Artful / Thoughtful / Experimental / Unique Games
Artsy stuff I've played. I'll start adding a short description note to each game explaining why I included them.
Disclaimer: Not all of these are successful at what they're aiming, but they at least tried to stand out or be somewhat meaningful or compelling.
Disclaimer: Not all of these are successful at what they're aiming, but they at least tried to stand out or be somewhat meaningful or compelling.
142 Games
Weird surreal game with a non-definitive narrative.
Musical/sound experimentation
A complete re-creation of the Titanic.
A digital museum made of the dev's saved images from 2017.
Silent cinema framing
Brutalist digital gallery.
On intimacy and voyeurism.
Weird symbolic(?) ambient game.
Surreal game with no real plot.
A game simulating the experience of being on a commercial flight.
A simulation of a handyman in a gloomy setting. It's not made to be fun.
Bridges the gap between the videogame medium and the documentary genre.
(Really) Weird visual novel on insolvency, sex, and finding meaning in life.
On strangeness and parasocial links.
Short nihilistic meditation on emptiness and god.
Weird Lynchian game with a non-definitive narrative.
A meditation on compassion.
Experimental game with really cryptic messages.
Cinematic presentation. Weird premise.
Experimental analogue horror working on a metanarrative where you explore abandonware.
Well written text-based horror game. Like an A24 movie turned into text.
I don't really give my opinions on this list, but seriously stay away from this one. Nihilistic "life is worthless" views. Adding it because it does use the medium in a vaguely experimental way, nothing more.
On escapism and loneliness. About trying to find meaning in life.
Liminal game where you can use its environments as a sort of photo-playground.
On dreams, trauma, and industrialization.
A brutalist digital gallery of sorts.
Meditation on the negative effects of isolation and the importance of social links.
Arthouse game that reflects on intimacy and vulnerability.
About memories, resembling slow-cinema.
Cryptic narrative that seemingly works as a commentary on capitalistic work ethics and media's intrusiveness.
Weird game on devotion.
Unique gameplay loop. A range of detailed environments.
An esoteric game that works as a metaphor for industrialization.
Metanarrative analogue horror.
Experimental game mechanic.
Meta-game on friendships and loneliness.
Unique art style with hand-drawn textures. Cinematic story portrayal.
An "artistic experience" with distinct art style/ambiance. Seemingly works as a metaphor for...something, maybe?
A unique representation of trauma.
Short surreal flash game
Experimental gameplay mechanic where you contour your character expression. Lynchian cryptic story featuring various philosophical themes.
Reflection on toxic online interactions.
Autobiographical story on sex work, trauma and being transgender.
On the pressures of society (very vague though). No gameplay.
Weird game with interesting art style and traversal mechanics.
An interactive movie, a game that tries to be a movie or vice versa.
Experimental levels and boss visual designs.
One of the games to popularize the walking-sim genre. A game without gameplay. Disjointed storytelling on grief.
Cinematic game with interesting traversal and cryptic story.
Obscure cathartic game on depression, loneliness, and trauma.
Cinematic presentation.
Visual mindfuckery.
Gameplay works as a metaphor for chemotherapy. Anti-smoking sentiments.
A nihilistic narrative on existentialism.
Cinematic presentation.
An experimental FMV game with a non-linear story. Even more unconventional than Her Story.
A digital museum.
Arthouse cinematic game with a cryptic Lynchian story.
Cinematic retro game with great imagery and framing.
Experimental game where you talk to a couple in a dysfunctional relationship.
Experimental use of the medium. One of the most well known walking-sims.
Arthouse surreal game on various themes: Poverty, solitude, addiction, relationships, etc. Dream logic with no real plot.
Arthouse FMV game with experimental non-linear storytelling. On art, sexism, and exploitation.
An impactful story about memories, family, tragedy, life. Experimental game mechanic that uses your eyes to play.
Interesting art style and sound interactions. FREEDOM.
Symbolic game with an artstyle inspired by H. R. Giger and Beksiński.
An experimental FMV game with a non-linear story.
On the relationship between art and the artist.
