Summary
First-person adventure games are having a bit of a resurgence of late. The genre, pioneered by the worldwide sensation that wasMyst, has struggled for many years to be recognized as a genre. Then, the mid-2010s saw a steady release offirst-person exploration gameswith light puzzles woven throughout.
Among those firstindie first-person adventure gameswereDear Esther,Gone Home,andWhat Remains of Edith Finch. What was first named the “Walking Sim” genre soon evolved to encompass a wide range of stories and gameplay styles, from mystery solving to comedy to some of the more experimental commercial games in recent memory.
The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxeis thelatest and best versionof the classic indie parody gameThe Stanley Parable. In this game, players take on the role of Stanley, an office worker of unspecified origins, as they battle with the narrator for control of the story.
The Stanley Parableis quite famous. It’s also quite old for an indie game. The original version, a very successfulHalf-Life2 mod, was released back in June 2011.The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxeincludes additional content and better graphics. It’s also the first version to be released on consoles.
What Remains of Edith Finchis one of the original great Walking Sims. Released in 2017, it greatly expanded on what the genre was thought to be at the time. Unlike previous entries, it includes much more than scenery, music, and voiceovers.
InWhat Remains of Edith Finch,players take control of Edith Finch, the last surviving member of her family, as she imagines the lives of some of the people who inhabited the family mansion. What makes this game special is how it uses many different forms of gameplay to accompany the different vignettes that make up the story.
The Forgotten Citybegan its life as one of themost popular total conversion modsforThe Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim. It then switched setting, from Tamriel to ancient Rome, and released as a standalone game.
Still, both versions deal with the same premise. A foreigner falls from the surface (or from the future, in the standalone game) into a land stuck in the past. They learn of a curse that punishes the whole population for every individual’s sin and must uncover its origin through trial and error, making use of an imposed time loop to continue gathering information even after the curse consumes the city.
Outer Wildsis a space-traveling adventure game with a twist. Every 20 minutes or so, the sun explodes and destroys the solar system native to the player. But thanks to a strange alien statue, the protagonist comes back to life at the moment they are about to embark on their adventure.
Even thoughthe game restarts every few minutes, not all progress is lost. The most important tool in the player’s arsenal is their knowledge of the world’s inner workings, and that remains intact. Plus, the in-game encyclopedia doesn’t reset, making it easier to keep every thread in mind during the investigation.
6Tales From Off-Peak City Vol. 1
Metacritic Score: 83
Tales From Off-Peak City Vol. 1is the latest game from indie developer Cosmo D. The game is an indirect sequel of sorts toOff-Peak, which is freely available for download. Both games are set in the same (but different) strange city of Off-Peak.
Tales From Off-Peak City Vol. 1offers a bit more of a story than its predecessor. The city corner the game is set on is changing. The memories of its old self are still in the air, from the different music played on every street to thecurious characters that occupy its buildings. Players take on the role of an undercover pizzeria employee who is secretly trying to steal the owner’s saxophone, but as they explore the world by delivering pizzas, they’ll encounter all kinds of strange people and objects.
Paradise Killeris a first-person freeform investigation game set in a unique universe that is uncovered together with the murder mystery at the center of the story. In it, players take on the role of Lady Love Dies, investigating a series of characters with similarly telling names.
Paradise Killer’s characters include former assassin-turned-taxi driver Lydia Day Break and her red-skeleton barista husband Sam Day Break. There are also actual gods with names like Dying from Sadness and a self-referential demon named Shinji who might know he’s in a video game.
Before Your Eyesis a unique game with aunique input method. Instead of only using a mouse or a joystick, players are going to need to point a webcam at their face. Every time the player blinks, the game skips to the next scene.
Before Your Eyesis divided into scenes highlighting important moments in the life of the protagonist. Those moments are sometimes years apart, and they don’t always intersect much with one another, making every second skipped feel like a true loss. But, well, that’s the point of the game.
3Fatum Betula
Metacritic Score: 65
Fatum Betulais a bizarre experience. In this game, players take the role of… someone who is really important for… some reason. The lack of clarity is the point of the game, and feeling lost in its unsettling world is just as important as progressing towards one of its many endings.
Fatum Betulais a curious game that, perhaps because of its weirdness or lack of clear direction, wasn’t loved by most critics. As some noted, it’s definitely not for everyone. But for those who love to explore mysterious plots and weird, impossible places,Fatum Betulais as good as it gets.
2Hypnagogia 無限の夢 Boundless Dreams
Metacritic Score: N/A
Hypnagogia Boundless Dreamsis a weird one. It’s far more structured and almost linear compared to similarly dreamlike exploration games. This might makeHypnagogia Boundless Dreamsmore approachable, but it doesn’t make it less weird.
InHypnagogia Boundless Dreams, players explore “joyful dreams, twisted nightmares, and the places in between,” as the game’s own Steam page puts it. The simple exploration sequences are accompanied by unique dialogue said by unique characters and secrets that feel like they could be behind every corner.
Iron Lungis a phenomenon right now, and for good reason. The submarine horror simulator might even beturned into a movie, and the success of that project is all but certain. Still, for a few months in 2023,Iron Lungmight have been the most popular new indie game on the market.
The game sees players trapped in an improvised submarine called the Iron Lung. Most of humanity has disappeared, and nothing in the universe remains except for seas of blood on some faraway moons. The player takes the role of a convict sentenced to drive the Iron Lung in search of evidence, taking pictures, and managing the unstable vehicle.
