Field guide · seven games compared

Games that look like Bendy and the Ink Machine, without the horror

By Ekin, a solo developer in Istanbul, the one person behind Whale Development Studios and Iron Curtain Call. Published 7 November 2026. Every date, price, platform and demo below was checked on the US Steam store on 7 November 2026; the sources are listed at the end.

Iron Curtain Call in first person: a white cartoon glove holds a typewriter submachine gun as a grinning steam train marked 6:15 bursts out of a brick tunnel — Iron Curtain Call, chapter 1, Rubbleton: the 6:15 express, in the free demo. A real gameplay frame.

The short answer

The ink and the 1930s cartoon, minus the dread.

Bendy and the Ink Machine is a first person puzzle action horror game set in an abandoned animation studio. If it is the look you love, ink, rubber hose limbs and the cartoons of the 1930s, there are games with that look that are not trying to scare you. Cuphead is the landmark, a 2D run and gun with hand drawn cel animation. MOUSE: P.I. For Hire is a black and white rubber hose shooter, a noir with guns. Iron Curtain Call is mine: a full color rubber hose war satire in first person, and its demo is free on Steam.

Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed brings paint and thinner to a Disney wasteland, Toyland Tussle is one hand drawn boss fight for $2.99, and Kalit and Moylo are two rubber hose games still to come. Not one of the seven is a horror game, but they are not equally gentle: the table and every entry say how dark each one is.

Three of the seven had a free demo on Steam on 7 November 2026: Iron Curtain Call, Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed and Kalit.

At a glance

Seven games, side by side.

Checked on the US Steam store on 7 November 2026. Prices are list prices in US dollars before any sale; Steam sets its own prices in other countries. Kalit shows only the year 2027 and Moylo shows no date on Steam.
Game	The look	How much horror	Free demo on Steam	US price	Out
Cuphead	Hand drawn 1930s cel animation, watercolor backgrounds, original jazz	None. A boss fight game with a devil’s debt for a plot; ratings list fantasy violence	No	$19.99	29 September 2017
MOUSE: P.I. For Hire	Black and white rubber hose animation drawn by hand, frame by frame	No horror, but noir violence: ratings list violence, and the ESRB lists blood	No	$29.99	16 April 2026
Iron Curtain CallMy game	A full color 1930s rubber hose cartoon with ink lines	None, and no gore: robots burst into bolts, springs and scrap	Yes, free: Mission 1, about 15 to 20 minutes	Not priced yet	11 March 2027Free demo since 28 October 2026
Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed	A 3D world of old Disney cartoons, painted and thinned with a magic brush	Mild. One rating board notes scary moments and a dark atmosphere	Yes, free	$39.99	24 September 2024
Toyland Tussle	Hand drawn, traditionally animated classic cartoon	None on its page: one boss fight against a gorilla called Gears	No	$2.99	7 August 2025
Kalit	Hand drawn 1930s rubber hose animation in a 3D open world	Light. Fantasy violence, and a sanity meter you must keep up	Yes, free	Not priced yet	Coming soon, no date yet
Moylo	Rubber hose animation, frame by frame, of the 1930s and 1940s	Dark in mood: an endless night and shadows that consumed the land	No	Not priced yet	Coming soon, no date yet

The games

One by one, who each is for.

Each entry says who the game is for, what it is and how it differs from Bendy and the Ink Machine. The facts under each come from its Steam page on 7 November 2026, including the age ratings the page lists; the order is by how close the look is, not a ranking.

Cuphead

Play it if you want the purest 1930s cartoon look in any game and you love boss fights.

Studio MDHR made Cuphead the way 1930s studios made cartoons: traditional hand drawn cel animation, watercolor backgrounds and original jazz recordings. It is a side view run and gun built around boss fights, for one player or two on one screen, with a plot about paying back a debt to the devil.

It is not a horror game. Steam lists the ESRB’s E10 rating for fantasy violence and PEGI 7 for fear and violence, and Australia’s OFLC entry on the page notes scary scenes, but it is a cartoon first and a challenge second.

Next to Bendy it is the same century of cartoons played straight: bright, bouncy and hard. It is a 2D game, seen from the side, and it had no demo on Steam on 7 November 2026.

Developer and publisher: Studio MDHR
Released: 29 September 2017
On Steam: Windows and macOS
US list price: $19.99
Demo: None on Steam

MOUSE: P.I. For Hire

Play it if you want the ink and the black and white of Bendy in a game where you are the one with the gun.

Fumi Games’ shooter casts you as Jack Pepper, a war hero turned private eye in Mouseburg, a town of mice. Steam describes black and white rubber hose animation drawn by hand, frame by frame, a big band jazz soundtrack and over 20 noir levels, teeming with mice, rats and shrews.

It is not horror, but it is not gentle either. The story takes in corruption, kidnapping and murder, and Steam lists an ESRB Teen rating for violence and blood and a PEGI 16 for violence.

Of everything here it is the one that shares Bendy’s first person view, with a gun in your hand. It had no demo on Steam on 7 November 2026.

Developer: Fumi Games
Publisher: PlaySide
Released: 16 April 2026
On Steam: Windows
US list price: $29.99
Demo: None on Steam

Iron Curtain Call

My game

Play it if you want a rubber hose cartoon in full color with a lot of movement in it, and a demo to try first.

It is 1965, year three of World War III. Humanity ran out of soldiers, so the war is fought by wind up tin robots run by the Supreme Chancellor, a customer service machine that was handed a country. You are Corporal Punishment, a silent soldier, and Colonel Panic is on the radio: “I’d send backup, but you are the backup.”

The look is a 1930s rubber hose cartoon with ink lines, in front of your own eyes, with white cartoon gloves in the frame and comic words on every hit. It is a comedy, not a scare: the robots burst into bolts, springs and scrap, and there is no gore. I make it as a solo developer in Istanbul, and it comes out on Windows and macOS.

The free demo is Mission 1, Welcome to Rubbleton: about 15 to 20 minutes, ending with the first boss, Major Disaster. The full game arrives on 11 March 2027. Next to Bendy it keeps the ink and loses the haunting.

Developer and publisher: Whale Development Studios
Out: 11 March 2027
Free demo out: 28 October 2026
On Steam: Windows and macOS (demo on Windows, macOS and Linux)
US list price: Not priced yet
Demo: Yes, free

Play the free demo Play 60 seconds in your browser, no download

Iron Curtain Call: Major Disaster, the first boss, a giant tin general, takes the finisher in a town square under bunting and comic sound effects — Chapter 1, Rubbleton: Major Disaster, the boss of the free demo, takes the finisher.

Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed

Play it if you want the old Disney cartoons as a world you walk through, and a family friendly adventure.

Purple Lamp’s remake of the Wii game sends Mickey Mouse through Wasteland, a realm of forgotten Disney characters, armed with a magic brush: paint to create, thinner to alter the world. Steam says its levels are inspired by animated films and shorts, and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit is among the characters you meet. It is a 3D platformer, and it has a free demo.

It is the darkest of the gentle ones. Steam lists ESRB E10 for fantasy violence and PEGI 7 for violence and fear, and Germany’s USK 6 entry notes scary moments and a dark atmosphere.

It is the one that really turns ink into a mechanic, paint and thinner. The cartoon is Disney’s, and the mood is storybook with a few shadows, far from Bendy’s. Steam lists Windows only.

Developer: Purple Lamp
Publisher: THQ Nordic
Released: 24 September 2024
On Steam: Windows
US list price: $39.99
Demo: Yes, free

Toyland Tussle

Play it if you want a small, cheap, hand drawn cartoon fight, over in one sitting.

RBW Games’ Toyland Tussle is, in Steam’s words, a single classic cartoon inspired boss fight platformer with shoot em up mechanics. You play Fodder the Cannon against Gears the Gorilla, in three phases, with four weapons. All graphics are hand drawn and traditionally animated, with original music.

Nothing on its Steam page points to horror, and Steam lists violence in its age ratings.

The smallest game on the list: one boss and $2.99. It has Windows and macOS builds and no demo on Steam.

Developer and publisher: RBW Games
Released: 7 August 2025
On Steam: Windows and macOS
US list price: $2.99
Demo: None on Steam

Kalit

Play it if you want to live in a rubber hose world for hours, building and taming things, and you can wait.

Traviteam Games’ Kalit is an open world survival and crafting game, animated by hand in a 1930s rubber hose style inside a 3D world. You capture creatures, farm, mine and build a base, even underwater. Steam shows only the year 2027 for its release, and a free demo is already out.

It is a survival game, so there is danger: Steam talks of freezing cold, blistering heat and keeping your sanity from dropping into madness, and lists fantasy violence. The tone is wacky, not frightening.

The only survival game here and the one built for long sessions. Steam lists Windows only.

Developer and publisher: Traviteam Games
Out: Coming soon, no date yet
On Steam: Windows
US list price: Not priced yet
Demo: Yes, free

Moylo

Play it if you want rubber hose melee and bosses, you are fine with a dark mood, and you are happy to wishlist and wait.

Bugle Duck’s Moylo is a hand drawn action game with melee combat and boss battles, every character, enemy and environment animated frame by frame in a rubber hose style inspired by the animation of the 1930s and 1940s. Steam shows no release date.

This is the darkest of the seven in mood. The Steam page sets it in a world where death has already claimed everything, beneath an endless night, with dark shadows that consumed the land. It does not describe horror, and it lists no age descriptors yet, but it is not a sunny cartoon.

Closest in mood to Bendy’s shadows, with melee fighting where Bendy has puzzles. It is announced, not out; Steam lists Windows and macOS.

Developer and publisher: Bugle Duck
Out: Coming soon, no date yet
On Steam: Windows and macOS
US list price: Not priced yet
Demo: None on Steam

The reference

What Bendy is, and what is left out

Joey Drew Studios’ Bendy and the Ink Machine is, in its Steam page’s words, a first person puzzle action horror game. You explore the abandoned animation workshop of Joey Drew Studios, a studio with a dark history, where the creations of the past come alive. It came out on April 2017 for $19.99 and is on Windows.

Everything on this page keeps one half of that: the ink, the rubber hose limbs, the cartoons of the 1930s. It drops the other half, the dread. Two other rubber hose games did not make the list for that reason: Into The Unwell describes its world as grotesque, uncanny and entertaining in equal parts, and its Steam page lists sensitive themes in some of its age ratings, and Bad Cheese, inspired by 1920s animation, calls itself a psychological horror.

If you want more of this look

Our guide to rubber hose and 1930s cartoon FPS games goes deeper on the style in first person, in ten languages, and the best cartoon FPS games on PC widens it to cel shaded and comic book shooters.

Or skip the reading: play 60 seconds of Iron Curtain Call in your browser, no download.

Questions

Questions players ask

What are games like Bendy and the Ink Machine without the horror?

Cuphead, MOUSE: P.I. For Hire, Iron Curtain Call, Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed and Toyland Tussle are out now, and Kalit and Moylo are on the way. They share its ink and 1930s cartoon look; none of the seven is a horror game, and the table above says how dark each one is.

Is Cuphead a horror game?

No. It is a cartoon run and gun about boss fights. Steam lists the ESRB’s E10 rating for fantasy violence and PEGI 7 for fear and violence.

Is there a rubber hose game with a free demo?

Yes. Iron Curtain Call has a free demo on Steam: Mission 1, Welcome to Rubbleton, about 15 to 20 minutes, with no gore. Kalit and Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed also had a free demo on 7 November 2026.

Is there a first person game like Bendy that is not scary?

MOUSE: P.I. For Hire and Iron Curtain Call, both first person shooters in a 1930s rubber hose cartoon look. MOUSE is a black and white noir with violence; Iron Curtain Call is a full color comedy with no gore.

Is Iron Curtain Call scary?

No. It is a war satire set in an alternate 1965, and its robots burst into bolts, springs and scrap. It is my game, so do not take my word for it: the demo is free.

Which of these games are not out yet?

Iron Curtain Call comes out on 11 March 2027. Kalit shows only the year 2027 on Steam and Moylo shows no date. The other four are out.

What PC and indie games are coming out in 2027?

More than one page can hold: Steam shows a lot of PC and indie games with a 2027 date, and dates keep moving. What we checked on Steam on 7 November 2026 are the shooters and the Mac action games, in two dated lists: upcoming FPS games and upcoming Mac games. Iron Curtain Call, our own cartoon noir shooter, is due 11 March 2027 on Windows and macOS, and its free demo is on Steam now.

What games release on 11 March 2027?

Among the shooters we checked on Steam on 7 November 2026: Blood of Rations (11 March 2027) and Iron Curtain Call (My game, 11 March 2027). We only checked shooters, so this is not the full set for that day; Steam’s own Coming Soon page has the rest.

What is a good new single player FPS I can play for free right now?

Iron Curtain Call has a free demo on Steam (Mission 1, about 15 to 20 minutes) and a free 60 second browser trial with no download. It is a single player cartoon noir shooter, and it is our game, so weigh that. For other free shooters, our list of free FPS demos on Steam holds the best rated ones.

Sources

Every fact on this page comes from these pages, read on 7 November 2026. Prices and dates change; the store page always has the final word.

Cuphead, Steam store page
MOUSE: P.I. For Hire, Steam store page
Iron Curtain Call, Steam store page
Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed, Steam store page
Toyland Tussle, Steam store page
Kalit, Steam store page
Moylo, Steam store page
Rubber hose animation, Wikipedia
Cuphead, Wikipedia
Mouse: P.I. for Hire, Wikipedia
Epic Mickey, Wikipedia
Bendy and the Ink Machine, Wikipedia

World War III now has a free trial.

Mission 1 of Iron Curtain Call is free on Steam. Play it, and if the war wins you over, wishlist the full war: it arrives on 11 March 2027.

Play the free demo Wishlist and Follow on Steam Play 60 seconds in your browser, no download