As many PlayStation fans may be aware,the PlayStation Store for PS3, PSP, and PS Vita will be shutting down this year. Starting with the PS3 and PSP version on July 2, the PlayStation Store will no longer be accessible for fans to make new purchases. PlayStation fans will still be able to download games and content they have already purchased for the foreseeable future though, thankfully. The following is a list of the best games available exclusively on the PlayStation Store that PlayStation fans should be sure to consider purchasing before they are no longer available.
As a note, some truly incredible and award-winning games were released as digital only-exclusives to the PS3, like Journey,Flower,Sound Shapes, andThe UnfinishedSwan,but those games have since been ported to the PS4. Some of the below games also have technically had a physical release in theBest of PlayStation NetworkVol. 1collection, but copies of that are near impossible to find now for a fair price.
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Honorable Mentions
Unfortunately, some great PS3 digital-only games have already been delisted in years past, but are still playable for those who purchased them previously.
Among these lost games are perhaps two of the PS3 era’s more famous digital games,Noby Noby BoyandFat Princess.Noby Noby Boy, from the mind ofKatamari Damacycreator Keita Takahashi, was a game where players played as a strange stretchy worm-boy that featured an online component whereeveryone in the world’s score contributed to furthering the storyand unlocking new levels. The game is still downloadable for those who already purchased it, though there is nothing left to accomplish since the community completed the game’s mission in 2015.
Calling All Cars!
God of WarandTwisted Metalcreator David Jaffe created one of PlayStation’s first major digital games withCalling All Cars!for the PS3 in 2007, less than one year after the PS3 launched. The game is reminiscent of a top-downTwisted Metal, except in this game players are bounty hunters competing against one another to see who can capture the most criminals and return them to places like police stations or paddy wagons for points. The cel-shaded art style still holds up in 2021, but the online component, sadly, does not. The servers forCalling All Cars!were shut down in 2010, but the game is still a blast to play with up to three friends on the couch.
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The Echochrome Series
Echochrome 1released in 2008 for both PS3 and PSP. This puzzle game was developed bySony’s beloved but newly “restructured” Japan Studioand has players solving M.C. Escher style platforming puzzles. The game was incredibly well-received for its intelligent yet accessible puzzle design, as was its 2010 sequelEchochrome 2,though the second game requires the PlayStation Move and PlayStation Eye camera. There is also an equally as good spin-off exclusive to PSP and Vita calledEchoshiftthat features time related puzzles.
Ratchet: Deadlocked HD
Bizarrely not included in thepsychicalRatchet and Clank Collectionof HD remastersfor PS3,Ratchet: Deadlockedis the fourth and final of the PS2-eraRatchetgames.Deadlockedtells the story of Ratchet and Clank being abducted, separated, and forced to participate in a deadly alien gameshow. The HD remaster ofDeadlockednever received a physical release, so this game is a must-buy for completionist fans who want to play all of theRatchetgames in HD. Alternatively, those looking to catch up on the story of the Lombax and the Warbot beforeRift Apartarrives on the PS5 this summer may want to check outDeadlockedas well.
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Tokyo Jungle
Tokyo Jungleis a bit of an indie classic, though Sony and its Japan Studio helped develop and publish it. This character action game takes place in a world where humanity has mysteriously disappeared, and animals run wild on the streets of Tokyo. Playerstake control over different animals like lions, hyenas, beagles, dear, and morein different story vignettes chronicling their survival. The game was fairly well-received when it released in 2012, but has gone on to become a bit of a cult-classic since.
PixelJunk Racers,SideScroller, and4am
ThePixelJunkseries is still active, withPixelJunk Raidershaving just released in March, but three titles from the series created by originalStar Foxdeveloper Dylan Cuthbert are still exclusive to PS3. The first everPixelJunkgame,Racers, is a top-down arcade racing game that released in 2007 and had an updated release in 2010 withPixelJunk Racers: 2nd Lap.PixelJunk 4amis a kind of interactive music DJ-ing game that requires the Move wand and PlayStation Eye camera. The best received of the three PS3-exclusviePixeljunkgames isSidescroller, a side scrolling shooter a laGradius, released in 2011.
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Trash Panic
Trash Panicis the third and final game to involve Sony’s Japan Studio on this list. This puzzle game drew comparisons toTetriswhen it first came out in 2009, except instead of colorful blocks, players crush garbage. The game gets much more complicated thanTetris, however, as the game quickly introduces different kinds of garbage and different means of dealing with all of it, like fire and chemical substances. Trash can also be smashed by gravity or heavier trash and some items decompose naturally over time. Those looking for a frantic and complexTetris-like experience should buy this one off the PlayStation Store before July 2.
Tales from Space: About a Blob
Developer Drinkbox Studios might be known forits fantastic luchador Metroidvania games,Guacamelee 1and2, but before that, the developer’s first game wasTales from Space: About a Blob. The game has players assume the role of a sentient blob who needs to escape the clutches of an evil scientist and save its fellow blobs in a level-based action platformer.
The game was praised for its unique art style (something that all subsequent Drinkbox games would also be praised for), as well as the blob’s creative abilities that enabled it to become magnetic, electric, and more.About A Blobreceived a sequel,Mutant Blobs Attack, which came to came to multiple platforms, including the Nintendo Switch, but the only way to play the firstAbout a Blobis through buying it digitally on the PS3 before July 2.
