a deep roguelike experience to give you something you’ve likely never played before. Here you’ll play as one of 15 different characters with unique abilities as you try and make it through dungeons while timing your movements to the beats of the music.

Each journey through the crypt can be as special as you want it to be, especially with dozens of tracks to jam on as you go play.

Oh, and did we mention the Legend of Zelda crossover? Because it has that too!

#13 Divinity Original Sin 2

Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, macOS, Microsoft Windows

Divinity Original Sin 2 was a project made to give players not just a deep world, story, and characters, but the freedom to go about things however they want. Starting with their character creation where they can be a flesh-eating Elf, an Imperial Lizard or an Undead, or something else entirely!

You can play by yourself or make a team of characters as you explore and battle across a vast world where there are “endless ways to interact with the world”. The turn-based combat is just as deep with over 200 skills to learn and various ways to prove how strong you are.

Go and make this world what you want it to be.

#12 Enter The Gungeon

Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, macOS, PC, etc

Easily one of the most beloved dungeon crawlers around, Enter The Gungeon is a title that embraces the “Bullet Hell” moniker as you partake in a group of four characters who are trying to literally “enter the gungeon” in order to survive long enough to get the ultimate prize: a gun that can kill your past.

The game is constantly changing as you make your way through it, with an evolving dungeon that grows and becomes more challenging the more you play. Whether you play alone or in co-op, you’re in for a very fun and very over the top challenge.

All the while, you’ll get to learn more about your band of characters, and have them wield guns that are as powerful as they are insane.

#11 Wasteland 2

Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, Linux, macOS, Macintosh operating systems

Made by the team behind the original Fallout titles, and ones who made this game happen via Kickstarter (in glorious fashion, mind you), Wasteland 2 is for those who want a deep and immersive top-down RPG experience, and beyond.

You are part of a ranger squad who must wade through a literal wasteland, one that is so packed with content it’ll take you over 80 hours to complete. But how you complete it is up to you.

Every choice you make, big or small, will affect how the game world treats you, and no two players will try things the exact same way. So make your move, cowboy, and see where it lands you.

#10 Torment: Tides of Numenera

Platforms: PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, Linux, macOS, Classic Mac OS

You are a new life in the body of an old god. One who has fallen from orbit into 9th world and must escape a terrible creature known as the Sorrow, all the while making allies (or potential enemies) in your quest of survival and truth.

And that’s just the overview of the game!

Torment: Tides of Numenera is a game that prides itself on its freshness. It gives you an incredibly deep story, fun characters to interact with, a “new take on combat”, and a replayability element that’ll make you want to do different playthroughs just to see what happens.

If you’re looking for a truly rich experience in all matters of gameplay and story, this is the title for you.

#9 Hotline Miami

Platforms: Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Android, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Stadia

Easily one of the more…unique top-down experiences on this list, Hotline Miami blew people’s minds with its dark and brutal take on not just action, but story and the locale of Miami.

In the game you play as an anti-hero who is mowing down their way through the criminal underworld of 1989 Miami. But as you continue on, you’re going to question all that is going on, and why you’re doing it.

You’ll need to be smart to work your way through the various fights, and do your best to keep your sanity as you try to discover the truth.

If you want to find it out that is.

#8 Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past

Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy Advance, Wii, New Nintendo 3DS, Wii U

The first Legend of Zelda game set things up for all that was to come, but it was A Link To The Past that proved that this franchise was going to be a game-changer.

Originally on the SNES (and then ported to plenty of places), the game features you once again as Link, who is tasked by Princess Zelda to save her and others from a very dark threat. But where this game shines is its massive overworld. In fact, it has two of them.

Between the light world and the dark world you’ll travel, fight monsters, get items to advance, and more, all so you can save the day.

This is one of the all-time classic video games, and while it’s not remastered (like a certain title coming out), you’ll still enjoy this if you play it.

#7 The Binding of Isaac

Platforms: Microsoft Windows, Linux, Macintosh operating systems

Another classic from the modern era, The Binding of Isaac was one of the games that very much catapulted the Rogue-like genre to new heights.

In it you’ll play as a young child named Isaac, who must flee his mother before being sacrificed, and in the process go through a procedurally generated world full of monsters and terrors you must defeat and avoid.

The game has been remade and improved upon a bunch of times, so you’ll find there’s plenty to enjoy as you go through this nightmarish quest for freedom!

#6 Fire Emblem Awakening

Platforms: 3DS

Most people forget that the Fire Emblem series is top-down for the most part. Mainly because when you get out onto the field of battle, you’re observing the world from above so you can move your units.

Fire Emblem Awakening on the Nintendo 3DS was the title that saved this now very lucrative franchise. You play as “Robin” (or whomever you want to name them) who are found without their memory by Chrom and the peacekeeping group known as the Shepherds.

You will go on a deep journey of continental conflict, betrayals, mysterious arrivals, and more. With a vast variety of party members, you can build your fighting force how you want, then dispatch them into tense battles that’ll prove your strategy mettle.

The game sent shockwaves when it arrived, and so you better get it before it’s gone from the Nintendo eShop!

#5 Stardew Valley

Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Android, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, etc

While some out there might put this at the No.1 spot (Due to its large and dedicated player base), we’re lowering it a bit because it’s not a game for everyone.

Stardew Valley puts you in the role of a young man who has inherited a farm from a family member and must now make a new life for themselves.

What you do there is up to you. You can make your farm into something special, or, focus on relationships of the nearby townspeople and eventually marry one of them. The day-by-day cycle of gameplay has sucked in SO MANY people over the years that this game is as relevant now as it was when it first released.

Sure, many won’t want to dedicate their time to this title, but those that do? Have an experience for a literal lifetime.

#4 Chrono Trigger

Platforms: Console, PC

Without a doubt one of the greatest RPGs of all time, Chrono Trigger puts you in the roll of, well, Chrono, a young man who gets swept up in a massive adventure that puts you through time and space in order to try and save it all.

This game is known for its fun characters, deep narrative, and its vast amount of endings depending on how you play the game. If you haven’t played it yet, there are plenty of ways to try it out, so do so!!!

#3 Hades

Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, PC

Now HERE is a game we know many of you have enjoyed recently. Hades was a title from Supergiant games (a very proven developer) and they turned the top-down dungeon crawler into something truly majestic.

You play as the Prince of the Underworld (the Greek version at least) via Zagreus, and your mission is simple: escape your father’s realm.

But, getting out is anything BUT simple. You’ll need to be equipped for what’s out there, and that means constantly adapting so that you can escape.

This game features a beautiful art style, tight and action-packed gameplay, a fully voice-acted cast of Greek gods and beyond, and a gameplay loop that’ll literally have you doing more with each run. This title was a Game of the Year contender when it came out, so if you haven’t yet, hop in and find out why.

#2 Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening

Platforms: Nintendo Switch

No, we’re not talking about the original Game Boy title (though obviously that was great too), rather, we’re talking about the remaster that was put onto the Nintendo Switch and was a massive hit.

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening puts you in the shoes of the legendary hero, but with a big twist. After a massive storm, you end up on an island full of people, monsters, and a god known as the Wind Fish. It’s your job to go and wake the Wind Fish up in order to get away from the island.

The remaster makes perfect use of not just the Nintendo Switch, but modern graphics to make the isle of the Wind Fish more beautiful than ever. The gameplay is as tight as you would imagine, and the story is…well…let’s just say it’s very memorable.

So learn the truth, awaken the Wind Fish, and enjoy this incredible adventure that literally holds up after decades of life!

#1 Pillars of Eternity

Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, macOS, Microsoft Windows, Linux, Macintosh operating systems

Arguably the greatest top down game of all time, or at the very least of the modern age of gaming, Pillars of Eternity is a top-down RPG experience that is so famous that it got a sequel that honestly did just as well via Deadfire.

The game was made by Obsidian, the team behind Fallout New Vegas and they went to great lengths to deliver a memorable RPG experience full of choices, action, and old-school thrills in a fantasy world. Pillars of Eternity is vast, your choices can change the world and there’s a large world for you be a part of!

So dive on in, and you’ll see that it’s going to be a while before you get out again…