There Will Never Be Another Rain World

[@very-mean-spirited-lizard]

I mean, Rain World is special, because its the only of its kind. But similarly Dark Souls was special at its time, because it was the only of its kind... It is still special because it will always be the first of its kind. I really want more Game Makers to study Rain World and just run with their favorite design decisions. It would be thrilling to see what other "Rains like" games would bring to the table.

[@deadclawh3851]

Capturing the vibe of Rain world is gonna be real challenge But Imagine like Rain world elements sparkled into other genres; like incredible AI, lost in world not the main character feeling I dont know this game really is spaciel

[@tortoisewarrior4855]

Subnautica 2 I feel could go down a route more similar to rain world. A huge thing setting back the original and BZ was how dumb the leviathan AI was and how most creatures didn't have migratory patterns. It made ecosystems feel quite static in some places and the graphics even in 2014 were very dated, I'm genuinely shocked they were able to make such low res environments look so good by just changing the water effects (ignoring the Aurora). For me I feel like most Rainlike games should be fairky different from Rain World. Honestly besides the story the best part of Rain World are its creatures, and more games need that. Outer Wilds was a huge disappointment on that for having very little creatures, which felt linear and static.

[@ashmarten2884]

@@tortoisewarrior4855 I played subnautica after RW and the ai seriously ruined my immersion. Good game, and likely the cornerstone of a developing thalassophobia simulator genre, but it had massive flaws.

[@aarepelaa1142]

Theres a game in development called Forever Winter and I think the way that games AI functions comes semi close to rainworld. It is more of a war with military factions going against eachother and you're a scavenger looting things in the middle of a battle, and the factions prioritize killing eachother before the player, so you're kind of there just being a rat looting shit while avoiding unnecessary fights as the factions have things like tanks as well and overall superior weaponry.

[@Scugzerker]

I don't think people will try to make something like Rain World. I've heard about one of the developers testing the new AI, and here's how it more or less goes: "This looks awesome! I wonder why developers didn't use this kind of AI with procedural animation before..." Not much later "Oh... that's why". Turns out it's incredibly difficult and time consuming to get some of the basic interactions done without the emergent behaviors.

[@rodrodrodrodrod]

“Rain world is my favourite psychological horror game” some random steam user adding tags to the store page

[@Harbin_07]

Omori moment

[@rottjavel3073]

If you look at it from the perspective of the iterators, especially Moon, I can see it

[@АлександрКот-ы8з]

To be honest, feeling yourself a prey, is pretty scary. I still feel myself uncomfortable with rot, cause its nearly impossible to fight it, and u only can run away from it, like a little weaken animal

[@eduardomoura8414]

having played rain world yeah it fits right in psychological horror

[@glados5065]

​@rottjavel3073 squishy cat randomly eats 1/5 of your entire brain.

[@ardiw8891]

There should be a Rain World tag on steam

[@spacerunner357]

Yes!!

[@Manuel-uz4hs]

the slug has a soul 1:32

[@kikun_or_smth]

rain-like

[@goontnt1]

Tags work by people voteing on them, click the + icon next to the tags to add one

[@golden_opal6050]

Truth

[@RenderingUser]

4:33 imo, this is one of the best things about rainworld for me that makes it transcend metroidvania genre. You dont unlock a double jump, the player character doesnt unlock anything. you, the player, unlockes the knowledge of new ways of traversing the terrian. too high of a platform? spear the edge and climb. too big of a gap? throw item and jump. terrain traversal isnt limited by the skillset of the player character, its limited by the skillset of you, the player.

[@aarepelaa1142]

Celeste does the same but it literally tells you how to do the tech for 8c and farewell.

[@ViHtor]

Gap is too big? Just do an ihop with throw boost

[@aarepelaa1142]

@@ViHtor but that's not an intended game mechanic like slideboosts, backflips and rolling, and will probably never be made into something that you'd be forced to use to get somewhere.

[@fabricliver]

Double jump is such a dumb cliché

[@ViHtor]

@@aarepelaa1142 yeah man ofc its just a skill hack for experienced players. You can complete game with all op mentioned just fine. OFC we all went through this lol

[@PlagueDoctor_0]

Imagining what genre Rain World is feels like thinking about a new colour

[@consueno753]

I have like 800 hours on it and I have 0 idea too. Postapocalyptic rat simulator maybe?

[@Wasabi1T]

2d scroller story survival platformer

[@Shimaanktheeaterofsandwiches79]

@@Wasabi1Twhat about the ecosystem parts and the rogue lite mechanics?

[@Shimaanktheeaterofsandwiches79]

@@Wasabi1TWhat about the rogue lite mechanics?

[@Shimaanktheeaterofsandwiches79]

@@consueno753This is the official genre for games like Rain World👍

[@SolunaStarlight]

I'm an aspiring game dev, and Rain World is my absolute favorite game of all time and I know there are others who feel similarly to me, and I want to create something that takes inspiration from it, particularly with the ecosystem and procedural animation and whatnot. There will never be another Rain World, but Rain World may go on to define its own genre, as a matter of fact I might even go as far as to say such a scenario is likely.

[@AI_660]

Same here. The only problem is figuring out the gosh darn procedural animation in Godot

[@PipeyardCentipede]

sameeee i fucking love this game

[@very-mean-spirited-lizard]

That is fantastic to hear! It seems to be a kind of endeavor I would want to channel my creativity into. Please let the Rain World Community know! A lot will follow your progress.

[@KillMe-ud1wi]

I’ve always had a soft spot for dynamic ecosystems in games

[@ashmarten2884]

I’m getting my degree in animation and game deving, and ya, same. Really excited to see where procedural animation goes in the next few years

[@Emperor-Quill]

Rain World is in that special media genre called : “no trust me, there’s nothing I can tell you or do to prepare you for what you are about to experience.”

[@torgo_]

it's still strange to me how Rain World even exists. feels like it just dropped out of an interdimensional portal. completely transcendental and unique, the art design, the game mechanics, animations, storytelling, it all feels 20 years ahead of its time. i still remember when it first dropped on steam and I was raving about it to everyone; it sat at "mixed" review score for about a year and seemed like it would become a misunderstood forgotten gem, thrown on the garbage heap with the rest of the steam shovelware.. but eventually the devs posted some updates/monk mode, and it slowly developed a cult following.

[@Solluna2003]

I love how it's such a complex, yet simple game. Just playing the game for the first time you don't realize the world lives and breathe without you if your so focused on staying alive. After reading dev logs, wiki, and yt videos you realize the sheer complexity of it's AI from bodily movements, priorities, personalities, relationships trackers, reputation system, and much more. And for such a simple movement controls of just 7 inputs. (4 directions, eat/grab, throw, and jump.) The community created a whole wiki page dedicated to advanced tech like backlips, sliding, etc. God I love the RW community. 😊

[@Rainworldiscool]

Me reading the movement tech page: “tf is a slide throw boost pole hop?”

[@aarepelaa1142]

@@Rainworldiscool aren't they called just slideboosts? As if you throwboost after jumping off a slide you cant go upright mid air and it doesn't allow for pole hopping, but if you jump early from a slideboost you automatically go upright and it allows you to do pole hops. Hehee totally not complicated movement.

[@TommyFantastico]

After 199.3 hours in the game, i still cannot put a tag on rain world. I kinda feel like if all games were humans. Rain world would be the Buddha. Which is kinda funny as the game is based on Buddhism.

[@kikuragegaming]

I feel like it would be something like World Crawler instead of dungeon crawler

[@doyourownresearch7297]

its based on buddhism?

[@xanthemothcat]

​@@doyourownresearch7297yes, its very apparent when you look at the cycle system, the karma system, the ancients, and a lil bit of the iterators Or at least, its inspired by Bhuddism, its not necessarily trying to make us convert or anything, just playing with the themes in worldbuilding

[@Anon12375]

It could also be inspired by hinduism​ then@@xanthemothcat

[@tardisman602]

It genuinely is a life/ecosystem simulator. Unlike most games with a simulator tag, its goes more breadth then depth. You have to be a slugcat to survive, you have to use the advantages and disadvantages as a slugcat, and you have to navigate the terratin of the slugcat. Thus i am coining this a new sub genre of Survival/Exploration/Combat/Adventure/Story/Unforgiving/... as a slug-like

[@the_foxware]

1:59 "From what I gathered, there is this universal experience of playing for a handful of hours, then dropping the game, only to come back weeks or months later" Never met a statement that it's more true.

[@TanixKington]

Outer wilds fits perfectly as reference. Little creature thrown into a world, and discovering/ witnessing issues much bigger than yourself

[@chloedegurechaff1941]

Rain World strikes back to the early days of gaming. When just about every new game was a new idea, a new concept to explore. Rain World is one of a kind right now. but give it time and more games like it will come out, and eventually those games will blend in other parts of other games, and try something new all over again.

[@taljahiemstra2631]

I find it so interesting that 3 of the other games you mentioned (Hollow Knight, Animal Well and Outer Wilds) happen to be 3 of my favorite games. Rain world isn't completely my type of game as I am generally not someone who likes high difficulty based games. I like a challenge here and there (like a boss fight) but not something as merciless as Rain World. But something about the mystery of it and the environment just hooked me enough to finish at least a survivor playthrough and watch playthroughs of all the others for the story. It's probably not a game I will play again, but I will be watching others play it for a while longer!

[@tortoisewarrior4855]

Yeah I do like all of them (although Outer Wilds did frustrate me a bit, by the end of the game I was spending more time looking for puzzles than actually doing them which was mostly just backtracking into areas to see if I missed something) as someone who loves Rain World. Celeste is also absolutely up there for me, it genuinely makes every other game feel stiff that platforming is so fluid. Animal Well was a really good short game but I feel the final puzzles slowly devolve into madness if you tried doing them all legitimately. And Hollow Knight is just incredible, the only thing I disliked about that game was the final section of Godhome, other than that it was incredible.

[@Voreoptera]

You colud gain an experence with Rain World by using the casual mode. Rain World is not for all gamers, but casual mode will remove the pain while keeping the expernce. I do not play Rain World like this. Note that you will require the Downpour DLC.

[@jamiesadf5829]

I felt this exact same way after playing rainworld for the first time. I had picked it up alongside Hollow Knight and Ori (i assume the three are often recommended together because you play as a small largely white cute creature), and the difficulty pushed me away for a long time. It sat in my library for some time. Eventually, I just wanted to know what else there was. So I played it longer. For a little bit it was on and off, and then it just clicked. Suddenly all the moving parts made sense. I recommend playing it with the goal of just not dying for a while. Not trying to go anywhere, or find anything particular. Just existing in the ecosystem. I honestly had a similar experience with Hollow Knight. I had gotten stuck on a boss fight and it really frustrated me. I just kept fighting it over and over and over, and eventually something just clicked. Suddenly the game made more sense than before. Now days it feels absurd that I ever got stuck on the Mantis Lords, which I consider a pretty easy fight now.

[@bbrainstormer2036]

I'm surprised no one else has called rain world an immersive sim. It definitely fits, at least in my mind.

[@Zooiest]

I was just about to comment the same thing

[@momsaccount4033]

Rain World may create an entirely new breed of game that’ll evolve for generations of artists to come

[@soaricarus]

8:47 hey i know that scavenger! that's scavenger id 8780! on a more video-related note, absolutely amazing video haha. this is probably one of the best ways i've heard someone talk about a game i absolutely adore because of how unique it is.

[@Harbin_07]

Holy the true rain world gamer

[@glitchmasterd5908]

I love rain world because it does the survival category the best, it's surviving in a world where everyone is surviving, even what is trying to eat you is trying to eat you so that it can survive, I love that their AI gets into fights and lizards run away from vultures, I don't know what it is, but knowing you're like the bottom of the food chain and surviving from them as they also survive is just so nice.

[@Lystr0saur]

To answer the question, it has to be animal well. From the moment I saw the main menu in a playthrough on youtube I knew I had to play it by myself, blind. It's such a unique experience. Though the games have nothing in common in gameplay apart from being 2d "platformers", the vibes are really similar. Animal well emulates rain world's special sauce so beautifully and perfectly. I love both games to death

[@OOO_1248]

I’ll never get tired of a rain world video essay, thank you blessing my evening with this

[@Zenala]

Maybe there isn't a game like Rain World now, but who knows there won't be in the future? That's how genres start, after all! Awesome video! Really highlights what I enjoy about the game

[@jaedonklb603]

I think the closet game I can think of to rain world is Noita. It's a confusing game, with very little guidance. It is a 2d game with simple controls that can lead to some unique approaches to both intentionally created and randomly generated puzzles. Creatures are divided up into factions, which while they generally focused on killing the player, also will fight each other. The world is not simulated very far away from the player, but whenever you go through the world, you tend to find things happening already, enemies dying to some of the environmental obsticles, fighting eachother, or teaming up against you. Then there is the obscure hints of lore, and clues to puzzles that exist in the world, and as you keep playing more and more runs you begin to discover that the world is so much bigger and full of things you have yet to discover.

[@KaayLive]

I was close to adding noita in the video, I just haven’t played enough of it to comment too much on it. But the little I had played did make me feel almost as confused and lost as the first few hours of rain world

[@phobics9498]

I disagree. Noita is fundamentally about progression, similar more to terraria. You go deeper and deeper and build your wands to kill stronger and stronger things. This "strongest thing" is totally opposite to what rain world is about. Your combat potential in rain world is 90% skill not items and the game is about going places to see them, not to get a power up. The games have fundamentaly differerent experiences because rain world is about traversal however you wantwhere you have to strategize how you are going to do so. In noita, you are incetivised to kill everything Besides, noita is roguelike. Rainworld is significantly less punishing on death

[@lukasmarek3424]

You have a point but still they kinda feel the same.​@@phobics9498

[@jaedonklb603]

@phobics9498 so what game in your opinion is closer to Rainworld that Noita? For me Noita is the closest game more for how I felt while playing it. Yes rain world and Noita's progression is very different. You get stronger and stronger in Noita through power ups and wands, and in rainworld your character remains relatively unchanged through out the game. In both games you learn the best ways to deal with enemies and obstacles by repeatedly dying to them again and again. In both games there's also things you discover with mechanics that are readily available to you some times and depending on how invested you are in this mechanics you can spend hours mastering/learning then. In Noita it's learning how to craft specially designed wands with thr greatest bang for your buck, or wands that are specifically to counter certain enemies. And in rainworld it's the hidden movement mechanics that even when learned, require a lot of practice to learn. And in both games, with out practicing and learning how to use your arsenal to the best of its ability... you are more likely to end up dying to them. I've died many times to trying out the moves in Rainworld because I've overestimated my mastery of them when in a stressful situation. Usually falling to my death. Also, this is a bit of an "uhm actually", but in Noita there are enemies that are honestly better off not fighting. Certain enemies are made to being very dangerous attacking, but harmless not fighting. There are also support enemies that are good to keep around and that can benefit you. I fully understand that Noita is a Roguelike and Rain World is not. My argument is that Noita is the closest game to Rainworld I can find that I have played. I wish you maybe would have made a stronger comparison to a different game I could check out than just point out the glaring differences. Not that it's much more difficult to point out similarities... but the goal with my post was to find and share a game that has the most similarities that i have experienced. And ultimately after reading your post, it hasn't effected what I believe makes the two games the most similar among the others that I have played.

[@phobics9498]

@@jaedonklb603 I can see the point you're making now. I guess the issue is more that the video is correct- That even the closest game is quite different. I don't really have a great grasp over the gaming scene so the best I can do is shut down comparisons as opposed to trying to come up with ones unfortunately I guess for me it's mostly about atmosphere in rain world though and that's why I don't find Noita "similar" (whatever that means). In rain world, it's like trodding through a dead world where some things still seem to live, in noita you don't have an ecosystem(which is significant imo) and the feeling is more like you're invading a world that things seem to be in. I guess it's more arcade-y that way. The fact that rainworld has a realistic and bleak atmosphere as opposed to Noita's more arcade-y style is probably more important than what I mentioned before, thinking about it. Quite literally "vibe is different" lol

[@danielundercow]

Rain World is hands down my favourite game of all time. When I really got into it, I couldn't stop thinking about it. After I finished it, I couldn't stop thinking about it. I was constantly thinking of this flawed masterpiece of a game is known by so few gamers, and I went ahead and made an hour long video about the journey you do in this game, just so that I could show it to my friends and colleagues that I know will never play it. About a week ago I also finished Outer Wilds. I liked it... A LOT. I loved the fact that the game nudges you into doing introspections, into thinking about the fact that, in the grand scheme of things, you are a speck of dust in this universe. I was somehow secretly hoping that Outer Wilds will topple Rain World as my favourite game of all time, but it didn't quite get there. It is a very strong 2nd on my list. Even though it made me cry (not at the ending or something, I was just outside the Solar System, listening with the signalscope to the melodies and wondering how the *you know what* would put an end to the melodies), but it didn't made me cry as hard as Looks to the Moon's situation, and especially the track that's playing (which is a messed up version of Sundown). I will never forget Rain World, and it will always be in a very special place in my heart.

[@spaceprior]

There isn't another game like rainworld but I'm certain there will be more. I've been calling the genre "survive in a place", distinguished from most survival games by the way rainworld requires you to dwell in a place for long enough to build up enough food to pass through the next gate. We know this will be done again, because this just makes sense from a gameplay perspective; the player hasn't demonstrated to the game nor to themselves that they've overcome the challenges of a location until they've become able to survive there *consistently*. By lingering in a place instead of plowing through it like a rollercoaster, we get to watch it live, its weather, seasons, migrations, the secret lives that play out there. There is a natural appeal to this.

[@poorme1art]

I love when I hear Celeste's OST in the background of videos 😭❤️ Lena Raine is my favorite composer ever :}

[@utahraptorgamer5183]

I love the overlap between the rainworld and outer wilds community

[@KovalBogk]

A game I find similar in it's vibe is Vagrus. You are a leader of a caravan in a post-apocaliptic bronze age. You chose the goal of your run and just... travel, do whatever you want. It's very reading heavy, though.

[@Equinox_Fox]

Rain world is a true ecosystem simulator. One of the wildest games I’ve played, the ending still haunts me. I can’t give it words, just confused and awed silence.

[@HereForThePunch01]

I fucking LOVE rain world. I've got 145-ish hours in it and it honest to god feels like I've barely played it. It's so utterly immersive, in a way that means I often think of Rain World as an "experience" more often than I think of it as a "video game." Like, I'd classify it as my favorite game of all time, but something about that title doesn't feel quite right; it's set so far apart from other games in my brain that I hesitate to call it one. But Rain World is, ostensibly, a video game. So /why/ is it so difficult to compare it to literally any other game? The "souls-like" tag - while utterly hilarious considering the games couldn't be further apart from each other in nearly every aspect if they *tried* - actually feels appropriate to me, in a sort of roundabout way, if you ignore the actual definition behind "souls-like" and take it to mean "game with an insanely difficult learning curve that one must dedicate more time and effort into learning than average, during which one can expect to get their ass handed to them over and over again in a way that can feel very distinctly frustrating and almost unfair by design." Which - again, as a video game, Rain World is *nothing* like the souls games. But as an experience? There are some similarities to be found, I think. And I know that sounds sickeningly pretentious: "it's an ~experience~, not a game," but I'll be damned if I can think of any other way to try and describe it to people.

[@kdevelopergw]

As an indie game dev, i do wanna say that Rain World is one of my (and many other's) biggest inspirations. I hope i one day get the chance to work on a project that could be a rain-world-like, but i just can't make that time commitment right now. Rain World is an innovative experience, and i'd go as far as to say that it's a masterpiece. Maybe one day it will be it's own genre - the metroid and castlevania to metroidvanias, the dark souls to souls-likes, the mario to platformers...

[@tyler-xo3rb]

you know what the rain world devs DIDNT say when they were making rain world? "i hope this project is an insert-game-here-like" make something new. thats why rain world is great. because its not trying to be something else. i DONT hope it inspires a new "like-genre" because we dont need a bunch of games ripping on a completely and inherently unique experience.

[@Icedonot]

As someone with 350 hours in rain world, answering the question at the end… yes

[@aarongregory4980]

Rain world is a unique masterpiece and I just recently had this realization while having a conversation with a friend. He was complaining to me about how much trouble he was having with his first time ever playing the Witcher 3 and I just had this thought “ya know, if I had to give any game Ive ever played the title of hardest it would be rain world. Playing that game just made me feel…” and I just trailed off about how powerless and scared it makes you feel, how incredible and expansive the environments are, how interacting with the ai is the most immersive and dynamic experience of any game I’ve ever seen. I suck at this game, and it’s so incredibly frustrating, but I had nothing but good things to say about it. It’s special in a way not many games are, and I’ll just leave it at that.

[@ZarHakkar]

Hollow Knight, Rain World, Outer Wilds, and (new kid on the block) Animal Well are all similar because they have "Deep Design," multiple layers of obscurity that change how you as the player view the game world as you pass through them. Other games that might be argued to fit this bill in varying ways are The Witness, Baba is You, Environmental Station Alpha, and Dark Souls.

[@Harbin_07]

Dont forget the omori for the story telling

[@Pr0pheceye]

To answer your question, it’s Outer Wilds. OW is my #1 favorite game, and Rainworld is my 2nd. I really do adore the lack of handholding and exploration involved in these games, alongside their rich, environment-driven storytelling.

[@Harbin_07]

Also Echoes of the Eye gameplay is fairly similar to that nightmare place... Memory cripts

[@AssasinZorro]

My favorite Rain world adjacent game is "else Heart.Break()" It pretends to be a point'n'click adventure game but it is an immersive sim where there are a few tools that allow you to understand the game world deeper. The game does surprisingly little hand-holding and that feels janky, but charming. Being lost on the world at first and then becoming the master of your circumstances

[@iWouldWantSky]

Reminds me of an idea from a philosopher I'm fond of: the only way to create something new is by becoming imperceptible (his words). In other words, by resisting the desire to be easily categorized and understood by others, so what your making is literally unable to be seen or recognized. By doing this, one creates the necessary space to smuggle in enough imperceptible material necessary to crystallize and create a cutting edge which births a new form, or something that always existed in some sense, but was unable to be seen, and now can be seen for the first time ever. Granted its delicate balance, and not everything new is necessarily good or interesting, (there is a lot of experimental art which is complete failure), but I feel strongly that Rain World has succeeded in creating something both new and interesting, and I'm so happy people are still thinking about it and making videos like this. I think the original Dark Souls is on a short list of games in recent times which accomplished something similar, which makes the Souls-like tag on Rain World somewhat ironic, in its supposed representation of non-representation. I agree, there should be a Rain World tag. No measure holds up to describe it, and yet goes on and forms a measure for further things.

[@EclipseShadowScale]

if i had to describe rainworld, its like a metroidvainia, except their are no upgrades, and your goal is to find food, and rush between save stations until you find a way out.

[@ashmarten2884]

There will be more ‘Rain World’ games. RW is a genre defining/spawning, similar to how Souls-likes blossomed from demon souls and FPS games from Doom. There are a bunch of games out there that could have been improved by inspiration from RW mechanics, like subnautica. Imagine if subnautica used an ecosystem simulation like RW. Think of the terror of knowing a Reaper could be literally anywhere. Stray also proved that small animal simulators will sell. The issue is that RW only really entered the gaming cultural zeitgeist with the release of DP. Games take time to spread their ideas, and time to make. Personally, as someone getting their degree in game design, I hope to create RW-likes in the future.

[@kangaroot_]

once again a rain world documentary vid!!! i love this communtiy

[@grungegirl18]

How has no one mentioned Oddworld? I always assumed Rain World was a direct homage to the Oddworld series. It's a PS1 2D platformer with a similar atmospheric industrial background that very much has its own ecosystem. There are native Muddokons you can communicate and trade with like Scavengers. You can distract Scrabs by making them fight members of their own species. You can tame Paramites by feeding them Fleeches. Elum lets you ride him through dangerous areas like Rain Deer. They're still wildly different games, but I really think Rain World took a lot of inspiration from Oddworld and Heart of Darkness. Rain World improved the best parts of both games and made them its own.

[@shakewell42]

Just wait until this guy figures out what happens during storms...

[@AI_660]

?

[@linkturtle1106]

@@AI_660 it rains

[@PonderPangi]

"The Forever Winter" is very much like this game. prove me wrong.

[@umbra4540]

one of the problems with comparing rain world to other games is that you can find 1. games with similar mechanics (2d exploration games with some light platforming; comparisons to this aspect will often draw hollow knight or other metroid vania games, even though they aren't perfect analogues) 2. games that elicit similar feelings while playing (feeling like you're exploring a world that wasn't made for you, feeling like you're in a collapsed civilization, feeling like you're surrounded by mysteries that might not even have answers; this is where outer wilds comes in imo, but hollow knight also fits the bill) 3. games that treat the player similarly (dropping them in a dangerous situation and not explaining much, treating them like a small and unimportant part of a larger world; also arguably outer wilds) 4. games that have similarly deep movement tech (y'all know the gag: the movement doc for rain world is 92 pages; celeste comes to mind but it's not the only comparison) 5. games that touch on similar themes (persistence, seeking or even creating an ending, decay, but also hope, sympathy for those who are hurting, etc) 6. games with similar design constraints (this could be just indie games, but imo rain world is an ecosystem more than a game, and it's not the only game that came out of a designer playing with a toy or tool for years on end. noita was a physics simulation long before they nailed down the type of game they wanted it to be) 7. games where the ai feels alive (obv you brought up sons of the forest, this is the one i have almost no examples for myself. noita sort of, but it doesn't feel like a cohesive world, it feels too cordoned off and designed.) none of these are perfect comparisons, and there's no game (yet) that is similar on every axis listed. these aren't even all the axes that make rain world rain world, they're just ones that i thought were worth bringing up. i don't think it's right to say that we'll never get another rain-world-like-game, especially since there are already so many that do share lots of ground. it'll just be a while, since triple a studios don't care about games like rain world, and since indie devs can see that rain world already exists. getting too close would feel like they're cribbing too much off rain world. but also, rain world is a nightmare of an engine to make, much less design rooms and enemies for, much less balance.

[@umbra4540]

animal well is atmospherically and mechanically similar imo, the mild platforming and exploration do a lot, but animal well feels much more intentionally constructed to me. i get where you're coming from though

[@spicypuddin]

Before i fell in love with a game called Rain World, i was busy spoiling the entirety of Outer Wilds' base game for myself. I couldnt play outer wilds then, so i got impatient. Then i found Rain World, got it on switch, and it was the outer wilds i didnt get to experience. If you asked me ages ago, i'd wish to take it back, to be able to experience outer wilds like everyone else. But i dont think i ever would have seen the real beauty of rain world if nothing ever taught me how to see it. So i dont regret anything, and i wouldnt take back a single second. there isnt much of a point to me babbling like this i just really love both of these games and literally can not ever pass any opportunity to talk about either xd

[@RiverHasALiver]

I’m so glad this games getting recognition!

[@Slookwa]

It does have some souls-like elements: you travel from shelter to shelter (bonfire to bonfire), while fighting/avoiding respawning enemies. On death, you respawn (which is canon) at last shelter and lose karma and food points (souls). More generally, the game is hard, unforgiving, exploration-based with lots of hidden traps; the world is a grim crumbling remnant of the past greatness

[@theterrorofdimensions1326]

Rain World is one of a kind. I will never experience another game quite like it. And with the mod community able to add more to the story and world of Rain World, I have a feeling that it is a game which will stand the test of time for years to come. 👍

[@hx0ad5]

the categorisation problem is especially weird/interesting for video games, because terms that should in theory just be genre names often end up with a lot of pretty specific connotations outside of what the term itself describes. so "survival" really does cover the minute-to-minute gameplay of rain world pretty damn well, but in the video game world that's become associated with like... base-building resource-collection type games for the most part. so it feels very wrong to label rain world as a survival game because it's so far removed from what we typically think of as Survival Game. i'd love to see more games like rain world, but at the same time i'm not really expecting anyone to be able to match it. i just hope that people who've loved the game as much as i have can take certain aspects of the game design and expand on them in their own ways (though frankly it feels insanely lucky to have even gotten one game like this that's this good in my lifetime)

[@ballom29]

And even within the assosiatio nwith the gendra, I got someone who had an hell-bent claim of what a "true" survival game was... and told him in summary for him a survival game is a tribal warfare simulator and nothing else (rust in multiplayer, ark in multiplayer etc....), because for him game like raft or minecraft are not survival but easy exploration games.

[@manjubamastodontica]

I thought about this when categorizing this game as an metroidvania, I first played rain world because it had a ton of what I like in metroidvanias, but with the whole connotations metroidvanias normally have (like needing to search for abilities to progress the game) makes it less of an Metroidvania, so it would be a bit hard to recommend it to someone who loves metroidvanias I still see it as an Metroidvania regardless of the implications though, even if a more experimental one

[@drummehigh]

My 'rainworld adjacent game' is definitely also my favourite game, Noita. You get thrown into a world without much help and firstly it seems like you are at the mercy of it. But when you start to learn more about the world and how deep this game goes, then you can really sink into it and appreciate everything this game has to offer. I played rain world for about 8 hours.. got bashed pretty hard by the environment and got discouraged. But now, when I think about it, that was exactly the same with Noita. It's also funny, because you mentioned that the little yellow spirit is supposed to guide you in kind of the right direction... well in my case the little spirit was talking to a wall, because I brute forced my way into Farm Arrays anyway and got punished pretty hard. I think that's also a big reason I stopped playing.. I definitely have to give this game another try.

[@WaywardNomad-c3p]

The best description I can think of for Rain World is an immersive sim that is set in a brutal ecosystem

[@squidgamersquidgamer5273]

That's actually quite perfect! Thank you

[@netaparash7504]

Awesome video❤

[@handsomeavocado14]

Rain world it the best game ever. It took me a while, but after I beat survivor, I reminisced on my play-through and realized how much fun I had. I was super hyped for downpour when I heard about it. After downpour I 100 percented it and I’ve kept playing ever since. I feel like it could be a new type of game. Rain type :) Also my favorite rain world type game is animal well

[@sillygoosemichael]

animal well is such a good underrated game that everyone needs to play. absolutely fantastic video. also my favorite game similar to rain world is for sure animal well.

[@adamixziober]

man im so glad i discovered this game. too bad i didnt think i would buy it, cuz i kinda spoiled a bit of it for myself, but its still one of my most played games

[@perprerp]

You just made this a must play game for me. Brilliant video

[@aretmaw]

This was an extremely well done video

[@xeizihr]

If I were to put the reasoning for the Souls-like tag into perspective, I think it would be because both the Souls series and Rain World are centered around learning and dying. You learn the world around you, your enemies, traps, and hazard to be aware of... and then you die with that knowledge after being set back to your starting point before all that. Both series have a central theme about Death. In Dark Souls, you learn where enemies are, their weakness, and how they attack (like in Sekiro you learn the animations, the frames at which attacks happen so you parry). In Rain World, its somewhat similar. You learn about creatures and how they survive, you just so happen to be delicious. For example, you learn early on that the green lizards can't climb poles. Then you'll figure that the abilities lizards have are tied to their colors. Just my thought process about the Souls-Like tag.

[@Hazel-Olivia]

If I had to categorize rain world I would have to be "Physics driven Metroidvainia" which is kind of wierd. I would say Ori and Hollow knight are the most similar to Rain World if only just. Rain World is special, it is and always will be the first of it's kind

[@meteor1373]

Ye, rain world is a metroidvania in the way Celeste is- they're really not metroidvanias. But then people will say they kind of are. The development of movement skill over the course of many playthroughs rather than a collection of new tools and abilities. The only new ability unlock in RW that really feels like something a metroidvania would have (other than the mark of communication or neuron fly glow, though neither of those are required to beat the game) comes near the end of Saint's campaign in the DLC, I won't go further because of spoilers

[@henryr.6293]

At 1:59 I can confidently agree with this, however on rare occasions, I do wind up playing this game for weeks at a time because I hyperfixate on a run

[@Poetax]

I think Shadow of the Colossus has some similar vibes. There isn't much tutorial. The world is open and you just kinda go with it for the most part. Otherwise not the same at all...

[@jassykat]

What I love about RW is that it does everything right, the vibe, the aesthetic, music, the insane difficulty, Gameplay, mystery, lore. It's 10/10 for me.

[@yachet]

my first playthrough of rainworld was probably the funnest time i've had in gaming

[@aguspuig6615]

It seems to be getting the Dark souls treatment, forgotten for a few years but now everyone is covering it. I hope more games like it appear, could happen for sure

[@TheStigirl]

Out of rain world like games funnily enough I am really excited for the forever winter which is completely different in pretty much everything but is similar in the sense that you are only part of a larger scheme

[@airfryer1008]

Although completely different games entirely, I found that a demo for an upcoming game called peripeteia has the same feeling of exploring just to see what's there. In both games there are a bunch of rooms which can be labeled as "useless" but people still want to see them to appreciate the view or just for the sake of exploration

[@jayfox4291]

So, it can easily be like “Metroidvania” or “souls-like” games. Named after the games that made THAT type of game. So basically if more are made. The type could be named after rainworld.

[@superhamsniper4487]

for me i didnt have that initial period of rage and quit, it was just a game that wasnt really something i kinda deired to play for much longer but i wanted to play because people told me its good and then it exponentialy became more and more addicting to play it because rain world is definetly like my favorite game ever made in all of time.

[@squidgamersquidgamer5273]

Same

[@Amara-I]

IF YOUR A FIRST TIME PLAYER, WHATEVER YOU DO: DO NOT LOOK UP MAPS. it ruins the first experience and the overall point of the game, its supposed to be mysterious and rage inducing, not a map following game. and its something you cant experience again playing the game for the first time.

[@The.Reilly]

"New york city subway rat simulator" was one of the more accurate reviews I've read.

[@squidgamersquidgamer5273]

Frr

[@Zandofle]

Have you heard of the term “Metroidbrainia” before? I’ve heard the general idea is that knowledge is what gates the players progress as opposed to the usual items/skills of metroidvanias.

[@tarrker]

Rain World is an narrative driven, open world, survival-platformer. But, I feel like it defies even that description. Always nice to see other people paying attention to the game. ^_^

[@mentaldisability9413]

I also feel this way for Simogo’s entire game library because they are some of the most unique games I have ever seen.

[@Scugzerker]

The only game that I can think of that I play that shares some similarities with Rain World is Green Hell. You get a decent tutorial (how to make fire and tend to your wounds e.g.), and a notebook in which it's described how to make certain basic tools. Other than that however, you have to discover how to craft certain things and what to eat by yourself (either through exploration or trial and error) and learn what's happened through left behind notes/recordings and using ayahuasca to restore some of your memory. The world is mostly open though there is a more or less linear story (different outcomes in the main campaign) through which you're guided using hints and some vague markings on a map. Basically, survival and exploration that'll punish you harshly for sleeping in the wrong place or eating something unfamiliar. Also, Rain World is a great example of emergent behavior. You have several simple moves like crawling, climbing, sliding, pouncing, backflips and rolls, and that's about it for the basic easy moves that you'll most likely discover throughout your gameplay on random moments... And then there's a 96 page guide on all (discovered) moves. Backflip into roll chaining into a pounce that could initiate another roll with proper timing. Or slide right, hold left for a very short moment to throw something backwards and get a slide boost, or jump left to quickly change directions. Stuff gets insane with things that basically require scripts or custom shortcuts (that also determine how long certain buttons are held in what order) to perform consistently.

[@ikcikor3670]

Rain World is an immersive sim.

[@ikcikor3670]

Also, Survival is not a good tag for Rain World simply because Survival games as a category is nowadays associated with games where you gather resources and craft better and better items. I believe it started with Minecraft, now we have Rust, Pal World, Ark, Once Human and so on

[@slugfishh]

yeah this

[@KaayLive]

Honestly yeah, it does share some dna with immersive sims in its approach to gameplay

[@Xandroxerin]

Rain world is just really unique. Also, great vid

[@GunGryphon]

I'd compare it to Subnautica. While it has some limited ecosystem interactions, they share the open ended exploration near the bottom of the food chain. Rain World is basically the Dunes... All. The. Time.

[@tacitgamingfanREAL]

“there will never be another rain world” watcher dlc:

[@1God1Fury]

It's DLCs to the game, not a separate new game

[@ViHtor]

Downpour devs arent nearly as good

[@IvoryMadness.]

Just found your channel! That was a great video!

[@KaayLive]

Thank you!

[@adamkrzeslak4326]

game that gave me the most similar feelings to rain world and yet is a very different and also unpopular :c game is Miasmata it has exploration without any forced direction light survival elements advanced enemy Al (but there's just one enemy in this game) and character that moves kind of physically, like slug cats, despite the game being first person it obviously has a lot of differences too which make it a very unique game on its own but I think that's basically the main characteristic connecting these two games for me, the fact that they're so unique and different from anything else you could find

[@Klekeec]

We’re around 160 hours on the game, and I’m still finding so many mechanics- earlier we figured out jumping on poles a few times before we fall. Always like a new game sometimes.

[@augustthenuz984]

One of my favorite games is one that I wouldn't say is like Rain World, but it's a game that I have a similarly hard time describing. It's The Pathless. A beautiful game that feels really good to play. If you do play it though save and quit the game every time the storm approaches and then just load back in. Trust me it makes the experience better by avoiding a feature that never should have existed.

[@KaayLive]

The Pathless is very good :D

[@Magicmarina]

Honestly Easiest comparison I could give rainworld is probably Subnautica Both are survival games with unique ecosystems which are larger than you, Subnautica has more survival game elements and progression but both are similar in ideas

[@MartinTheBrain]

When I look at Rain World, the closest comparison I can make, ecosystem-wise, would be The Forever Winter. But that game isn't out yet plus I haven't looked into your comparison of Sons of The Forest.

[@calmgrin9528]

I searched up rain world to watch gameplay content but found this instead 10/10. Would show this video to my friends.

[@admin-ji2pu]

I think noita is similar with the pixilated world, emphasis on a realistic simulation, and endless suffering

[@rowangray5601]

If I could describe Rain World it would be the purest form of an adventure game. No other game makes you feel more like wandering explorer in a huge dangerous world.

[@momsaccount4033]

This might sound like a crazy comparison, but something about Rain World reminds me of Half-Life 2 in the sense that the player is guided by the invisible hand of the developer. Yes, both games don’t hold the players hand, but it’s not like there is absolutely nothing that helps out the player. Half-Life 2, like the game that came before it, was completely new and fresh in the time it came out, so it needed to teach a lot of new concepts to people back then that we find intuitive today, because guess what, playing games is not intuitive if you’ve never played similar games before, or even played games at all for that matter. Rain World gives me the same vibe. Sure, I do feel stuck sometimes, and yes, the game is incredibly challenging, but I never lose this feeling of having a general short-term goal in mind in the pursuit of achieving the long-term goal of exploring the entire world. There is always momentum, there is always this sense of “I have no idea what I am doing, but somehow, I know what I need to do”, if that makes any sense.

[@bloo_1]

I'm fine if there's never another rain world, I'm just excited to see how far modders can push the game.

[@stickmaniac672]

from what I can grasp, hollow knight and rain world share the feelings of weakness, striving and crawling up from the lowest point to achieve something that you're not even aware of until much, much later... in other words despite the gameplay and structural differences, they have very similar vibes.

[@lajf28]

my favourite part about rainworld is the setting of the world we play in. and the idea of different slugcats having their adventures in the same place but in different times is my soft spot

[@hungrypizzafox]

It’s very awesome seeing people love games as I do. Not for the gameplay necessarily, but the way it’s unlike anything made before. My brothers just play shooter games and have average takes on games. They never really delve into the complexity and uniqueness of games, they just stick to what’s already known.

[@GeorgeHarris-t1x]

I love all 350 hours i have on rainworld and the fact it just got mentioned along side another of my favourite SOTF is great, if they have a connection, maybe its why i like them so much 😮

[@tsoewoe]

id say rainworld perfectly fits the definition of metroidvania if you consider knowledge to be the gate, and your "ability upgrades" are instead purely getting better at the game's movement. comparing an experienced rainworld player in a lizard encounter to a new player in a lizard encounter is such a night and day difference that you could consider that lizard to be what completely blocks off a path until the player aquires the experience upgrade to deal with that specific encounter.

[@ayzekpie9432]

I mean, yeah? Outer Wilds feels similar, but personally I haven't played. But there is another game that is often next to RW - Ultrakill. Have you noticed how these games are inseparable on some channels? Yes, core's gameplay is super different, but at the end of the day, both games experience the same aspect - the ability to learn. Both games are difficult only when you have a skill issue.

[@KaayLive]

I LOVE ULTRAKILL

[@ayzekpie9432]

@@KaayLive damn, i definitely need to make some Poll и look how worlds intertwine

[@b33_0]

I really like this and yea… I can’t ever compare this game with something

[@jaedonklb603]

Noita is kind of close in my opinion. It's not really a similar game at all, but I feel that it is a game that a person can enjoy and have fun with if they liked playing through Rain World

[@cktooshort]

Another game like Rain World is Don't Starve. High difficulty, frequent infighting, and it doesn't become a power trip until very late-game. Also applies to Don't Starve Together and the DLCs

[@dumbvillage9253]

It really isn't. Unless maybe you somehow play on an older version(piracy xd). Modern don't starve together makes me sad. I have to go through way too much, just so i could actually play don't starve, and not whatever it is Klei have been doing lately. Don't Starve together to me is proof that too much "alright" content can bring down an otherwise amazing experience to pure mediocrity. It takes thousands of hours for you to even scratch the surface of the game, and quite frankly it's not worth it in it's current state. Especially when the "uncompromising survival" it promised became a generic rpg, and the art style became just as generic. Look at the first animated short and the last. I should prolly shut up idk

[@turtleguy4109]

Eh, I really wouldn't say the two have that much in common. A big part of what makes rain world special is that it's world feels like an actual living breathing ecosystem, with other creatures interacting with each other. In Don't Starve you can get creatures to fight each other, sure. But DST is much more of a "game", the most interaction you'll find between mobs is a pig fighting some spiders, otherwise you're the one insigating a fight between hounds and a beefalo herd for example. In DST everything is out to get you, in Rain World eberything is out to survive, wether that involves you or not.

[@UnkemptDan]

In my opinion, the STALKER series has quite a lot in common to rain world when it comes to world building and an ai that does its own thing without your input. There are main missions in stalker but most of your time will ge spent going around the desolate world and having unique experiences every time you pass the same area's.

[@heroclix0rz]

The thing I adore about Rainworld is how unafraid it is to scare players away. It doesn't try to tell you, "it'll be ok, keep trying. Here have a new weapon, or listen to this story hook, or learn this ability. Isn't that interesting? Doesn't that entice you?" It says, "Yes, a creature just fell out of the ceiling and immediately ate you. No, you couldn't have done anything to stop it. Want to quit?" Even souls-likes have lessons to learn when you die to keep you from dying next time. But in rainworld, the lesson is, "if you didn't want to get eaten, you shouldn't have been a delicious slugcat."

[@HaloJUK]

Hey, really great video! I think my favourite Rain World adjacent game would be be Noita. Although Noita is closer to a true roguelike than it is to Rain World and the "programming" elements of wand production its own unique selling point. Noita is the only game of this indie genre that I've put as many hours into as I have Rain World.