Games Like Earthbound
Quick Answer
The closest games to Earthbound are Undertale, Mother 3, Lisa: The Painful, Citizens of Earth and OMORI. Below are 9 picks with the reason for each — what carries over from Earthbound, and what does not.
What Made Earthbound Work
EarthBound's trick is tone. A JRPG set in a suburban present, fought against hippies and possessed lamps, funny until it is suddenly not. The battle system is conventional; the writing and the willingness to get genuinely unsettling are what people are actually looking for.
EarthBound, known in Japan as Mother 2, is a 1994 SNES RPG developed by Ape and HAL Laboratory, written by Shigesato Itoi and released in North America in 1995. Ness travels from the suburban town of Onett across a parody of America, fighting hippies, possessed objects and aliens. Its humour, strange encounters and sudden darkness give it a lasting cult following. Fans usually want another RPG with the same tone.
9 Games Like Earthbound
1.Undertale
The most obvious heir — same suburban-surreal tone, same willingness to break its own rules.
Why it fits: Toby Fox's 2015 RPG, heavily inspired by EarthBound, lets you avoid fighting monsters and uses a bullet-hell dodge system in battles.
What is different: You can spare every monster, and enemy attacks are dodged in a bullet-hell box rather than taken on the chin.
Where to play it: PC, PS4, PS Vita, Switch and Xbox One.
More about this game →2.Mother 3
The actual sequel, and the one that follows through on the darkness.
Why it fits: Brownie Brown and HAL Laboratory's 2006 Game Boy Advance sequel was released only in Japan.
What is different: A heavier story told in chapters, with combo attacks timed to the music.
Where to play it: Game Boy Advance, in Japan only.
More about this game →3.Lisa: The Painful
Takes the EarthBound frame somewhere much bleaker and does it well.
Why it fits: Dingaling Productions' 2014 RPG is set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland and blends dark humour with difficult choices.
What is different: Side-on, bleak and cruel, with permanent choices that cost you party members or limbs.
Where to play it: PC.
More about this game →4.Citizens of Earth
Direct homage — modern setting, recruit ordinary people as party members.
Why it fits: Eden Industries' 2015 RPG, published by Atlus, has you recruit ordinary townspeople as party members.
What is different: You are the Vice President recruiting townsfolk with their own skills; lighter, with little of EarthBound's sadness.
More about this game →5.OMORI
Suburban RPG that switches between cheerful and horrifying with the same confidence.
Why it fits: OMOCAT's 2020 RPG switches between a dream world and a suburban reality.
What is different: A story about grief and guilt behind a pastel look, and much darker than Ness's trip.
Where to play it: PC, PS4, Xbox One and Switch.
More about this game →6.Costume Quest
Small, funny, modern-suburban RPG with real charm.
Why it fits: Double Fine's 2010 RPG takes place on Halloween, with children's costumes becoming heroes in turn-based battles.
What is different: Kids in Halloween costumes fight in turn-based battles; short, and light on the strangeness.
Where to play it: PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.
More about this game →7.South Park: The Stick of Truth
The comedy RPG that actually respects its own battle system.
Why it fits: Obsidian Entertainment's 2014 RPG, written with the show's creators, uses timed turn-based combat.
What is different: Crude adult comedy in the TV show's style; it borrows the kid-hero setup but none of the gentleness.
Where to play it: PC, PS3 and Xbox 360; later PS4, Xbox One and Switch.
More about this game →8.YIIK
For the aesthetic, if you want more 90s-suburban-surreal RPG in any form.
Why it fits: Ackk Studios' 2019 RPG, subtitled A Postmodern RPG, has a 1990s suburban setting.
What is different: A talky, divisive story set in the 1990s, with a battle system of timed minigames.
Where to play it: PC, PS4 and Switch.
More about this game →9.Chrono Trigger
If what you liked was the pacing and the lack of filler rather than the tone.
Why it fits: Square's 1995 SNES RPG is from the same era and known for its tight pacing.
What is different: A straight fantasy time-travel epic with no modern-day satire, and enemies you can see on the map.
Where to play it: SNES, PlayStation, DS, PC, iOS and Android.
Games like this →
Where to Start
Undertale is the most obvious next game. If you want the direct sequel, Mother 3 was only released in Japan. OMORI is the pick if you want the darker side of the tone.
How We Picked These Games
Every pick is an RPG with EarthBound's mixture of comedy, modern or suburban settings and emotional weight. We included its sequel and the indie RPGs it most clearly influenced.
This list is in the free app
Games like Earthbound, with every reason, works offline in JustLikeGames — plus a pick for tonight and a backlog tracker.
Free · iPhone & Android · no account
How These Picks Match Earthbound
Earthbound is catalogued here as a Japanese RPG on the Super Nintendo. All nine picks share at least one of its genre tags — nine RPGs and eight adventures among them.
Going by the "where to play it" notes, seven can be played on PC, six can be played on a PlayStation, six can be played on a Nintendo system and four can be played on an Xbox. Undertale, Lisa: The Painful, Citizens of Earth, OMORI and YIIK are from small or self-published studios. Costume Quest is the one a child and an adult can play together.
| Game | Genre | Shares with Earthbound | Where to play |
|---|---|---|---|
| Undertale | RPG, Adventure, Indie | RPG, Adventure | PC, PS4, PS Vita, Switch and Xbox One. |
| Mother 3 | RPG, Adventure | RPG, Adventure | Game Boy Advance, in Japan only. |
| Lisa: The Painful | RPG, Adventure, Indie | RPG, Adventure | PC. |
| Citizens of Earth | RPG, Indie | RPG | — |
| OMORI | RPG, Adventure, Indie | RPG, Adventure | PC, PS4, Xbox One and Switch. |
| Costume Quest | RPG, Adventure, Family | RPG, Adventure | PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. |
| South Park: The Stick of Truth | RPG, Adventure | RPG, Adventure | PC, PS3 and Xbox 360; later PS4, Xbox One and Switch. |
| YIIK | RPG, Adventure, Indie | RPG, Adventure | PC, PS4 and Switch. |
| Chrono Trigger | RPG, Adventure | RPG, Adventure | SNES, PlayStation, DS, PC, iOS and Android. |
Buy This Game
* Affiliate links. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Support Justlikegames
Made by one person, for free
I run Justlikegames pretty much for free — covering hosting, APIs, and the hours spent writing recommendation lists by hand. There are no paywalls, no intrusive popups, and no "premium" tier. If the site has helped you find your next favorite game, a coffee goes a long way toward keeping it that way.
Buy me a coffeeEven $3 covers a day of API costs. Thank you 💛
If You Love Earthbound, Try These
Frequently Asked Questions
More SNES Games Like Pages
Explore Other Consoles
Head-to-Head Comparisons
Trying to choose between two games? See our side-by-side breakdowns.
Get Game Recs Weekly
Top picks, hidden gems, and deals — straight to your inbox. No spam, ever.
![TENINYU 2-Pack SNES Classic Controller Extension Cable 10Ft, Extension Power Cord for 2017 & 2016 Mini Versions of Super Nintendo and NES [Classic Edition] & [Nintendo Classic Mini] & Wii U](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41OapNyiw9L._SL320_FMwebp_.jpg)
