Investors check their stock apps every morning. As a game developer, I do something similar—I check sites like games-stats.com and SteamDB daily. And lately, I’ve noticed something intriguing among the top-performing indie games on those charts: many of them seem to borrow ideas from popular Roblox games.
For those unfamiliar, Roblox is a platform where players create and share their own games using Roblox Studio. It’s basically YouTube for games, all built on Roblox’s own engine. Roblox offers a massive variety of games—horror, FPS, roleplay, and more. While these games often share a signature blocky, “janky” charm, they’re surprisingly fun—especially with friends.
I used to play Roblox years ago, and I’m amazed at how it has evolved and stayed relevant. In fact, you might have heard about Grow a Garden, a Roblox title that recently surpassed Fortnite with an insane peak of 21.3 MILLION concurrent players.
Now, as I look at standalone indie hits on Steam, I can’t help but notice striking similarities to the Roblox games I played back then—or at least heard about. Let’s break them down:
Let’s Take a Closer Look
1). Online CO-OP Horrors
These co-op games share a familiar loop: explore creepy locations, complete objectives, and escape alive while avoiding deadly monsters.
- Lethal Company (2023): Scavenge for scraps in abandoned facilities and sell them for profit. Fail to meet your quota, and it’s game over.
- R.E.P.O. (2025): Similar setup, but you’re collecting valuables instead of scrap.
- Content Warning (2024): Record and document monsters in hopes of going viral.
What Roblox Games Come to Mind?
- Flee the Facility (2017): Hack computers to unlock the exit while avoiding a player-controlled “Beast.” With 5+ BILLION visits and 18k concurrent players, it’s a Roblox classic.
- Survive the Killer (2020): Instead of hacking, just survive until the exit doors open. Over 2.3 BILLION visits and 9.6k players at the time of writing.
- Piggy (2020): Like Flee the Facility but with more complex objectives. Inspired by Granny (but multiplayer). It has 13.7 BILLION visits and 23k active players.
Both of these Roblox and Steam games tap into the same core concept: work with friends to exit the place while evading enemies. Interestingly, Roblox pioneered the formula years earlier.
2). HASTE (2025)
A fast-paced speedrunning game where momentum is everything. Navigate collapsing worlds and reach the finish line as quickly as possible.
Roblox had it first with:
- Speed Run 4 (2014): Dash through obstacle courses and finish levels as fast as you can. Though simpler, it pioneered this formula. 1.6+ BILLION visits and 2.4k concurrent players today.
3). PEAK (2025)
A co-op survival climbing game where players climb a procedurally generated mountain and battle the harsh environment. This game has been blowing up recently.
Roblox’s counterpart:
- Mt. Everest Climbing Roleplay (2019): Climb with friends while battling hunger, oxygen depletion, and weather hazards. Slower-paced than PEAK but carries the same cooperative survival focus. 67.5+ MILLION visits and 3.6k players at the time of writing.
4). A Game About Digging a Hole (2025)
Exactly what it says: dig a hole in your backyard, find treasures, upgrade tools, and dig even deeper.
Roblox equivalent:
- Dig to Find Dad (2023): Plant bombs to dig holes in search of your missing dad (who’s somehow in a hole). 21.2 MILLION visits and 70 active players currently.
5). WEBFISHING (2025)
A chill online multiplayer game where fishing and socializing are the main attractions.
And Roblox had:
- Fisch (2024): Fish, collect rare species, and upgrade your gear. Hugely popular with 3+ BILLION visits and 11k players right now.
6). CUFFBUST (Upcoming)
An upcoming game where players must work together to break out of prison.
Roblox’s classic hit:
- Jailbreak (2017): Play as either cops or prisoners. Escape prison, complete quests, and commit crimes—or enforce the law as the police. More expansive than CUFFBUST, with 7.4+ BILLION visits and 10k players right now. A true Roblox classic.
So What Does This Mean?
Roblox is a goldmine of game ideas.
Popular Roblox games often prove just as successful when reimagined as standalone Steam titles. While the Roblox versions are usually more barebones—some might even call them “scuffed”—they consistently attract far more players than most indie games. Why?
For one, Roblox is free and incredibly accessible. Players can scroll through its massive library, spot something interesting, and start playing instantly—no downloads, no paywalls, no friction. By contrast, indie games, while often far more polished, require players to pay, download, and commit to each title individually. That extra barrier naturally filters out a huge chunk of potential traffic.
That said, even though indie games tend to have fewer players compared to Roblox, it’s worth remembering that as a creator, you gain far more control and creative freedom when building a standalone title. Roblox, after all, is a platform owned and heavily monetized by one massive company.
Yet again, maybe it’s time we as standalone developers stop dismissing Roblox as “kids’ stuff” and start studying it seriously.
What makes these Roblox-inspired games work?
1). They’re social and fun
At their core, these games are built for friends to play together. Whether competitive or cooperative, they’re designed around simple, addicting runs that make players say, “Just one more round!”. You must understand what makes a great teamwork or competetive game and implement those aspects to every part of your game.
2). They’re colorful, flashy, and instantly readable
These aren’t dense strategy games or roguelikes for hardcore players. They’re casual, approachable, and often family-friendly. Screenshots alone are enough to communicate the fun.
Also, notice how many have their own iconic mascot-style characters:
- Webfishing: mini 3D furries.
- R.E.P.O: puppet-shaped androids.
- CUFFBUST: koala bears/jelly beans.
3). They simulate experiences people wish they could have
These games let players do things they can’t (or won’t) do in real life:
- Fishing (Webfishing): Many people (including me) are too inpatient to fish in real life.
- Climbing Everest (PEAK): Too risky for most of us.
- Digging for treasure (A game about digging a hole): I Probably won’t find any gold or treassure chests in my real life backyard.
This is the essence of entertainment in general: letting players/consumers live out fantasies in a safe, fun way. It’s not just in games, you see this too in movies (superhero - you don’t have superpowers irl) or action-packed movies (most of us can’t ride a motorcycle into the open air like Tom Cruise). And so, we get to enjoy all of it from the comfort of our monitor or TV screen.
Final Words
So, should you make a Roblox-inspired game?That depends on you and your audience. But if you can execute well and tapping into players’ hidden desires while adding your own unique twist—there’s serious potential. And even if you’re not planning to make one, it’s worth studying Roblox games to uncover ideas and design choices that could inspire or improve your own game in ways you might not have considered.
And here’s a fun fact: many of today’s top indie devs started from Roblox. Zeekerss (Lethal Company), Tyler (Schedule 1), and many devs started with Roblox before moving to Steam. So if you’re new to game dev, Roblox can be a great stepping stone into game development.
But eventually, consider transitioning to standalone games. Because like I’ve said, Roblox is amazing—but at the end of the day, it’s still a corporate-controlled platform with rules and limitations. You don’t even gain real cash, instead you gain Roblox’s own currency–Robux that needs to meet a certain threshold to be converted to real money. Building your own game also gives you total creative freedom and control.
