Art Games Have Always Existed

While "art games" and the idea that games have artistic value have become more popular in recent years, it isn't a new concept. For as long as video games have existed, there have been outliers and oddities that aimed to be artistic, literary, political, or just outside of the usual expectations of what games are. Some are good, some are bad, all are interesting artifacts of the medium's history. The list specifically uses 2010 as a cut-off date, as by that point the concept of "art games" was well established.

Suggestions/recommendations are appreciated, so long as they are from 2010 or earlier.

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Some notes:
This is adapted from a YouTube playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRmMOveppLGPAZZdzY5zCZab5fqj1v_tl

However, there are a few games on the playlist that are not yet listed on Backloggd. I will add them to the list once they're in the database. These include:
LOST SHEEP 4月~6月の物語 (1996) [Dante 98 RPG Maker game]
Lorna (1979-1983)
Zenn (1998, Galaxy Games)

Additionally, here are some games not included either in the playlist or this list:
Deep Contact (1984, Lynn Hershman Leeson)
Uncle Roger (1986)
P.R.E.S.T.A.V.B.A. (1988)
Ginga no Uo: Ursa Minor Blue (1994, Macintosh)
Font Asteroids (1999, Esc to Begin)
Lullaby for a Dead Fly (2000)
Screen (2002)
Average Shoveler (2004, Carlo Zanni)
Alison Mealey's art made in the Unreal Engine

Games not on the YouTube playlist:
The Fire Tower (2004)

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Games I've considered adding to the main list:
I’m Sorry (1985) / Pu Li Ru La / D / Germs / Shenmue / The Silver Case / deSpiria / Jellyfish: The Healing Friend / Flower, Sun, and Rain / Cubivore: Survival of the Fittest / N.U.D.E.@ Natural Ultimate Digital Experiment / Katamari Damacy / Rule of Rose / Contact / Odama / bit Generations series / Endless Ocean / A Blurred Line (2000) [RPG Maker 2000] / The Line Narrows (2001) [RPG Maker 2000] / Anchorhead / Evocation: La Sfida (Evocation: The Challenge) (1993) / Heatseeker [C64] / Higurashi / Live a Live / Rags to Riches [C64] / Ace Combat 3 / Echoshift (2009) / Progress Quest (2002) / Sword of Kumdor / Funny Pizza Land / Anyworld by Acord games (1992) / La La Land series by Biggt (2006) / Quite Soulless by Vasily Zotov (2008) / Space Spy by Vasily Zotov (2009) / Refugee the Second Hearing by Vasily Zotov (2010) / Vanitas by Tale of Tales (2010) / The Terrible Whiteness of Appalachian Nights (2010) / Penn & Teller's Smoke and Mirrors / Dwarf Fortress / Terranigma / Drakengard / Umineko / Abenteuer Europa / Silent Hill 2 / XenoSaga / NationStates / Shattered Union / The Fourth Protocol / Active Worlds (1995) / Subete ga F ni Naru (2002) / Can Your Pet (2009) / Alice Is Dead series (2009-2010) / Ever17: The Out of Infinity (2002)/ Feel the Magic: XY/XX (2004) / Notpron (2004) / Penumbra (2006) / Drawn to Life series (2007-2009) / Super Chick Sisters & New Super Chick Sisters (2007-2009) / Cooking Mama: Mama Kills Animals (2008) / You Have to Burn the Rope (2008) / Lit (2009) / Little Wheel (2009) / Scribblenauts & Super Scribblenauts (2009-2010) / Super Press Space To Win Action RPG 2009 (2009) / You Only Live Once (2009) / Ad Verbum / Basho's Frogger / Achievement Unlocked / Game, Game, Game, and again Game / Everybody Dies / Syberia / Real Lives (2001) / The Desolate Room / Iffermoon / :the game: / QWOP / raitendo's games (?) / You Find Yourself In A Room / depict1 / SOUP (2007, listed as TBA here)

a LOT of doujin games on FreeM

https://www.backloggd.com/u/MendelPalace/list/50-years-of-text-games-from-oregon-trail-to-ai-dungeon/
https://www.backloggd.com/u/jakobvongunten/list/xyzzy-award-winners/

Pac-Mondrian
Pac-Mondrian
The Dolphin's Pearl
The Dolphin's Pearl
Trigger Happy
Trigger Happy
Thomas Was Alone
Thomas Was Alone
Note: Despite its official full release date being in 2012, it started as a flash game released in 2010.
Desert Bus
Desert Bus
The Underground Explorer
The Underground Explorer
A Slow Year
A Slow Year
Echochrome II
Echochrome II
One Chance
One Chance
The Infinite Ocean
The Infinite Ocean
A House in California
A House in California
Space Funeral
Space Funeral
Norrland
Norrland
Hummingbird Mind
Hummingbird Mind
Take a Walk
Take a Walk
Cart Life
Cart Life
Covetous
Covetous
Cow Clicker
Cow Clicker
Limbo
Limbo
Coma
Coma
Loved
Loved
Sleep Is Death
Sleep Is Death
Deadly Premonition
Deadly Premonition
Queue
Queue
Stephen Lavelle/increpare
Digital: A Love Story
Digital: A Love Story
Guru Meditation
Guru Meditation
Radiator
Radiator
Soviet Unterzoegersdorf: Sector II
Soviet Unterzoegersdorf: Sector II
Every Day the Same Dream
Every Day the Same Dream
Saira
Saira
Again
Again
The Company of Myself
The Company of Myself
Machinarium
Machinarium
Fatale
Fatale
Blueberry Garden
Blueberry Garden
Windosill
Windosill
Super Press Space To Win Adventure RPG 2009
Super Press Space To Win Adventure RPG 2009
Judith
Judith
And Yet It Moves
And Yet It Moves
The Path
The Path
Air Pressure
Air Pressure
Don't Look Back
Don't Look Back
Opera Omnia
Opera Omnia
.Flow
.Flow
Flower
Flower
4 Minutes and 33 Seconds of Uniqueness
4 Minutes and 33 Seconds of Uniqueness
Bars of Black and White
Bars of Black and White
A.V.G.M.
A.V.G.M.
Exploit
Exploit
Gravitation
Gravitation
Today I Die
Today I Die
Brainpipe: A Plunge to Unhumanity
Brainpipe: A Plunge to Unhumanity
The Majesty of Colors
The Majesty of Colors
Between
Between
Global Conflicts: Latin America
Global Conflicts: Latin America
Violet
Violet
I Wish I Were the Moon
I Wish I Were the Moon
Aether
Aether
Akrasia
Akrasia
Gravity Bone
Gravity Bone
Outcry
Outcry
Braid
Braid
Calamity Annie
Calamity Annie
PixelJunk Eden
PixelJunk Eden
Off
Off
Towelket: One More Time 2 (Karaage Tanpopo)
Towelket: One More Time 2 (Karaage Tanpopo)
The Void
The Void
The Graveyard
The Graveyard
Echochrome
Echochrome
Coil
Coil
Harpooned
Harpooned
Hush
Hush
Rendition
Rendition
The Marriage
The Marriage
Mondo Agency
Mondo Agency
Passage
Passage
Seaman 2
Seaman 2
Mondo Medicals
Mondo Medicals
The Night Journey
The Night Journey
Global Conflicts: Palestine
Global Conflicts: Palestine
Yume 2kki
Yume 2kki
Revenge of the Sunfish
Revenge of the Sunfish
Darfur is Dying
Darfur is Dying
Everything I Do is Art, But Nothing I Do Makes Any Difference, Part II Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Gallery
Everything I Do is Art, But Nothing I Do Makes Any Difference, Part II Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Gallery
Full Pipe
Full Pipe
Knytt
Knytt
Within a Deep Forest
Within a Deep Forest
Mother 3
Mother 3
Ōkami
Ōkami
flOw
flOw
McDonald's Video Game
McDonald's Video Game
Soviet Unterzoegersdorf: Sector I
Soviet Unterzoegersdorf: Sector I
The Endless Forest
The Endless Forest
Samorost 2
Samorost 2
Cloud
Cloud
Shadow of the Colossus
Shadow of the Colossus
Façade
Façade
Killer7
Killer7
Pathologic
Pathologic
Against All Odds
Against All Odds

38 Comments


8 months ago

Here is a batch of games to add to the list:
Grim Fandango
Full Throttle
Day of The Tentacle
Psychonauts
System Shock 1 (2 is somewhat debatable)

5 months ago

"Art games". Do you also drive an automobile car? Do you eat food pizza?

5 months ago

@HurtingOtherPPl Food Pizza is my favorite type of pizza.

2 months ago

Hi, I’d like to give some suggestions here if you don’t mind

Panzer Dragoon Saga
Chrono Trigger
Final Fantasy (preferably VI, VII, IX, and X)
The Max Payne games
Symphony of the Night

2 months ago

Majora’s Mask and Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne too, can’t believe I forgot about those.

1 month ago

scott cawthon's The Desolate Room for sure, maybe Iffermoon too
:the game:
i'd argue qwop was radical enough to be considered part of the movement even if it ended up as a meme
raitendo has a ton of these kinds of games in his back catalogue but most of it is too parodical (i'm guessing that's why You Have To Burn The Rope isn't here?)
if the end of 2010 is the cutoff, You Find Yourself In A Room and depict1 have gotta be here

there are a LOT of these kinds of doujin games on FreeM, when i finally go on another igdb adding spree i'll lyk. SOUP (2007, listed as TBA here) is one of the ones on the site

1 month ago

oh, and DEFINITELY Paparazi (1997)

1 month ago

@inbox Thanks so much for the recommendations. I've been meaning to make some additions/updates to this list for a while. I'll definitely keep this in mind when I do so. Paparazzi wasn't even properly logged on IGDB/Backlog when I last updated this (no data/info), so I'm glad to see that's been updated.


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