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
A complete re-creation of the Titanic.
A simulation of a handyman in a gloomy setting. It's not made to be fun.
On intimacy and voyeurism.
On strangeness and parasocial links.
Experimental game with really cryptic messages.
Bridges the gap between the videogame medium and the documentary genre.
Musical/sound experimentation
Weird surreal game with a non-definitive narrative.
Weird Lynchian game with a non-definitive narrative.
Weird symbolic(?) ambient game.
Reflection on toxic online interactions.
Well written text-based horror game. Like an A24 movie turned into text.
On dreams, trauma, and industrialization.
Liminal game where you can use its environments as a sort of photo-playground.
Cryptic narrative that seemingly works as a commentary on capitalistic work ethics and media's intrusiveness.
Experimental analogue horror working on a metanarrative where you explore abandonware.
Weird game on devotion.
Surreal game with no real plot.
(Really) Weird visual novel on insolvency, sex, and finding meaning in life.
Meditation on the negative effects of isolation and the importance of social links.
Meta-game on friendships and loneliness.
Silent cinema framing
A digital museum made of the dev's saved images from 2017.
A brutalist digital gallery of sorts.
Short nihilistic meditation on emptiness and god.
An esoteric game that works as a metaphor for industrialization.
A game simulating the experience of being on a commercial flight.
Cinematic presentation. Weird premise.
On escapism and loneliness. About trying to find meaning in life.
A meditation on compassion.
An interactive movie, a game that tries to be a movie or vice versa.
Brutalist digital gallery.
About memories, resembling slow-cinema.
Arthouse game that reflects on intimacy and vulnerability.
On the pressures of society (very vague though). No gameplay.
Cinematic game with interesting traversal and cryptic story.
Metanarrative analogue horror.
Unique art style with hand-drawn textures. Cinematic story portrayal.
Unique gameplay loop. A range of detailed environments.
Experimental game mechanic.
Gameplay works as a metaphor for chemotherapy. Anti-smoking sentiments.
Short surreal flash game
One of the games to popularize the walking-sim genre. A game without gameplay. Disjointed storytelling on grief.
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.
Cinematic presentation.
A nihilistic narrative on existentialism.
An "artistic experience" with distinct art style/ambiance. Seemingly works as a metaphor for...something, maybe?
Arthouse cinematic game with a cryptic Lynchian story.
Experimental levels and boss visual designs.
Cinematic retro game with great imagery and framing.
Obscure cathartic game on depression, loneliness, and trauma.
An experimental FMV game with a non-linear story. Even more unconventional than Her Story.
A unique representation of trauma.
Experimental game where you talk to a couple in a dysfunctional relationship.
Visual mindfuckery.
Cinematic presentation.
Weird game with interesting art style and traversal mechanics.
A digital museum.
Interesting art style and sound interactions. FREEDOM.
Experimental use of the medium. One of the most well known walking-sims.
Autobiographical story on sex work, trauma and being transgender.
Experimental gameplay mechanic where you contour your character expression. Lynchian cryptic story featuring various philosophical themes.
Arthouse surreal game on various themes: Poverty, solitude, addiction, relationships, etc. Dream logic with no real plot.
An experimental FMV game with a non-linear story.
On the relationship between art and the artist.
One that popularized the walking-sim genre. On love, queerness, and growing up.
An impactful story about memories, family, tragedy, life. Experimental game mechanic that uses your eyes to play.
Arthouse FMV game with experimental non-linear storytelling. On art, sexism, and exploitation.
