You really don’t even have to be an avid gamer to enjoy the mystery and intrigue that comes with any Danganronpa game. A series native to PlayStation, majorly the PSP and Vita, Danganronpa centers around high school students who are forced to compete in a Battle Royale-esque fight to the death by a sadistic robotic teddy bear named Monokuma. The students use their ultimate talents to survive, as well as figure out who killed the last victim via a trial. Danganropa’s insane premise alone should be enough to sell most people on it.
At the moment, there are only a few games in the series though, so once you finish each game, you may have to find another way to scratch the niche itch that comes with playing Danganronpa. If that’s the case, these few games might be just what you are looking for!
Hotel Dusk: Room 215
Games Like Danganronpa
Before Telltale’s The Walking Dead made point-and-click like adventure games cool again, Hotel Dusk: Room 215 was holding its own on the Nintendo DS. Using the device’s touchscreen, microphone, and closeable cover functionality, the game tasks you with solving a variety of puzzles in unique ways. Unlike most DS games, Hotel Dusk: Room 215 also has players hold the system at a 90-degree angle, similar to a book.
Hotel Dusk: Room 215 has plenty of intrigues laced into its story, as players must interact with hotel patrons and employees to uncover vital information. Playing situations wrong has consequences though. The game’s main character, Kyle Hyde, can be kicked out of the hotel if you ask the wrong questions, resulting in the end of the game.
Her Story
Games Like Danganronpa
Interactive movie video games are a rare thing in the gaming world. As such, there are very few of them that are actually worth playing. Her Story is definitely one of them.
Her Story tasks the players with collecting and connecting information about a missing person case by looking through a database of seven fictional live-action police interviews. To solve the case, the game requires you to tag important referential data from short clips and decipher the context of the suspect’s answers. If you do things right, by the end you’ll likely even feel like an actual detective.
Orwell
Games Like Danganronpa
George Orwell’s 1984, written four decades ago, is a dystopian novel set in a world where the government is omnipresent, watching and controlling everything that you do. While exaggerated, the theme of the book stands up to this day. So much so that German developer Osmotic Studios created a game based on the concept, titled Orwell.
Orwell mixes the ideas and themes of the book with the modern day, technologically advanced society, set in the fictional country called Nation. Players are apart a covert surveillance system codenamed. As an investigator, the game requires you to comb through persons-of-interest personal data and work with Advisors to find threats. Who knew becoming Big Brother could be so fun?
Exile Election
Games Like Danganronpa
Exile Election unabashedly takes inspiration from Danganronpa in both its concept and execution but simultaneously features a unique interpretation. Where Danganronpa has players trapped in an area with the goal of survival to escape it, Exile Election sees its players trying to escape being exiled.
This so-called “Death Adventure Game” takes place in a post-apocalyptic world overrun with murderous monsters. One of the few safe havens can be found in an abandoned amusement park run by a mysterious mechanical doll named “Alice.” In order to avoid being exiled as the result of her death games, the 12 main characters of the title must compete against each other until only two remain. A similar storyline and an interesting main character, driven by a motive of revenge, make this a must-play.
Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors
Games Like Danganronpa
The first title in the Zero Escape series, as well as the one with the coolest title, Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors is a Nintendo DS game that revolves around a college student named Junpei. As one of twelve people forced to participate in a game of life and death, players must help him survive until the end.
For gameplay, Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors is broken down into two sections: Novel and Escape. Novel sections require players to converse with NPC and gather important information. Once they do, decisions will be made using it, resulting in branching storylines. The second section, Escape, requires you to solve puzzles and find items, similar to an escape room. The variety of different types of puzzles and the branching storylines means that you’ll have no problem playing over and over again while still enjoying yourself.
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective
Games Like Danganronpa
When you think of action-adventure game developed by Capcom, series like Resident Evil, Devil May Cry, and Dead Rising are the first that come to mind. And while those are all solid series, few of them feature the narrative chops that come alongside the company’s DS title Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective.
As the title alludes, Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective places you in the corporeal shoes of Sissel, a ghost detective that uses his powers to save lives in the real world. Using an ability known as Ghost Trick, he can interact with objects and even possess corpses for a certain amount of time. Sissel uses these skills to solve various different puzzles throughout the game, laced in with an interesting storyline.
Corpse Party
Games Like Danganronpa
Whenever you successfully render a verdict in Danganronpa, there are plenty of gruesome executions that occur as a result. Survival horror adventure title Corpse Party features similarly nasty, and also tragic, deaths throughout its series.
After telling spooky ghost stories, a group of Japanese high school students are suddenly transported to an alternate dimension after an earthquake. In order to survive a dilapidated schoolhouse and the ghosts that fill it, the group must interact with the environment and surroundings in order to make game-changing decisions. Depending on what is picked, one true ending and several wrong endings can occur.
Professor Layton
Games Like Danganronpa
Another point-and-click adventure classic, Professor Layton follows renowned archaeologist and Gressenheller University Professor Hershel Layton. Due to his skill, Layton and his apprentice, Luke Triton, are often called in as professionals to solve uncrackable mysteries.
Unlike most titles on this list, Professor Layton has a much more delicate and laid-back style, in both concept and visuals. Alongside charming visuals, the series has received numerous rewards and acclaim for its unique puzzles, with each game featuring hundreds of different ones, each with gripping storylines attached to them.
Persona 4
Games Like Danganronpa
In Persona 4, players must solve the mysterious set of murders plaguing the town of Inaba, in which bodies have been hung from television antennas. The game features numerous different dialogue and social-based gameplay choices and skills, making for some interesting stories and character building.
Despite the tonal difference of the two, with one group being forced to solve the murder mysteries for fear of death, Persona 4 has a lot of things in common with the Danganronpa series: lovable characters, and social interactions, and plenty of murder mysteries.
Ace Attorney
Games Like Danganronpa
Following private investigator Pheonix Wright, this visual novel adventure game tasks players with passing the video game bar, and solving cases like a real lawyer. In order to do so, you’ll have to cross-examine witnesses, find inconsistencies, and use evidence to see what is true and what is a lie.
Arguably the most fun part of the Danganronpa series is the trials that take place before every execution, as well as the lead-up. While it may be a bit more grounded, Ace Attorney is another excellent evidence-building, decision-based series trial series. Any objections?
Contradiction: Spot the Liar!
Games Like Danganronpa
Contradiction: Spot the Liar! is one of the most underrated titles on the list, as it feels like Danganronpa mixed with Clue. This live-action adventure title places players in the shoes of Detective Jenks, who has been sent to a small village known as Edenton to investigate the death of a Kate Vine.
Gameplay works similar to a real-life police investigation, as you must interrogate different witnesses and match up stories and timelines. Like the game’s title suggests, the main way you’ll be able to solve the case is by spotting lies and contradictions among a slew of different testimonies from witnesses and suspects.
Shinrai: Broken Beyond Despair
Games Like Danganronpa
At a secluded mountainside resort, a mystery is afoot. In order to survive their stay, 10 friends must figure out the identity of a murder that is on the loose in Shinrai: Broken Beyond Despair. To stay alive the group needs to Investigate, interrogate and present evidence, possibly even implementing one another.
Since it is mostly a visual novel, the majority of Shinrai: Broken Beyond Despair’s gameplay simply comes down to the choices you make after gathering information. While it’s entirely possible to solve the mystery, be sure to do your research, as a wrong choice may incriminate someone who is completely innocent.
Sweet Fuse: At Your Side
Games Like Danganronpa
What is a murder mystery without a little romance? In Sweet Fuse: At Your Side, players must help Saki Inafune survive seven days of a death game. In order to do so, she’ll need to answer questions correctly and gain the affection of other characters.
Alongside conversations, the most interesting gameplay aspect of the game can be found with Saki’s “Explosive Insight” sections. In order to solve a problem, Inafune recalls a situation using a number of keywords and phrases. Choosing the correct prompts an epiphany from Saki, resulting in the correct decision and changing the story. Depending on the decisions you make, you can end up with multiple endings, as well as multiple love affairs.
While it falls into the murder mystery and trapped by a mascot demographic, Sweet Fuse: At Your Side stands among the rest thanks to its dating sim features.
Death Come True
Games Like Danganronpa
If you’re looking for a game like Danganronpa, there’s no better place to turn to than the source: the mind of its creator, Kazutaka Kodaka. Back in 2020, he partnered with developers Too Kyo Games and Esquadra to give fans another enthralling game centered around solving a murder, titled Death Come True.
In this interactive film adventure game, you must help a man, Makoto Karaki, recover his memories and figure out why everyone thinks he is a serial killer. To do that, players must find clues and uncover the true behind his actions, taking advantage of a unique ability to “time leap” into the past to find the answers to mysteries no one else can.
It obviously goes without saying that people that loved the mystery of figuring out who done it will love Death Come True, especially since the answer might actually be…you!
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