Iron Curtain Call
Free demo
Field guide · eight games compared

Games like Cuphead on PC: 1930s cartoon animation and boss heavy action on Steam

By Ekin, a solo developer in Istanbul, the one person behind Whale Development Studios and Iron Curtain Call. Published 8 November 2026. Every date, price, platform and demo below was checked on the US Steam store and Wikipedia on 8 November 2026; the sources are listed at the end.

Iron Curtain Call in first person: Corporal Punishment grapples above a carnival midway in rubber hose ink and color while tin robots fire below
Iron Curtain Call, a real gameplay frame. A 1930s cartoon look in first person, with theatrical bosses at the end of every chapter.
The short answer

Pick whether you came for the 1930s ink or the 2D boss rush.

Per its Steam page and Wikipedia, Studio MDHR’s Cuphead (released 29 September 2017, $19.99 on Steam for Windows and macOS) is two things at once: a run and gun game built around boss battles, and a work of 1930s rubber hose animation drawn with traditional hand drawn cel animation, watercolor backgrounds and original jazz recordings. Very few games on Steam do both in the same package, so the honest way to answer “games like Cuphead” is to split the list by which half you want more.

If you want the 1930s rubber hose cartoon look in a shooter, two games on Steam put that animation style into first person: MOUSE: P.I. For Hire ($29.99, out 16 April 2026) is a black and white noir detective shooter with a jazz soundtrack, and Iron Curtain Call (my game, full release 11 March 2027, free demo on Steam now) is a full color 1930s cartoon comedy FPS against an army of wind up tin robots with twelve chapter bosses. If you want fast 2D cartoon action and boss fights, Pizza Tower ($19.99, out 26 January 2023) is a fast 2D platformer with hand drawn pixel animation and theatrical boss duels, and Toyland Tussle ($2.99, out 7 August 2025) is a 1930s cartoon boss rush.

If you want the inked cartoon look in other genres, Bendy and the Ink Machine ($19.99) takes the 1930s animation studio into first person puzzle action horror, Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed ($39.99) is a 3D platformer built around a magic paintbrush and thinner, and two upcoming indie games on Steam, Kalit and Moylo, carry the rubber hose look into action adventure and top down shooting. Four of the eight games below had a free demo on Steam on 8 November 2026: Iron Curtain Call, Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed and Kalit.

At a glance

Eight games on Steam, and what each shares with Cuphead.

Checked on the US Steam store and the games’ English Wikipedia articles on 8 November 2026. Prices are US list prices before any discount; Cuphead itself is $19.99 on Steam for Windows and macOS, with no demo on 8 November 2026. My game first, then the released games and the upcoming ones.
GameWhat it shares with CupheadHow it plays and what differsFree demo on SteamUS priceOut
Iron Curtain CallMy game1930s rubber hose cartoon proportions, thick ink outlines, theatrical bosses (one at the end of each of the twelve chapters)Three dimensional first person shooter in full color, set in an alternate 1965 World War III against wind up tin robots; free demo on SteamYes, free: Mission 1, about 15 to 20 minutesNot priced yet11 March 2027Free demo since 28 October 2026
MOUSE: P.I. For HireSteam and Wikipedia: 1930s rubber hose animation inspired by Fleischer Studios, hand drawn frame by frame, original big band jazzThree dimensional first person shooter in black and white noir; detective cases in MouseburgNo$29.9916 April 2026
Bendy and the Ink MachineWikipedia: visual style inspired by 1930s cartoons such as Fleischer Studios and early Disney, inside an old animation studioFirst person puzzle action horror game; dark corridors and ink monsters rather than arcade run and gunNo$19.9927 April 2017
Disney Epic Mickey: RebrushedSteam and Wikipedia: classic Disney cartoon history and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, with paint and thinner shaping the worldThree dimensional action platformer (a remake of the 2010 Wii game), not a boss rush shooterYes, free$39.9924 September 2024
Pizza TowerSteam and Wikipedia: fast 2D action with high energy cartoon animation inspired by 1990s cartoons and intense boss arenasTwo dimensional platformer built around speed, combos and escaping each stage, rather than 1930s inkNo$19.9926 January 2023
Toyland TussleSteam: 1930s cartoon style, hand drawn frame by frame animation, boss battles and local co opTwo dimensional action platformer in a toy store, much shorter and smaller in scope ($2.99)No$2.997 August 2025
KalitSteam: rubber hose animation and a cartoon kingdomTwo dimensional action adventure and platformer where you play a chameleon; due 2027, free demo on SteamYes, freeNot priced yetComing soon, no date yet
MoyloSteam: 1930s cartoon aesthetic with hand drawn rubber hose characters and bossesTwo dimensional top down roguelite shooter; release date to be announced on SteamNoNot priced yetComing soon, no date yet
The games

One by one, what matches Cuphead and what does not.

Every entry below separates the art style from the camera and genre, so you know whether you are getting a 2D platformer, a 3D adventure or a first person shooter. All prices, dates, platforms and demo flags were read from the US Steam store on 8 November 2026.

Iron Curtain Call

My game

Play it if you want the 1930s rubber hose cartoon look and loud multi phase boss fights inside a fast first person shooter, and you want a free demo first.

Iron Curtain Call is my game: a single player cartoon noir first person shooter set in an alternate 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 play Corporal Punishment, dropped into the rubble with a shotgun called The Diplomat, a submachine gun called The Typewriter and a punch that knocks healing scrap out of the machines.

What it shares with Cuphead is the cartoon lineage and the love of theatrical bosses: the enemies and weapons are drawn with 1930s rubber hose proportions and bold ink lines, every hit throws up painted comic words, and each of the twelve chapters ends with a named boss, starting with Major Disaster (seventeen medals, all self awarded) at the end of Mission 1. What differs is the camera and the pace: it is a three dimensional first person shooter in full color, built around dashing, grappling and punching rather than two dimensional platforming.

The free demo on Steam is Mission 1, Welcome to Rubbleton (about 15 to 20 minutes, ending with Major Disaster), for Windows, macOS and Linux; you can also play 60 seconds in your browser. The parry comes with the full game on 11 March 2027.

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
Gameplay trailer · 1:00 · Twelve chapters in sixty seconds. YouTube · Video page

Play the free demoPlay 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 at the end of the free Steam demo. A real gameplay frame.

MOUSE: P.I. For Hire

Play it if you want the closest 1930s Fleischer cartoon look and big band jazz on Steam, in a first person detective shooter.

Fumi Games’ MOUSE: P.I. For Hire is a first person shooter inspired by 1930s classic cartoons, in Steam’s words. You play private investigator Jack Pepper in the corrupt city of Mouseburg, with a monochrome rubber hose look drawn frame by frame, a vintage big band jazz soundtrack recorded with an orchestra, and whimsical weapons and power ups such as Spinach.

Per Wikipedia, critics and previews repeatedly compared its visual design and boss encounters to Cuphead mixed with a classic first person shooter. Unlike Cuphead, it plays from a first person perspective through levels and detective story chapters rather than a 2D overworld of boss stages.

Out on Steam since 16 April 2026 at $29.99, for Windows, with no demo on 8 November 2026. Black and white noir where Iron Curtain Call is full color Cold War comedy.

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

Bendy and the Ink Machine

Play it if you want the 1930s animation studio setting itself, turned into a first person puzzle horror story.

Joey Drew Studios’ Bendy and the Ink Machine is a first person puzzle action horror game set inside Joey Drew Studios, where Henry Stein returns to find an Ink Machine that brings cartoon characters to life. Wikipedia notes that its visual style draws on 1930s cartoons such as Fleischer Studios and early Disney, rendered in sepia tones like an old sketch pad.

It shares Cuphead’s 1930s cartoon roots and came out the same year (2017), which is why players often search for the two together. In play they are opposites: Bendy is slow exploration, puzzles and hiding from ink monsters, not an arcade shooter.

Out on Steam at $19.99, for Windows, with no demo on 8 November 2026. If you want Bendy’s cartoon look without the horror, see my Games Like Bendy guide.

Developer and publisher
Joey Drew Studios
Released
27 April 2017
On Steam
Windows
US list price
$19.99
Demo
None on Steam

Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed

Play it if you want a 3D cartoon platformer steeped in 1920s and 1930s animation history, with a free Steam demo.

Purple Lamp and THQ Nordic’s Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed is a remake of the 2010 Wii action platformer, released on Steam on 24 September 2024. Steam says it sends Mickey Mouse into Wasteland, a realm of forgotten Disney characters led by Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Walt Disney’s first cartoon star from 1927, armed with a magic brush that wields paint to restore and thinner to erase.

Like Cuphead, it celebrates early American animation and even includes 2D side scrolling projector stages inspired by vintage shorts. Unlike Cuphead, it is a gentler three dimensional adventure platformer rather than a punishing run and gun boss rush.

On Steam at $39.99, for Windows, with a free demo available on 8 November 2026.

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

Pizza Tower

Play it if you want the frantic 2D cartoon energy, expressive hand drawn animation and wild boss fights, even if the cartoon era is the 1990s rather than the 1930s.

Tour De Pizza’s Pizza Tower, released on Steam on 26 January 2023, is a fast paced 2D platformer inspired by the Wario Land series, per Steam and Wikipedia. You play Italian chef Peppino Spaghetti racing up a tower to save his restaurant, with hyper expressive hand drawn pixel animation, a high energy soundtrack and one on one boss arenas at the end of every floor.

Players who finish Cuphead looking for another 2D indie game where every frame of animation is a gag and every boss fight is a test of reflexes often land here. Its cartoon style is 1990s Saturday morning exaggeration rather than 1930s ink and jazz.

On Steam at $19.99, for Windows, with no demo on 8 November 2026.

Developer and publisher
Tour De Pizza
Released
26 January 2023
On Steam
Windows
US list price
$19.99
Demo
None on Steam

Toyland Tussle

Play it if you want a bite sized 2D 1930s cartoon boss rush with local co op for a few dollars.

RBW Games’ Toyland Tussle, released on Steam on 7 August 2025, is a 2D action platformer and boss rush set in a toy store. Steam describes hand drawn frame by frame animation in a 1930s cartoon style, boss battles and local co op, which makes it the most direct small indie nod to Cuphead’s exact formula on this page.

Because it is a tiny indie release priced at $2.99, it is much shorter and simpler than Studio MDHR’s game.

On Steam at $2.99, for Windows and macOS, with no demo on 8 November 2026.

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 an upcoming 2D rubber hose platformer you can test right now with a free Steam demo.

Traviteam Games’ Kalit is an upcoming 2D action adventure platformer on Steam where you play Kalit, a chameleon crossing a cartoon kingdom. Steam highlights its rubber hose animation and platforming stages.

On 8 November 2026 Steam listed its release window as 2027 with a free demo live on the store.

Coming in 2027 for Windows, price not announced yet; free demo on Steam on 8 November 2026.

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 a 1930s rubber hose cartoon aesthetic inside a 2D top down roguelite shooter to wishlist.

Bugle Duck’s Moylo is an upcoming 2D top down roguelite action shooter on Steam. Its store page describes a 1930s cartoon aesthetic with hand drawn rubber hose characters, bullet hell rooms and bosses.

On 8 November 2026 Steam listed Moylo as coming soon with its release date to be announced and no demo.

Coming soon on Steam for Windows and macOS, release date and price not announced on 8 November 2026.

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
Start here if you missed it

Did you play Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course?

Before buying a different game, check whether you played Cuphead’s own expansion. Per Wikipedia, Studio MDHR released Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course in June 2022, adding a new island, a third playable character (Ms. Chalice, with a double jump, dash parry and invincible roll), new weapons, charms and a lineup of some of the studio’s largest boss animations.

If you already cleared Inkwell Isle Four and want the 1930s rubber hose art style in a new genre, the first person shooters on this page (MOUSE: P.I. For Hire and Iron Curtain Call) are the biggest change of pace while keeping the vintage ink.

How they compare

Rubber hose in 2D vs first person

In a 2D game like Cuphead or Toyland Tussle, the camera stays fixed from the side, so the animator controls every silhouette and boss telegraph across a flat stage. Moving that 1930s ink look into a three dimensional first person shooter changes the problem: you are inside the cartoon room, dodging projectiles in depth while reading enemy wind ups at high speed.

For a closer look at how the first person games handle that, read my rubber hose and 1930s cartoon FPS guide and my best cartoon and cel shaded FPS guide, or jump straight into 60 seconds of Iron Curtain Call in your browser.

Questions

Questions players ask

What games on Steam have the same 1930s cartoon art style as Cuphead?

For first person shooters, MOUSE: P.I. For Hire ($29.99, Windows) and Iron Curtain Call (my game, releasing 11 March 2027 for Windows and macOS, free demo on Steam now) both use 1930s rubber hose cartoon proportions and inked outlines. For horror, Bendy and the Ink Machine ($19.99) is set inside a 1930s animation studio. For 2D games, Toyland Tussle ($2.99), Kalit (due 2027, free demo) and Moylo (TBA) use the same vintage cartoon look.

Is there an FPS game like Cuphead?

Yes, two on Steam take the 1930s rubber hose cartoon style into first person: MOUSE: P.I. For Hire is a black and white noir detective FPS out now at $29.99, and Iron Curtain Call is a full color 1930s cartoon comedy FPS against wind up tin robots, with a free Steam demo out now and the full twelve chapter campaign arriving on 11 March 2027.

Which games like Cuphead have a free demo on Steam?

On 8 November 2026 three games on this list had a free demo on Steam: Iron Curtain Call (Mission 1, Welcome to Rubbleton, for Windows, macOS and Linux), Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed (Windows) and Kalit (Windows). Iron Curtain Call also has a free 60 second browser trial on this site.

Which games like Cuphead run on a Mac?

Cuphead itself runs on Windows and macOS on Steam. Among the eight games compared here, Steam listed macOS support on 8 November 2026 for Iron Curtain Call (both the free demo and the upcoming full game), Toyland Tussle and Moylo.

What is a good 2D game like Cuphead for boss fights and fast animation?

Pizza Tower ($19.99 on Steam for Windows) is the standout 2D action platformer here for hand drawn cartoon animation, speed and memorable boss arenas, while Toyland Tussle ($2.99) is a smaller 1930s cartoon boss rush with local co op.

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 the US Steam store pages of the games and these Wikipedia articles, read on 8 November 2026. Prices and dates change; the store page always has the final word.

  1. Iron Curtain Call, Steam store page
  2. MOUSE: P.I. For Hire, Steam store page
  3. Bendy and the Ink Machine, Steam store page
  4. Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed, Steam store page
  5. Pizza Tower, Steam store page
  6. Toyland Tussle, Steam store page
  7. Kalit, Steam store page
  8. Moylo, Steam store page
  9. Cuphead, Wikipedia
  10. Rubber hose animation, Wikipedia
  11. Mouse: P.I. for Hire, Wikipedia
  12. Bendy and the Ink Machine, Wikipedia
  13. Epic Mickey, Wikipedia
  14. Pizza Tower, Wikipedia

Step inside a 1930s cartoon war.

Mission 1 of Iron Curtain Call is free on Steam right now, or play 60 seconds in your browser with no download. The full twelve chapter campaign arrives on 11 March 2027.

Play the free demoWishlist and Follow on SteamPlay 60 seconds in your browser, no download

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