The 15 Best Games Like 'Danganronpa'

Higurashi When They Cry saw so much success that an anime was built off of the back of it. It sees a group of friends living in "Hinamizawa" where disappearances and murders occur on the day of the "Watanagashi Festival." It’s on you to investigate and see how events unfold. There’s also Umineko When They Cry and Ciconia When They Cry if you end up falling in love with this franchise as a whole.

Developed and published by Spike Chunsoft, AI: The Somnium Files is the perfect game to transition to for fans of the Danganronpa series. The game is about catching a serial killer in Tokyo with investigations taking place inside the dreams of witnesses. The gameplay loop here is great and is definitely something fans of Danganronpa will be able to appreciate.

Each game in the Zero Escape series follows 9 people who are kidnapped by Zero and must play a game of life and death to try to escape. This is a bundle containing the first two games in the series, Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors and Virtue’s Last Reward. If you liked Danganronpa but want a little bit of a more terrifying experience to keep you engaged from start to finish, look no further than this worthwhile compilation.

Released in 2010, Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective is about a ghost who is trying to figure out who killed him. Despite it being a point-and-click game, it's widely considered one of the best in the mystery/puzzle genre. Its characters, story, and writing all stand out, and the animation style, while not something that would be released today, is nostalgic and charming for that exact reason. This cult favorite was developed by Capcom. Speaking of which…

Capcom also released the Ace Attorney trilogy, another highly regarded collection of games with various similarities to Danganronpa. This edition compiles remastered versions of the first three games, so it's a great place in the series to jump right into. Evidence is collected and argued in a courtroom and it's greatly rewarding to do so. This game doesn’t take itself as seriously as the Danganronpa games with its tone, but if that's something you’re open to, we couldn't recommend it more.

Your Turn To Die is a game that is heavy on dialogue and treats it like a visual novel. The game was actually developed by a manga artist named Nankidai which really comes across in its visual style. Like a lot of games on this list, the protagonist and friends must compete in a death game where participants have to decide who dies.

This game sticks out like a sore thumb on this list because of its massive popularity among gamers of different generations who adore Rockstar Games. It earns its place here because it's a great detective game, specifically following Cole Phelps in the LAPD. The amazingly lifelike graphic presentation plays a huge part in how you'll solve cases since you'll need to keep an eye out for suspicious facial cues from whoever you question. L.A. Noire's open world leaves a little to be desired, but that doesn’t take away from the intriguing plot.

This is what’s called an interactive movie game. The player must search through a bunch of video footage of police interviews with a woman called Hannah Smith. They’re of course fictional, but could make the average person look twice. Plus, as you’re unfolding a mystery that goes much deeper than it originally seems, it feels real. Her Story's plotline and its mind-blowing ending will stay with you forever.

Just like Her Story, Telling Lies was developed by Sam Barlow so there's a decent chance that if you’re a fan of the former, you’re a fan of the latter. Like that game, this one also uses live-action full-motion video. Here, the player searches through footage of four people’s conversations with each other to try to piece together a narrative.

Developed and published by ZA/UM, Disco Elysium sees players step into the shoes of a detective who is tasked with solving a murder mystery. The twist here is that you suffer from amnesia and so throughout the game, you remember events from your own life too. What's also great about this game is that you have the freedom to take bribes along the way and a bunch of factors affect how things play out by the end.

Set in 1807, when a ship that was previously missing for five years shows up without its crew or passengers, it’s your job to investigate and provide a cause of death for all of the 60 passengers. The 1-bit style here adds a great tone to the game. As far as games with visually jaw-dropping graphical presentations, Return of the Obra Dinn gets the top spot among this lineup of the best games like Danganronpa.

Twelve Minutes puts players into a 12-minute time loop where they have to use trial and error to determine… what the hell is going on. The cast of voice actors features Willem Dafoe, James McAvoy, and Daisey Ridley, which is an all-star cast. It’s incredibly easy to get sucked into the events of the game and the ending isn’t something you could ever predict along the way.

For fans of the aforementioned Ace Attorney series, as the name of this game suggests, it’s set in the same style as those games. The game is a little wacky, set in a mid-19^th century Paris that's filled with anthropomorphic animals. You take on the role of a defense lawyer who has limited time to explore the city for clues, with red herrings along the way.

This Japanese game series consists of a bunch of main series games, an anime series, and more. The puzzles here are really creative and the dynamic between Professor Hershel Layton and his apprentice Luke Triton makes it easy for the game to feel like fun. There are even films that focus on their relationship and how it came to be.

Last but not least, Corpse Party is a survival horror game that can get gory and graphic at times. It’s certainly not for the faint of heart, but it doesn’t rely on that for its entertainment value either. It’s set in a haunted school filled with the ghosts of souls trapped there. The game got its very own anime adaptation that fans enjoyed too.