16 Games Like Danganronpa
I’m a huge Danganronpa fan – it’s one of my favorite games and luckily for people like us, there are many games like Danganronpa!
If you love games full of mystery, twist and turns, suspense, death games and more, here I recommend some of my favorite ones:
TL;DR: List of Games Like Danganronpa
- Whispers of the Luminaries
- Zero Escape Series
- Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
- Famicom Detective Club
- Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE
- Your Turn To Die -Death Game By Majority-
- Buried Stars
- Raging Loop
- Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo
- 428: Shibuya Scramble
- Tokyo Chronos
- Needy Streamer Overload
- G-Senjou no Maou (The Devil on G String)
- Higurashi When They Cry
- Gnosia
- Exile Election
1. Whispers of the Luminaries
Whispers of the Luminaries is an idol-themed murder mystery visual novel, inspired by Danganronpa.
Although there is a lot of reading (being a visual novel), there is gameplay reminiscent of Danganronpa such as:
- Point and click investigations
- Deduction phases
- Interviewing and obtaining clues
- Free time events + relationship meter
During the free time events, you get to choose to hang out with the characters and build your trust, or devote your time unraveling the mystery in your office.
Whispers of the Luminaries on Steam
2. Zero Escape Series
Zero Escape is a franchise of ‘life or death escape room’ games, consisting of 3 games:
- 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors (my favorite)
- Virtue’s Last Reward (still very good)
- Zero Time Dilemma (decent, but was disappointed with this one)
The Zero Escape series gets mentioned alongside Danganronpa alot and for good reason – it’s a murder mystery where a group of people wake up trapped in an area where they must fight for survival. Both stories have an overarching mystery, moments of suspense, mind-blowing plot twists and a cast of quirky characters.
Zero Escape is more focused on point and click puzzle-solving gameplay (escape room style), whereas Danganronpa has the class trials and investigation. Even though the gameplay isn’t as exciting as the class trials, I felt the characters in Zero Escape were more well-written and the overall story was superior.
Zero escape is also available on various platforms including mobile.
3. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
Another game that gets frequently mentioned alongside Danganronpa is Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. If you enjoy the trial aspect of Danganronpa, you’ll likely enjoy the Ace Attorney series. These games focus on crime scene investigation and courtroom drama where you play as a defense attorney fighting to prove your client’s innocence.
In Ace Attorney, the crimes/trials are even tougher to crack than Danganronpa, perfect for those who love a convoluted mystery and high difficulty. The trials at the start might seem easy for an experienced Danganronpa player, but they get more and more difficult as you progress.
4. Famicom Detective Club
One of the early pioneers of text-based detective games – featuring point & click investigations, interviews/interrogations and exploration. This game was one of the inspirations for Danganronpa and is a must-play for detective mystery fans.
There are two games from this franchise: The Missing Heir and The Girl Who Stands Behind. Both games have been remade for Nintendo Switch with impressive art, music and voice acting. If you don’t have a Switch, you can just watch a lets play on Youtube.
This game is seriously underrated.
5. Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE
Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE is a Nintendo Switch exclusive (with no plans for PC release) made by the same people who made Danganronpa: Too Kyo Games alongside Spike Chunsoft. Looking at the music and artstyle, I’m sure you’ll notice the similarities.
In this game, you play as an amnesiac detective in-training where you must solve a series of cases. Each chapter is its own unique case, similar to Ace Attorney. Raincode’s gameplay has many similarities to Danganronpa, especially the “reasoning deathmatches,” which are similar to non-stop debates.
I personally found the mystery too easy and the plot twists weren’t as mindblowing. However, if you love Danganronpa, there’s a good chance you’ll still enjoy Raincode.
6. Your Turn To Die -Death Game By Majority-
You can tell this death game was inspired by Danganronpa, but it’s not just another Danganronpa rip-off. It has many unique elements to it that make it a unique game, in particular, the cast of characters are fleshed out way better than Danganronpa. Once a character dies, they aren’t simply forgotten like in many death games, but they affect the rest of the characters.
If you’re looking for a death game with well-fleshed out characters who aren’t total idiots, trials like Ace Attorney/Danganronpa and death by voting, you might even enjoy this game more than Danganronpa.
7. Buried Stars
Basically K-Pop meets Danganronpa.
The game focuses on a small cast of characters – trapped during an accident for a TV reality show. Although it doesn’t have the crazy plot and twists of Danganronpa, what it does have is realistic, mature characters. Not the typical over-the-top characters you tend to see in anime.
If you like the idea of Danganronpa, but with a more mature cast of characters prefer a more mature cast of characters, you might want to look into Buried Stars.
8. Raging Loop
Raging Loop is a visual novel combining horror and psychological elements. It’s basically the game “werewolf” or “mafia” turned into a story, and very much like Danganronpa – there’s a lot of deceit, suspense and mystery.
In Raging Loop, you can make decisions that influences the story. It comes with a branching flow chart so you can see the consequences of your actions. If you want a darker version of Danganronpa, this suits the bill.
9. Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo
Paranormasight is a supernatural mystery adventure game with lots of twist and turns – perfect for a Danganronpa fan.
It’s one of the few visual novels that does an amazing job with its cinematography – creating an eerie atmosphere and at times, building tension and horror with zooms, closeups and tracking shots. It’s also one of the few visual novels where you can drag the screen around.
Although this might seem like a horror game, it’s more of a mystery – and a brilliant one at that. It’s one of those stories that ties things up brilliantly together at the end. I obviously can’t say too much without spoiling it.
10. 428: Shibuya Scramble
I know, I know. You’re a Danganronpa fan and that means you’re looking for anime games. Not real-life acting.
However, if you can get past that, you’ll certainly enjoy 428 Shibuya Scramble. In 428, the story unfolds through a series of live-action photographs, text, and voice acting – basically a visual novel with real life photographs instead of hand-drawn anime art.
It’s unconventional, but the story is quite good – with an engaging mystery, many plot twists (akin to Zero Escape and Danganronpa) and choices that can influence the outcome of the story. You play from the perspectives of multiple characters, hopping between timeline to timeline, kind of similar to Zero Escape if you’ve played that.
Overall, Danganronpa has made a monumental impact on the world of video games, and luckily for us, there are many games inspired by them. Every game on this list is something I’d recommend if you’re a Danganronpa fans, so make sure you check them all out!
11. Tokyo Chronos
If you have a VR headset, Tokyo Chronos is a must-play. The game puts you into the shoes of Kyosuke Sakurai, a high schooler who woke up in a Shibuya, Tokyo with a twist – the place is a complete ghost town except for 7 other people.
As people begin disappearing throughout the story, Sakurai finds himself in a position where he must solve the mystery to get out of this world.
The story has a few branching points and 15 hours of story time. It has a deep focus on character relationships with very well fleshed out characters. The mystery gets so intriguing that by the end of it, you’ll find yourself marathoning through it.
Related: Tokyo Chronos true ending guide
12. Needy Streamer Overload
Play as the manager of a mentally deranged streamer, OMGkawaiiAngel, looking to become the number streamer. Your job is to manage her day-to-day activities and grow her following.
Needy Streamer Overload features free-time events similar to Danganronpa where you can choose where to go, how to spend your time, when to stream, what topics to stream about and more. There’s also a stat management component where you must manage her stress, affection and mental darkness levels while making sure she builds enough followers.
Like Danganronpa, it takes a dark turn and there are dozens of endings. Although there is no mystery or killing, many fans of Danganronpa have come to appreciate this game.
13. G-Senjou no Maou (The Devil on G String)
Don’t let the name or artwork fool you. This is considered one of the best thrillers in visual novel history. Imagine Death Note, but on steroids.
If you enjoy mind games and lots of insane plot twists akin to Danganronpa (but even better), you’ll love G-Senjou no Maou. The suspense will keep you on the edge of your seat.
The only thing I should warn you is the first few hours can be really slow – mainly your typical anime slice of life stuff with a slowly building plot. However, once you get past that – you’ll be hooked on the story. It gets really good.
Also don’t expect much gameplay in this. It’s mostly reading with a few dialogue choices, which can branch into character routes. Despite this, it’s still one of my favorite visual novels to date.
14. Higurashi When They Cry
Horror meets murder mystery. Higurashi takes place in the fictional village of Hinamizawa, a peaceful place with a dark history where each year, during the village festival, murders and disappearances have taken place. This has been going on for four years and has been deemed the ‘Oyashiro Curse’ by the villagers.
I admit – I couldn’t get into the visual novel, because they were so slow paced, full of slice of life scenes. So instead, I decided to watch the anime, which was much faster paced and I much preferred it. However, if you don’t mind a lot of slice of life, go and read the visual novel, because the anime does remove a lot of things from it.
Gameplay wise – it’s mostly a novel with dialogue choices. In terms of the story, Higurashi contains many elements that a Danganronpa fan can appreciate – death, gore, a very intriguing overaching mystery, twist and turns, and a tonne of horror and suspense.
15. Gnosia
Gnosia is like Werewolf, but set in space – perfect for those who enjoy social deduction games:
The crew of a drifting spaceship, facing off against a mysterious and deadly threat known as the “Gnosia” and having no idea who among them is really the enemy, formulate a desperate plan for survival. The most suspicious among them will be put into “cold sleep” one by one, in an effort to rid the ship of Gnosia.
Players will have to use what information they can gather during the discussions to ascertain whom they think is Gnosia and then vote to put them into cold sleep. As you progress, your abilities will improve – but so will those of the crew.
This is a short game, with a few flaws – mainly the gameplay feels grindy and repetitive at times, but it has a good ending and overall, I thoroughly enjoyed it. For those who love gameplay, this game is mostly social deduction with some RPG elements – there’s very little story/visual novel sections.
16. Exile Election
Exile Election is a visual novel made by NIS (the company that localizes Danganronpa) and is a game very much like Danganronpa.
Premise: The game is set in a world that has been overrun by man-eating monsters. The story is focused on a cast of 12 characters who are trapped in an amusement park, where they encounter a doll, ‘Alice,’ that forces them into a twisted game where every 3 days, they must vote off a character to exile them into the outside world filled with these monsters.
The Exile Election part of the gameplay feels very similar to Danganronpa, albeit, more simplified and not as polished. You get to choose who to vote off, so unlike Danganronpa, there are branching routes based on your actions.
Unfortunately, the game is only in Japanese and there are no plans for localization (which was why I put it last on the list).
But overall, as a Danganronpa fan, you are spoiled for choice on which games to play. Many games share similar gameplay mechanics. Many games share themes of story-wise, and many games have the mind blowing plot twists we are all looking forward to in a Danganronpa game. Have fun playing all these games solving all these mysteries!