In the Steampunk universe, steam is king and the glorified Victorian fashion of science fiction has never gone out of style. The movement has grown so big that it has become a pop culture movement all its own. There are books, movies, bands, and in fact steampunk versions of every aspect of pop culture you've ever loved (yes, even that one). And you can bet there are steampunk video games, with a range of titles spanning the entire genre and its many subcategories (for those who know the difference between clockpunk, atompunk, and dieselpunk).
But damn, we haven't compiled a list of what the genre has to offer yet! Here you will find the best steampunk games that you could play without being disappointed. Here is a list to give those who know steampunk but not video games and vice versa the opportunity to immerse themselves in an unforgettable retro futuristic universe.
| Name of the game | Description | Platforms |
|---|---|---|
| Machinarium | Puzzle-adventure game where you play as a little robot named Josef. | Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android |
| Syberia | Point-and-click adventure game following Kate Walker in a French town filled with mechanical toys. | Windows, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch |
| Sunless Sea | Strategy and survival game in an underground world inspired by Victorian fiction. | Windows, Mac |
| Final Fantasy VI | RPG set in an industrial steampunk world. | Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android |
| Valkyria Chronicles | Tactical role-playing game set in a dieselpunk universe inspired by World War II. | Windows, PS4, Nintendo Switch |
| Guns of Icarus Online | Multiplayer air combat game aboard steampunk airships. | Windows, Mac, Linux |
| Frostpunk | Management and survival game in an icy post-apocalyptic world. | Windows, PS4, Xbox One, Mac, iOS, Android |
| They Are Billions | Real-time strategy game in a post-apocalyptic world infested with zombies. | Windows |
| Dishonored | Stealth action game with supernatural powers and steampunk gadgets. | PS4, Xbox One, Windows |
| Minecraft (steampunk mod) | Construction game with steampunk mods allowing impressive creations. | Windows, Mac, Linux |
| BioShock Infinite | FPS in the floating city of Columbia, mixing steampunk elements and social criticism. | Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One, Windows |
| Black Skylands | Action-adventure game with aerial battles and exploration of steampunk worlds. | Windows, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch |
| The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles | Legal adventure game in a 19th century steampunk universe. | Windows, PS4, Nintendo Switch |
| Volcanoids | Survival game with exploration aboard a steam-powered drill ship. | Windows, Linux |
| SteamWorld Dig 2 | Platform and mining game in a colorful steampunk world. | Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One, Windows |
10-Machinarium
It’s tough being a little robot in the vast, dirty, and hostile industrial world of Machinarium. It’s especially bad when you wake up in a junkyard with no arms or legs (the steampunk equivalent of a bathtub full of ice with no kidneys) and quickly learn that a gang of evil robots wants to melt you down at the junkyard. Luckily, you have more computing power than they think, and your point-and-click powers are just what you need to bring down those piles of junk.
Everything in Machinarium runs like a well-oiled machine. In addition to using a simple but well-executed art style that makes its gritty cityscapes look beautiful, the interface is responsive and nimble, making exploring the world and solving puzzles a treat. Sure, some of the puzzles might be tricky, but nothing a clever little machinist couldn't solve.
Using mechanical and magical devices that suck up liquid and transform it into a fluid body (which I'm sure has a clear scientific explanation), Arkwright creates minions out of water, acid, or lava to do his bidding and repair the broken machines of his world. While there's no shortage of puzzle platformers out there, the delightfully clever gameplay, fun puzzles, and unique use of physics help it stand above other games in the genre.
9-Syberia
While Syberia strays from the concept of alternate history by placing itself firmly in the present, it only helps its steampunk elements stand out more—and trust me, they didn't need much help. In an effort to secure ownership of the toy factory for her law firm, Kate Walker travels to a small French town obsessed with mechanical toys, along with Lara Croft (uh... yeah). There, she meets an automaton that drives the train to the location of the factory's current owner, and she's forced to follow him if she wants to close the deal.
Syberia's period decorations, factory machinery, and metal man have made friends with everyone and could have been ripped from a good Sherlock Holmes remake, with the robots as a bonus (Sherobo Holmes, perhaps). Plus, it's very beautiful for a game made over ten years ago, and for a simple point & click, it's still a lot of fun to play.
8-Sunless Sea
Sunless Sea is a little game about a steamship that sails across the seven seas. Oh how charming! Yes it would be, except that the entire crew descends into a Lovecraftian nightmare filled with madness, death and cannibalism. Both literally and metaphorically... my dear, are you feeling sick?
Pulled from the darkest corners of Jules Verne and Lovecraft's Night Terrors, Sunless Sea tackles a side of steampunk you don't see much of, detailing what happens to your crew as they explore the oceans beyond their home of Fallen London (your first clue that something is going on). It sends you into strange ruined cities and graveyards of statues, and brings you into contact with evil monsters and machines that tear your crew's psyches to shreds. Sunless Sea sails straight into the darkest parts of the genre, and unfortunately for your crew, it does it very, very well.
7-Final Fantasy 6
A classic from the bygone SNES era, one look at the cover art shows any steampunk fan that they are in for a treat. A lovely lady in a wrought iron mech, overlooking a city of towering gothic towers and a hot air balloon. And you haven't even opened the box yet. Oh, this is going to be good.
Final Fantasy VI delivers on that aesthetic promise by being a veritable stew of anachronism, with medieval castles sporting industrial elements and armies battling it out in costumes that include giant mechs. The enemies fit the theme just as well, particularly a living steam engine called the Ghost Train (which, honestly, fights with its whistle) and a monster that’s literally called Machine. Oh, and it ends with a full-fledged opera for added baroque charm.
6-Valkyria Chronicles
While this turn-based RPG focuses more on the trappings of World War II than Victoria's reign (seriously, the combat system is even called BLiTZ), it has plenty of steam and fury in it. Based on the fantasy content of Europe during World War II, it is, to my knowledge, the most Dieselpunk game in video game history. Valkyria Chronicles is right up there with the anachronism that we steamers love.
Its weapons are equal parts high-tech and low-tech, the setting is distinctly old-school, and the teenagers who populate it have seemingly ridden a DeLorean in the 1930s and are trying to maintain their modern fashion sense. Combine this aesthetic with solid gameplay that creates an experience that is both challenging and fun, and you have a particularly tasty UFO.
5- Guns of Icarus
Being stuck on an airship with a crew of strangers makes Guns of Icarus Online one of the most exciting and exhilarating multiplayer experiences, but also one of the most nerve-wracking. On deck, everyone has a role to play: someone has to steer the bird, man its cannons, and make repairs when things catch fire and threaten to explode. If anyone dozes off or performs their duties haphazardly, everyone dies. But despite a few glitches and the occasional frustration of incoherent bickering between crew members, there’s an undeniable satisfaction in surviving an intense battle with your ship held together by duct tape and chicken wire.
Icarus Online’s battles take place in teams of two to four zeppelin-style airships in vast open-air arenas. Between the steampunk aesthetic of each ship and the harsh but eye-catching environments, the game simply lacks a deeper story. It’s disappointing that there isn’t one here. Instead, this multiplayer adventure offers familiar map-specific modes like deathmatch, king of the hill, checkpoint, and resource rush, but even without a story or adventure mode, orchestrating first-person ship-to-ship combat from the decks of massive flying ships makes for intense and exciting combat.
Guns of Icarus Online has a steampunk soul that few other games can match. Blasting enemy airships out of the sky while racing to help your crew save their own airship from being torn apart is unlike any other, thanks to the exceptional ship design, realistic environments, and the importance of being a well-oiled cog in a larger machine. There’s no getting away with it all here. It’s a very different and refreshing co-op experience. But despite its visual beauty and impressive execution, the limited gameplay and general bugs hold it all back. This beast has room to grow. When the bugs are on your side, expect big things.
4 -Frostpunk
Frostpunk, a new game from This War of Mine developers 11 Bit Studios. A game that takes a more serious (but still fantastical) approach to survival in a video game. The new title from the Polish studio, which is coming to Windows PC in 2017, focuses on "empathy and decision-making rather than optimization and resource management," according to its creators.
The world of Frostpunk imagines what culture and society would be like in a dangerous frozen world where steam technology was developed in order to fend off the inevitable cold. According to its developer, Frostpunk features "complex and challenging" gameplay where players are faced with difficult moral choices.
“This is a deeply serious game created for a mature player,” creative director Michal Drozdowski said in a statement. “We’re pushing the boundaries even further, but we’re not pointing fingers at reality in the same way. We’re putting human nature under a microscope to find out what happens when people need to stay alive.”
According to 11 Bit, Frostpunk is a strategy and management game, but is above all an "emotional" game that puts the player in a perilous situation, with moral choices to make that really influence the game. In short, an immersive and gripping game to try urgently.
3-They are Billions
Several days into your survival campaign, the undead wait outside your fortifications. Sound good? You've prepared yourself with a bunch of solid defenses, snipers at the ready, and ramparts ready to repel any attack. The intruders come knocking at the gates, and you cleanly repel them all. More will surely come, but you have time to rebuild your resistance... or so you thought. With your eyes and efforts focused on the front lines, a single zombie has slipped through the cracks in your southern wall and gained access to your hapless settlers. Because of this small oversight, a virulent epidemic spreads throughout your village, spreading from the inside out and turning your own forces against you. In a matter of moments, your great city is reduced to ashes. What do you do? Start over, of course!
A wide variety of units and buildings are available as the expansion progresses, and each outing is a different but delicious deluge of death. Raise an army of Rangers and Clockwork Titans to complement defensive ballistae and shock towers as you move through the tech tree. Once you've mastered defending against the standard, slow-moving, mixed-up zombies, enemy troops are randomly dropped, forcing you to prepare for fast-moving threats and colossal terrors. Most games become a delicate balance between expansion, economy, and military might; you have to be careful not to overextend yourself and risk a zombie incursion into your vast settlement. Building your fort is fun, even if your attempts mostly fail.
They Are Billions is an interesting mix of classic RTS, tower defense, and challenging survival, assuming you persevere through countless defeats.
2-Dishonored
Crouching atop a brick building, sneaking into a brothel, or engaging in fierce duels with creepy, masked inquisitors, it doesn't matter how you choose to play Dishonored. There are many, many ways to play the game, and you're sure to have a hell of a time playing through it again.
Dishonored is a game that gives players choices and places a high priority on solid, fun gameplay. A wide range of paths, tons of exploration, and the fascinating fictional city of Dunwall make this Victorian steampunk adventure rich in lore and tension. You can play as a non-lethal ghost or a crazed brawler or anywhere in between, and there’s no one way to complete a mission or get through any part of the city.
Tight stealth mechanics and an excellent melee combat system, combined with an array of magical powers, make Corvo, the fearsome assassin that the player embodies, a balanced character that can be played according to everyone's tastes.
But the real star of the show is the city itself, with its dark, zombie-infested alleyways and sewers, its whale-oil-powered steampunk technology, and its high brick walls. Dunwall is both beautiful and horrifying, much like Dishonored itself. Like the game, the city is fully realized. It feels very much like a real, inhabited place, and its inhabitants are fleshed out and believable (despite some occasionally awkward character animations).
The game isn't quite perfect. Sure, it could have lasted a bit longer, but that could have been easily fixed with a mod kit and user-generated content. Unfortunately, Arkane Studios and Bethesda have decided not to allow modding, which means that unless something changes, there won't be any user-generated adventures through Dunwall (or beyond) which is a shame.
More robust options for PC than on Xbox One, a few more hours of gameplay, and a better balance of Corvo's supernatural powers would have made this a perfect game. Nevertheless, it remains one of the few must-play titles in the retro-futuristic genre, and it's very good.
1-Minecraft
Minecraft, the popular construction game, is known for allowing players to let their imagination run wild and create worlds that are as amazing as they are varied. However, for players looking to think outside the box, playing a Steampunk Minecraft is an endless source of inspiration for truly breathtaking creations.
With its sophisticated mechanisms, wrought iron structures and elaborate ornaments, the steampunk style offers Minecraft players a veritable palette of possibilities for impressive and unique constructions.
Additionally, thanks to mods specially designed to add steampunk elements into the game, players can delve even deeper into this fascinating universe.
Whether you're a Minecraft fan or a steampunk enthusiast, the combination of the two worlds is a truly unique and exciting gaming experience. Don't wait any longer to add a touch of steam and gears to your Minecraft creations.
1-BioShock Infinite
Tied, but with a slight edge, this is the best steampunk game. If you haven't played BioShock, it's a crazy FPS with a unique atmosphere. You juggle between weapons and superpowers in a seemingly endless series of fights with increasingly tough opponents.
The corridors in this FPS are wide, often multi-level, and packed with weapons and enemies on multiple floors. There is almost never just one way to emerge victorious from a shootout; the number of tactical options available to the player is large enough to provide hours of gameplay. I could go into detail about the mechanics of the game, or the number of battles where using a hook and rail adds another set of options, but that's not BioShock Infinite's main draw.
Its main appeal is wrapped up in its story and the less you know before starting the game, the better you will enjoy it. Without spoilers the plot facts are as follows. Players take on the role of former Pinkerton Booker De Witt who is tasked with rescuing a young woman named Elizabeth from a fantastical flying city called Columbia. The year is 1912 and all the racist and religious bigotry of the time is on full display. It's a trick that Irrational pulls off so well. They immerse the player in an otherworldly environment informed by historical social conventions and then showcase the ugliest side of humanity.
BioShock Infinite is similar to its predecessor in that it offers a multi-layered narrative. Follow the game's story to its conclusion and you'll probably come away satisfied, perhaps ready to take it on its super hardcore 1999 difficulty. But read between the lines. Apply your experience as a game player who can recognize the pitfalls and signs to ensure the game you're playing outpaces your expectations.
Well, thanks for reading. I'm sure these games will keep you entertained for many hours in exciting Steampunk worlds.