If you’ve finished Part I or Part II and now feel a weird, hollow ache in your chest, I get it. Honestly. That "post-game depression" hits differently with Naughty Dog titles because they don't just give you a game; they give you a relationship you didn't ask for and then rip it away. Finding games similar to Last of Us isn't just about finding another third-person shooter with zombies. It’s about finding that specific, agonizing blend of "I have four bullets left" and "I would die for this digital teenager."
Most lists just throw Days Gone or Resident Evil at you. Sure, they have monsters. But do they have the soul? Not always. To find something that actually scratches the itch, you have to look at the mechanics of empathy.
Why Most Recommendations Miss the Mark
Let's be real. The "The Last of Us" formula is a tripod. One leg is the brutal, grounded combat where every pipe swing feels heavy. The second is the "escort" dynamic that actually works. The third is a world that feels like it existed for a thousand years before you showed up. If a game is missing one of those legs, it falls over.
A lot of people point to Dead Island 2. It’s fun! It’s gory. But it’s about as similar to Ellie and Joel’s journey as a Michael Bay movie is to Schindler’s List. You aren't here for the slapstick decapitations. You're here for the quiet moments in the woods where someone plays a guitar and everything feels okay for five minutes.
The God of War Comparison is Overused but Accurate
If you haven't played the 2018 God of War or Ragnarök, stop reading this and go do that. Seriously. Sony basically took the "grumpy dad and precocious child" template and applied it to Norse mythology.
The parallels are almost funny. Kratos is Joel with an axe. Atreus is Ellie with a bow. You spend the whole game navigating a broken world while trying to figure out how to be a parent when you're basically a professional killer.
The combat is much flashier, obviously. You're flipping mountains and fighting gods. But the weight is there. When Kratos puts a hand on Atreus's shoulder and then pulls it back because he doesn't know how to show affection? That is pure Last of Us energy.
Telltale’s The Walking Dead: The Narrative Ancestor
You can't talk about games similar to Last of Us without mentioning Lee and Clementine. In fact, Naughty Dog has openly cited Telltale’s first season as a major influence on how they handled the bond between Joel and Ellie.
The gameplay is... well, it’s a point-and-click adventure. You aren't going to be doing stealth takedowns or crafting Molotov cocktails. You’re going to be making choices that make you feel like a terrible human being.
It’s about the burden of leadership.
I remember playing this back in 2012 and being genuinely stressed about how I was talking to a child. If you tell Clementine a lie to protect her feelings, she remembers. If you’re too harsh, she hardens. It’s a masterclass in narrative consequence that even the big-budget AAA titles struggle to replicate.
📖 Related: OG John Wick Skin: Why Everyone Still Calls The Reaper by the Wrong Name
A Plague Tale: Innocence and Requiem
If you want the "stealth-horror-survival" aspect, this is your best bet. Asobo Studio basically made a French historical version of The Last of Us. Instead of Cordyceps, you have the Black Plague and millions—literally millions—of rats.
Amicia and Hugo’s relationship mirrors the sibling-ish, protector-protected dynamic perfectly.
The first game, Innocence, is a bit more linear and "gamey." By the time you get to Requiem, the production value is through the roof. The environments are stunning. The voice acting is raw. It deals with the same themes of "how much of your humanity can you trade to keep your family alive?"
It’s grim. It’s beautiful. It will probably make you cry.
Metro Exodus and the Atmospheric Loneliness
The Metro series, based on Dmitry Glukhovsky’s novels, captures the "grounded" feel better than almost anything else.
In Metro Exodus, you’re not just shooting mutants. You’re cleaning your gun because if it gets dirty, it’ll jam during a fight. You’re manually pumping a battery to keep your flashlight on. You’re wiping blood off your gas mask so you can actually see where the hell you’re going.
Exodus moved the series into semi-open world environments, and the "Aurora" (your train) acts as a mobile home base. The downtime spent on the train, drinking tea and listening to your companions talk about their lost lives, feels exactly like the "safe zones" in The Last of Us.
It’s a slower burn.
You have to be okay with a protagonist who doesn't talk much (Artyom is the silent type), but the world speaks for him. It’s a post-apocalypse that feels lived-in and desperately sad.
BioShock Infinite: The Protective Partnership
This is an older one, but Elizabeth is still one of the best AI companions ever designed.
👉 See also: Finding Every Bubbul Gem: Why the Map of Caves TOTK Actually Matters
The setting is the opposite of a swampy, overgrown Boston. You’re in Columbia, a floating city in the clouds. But the core loop—Booker DeWitt doing the dirty work while Elizabeth provides narrative context and essential supplies—is very familiar.
She isn't a burden. She finds ammo for you. She opens tears in reality to bring in cover.
The ending of BioShock Infinite is also one of the few that rivals the "hospital scene" for sheer "what did I just witness?" factor. If you like your games with a side of existential dread and quantum physics, this is the one.
The Stealth Factor: Dishonored and Metal Gear Solid V
A huge part of the Last of Us appeal is the "encounter design." You’re in a room. There are six enemies. You have two bullets and a brick. How do you win?
If that’s the part you love, Dishonored is essential.
Arkane Studios are the kings of "immersive sims." While it’s first-person, the way you use the environment to stalk enemies feels very similar. You can go through the whole game without killing anyone, or you can be a whirlwind of blades and supernatural rats.
Then there’s Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.
The story is a mess. Let's be honest. Kojima didn't finish it, and it shows. But the gameplay? It’s the best stealth-action game ever made. The way Big Boss moves, the way you can scout a base with binoculars, and the sheer tension of being spotted—it’s pure adrenaline.
Days Gone: The "Budget" Last of Us?
I hate that people call it that. Days Gone is its own thing.
It’s an open-world biker game. The writing isn't on the same level as Neil Druckmann’s team, and Deacon St. John is a bit of an acquired taste. But the "Horde" mechanics are genuinely terrifying. Seeing 300 Freakers sprinting toward you over a hill is a level of scale The Last of Us never quite reaches.
✨ Don't miss: Playing A Link to the Past Switch: Why It Still Hits Different Today
It captures the "scavenging" loop perfectly. You are constantly worried about your gas tank. You are constantly looking for scrap to fix your bike. If you want the feeling of surviving in the Pacific Northwest, this is the closest you’ll get.
Red Dead Redemption 2: The Only Equal in Detail
If your favorite thing about The Last of Us is the way characters touch the wall when they walk past it, or how the snow deforms under their boots, you have to play Red Dead Redemption 2.
Rockstar Games spent eight years on this thing, and it shows.
Arthur Morgan is a man out of time, much like Joel. He’s a "bad man" trying to figure out if there’s such a thing as a "good death." The pacing is slow. Aggressively slow. You have to loot every drawer individually. You have to brush your horse.
But that slowness creates an attachment. By the end of Arthur’s journey, you don't just feel like you played a game; you feel like you lived a life. It is the gold standard for "prestige" gaming.
What to Avoid if You Want This Specific Vibe
- Resident Evil Village: Great game, but it’s high-camp horror. It’s more Evil Dead than The Road.
- Far Cry: Way too chaotic. The tone is all over the place.
- Horizon Zero Dawn: Incredible world, but the human-to-human emotional core is much thinner.
How to Choose Your Next Journey
Don't just buy the first thing on sale. Think about what specifically kept you glued to the screen during The Last of Us.
If you loved the paternal bond and high-production combat, go with God of War.
If you loved the stealth and the feeling of being hunted, go with A Plague Tale.
If you loved the moral ambiguity and the heavy choices, go with Telltale’s The Walking Dead.
If you loved the vibe of a ruined world and meticulous detail, go with Red Dead Redemption 2.
There isn't a "perfect" replacement. Naughty Dog has a specific secret sauce they don't share with anyone else. But these games come the closest to capturing that lightning in a bottle. They respect your intelligence, they don't hold your hand, and they aren't afraid to be miserable.
Start with A Plague Tale: Innocence if you want something that feels like a spiritual sibling. It’s smaller in scope, which makes the emotional beats hit a lot harder. Just be ready for the rats. Seriously. There are so many rats.
The best way to experience these is to commit to the bit. Turn off the HUD. Play on a harder difficulty. Make the resources scarce. That’s where the magic of games similar to Last of Us really lives—in the moments where you think you’re dead, but you somehow make it out.