Polygon’s piece marking Bastion’s 15th anniversary made the argument that every Supergiant game since owes something to the first one, and every action RPG with a narrator that reacts to what we do owes something to it too. Rucks is why. The floating world we walk across as it snaps into place under our feet is why. The rigid isometric camera is why. Fifteen years later Bastion still holds up, which does not stop us from wanting the next one after the current playthrough ends. These seven Bastion alternatives cover the closest matches on Windows, macOS, and Linux.
We picked the list around what Bastion actually is under the paint: a short, tight, hand-authored action RPG with a strong narrator and a soundtrack that carries the mood. Not every alternative below has all four traits, but each one has enough of them to feel like a real successor.
Quick comparison
| Game | Best for | Free plan | Starting price | Standout feature |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Transistor | Bastion players who want the deeper combat sequel | Demo | $20 | Function-programming combat |
| Pyre | Story-first Supergiant fans | Demo | $20 | Party-based sports RPG hybrid |
| Hades | The best-of-genre roguelike descendant | Demo | $25 | Story that carries across runs |
| Torchlight II | Fast isometric loot pace | Demo | $20 | ARPG at Bastion tempo |
| Death’s Door | Melancholy melee | Demo | $20 | Miyazaki-Zelda hybrid |
| Tunic | Puzzle-forward action | Demo | $30 | Manual as game mechanic |
| Wildermyth | Party-based narrator storytelling | Demo | $25 | Personalised legend arcs |
Why Bastion fans go looking
Bastion is a five-to-eight-hour game. That is the whole point. Once we finish New Game Plus and the challenge maps, there is no third act to spin up. Supergiant has kept making games worth playing, and the wider action-RPG genre has kept picking up ideas Bastion introduced, so the alternatives list has real depth. What we are looking for varies. Some players want the narrator specifically. Some want the isometric hand-painted world. Some want a tight arcade combat loop that respects our time. The list below spreads across those three angles.
Transistor, best for Bastion players who want the deeper combat sequel
Transistor is Supergiant’s second game and the closest match on the combat axis. The Function system lets us stack abilities like a small programming language, and the Turn mode pauses time so we plan a combo, then execute it in a burst. Red does not speak but the sword she carries does, and the running commentary lands close to Rucks’s rhythm. The soundtrack by Darren Korb is one of the strongest Supergiant has shipped.
Where it falls short: Shorter than Bastion. The Function system takes a couple of hours to click, and some players bounce off before it does.
Pricing:
- Free: Steam demo.
- Paid: $19.99 base.
- vs Bastion: Same price bracket.
Migrating from Bastion: Same studio, same design DNA, familiar controls. Play it next.
Download: Steam
Bottom line: Pick Transistor if we finished Bastion and want more from the same studio.
Pyre, best for story-first Supergiant fans
Pyre is the strangest Supergiant game and the most polarising. It is a party-based RPG where the combat scenes are a three-on-three basketball-adjacent ritual and the story between scenes carries the load. The world building is dense, characters keep permanent scars from decisions, and the ending branches wider than any other Supergiant title.
Where it falls short: The sports-style combat is not for everyone. Some players want the tight action pacing of Bastion and Pyre swaps it for something slower.
Pricing:
- Free: Steam demo.
- Paid: $19.99 base.
- vs Bastion: Same price bracket.
Migrating from Bastion: Same voice from Supergiant’s writing team. Combat is the biggest departure. Give it three hours before deciding.
Download: Steam
Bottom line: Pick Pyre if the story is what made Bastion for us.
Hades, best-of-genre roguelike descendant
Hades is the reason Supergiant is a household name now. Roguelike structure lets us keep playing after the credits, the narrator concept from Bastion is folded into a cast of Greek gods who react to every run, and the combat animation is genre-defining. Reviews called it the best of the 2020 cohort for a reason.
Where it falls short: Roguelike structure. If Bastion’s linear pacing was the appeal, Hades’s loop can feel less deliberate.
Pricing:
- Free: Steam demo.
- Paid: $24.99 base.
- vs Bastion: Five dollars more, dozens of hours longer.
Migrating from Bastion: Different structure but the same authorial hand. Fifty-plus hours before we see the story ending.
Download: Steam
Bottom line: Pick Hades if we want Supergiant’s most polished game and do not mind a run-based structure.
Torchlight II, best for fast isometric loot pace
Torchlight II is not Supergiant, and it does not have a narrator, but the isometric hand-painted world lands close and the combat pace is closer to Bastion than most modern ARPGs. It respects our time. Pets carry items back to town. Difficulty scales so a single character can go from an eight-hour campaign to a hundred-hour build project.
Where it falls short: No narrator. Story is thin compared to Bastion.
Pricing:
- Free: Steam demo.
- Paid: $19.99 base.
- vs Bastion: Same price bracket.
Migrating from Bastion: Camera and combat feel similar. Build depth is far heavier.
Download: Steam
Bottom line: Pick Torchlight II if what we liked about Bastion was the camera and the pace, and we want a longer campaign.
Death’s Door, best for melancholy melee
Death’s Door is a small crow with a sword collecting souls, and the atmosphere it builds sits close to Bastion’s melancholy calamity setting. Combat is tight, boss fights are memorable, and the isometric camera lands. Acid Nerve made a game that a Bastion fan can drop into and feel at home in the first hour.
Where it falls short: No narrator, and the story leans on visual world-building rather than dialogue. Some players want more spoken narrative.
Pricing:
- Free: Steam demo.
- Paid: $19.99 base.
- vs Bastion: Same price bracket.
Migrating from Bastion: Camera and rhythm carry across. Story is quieter but the tone is right.
Download: Steam
Bottom line: Pick Death’s Door if we want isometric melee and can live without a narrator.
Tunic, best for puzzle-forward action
Tunic looks like a top-down Zelda made by one person and hides one of the deepest puzzle structures of the last decade. The manual is a game mechanic. Pages we find in the world change what we can do, and the final act pulls back to reveal a metapuzzle nothing about the presentation had prepared us for. Combat is tight enough to hold its own next to Bastion’s.
Where it falls short: The puzzle depth is not for players who wanted a pure action game. Some players finish the first arc and stop.
Pricing:
- Free: Steam demo.
- Paid: $29.99 base.
- vs Bastion: Ten dollars more, considerably longer if we go for the true ending.
Migrating from Bastion: Isometric camera and tight combat carry across. Everything else is a departure.
Download: Steam
Bottom line: Pick Tunic if what we liked about Bastion was the discovery, and we want a game that keeps hiding new layers.
Wildermyth, best for party-based narrator storytelling
Wildermyth is a tactical RPG with an unmatched narrative engine. Characters age between chapters, form relationships, take permanent injuries, and the narrator threads it all together into a legend that is different in every campaign. The Bastion connection is the voice: someone is telling us a story that responds to our choices.
Where it falls short: Tactical combat is turn-based and slower than Bastion’s arcade rhythm.
Pricing:
- Free: Steam demo.
- Paid: $24.99 base.
- vs Bastion: Five dollars more, thirty-plus hours per legacy.
Migrating from Bastion: Combat pace is the biggest change. The narrator concept is closer to Bastion than anything else on this list.
Download: Steam
Bottom line: Pick Wildermyth if the narrator specifically was what made Bastion for us.
How to choose
Pick Transistor next if we want the closest thing Supergiant has made to a Bastion sequel. Pick Hades if we can accept a roguelike loop for a longer game and the strongest Supergiant script yet. Pick Pyre for story depth and a willingness to try the sports combat. Pick Torchlight II if the isometric hack-and-loot camera was the draw. Pick Death’s Door for the tone. Pick Tunic if we want a game that keeps hiding new mechanics past the credits. Pick Wildermyth if the narrator was the point. Replay Bastion first if we have not touched it in a decade, because the Definitive Edition still runs on modern hardware and the anniversary is a reason.
FAQ
Is Bastion still worth playing in 2026? Yes. Bastion runs natively on Windows, macOS, and Linux, and the Definitive Edition includes commentary from Supergiant that adds a second layer to the run. Six to eight hours for a story-complete playthrough.
What is the closest game to Bastion? Transistor from the same studio is the closest in feel. Hades is the most polished descendant. Death’s Door is the closest match for tone from a different studio.
Does Bastion have a sequel? Not directly. Supergiant has released Transistor, Pyre, and Hades in the same lineage but never a numbered Bastion 2.
Is Hades better than Bastion? Hades is longer and more polished. Bastion is tighter and more narratively focused. Both are worth playing.
What is a game like Bastion for the Steam Deck? Bastion itself, Hades, Death’s Door, and Torchlight II all run at full frame rate on the Deck and are Verified.
