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/
https://www.backloggd.com/u/deiv/list/art-games-reaaallyin-progress/
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/
https://www.backloggd.com/u/deiv/list/art-games-reaaallyin-progress/
321 Games
Note: Despite its official full release date being in 2012, it started as a flash game released in 2010.
Despite the vague sci-fi backstory, the game was specifically influenced by the nuclear anxieties of the Cold War. The game was originally going to be called "Armageddon," but management didn't think anyone would know what the word meant.
https://www.polygon.com/features/2013/8/15/4528228/missile-command-dave-theurer
https://www.polygon.com/features/2013/8/15/4528228/missile-command-dave-theurer
38 Comments
yeah, takeshis challenge
I added Web Dimension,iD,The Madness of Roland,Shining Flower,Uncle Buddy's Phantom Funhouse,Ultra Resort Keroncuel,MindGym,Incarnatia,Escape From Woomera,Darfur Is Dying and September 12th to database.
And The Saboten Man is arleady in database.
And The Saboten Man is arleady in database.
Added Warpitout, Laurie Anderson's Puppet Motel, ScruTiny in the Great Round, Pink Gear Collection and Mission Sunlight to database
Added Lifespan, Mike Builds a Shelter, Trigger Happy, The Intruder, Tropical America, Pac-Mondrian and Rendition to database.
I suggest adding The Marriage, Coil, Aether and Gravity Bone to the list.
And also Passage
Here are some more games that I think would fit this list.
Kamikuishiki-mura Monogatari (Not sure about this), Connections (Not sure about this), Aisle , McDonald's Video Game, Against all odds (Not sure about this), Soviet Unterzoegersdorf: Sector I, Super Columbine Massacre RPG!, Yume 2kki, Mondo Agency, Hush (2008), Soviet Unterzoegersdorf: Sector II, Gravitation, Between, The Graveyard, OFF (Not sure about this), Akrasia, Braid, BRAINPIPE: A Plunge to Unhumanity, The Void, Every Day the Same Dream, Fatale, .flow, Flower
Kamikuishiki-mura Monogatari (Not sure about this), Connections (Not sure about this), Aisle , McDonald's Video Game, Against all odds (Not sure about this), Soviet Unterzoegersdorf: Sector I, Super Columbine Massacre RPG!, Yume 2kki, Mondo Agency, Hush (2008), Soviet Unterzoegersdorf: Sector II, Gravitation, Between, The Graveyard, OFF (Not sure about this), Akrasia, Braid, BRAINPIPE: A Plunge to Unhumanity, The Void, Every Day the Same Dream, Fatale, .flow, Flower
Here are a few more
Seaman 2, The Museum of Anything Goes (Not sure about this),Full Pipe, Outcry
Seaman 2, The Museum of Anything Goes (Not sure about this),Full Pipe, Outcry
Here are few more. Again.
Amusement Planet Phantasmagoria, Worlds.com, The Quest For The Rest, flOw, PixelJunk Eden, Machinarium
Amusement Planet Phantasmagoria, Worlds.com, The Quest For The Rest, flOw, PixelJunk Eden, Machinarium
Added "Afternoon, a story", Necrobius, Popol Maya, Wordimagesoundplay, The Warden Game and Foobar Versus the DEA
And Six Micro Stories is arleady in database.
Recommend adding :
PainStation (2001)
Horde of Directors (2004)
Okami (2006)
The Night Journey (2007)
Echochrome (2008)
And Six Micro Stories is arleady in database.
Recommend adding :
PainStation (2001)
Horde of Directors (2004)
Okami (2006)
The Night Journey (2007)
Echochrome (2008)
This comment was deleted
Recommendations (Chronologically only by year, not by month & day):
J.J. Squawkers (1993)
robotfindskitten (1997)
Xenogears (1998)
Bad Milk (2000)
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (2001)
Mother 3 (2006)
Global Conflicts: Palestine (2007)
Revenge Of the Sunfish (2007)
Global Conflicts: Latin America (2008)
The Majesty of Colors (2008)
I wish I were the Moon (2008)
A.V.G.M. (2009)
And Yet It Moves (2009)
Don't Look Back (2009)
Guru Meditation (2009)
Blueberry Garden (2009)
Judith (2009)
Windosill (2009)
Air Pressure (2009)
The Path (2009)
Deadly Premonition (2010)
Limbo (2010)
Take a Walk (2010)
Norrland (2010)
Coma (2010)
Cow Clicker (2010)
Thomas Was Alone (2010)
The Infinite Ocean (2010)
One Chance (2010)
J.J. Squawkers (1993)
robotfindskitten (1997)
Xenogears (1998)
Bad Milk (2000)
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (2001)
Mother 3 (2006)
Global Conflicts: Palestine (2007)
Revenge Of the Sunfish (2007)
Global Conflicts: Latin America (2008)
The Majesty of Colors (2008)
I wish I were the Moon (2008)
A.V.G.M. (2009)
And Yet It Moves (2009)
Don't Look Back (2009)
Guru Meditation (2009)
Blueberry Garden (2009)
Judith (2009)
Windosill (2009)
Air Pressure (2009)
The Path (2009)
Deadly Premonition (2010)
Limbo (2010)
Take a Walk (2010)
Norrland (2010)
Coma (2010)
Cow Clicker (2010)
Thomas Was Alone (2010)
The Infinite Ocean (2010)
One Chance (2010)
Added: Patchwork Girl, left to my own devices, SOD (by JODI), Untitled Game (by JODI), Everything I Do is Art, But Nothing I Do Makes Any Difference, Part II, Queue, The Nerve Game
Recommendations: ArsDoom (1995), Loved (2010), Hummingbird Mind (2010), A House in California (2010)
Recommendations: ArsDoom (1995), Loved (2010), Hummingbird Mind (2010), A House in California (2010)
Amazing list! Thank you for making this!
Scorn should be here
Scorn would probably be included if I was including games from the present day, but I have a cut-off date of 2010 for this list since the main point was to highlight "art games" that came before the term was widely accepted and indie games had a wider audience.
What about Live a Live and Higurashi? I think they would be good in this list.
I would say Hotline Miami too but it came out in 2012.
I would say Hotline Miami too but it came out in 2012.
Hotline Miami is definitely too late to be included, but I'll give the other two some thought. Thanks for the suggestions!
I am going to suggest a list of games, I think they would be good in this listing
Terranigma
Drakengard
Umineko
ActRaiser
Abenteuer Europa
Silent Hill 2
XenoSaga
NationStates
Shattered Union
Terranigma
Drakengard
Umineko
ActRaiser
Abenteuer Europa
Silent Hill 2
XenoSaga
NationStates
Shattered Union
maybe ace combat 3?
@tarnkappe why ace combat 3? no offense the question just makes me curious
i believe the game's art style and atmosphere has artistic value
Hong Kong 97 is truly the pinnacle of the medium as an artistic expression
woahhhhb :oo thank u so much for this !!!
This comment was deleted
A few suggestions:
Active Worlds (1995)
Real Lives (2001)
Subete ga F ni Naru (2002)
Bars of Black and White (2009) - Not on IGDB
Can Your Pet (2009)
Alice Is Dead series (2009-2010)
Active Worlds (1995)
Real Lives (2001)
Subete ga F ni Naru (2002)
Bars of Black and White (2009) - Not on IGDB
Can Your Pet (2009)
Alice Is Dead series (2009-2010)
Some more game suggestions in my head:
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) - Not on IGDB
You Only Live Once (2009)
Art Academy (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) - Not on IGDB
You Only Live Once (2009)
Art Academy (2010)
Thanks for the recommendations @meowthed25! I'm gonna be doing some updates to this list soon and I'll definitely consider adding these. Some of them definitely fit the bill!
amazing list!!!
PKMudkipz
2 years ago