The best games like Alba: A Wildlife Adventure are Beasts of Maravilla Island, TOEM and Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley. The first two give you a camera and animals to find, and Snufkin has Alba's kind story about saving nature. For a small island to walk, try A Short Hike. Below are 10 games, grouped by what you loved most. We checked every game on October 31, 2026.
At a glance
| Game | Best for | Length | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beasts of Maravilla Island | Players who want the closest thing to Alba's camera | About 2 hours (HowLongToBeat) | PC, Mac, Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One |
| TOEM | Players who loved helping people with a camera | About 3.5 hours (HowLongToBeat) | PC, Mac, Linux, Switch, PS5, Xbox |
| Birdwatching Notebook | Bird lovers who want something quiet to keep open while they work | Varies | PC, Mac |
| SEASON: A letter to the future | Older players who want a slower, more grown-up Alba | About 7 hours (HowLongToBeat) | PC, PS4, PS5 |
| A Short Hike | Players who loved Alba's small, sunny island | About 1.5 hours (HowLongToBeat) | PC, Mac, Linux, Switch, PS4, Xbox One |
| Lil Gator Game | Families, and anyone who loved Alba's kid's-eye view | About 3 hours (HowLongToBeat) | PC, Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox |
| A Short Sail | Alba fans who want small, sunny islands, kind islanders and a camera | Not shared yet | PC (Windows), Mac, Web, Steam Deck |
| Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley | Families who want Alba's message in a story book world | About 4 hours (HowLongToBeat) | PC, Mac, Switch, PS5, Xbox Series X |
| Kamaeru: A Frog Refuge | Players who want to restore a habitat and photograph what moves in | About 5 hours (HowLongToBeat) | PC, Mac, Linux, Switch, Xbox Series X |
| Loddlenaut | Players who loved picking up Alba's litter | About 4 hours (HowLongToBeat) | PC, Mac, Switch |
| Terra Nil | Older kids and adults who want to rebuild nature themselves | About 6 hours (HowLongToBeat) | PC, Mac, Linux |
What makes Alba special
In Alba: A Wildlife Adventure, you are Alba, a girl on a summer holiday with her grandparents on a small Mediterranean island. You walk the island with your phone camera, spot birds and other animals, and log each one in your wildlife guide. Along the way, you pick up litter, fix broken things, and try to save the island’s nature reserve, with help from your best friend and the people in town. Alba has a 94.7% rating on SteamDB, from about 8,000 Steam reviews (October 31, 2026).
Developer: ustwo games | Year: 2020 | Platforms: PC, Mac, iOS, Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One | Length: about 2.5 hours (HowLongToBeat) | Steam Deck: Verified | Steam page
Alba is short, kind and easy for any age. So we grouped this list by the part you loved most: spotting and photographing animals, a small island to explore on foot, or a kind story about saving nature. Most picks are short, like Alba, and we say so when one is longer or less gentle.
The best games like Alba
- Closest to Alba: Beasts of Maravilla Island
- Best photo adventure: TOEM
- Best for birds on your desktop: Birdwatching Notebook
- Best island to explore on foot: A Short Hike
- Best eco story for kids: Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley
- Best cleanup game: Loddlenaut
- Our own game: A Short Sail (a cozy island game with a camera, but you sail, not walk; not ranked)
If you loved spotting and photographing animals
Beasts of Maravilla Island
Who it is for: players who want the closest thing to Alba’s camera.
Beasts of Maravilla Island is a short photo adventure. You are Marina, a young wildlife photographer, on a hidden jungle island with her grandfather’s journal and camera. You climb, explore and solve small puzzles with plants and animals to coax out their behaviour, then take the photo. There are three areas and over 50 creatures and plants to fill your photo book. The animals are magical, like a bird that hides as a banana, so it feels like a gentle fantasy version of Alba.
The downside: it is short, it has some rough edges, and your photos are not scored, so there is little reason to replay it.
Developer: Banana Bird Studios | Year: 2021 | Platforms: PC, Mac, Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One | Length: about 2 hours (HowLongToBeat) | Steam Deck: Verified | Steam page
TOEM
Who it is for: players who loved helping people with a camera.
TOEM is a hand-drawn photo adventure. You set off from your grandma’s house to see a strange light called TOEM. On the way, you walk through little hand-drawn places, chat with odd locals and solve their problems by taking the right photos. There is a photo book of creatures to fill too. It is all black and white, funny and very calm.
The downside: the animals are cartoon creatures, not real wildlife, and the camera can be fiddly with a mouse. More like it in games like A Short Hike.
Developer: Something We Made | Year: 2021 | Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux, Switch, PS5, Xbox | Length: about 3.5 hours (HowLongToBeat) | Steam Deck: Verified | Steam page
Birdwatching Notebook
Who it is for: bird lovers who want something quiet to keep open while they work.
Birdwatching Notebook is an idle game about birds. You put a tiny scene, like a postcard, in the corner of your screen and decorate it. Birds come to visit, each at its own time of day, and you snap their behaviours with your camera to fill your handbook. You unlock new spots such as docks, beaches and rainforests, and there are more than 100 kinds of birds. You can also visit friends’ spots online.
The downside: it is not an adventure. There is no island to walk and no story, and much of it is waiting for birds to come.
Developer: Biekka Games | Year: 2026 | Platforms: PC, Mac | Steam Deck: Playable | Steam page
SEASON: A letter to the future
Who it is for: older players who want a slower, more grown-up Alba.
SEASON: A letter to the future is a slow, story-led bicycle journey. Estelle leaves her mountain village for the first time and rides her bicycle into a valley before a mysterious change sweeps the world away. You take photos, record sounds, from birdsong to music, and talk to the people you meet, and you put it all in a scrapbook. It is a beautiful game about noticing things.
The downside: it is longer and sadder than Alba, the story is about loss and change, and on PC it is Windows only.
Developer: Scavengers Studio | Year: 2023 | Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5 | Length: about 7 hours (HowLongToBeat) | Steam Deck: Verified | Steam page
If you loved exploring a small island on foot
A Short Hike
Who it is for: players who loved Alba’s small, sunny island.
A Short Hike is a small exploring game. Claire, a little bird, is on holiday at her aunt’s island park, and she needs phone signal at the top of the mountain. You can walk straight up, or wander: fish, help other hikers, find treasure and glide down from the cliffs. Like Alba, it is short, kind and full of animals, and it feels like a summer holiday.
The downside: there is no camera and no wildlife guide, and it ends quickly.
Developer: adamgryu | Year: 2019 | Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux, Switch, PS4, Xbox One | Length: about 1.5 hours (HowLongToBeat) | Steam Deck: Verified | Steam page
Lil Gator Game
Who it is for: families, and anyone who loved Alba’s kid’s-eye view.
Lil Gator Game is a short, funny open-world game. A little gator wants to play with his big sister, but she is too busy with school work. So he builds a pretend adventure across the island and gets every kid he meets to join in. You climb, glide and swim anywhere, and you help your new friends with silly little jobs. It is warm and very funny.
The downside: it is about play and friends, not animals or nature, and the story is light. See more in games like Lil Gator Game.
Developer: MegaWobble | Year: 2022 | Platforms: PC, Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox | Length: about 3 hours (HowLongToBeat) | Steam Deck: Verified | Steam page
A Short Sail
Who it is for: Alba fans who want small, sunny islands, kind islanders and a camera.
A Short Sail is a cozy sailing game where you are a little tabby cat with a sailboat. Like Alba, it has small, sunny islands to explore, kind islanders to help and a camera: you can take photos of the places you find in photo mode. You can also fish by day and by night, get a snorkel and swim over reefs, and dig up finds for a little museum. But you sail between islands instead of walking one, and there is no wildlife guide or nature reserve to save. You deliver letters and parcels, and make friends across the islands.
There are no timers, no fighting on foot, and only gentle sea battles against storms and living waves. It comes out in Q1 2027, and the full game also plays in a web browser. You can play the free demo at play.ashortsail.com.
Developer: Yos Riady | Platforms: PC (Windows), Mac, Web, Steam Deck | Length: not shared yet | Free demo at play.ashortsail.com | Play the demo
If you loved the kind story about saving nature
Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley
Who it is for: families who want Alba’s message in a story book world.
Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley is a gentle adventure in the Moomin world. Snufkin comes back to Moominvalley and finds that a Park Keeper has filled it with ugly parks, rules and signs. You sneak past the guards, pull up signs and play your harmonica to help the valley’s creatures and set nature free again. It looks like a painted picture book, and it is gentle enough for younger players.
The downside: there are some sneaking parts, which can be fiddly, and it is short.
Developer: Hyper Games | Year: 2024 | Platforms: PC, Mac, Switch, PS5, Xbox Series X|S | Length: about 4 hours (HowLongToBeat) | Steam Deck: Verified | Steam page
Kamaeru: A Frog Refuge
Who it is for: players who want to restore a habitat and photograph what moves in.
Kamaeru: A Frog Refuge is a cozy game about a frog sanctuary. You help an old friend turn the wetland of your childhood back into a home for frogs. You dig ponds, plant native plants, decorate the refuge, and new frogs come to stay. Each new frog gets its photo taken for your frog book, and there are hundreds of colours to find.
The downside: the loop gets samey after a few hours, and it has farming and mini-games that Alba does not.
Developer: Humble Reeds | Year: 2024 | Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux, Switch, Xbox Series X|S | Length: about 5 hours (HowLongToBeat) | Steam Deck: Verified | Steam page
Loddlenaut
Who it is for: players who loved picking up Alba’s litter.
Loddlenaut is an ocean cleanup game. You are a space custodian sent to clean an ocean planet that a big company left in a mess. You swim around with a bubble gun, clear goop and junk, recycle it into upgrades, and look after little axolotl-like creatures called loddles. Bit by bit, the water clears and the reefs come back. We have a whole list of games like Loddlenaut.
The downside: it is mostly underwater, so there is no sunny town or real-world wildlife, and the end can feel like a chore list.
Developer: Moon Lagoon | Year: 2023 | Platforms: PC, Mac, Switch | Length: about 4 hours (HowLongToBeat) | Steam Deck: Verified | Steam page
Terra Nil
Who it is for: older kids and adults who want to rebuild nature themselves.
Terra Nil is a calm strategy game about rebuilding nature. You start with a dead, grey wasteland, then clean the soil, bring back rivers, plant forests and wetlands, and welcome animals home. At the end of each map, you recycle every machine you built and leave the land as if you were never there.
The downside: you see the world from above, not on foot, and the puzzles can get tricky. It is a planning game more than an adventure.
Developer: Free Lives, Clockwork Acorn | Year: 2023 | Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux | Length: about 6 hours (HowLongToBeat) | Steam Deck: Verified | Steam page
Related guides
- Games like A Short Hike
- Games like Lil Gator Game
- Games like Loddlenaut
- Cozy island games
- Cozy PC games for kids
- Short cozy games for a weekend
Questions
What is the closest game to Alba: A Wildlife Adventure?
Beasts of Maravilla Island is the closest game to Alba. You are a young wildlife photographer on an island, and you find, study and photograph its animals to fill a photo book. Its animals are magical, not real, and it is about as short as Alba.
Is there a game like Alba for kids?
Yes: Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley, Lil Gator Game and A Short Hike are all gentle, short and easy for kids. Snufkin also has Alba's message, because it is about saving a valley's nature.
Are there more games where you take photos of animals?
Yes: Beasts of Maravilla Island and TOEM are both adventures built around a camera. Birdwatching Notebook is a small idle game where birds visit a corner of your screen and you photograph them.
How long is Alba: A Wildlife Adventure?
Alba takes about 2.5 hours for the main story, according to HowLongToBeat. Finding every animal takes a little longer. Most picks on this list are just as short, so they fit in a weekend.
What platforms is Alba on?
Alba: A Wildlife Adventure is on PC, Switch, PlayStation and Xbox, and on iPhone, iPad and Mac through Apple Arcade. On Steam Deck it is Verified, so it runs well there too.
Is Alba multiplayer?
No, Alba is a single-player game. Of the games on this list, Birdwatching Notebook has the most social side: you can visit your friends' bird spots online.
Is there a game like Alba where you sail between islands?
Yes: A Short Sail, our own game, is a cozy sailing game where you are a tabby cat with a sailboat. It has small islands, kind islanders and a photo mode, but no wildlife guide. It comes out in Q1 2027, and the free demo plays in your browser.
