But as popular as those titles are, some top-down shooters don’t exactly get the bird’s-eye view recognition that they deserve. Some of them are due to being indie titles, while other cases boil down to player preference. Still, that doesn’t mean these following shooters offer a lesser experience; fans of shooter games ought to broaden their perspective with these top-down shooters.

Updated December 16th, 2022, by Sid Natividad: It’s that time of the year again when gamers have more time on their hands. And what better way to spend that holiday time than playing games? Well, apart from eating the Christmas turkey with the family, of course. In any case, the top down shooter genre is brimming with good offerings.

Although, some of these offerings might not exactly be popular or mainstream. Again, that isn’t proportionate to their quality; in fact, despite being less popular than the aforementioned options, these top down shooter games will hit the mark for most fans of the genre. Do give these additional titles a try.

13 Nuclear Throne

Release Year: 2015 Other Platforms: Linux, Microsoft Windows, OS X, PlayStation 4, Vita, Switch, Xbox One Steam Page

Nuclear Throne is a post-apocalypse game that takes place in the aftermath of a nuclear winter. It does break away from the cliche by disregarding the notion of humanity saving the world from its mistake. Instead, this game is about mutants who will be doing the saving.

This allows for even more freedom since mutants can simply collect radiation and mutate into something more powerful. And along the way, they get to test out a plethora of guns in this frenetic and high-octane bullet-hell shooter. If that doesn’t sound good enough, then the music during the shootouts surely will.

12 Brotato

Release Year: 2022 (Early Access) Other Platforms: N/A Steam Page

Brotato is only in early access right now, but most top down shooter games don’t really develop much of a story once they’ve had the gameplay template and loop down. So don’t be put off by the release status when trying this one.

It’s also one of the highest-rated games on Steam right now despite only being made available on September 2022. The premise is simple enough; players control Brotato, an upstanding citizen of Potato World. But his spaceship crashed on an alien planet, and they’re not fond of French fries. So Brotato must survive by shooting waves and waves of aliens.

11 Red Hot Vengeance

Release Year: 2019 Other Platforms: N/A Steam Page

Ever wanted to see the unholy lovechild of Superhot and Hotline Miami? That would be Red Hot Vengeance. It’s a game with a stickman art style and visuals, and the only other color apart from black and white is red— hopefully because of the blood of all the enemies.

In this game, players are vengeance made manifest as a betrayed hitman as they take on a violent gang by being more violent. It’s one of the smoothest gun carnage experiences in a top-down shooter, courtesy of the light graphics. After the story, there’s still plenty of fun to be had since the game has a level editor; oh, and it’s also free.

10 Snake Force

Release Year: 2021 Other Platforms: Microsoft Windows, Mac operating systems Steam Page

Snake Force offers something more unique compared to other formulae. It’s an amalgam of a top down shooter, FPS, and the game Snake from those old Nokia cellphones (ask some millennial grandpas about it, they know it). Players will start off as a lone gunman in FPS view.

Once they have secured and rescued their soldier bros, it’s time to bring out the gun-toting snake in a top-down view. Such a novel idea deserves to be experienced and seen first-hand, as words do it no justice. In any case, it’s a fun game with a cute aesthetic and awesome execution.

9 Akane

Release Year: 2018 Other Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, Linux, Mac operating systems, Classic Mac OS Steam Page

It’s easy to see where the inspiration from Akane came from. It’s a Cyberpunk action game that took a healthy serving of inspiration from genre staples such as Ghost in the Shell and Akira. The music and the cityscape alone are enough to attract anyone looking for a definitive cyberpunk game.

Players take control of the titular character in a Kill Bill-esque plot as they fight their way out of Mega-Tokyo against cyber-Yakuza using the coolest weapons known to mankind (like the katana). There’s no shortage of blood, death, and neon lights here.

8 Synthetik: Legion Rising

Release Year: 2018 Other Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Xbox One Steam Page

Don’t be fooled by the 16-bit visual style; Synthetik is a shooter game so loud and bombastic that the gunfire is almost palpable. The audio, the animations, and the general gameplay all work together here to offer one of the most intense shooter highs that even FPS games can’t reach. The game is also a roguelike, so be prepared for that.

There’s not much of a story here, like with most top-down shooters. Players are merely dumped into dangerous sci-fi military facilities where they must shoot their way to their goal, which is to free the world from the Machine Legion and their gods. Pretty good excuse to start shooting up objects and feature the game’s primary strength.

7 Helldivers Dive Harder Edition

Release Year: 2015 Other Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita Steam Page

Was Synthetik too absent for Sony’s consoles? Worry not, because Helldivers is there for PlayStation devices, and they offer something equally intense. This twin-stick shooter is all about protecting Earth and defeating the enemies of mankind in an intergalactic war.

Players thus assume the role of Hell Divers, which is an elite team usually deployed into hostile zones for search and rescue operations. But during one of the dives, they uncovered something sinister that could threaten Earth’s future. That’s nothing some explosives and a few tons of lead can’t handle.

6 20 Minutes Till Dawn

Release Year: 2022 (early access) Other Platforms: Android Steam Page

But enough of sci-fi top-down shooters. How about something with a Lovecraftian theme and some anime girl protagonists? Because that’s what 20 Minutes Till Dawn offers. The premise is simple; nasty Lovecraftian creatures keep bumping in the night, and it’s up to some anime 16-bit anime girls (called Heroes) of different vocations to gun them down.

Each hero comes with a unique selection of strengths, and preferred weapons, or abilities. Build diversity is quite strong here, and the action will certainly sate players who have grown accustomed to bullet-hell challenges brought about by games like Enter the Gungeon.

5 Foxhole

Release Year: 2017 (early access) Other Platforms: Linux, Macintosh operating systems Steam Page

For those craving some WW2 action, Foxhole offers a unique view on wargaming. Instead of dying on the ground as a common footsoldier in a claustrophobic view, they instead get to see their soldier die from atop. Even better, Foxhole is a massively multiplayer game with a persistent world.

Each soldier is controlled by a player who must take a specific role during the battle from storming the bunkers to driving the tanks. Such an ambitious project is not yet complete as the game is under early access, but any war game fan ought to take a look at this one. It’s like Company of Heroes, foot soldier edition.

4 Ruiner

Release Year: 2017 Other Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Linux, Macintosh operating systems Steam Page

Before cyberpunk became way too popular as a theme and setting in video games, titles like Ruiner took some creative risks. After all, that video game genre was ahead of its time back then and hasn’t found its proper audience just yet, hence why it went by mostly as a sleeper hit.

Still, Ruiner is worth it alone for the aesthetics. This twin-stick shooter game is a cool adventure game that revolves around the most philosophical and thought-provoking core ideas of the cyberpunk setting. It also helps that the action is fast, stylish, and unrelenting. Had it been released today, it would have been more popular.

3 Voidigo

Release Year: 2021 (early access) Other Platforms: N/A Steam Page

All these twin-stick top-down shooters are rather serious and gritty, so here’s something to balance out the themes a bit. Voidigo is vibrant, chaotic, and colorful, though it does have a focus on boss fights and dynamic combat. Also, the game is a rogue-lite (semi-roguelike) so expect some degree of difficulty that’s different from the more straightforward games.

But that only means the game’s visual style will help players stay motivated or distracted enough to keep trying. Again, the story is mostly cookie-cutter and is but a mere excuse for players to try out builds and fight the game’s piñata-like enemies. To be fair, the game doesn’t really need context, especially once players see it in action.

2 Star Valor

Release Year: 2022 Other Platforms: N/A Steam Page

Of course, there’s a space-themed top-down shooter here. It’s one of the ripest settings for top-down shooting, after all. Star Valor fills in that category. It didn’t get as much buzz compared to bigger-budget releases, but this game is easily one of the best space RPGs of the decade.

Its impressive Steam review stats say so. Star Valor is similar to games like X4: Foundations, where players can choose who they want to become in the vast expanse of space. They can be pirates, bounty hunters, merchants, miners, or business magnates if they like. All those possibilities are in the comfort of top-down shooting.

1 Brigador: Up-Armored Edition

Release Year: 2016 Other Platforms: macOS Steam Page

Similar to Ruiner, Brigador unleashed itself in the gaming industry way before cyberpunk became popular enough to be mainstream in gaming. The popularity results were similar. Brigador mostly went under the radar, but this game certainly deserves more acclaim based on its soundtrack and visuals alone.

Players pilot a mech on an urban rampage to take down the oppressive cyberpunk autocracy. It doesn’t get much simpler than that, but cruising through a cyber dystopia’s streets in a vehicle while being blasted by both synthwave symphonies and gunfire alike was somewhat ahead of its time.

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