List of video games considered artistic
This is a list of video games considered to be works of art by art critics and video game reviewers. Although several countries offer legal protections to video games which are similar or identical to protections offered to other artistic works, and although by this standard all video games can be considered as art, this article lists games that have been specifically identified by art critics and video game reviewers as works of art. The term "art game" as used in reference to a distinct genre of video games was first used academically in 2002. This list does not include visual novels, which are considered an independent art form within the video game industry.
20th century
| Title | Year | Developer | Original platform | Description |
| Tempest | 1981 | Atari | Arcade | An arcade tube shooter with vector graphics. PBS Idea Channel described it as a strongly aesthetic experience, comparing it to paintings. |
| Super Mario Bros. | 1985 | Nintendo | NES | A side-scrolling platform game released as a launch title for the NES, Super Mario Bros. became the most praised game in the original Mario series for its 8-bit visuals, power-ups, and aesthetic charm. The game has its own spot in the Smithsonian American Art Museum in an exhibition called The Art of Video Games. |
| Myst | 1993 | Cyan | Mac OS | Beginning in 1993 with Myst and followed by Riven in 1997 and four additional sequels through 2005, the series is a graphic adventure based on pre-rendered scenarios and a strongly atmospheric, immersive setting. The level of detail allowed by the use of CD-ROM as the storage media was a technical achievement at the time, praised for the way the limitations of the format were overcome and used as part of the game story. |
| Doom | 1993 | id Software | PC | A violent first-person shooter whose transgressive thrills make it, according to The Guardian games editor Keith Stewart, "natural heir to the splatterhouse cinema of the pre-digital era". |
| Cosmology of Kyoto | 1993 | Softedge | Mac OS, PC | An open-world graphic adventure exploring Japanese myths in ancient Kyoto. Together with Myst, it was reviewed by film critic Roger Ebert in a column on [|whether video games can be considered art]. |
| Chrono Trigger | 1995 | Square | Super NES | A Japanese role-playing game about a group of adventurers from different time periods trying to prevent the end of the world. The game has been praised for its multi-ending plot, graphics, art direction by Akira Toriyama, and soundtrack by Yasunori Mitsuda. |
| ' | 1997 | Konami | PlayStation | A cult classic JRPG game praised for its atmospheric graphics, intricate story, massive free-to-explore game world, and evocative soundtrack. |
| Final Fantasy VII | 1997 | Square | PlayStation | Considered by many to be one of the best role-playing video games of all time, its story includes the death of a major character, which aimed to give the player an emotional stake in the game. |
| Grim Fandango | 1998 | LucasArts | PC | An adventure game which combines elements of film noir with aspects of Aztec mythology. |
| Xenogears | 1998 | Square | PlayStation | A Japanese role-playing game that follows the protagonist Fei Fong Wong and several others as they journey across the world to overthrow the all-powerful rule of Solaris and uncover mysteries concerning their world. The story incorporates themes of Jungian psychology, Freudian thought, and religious symbolism. The game received critical acclaim due to its "thought-provoking" storyline, gameplay, characters, animated cutscenes, soundtrack and psychological and religious themes. |
| ' | 1999 | Black Isle Studios | PC | A cult-classic role-playing video game that was praised for its detailed writing, defined characters, unique setting, and the use of death to progress the story. |
| Vib Ribbon | 1999 | NanaOn-Sha | PlayStation | A rhythm game known for its unique vector graphics art style. Vib Ribbon was collected as part of a video game exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art. |
2000–2005
| Title | Year | Developer | Original platform | Description |
| Deus Ex | 2000 | Ion Storm | PC, PlayStation 2 | An action role-playing video game praised for its deep gameplay, complex and thought-provoking story, philosophical dialogue, and its use of multiple solutions to situations based on the free will of the player, which allows for its tasks and missions to be completed in a variety of ways, which in turn lead to differing outcomes. It was nominated for the Smithsonian American Art Museum's exhibition, The Art of Video Games. |
| Galatea | 2000 | Emily Short | Z-machine | A self-published interactive fiction game based on interactions with a single character in a single room. Rock, Paper, Shotgun analyzed it as an art game, saying that it "transcends that" and calling it "literature" and "not an art game a game about art". |
| Max Payne | 2001 | Remedy Entertainment | PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox | A third-person shooter praised for its use of neo-noir storytelling devices and its thematic connections and frequent references to Norse mythology. |
| Silent Hill 2 | 2001 | Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo | PlayStation 2, Xbox | A survival horror video game which has been considered a work of art due to its story, atmosphere, sound design, exploration of psychological ideas such as the subconscious, and its use of psychological horror, metaphors, and taboo topics such as incest and domestic violence. |
| Ico | 2001 | SCE Japan Studio Team Ico | PlayStation 2 | A minimalist game about a boy and girl who try to escape a ruined castle, Ico is frequently cited as an example of art in games due to its immersive gameplay, evoking narrative, and unique and influential design elements. |
| 2001 | Konami | PlayStation 2 | A stealth game by Hideo Kojima that has been cited as a primary example of artistic expression in video games and an early example of post-modernism in video games. The game is often considered ahead of its time for having anticipated themes and concepts that later became culturally relevant in the 2010s, such as social media, news feeds, post-truth politics, fake news, echo chambers, and alternative facts. | |
| Yume Nikki | 2004 | Kikiyama | PC | An independently developed freeware game that has the player explore the dreams of a hikikomori little girl known only as "Madotsuki" as she encounters numerous surreal creatures, locations, and events while collecting "Effects", most of which do little more than alter her appearance. |
| The Endless Forest | 2005 | Tale of Tales | PC | Originally commissioned for an art exhibition, The Endless Forest is a multiplayer online game in which the player controls a stag in a peaceful forest and interacts with other players entirely through sounds and body language. All players are recognizable by their unique symbols and customized appearance, but are otherwise anonymous. Dubbed a "social screensaver", the game has been considered an MMORPG in the loosest sense of the term, though it shares few things in common with more mainstream MMORPGs. |
| Killer7 | 2005 | Grasshopper Manufacture | GameCube, PlayStation 2 | An action-adventure game by director Goichi Suda that has often been described as "thought-provoking" and "arthouse", and is cited as a work of art due to its plot involving heavy themes of politics and death. |
| Pathologic | 2005 | Ice-Pick Lodge | PC | A psychological horror adventure survival role-playing game set in a town which is befallen by a strange lethal sickness known as the "sand plague". The story tells of three different characters who try to uncover the source of the sickness and is full of staginess and symbolism. |
2006–2010
| Title | Year | Developer | Original platform | Description |
| Ōkami | 2006 | Clover Studio | PlayStation 2 | An adventure game based on Japanese mythology, the game's graphics were designed to appear similar to sumi-e watercolor paintings, and incorporated art-based brushstrokes by the player to execute special moves. |
| Shadow of the Colossus | 2006 | Team Ico | PlayStation 2 | A spiritual successor to 2001's Ico, Shadow of the Colossus is regarded as an important work of art due to its minimalist landscape designs, strong aesthetic, immersive gameplay, powerful narrative, and emotional journey. It has been referenced numerous times in debates regarding art and video games. |
| Mother 3 | 2006 | Brownie Brown HAL Laboratory | Game Boy Advance | The sequel to EarthBound, Mother 3 is a role-playing game about the story of one of the twins as he, his pet dog, and his friends battle an invading force. The game has been praised for its in-depth narrative and use of 16-bit graphics. It is heavy with themes including the importance of a mother, moral fungibility, and dualisms such as nature vs. technology and feudalism vs. capitalism, and is frequently compared to a form of literature. Despite never officially being released outside of Japan, it was later fan-translated by a group of EarthBound fans. Both it and its predecessor served as inspirations for several other games, including Yume Nikki and Undertale. |
| Dwarf Fortress | 2006 | Tarn Adams | PC, Mac OS X, Linux | A roguelike city-building game where the player creates an expansive world each play-through, allowing them to envision the history and culture for their civilization each time around. |
| BioShock | 2007 | 2K Boston 2K Australia | PC, Xbox 360 | A spiritual successor to System Shock 2, the game is regarded as an important work of art due to its immersive atmosphere, compelling storytelling, and the narrative deconstruction of linear gameplay. |
| Portal | 2007 | Valve | PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 | A puzzle game involving the use of portals to transport the player between distant points in space. The game has been praised for its innovative mechanics, narrative and storytelling, and writing, especially that of the AI character GLaDOS. Portal was featured as part of the Museum of Modern Art exhibit "Applied Design". |
| Fallout 3 | 2008 | Bethesda Game Studios | PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 | An action role-playing game acclaimed for its steampunk/retrofuturistic design and credible reconstruction and visuals of post-apocalyptic Washington, D.C. In 2012, Fallout 3 was also exhibited in The Art of Video Games at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. |
| Braid | 2008 | Number None | PC, Xbox 360, Mac OS, Linux, PlayStation 3 | A puzzle-platform game which uses time manipulation as its core mechanic. The game is notable for its painterly art style, layered philosophical narrative, and unique approach to game design. |
| Windosill | 2009 | Vectorpark | Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux, browser, iOS | Windosill is a 2009 puzzle video game by Vectorpark. The player advances through eleven different rooms by interacting with each level's environmental objects. It was developed by Patrick Smith. He was inspired by a variety of painters and artists. The game received "universal acclaim" according to video game review score aggregator Metacritic. Reviewers noted the game's especially short duration, memorability, art style, and emphasis on exploration over problem-solving. Windosill has influenced games such as Alto's Adventure, Blek, Donut County, and Monument Valley. |
| Flower | 2009 | thatgamecompany | PlayStation 3 | The player "controls" a gust of wind through motion controls, guiding it to various flowers around a landscape to gather petals. The gameplay was designed to provoke an emotional response from the player, and was chosen as one of the games shown at The Art of Video Games exhibit at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. |
| The Path | 2009 | Tale of Tales | PC, Mac OS X | A psychological horror game inspired by several versions of the fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood; a visionary reflection about the loss of childhood innocence between fable and horror. |
| Deadly Premonition | 2010 | Access Games | Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 | An open-world survival horror game that was described as "the strangest video game of the year" and a primary example of "games as art", praised for its "emotional range, from traditional survival horror scares to farcical comedy". |
| Heavy Rain | 2010 | Quantic Dream | PlayStation 3 | An interactive movie where the player enters quick time events during various sequences, including intense, rapid-paced scenes. The results of the player's choices or actions can cause one of the four main characters to die while the story continues on, causing the player to become invested in the game's story. |
| Limbo | 2010 | Playdead | Xbox 360 | A puzzle-platformer with a surreal horror atmosphere and art style, noted for cinematic visual influences such as film noir and German Expressionism. |
| 2010 | Frictional Games | PC, Mac OS X, Linux | A survival horror game praised for its horror elements, particularly its atmosphere and sound, with many critics regarding it as one of their scariest experiences. |
2011–2015
| Title | Year | Developer | Original platform | Description |
| Dark Souls | 2011 | FromSoftware | Playstation 3, Xbox 360, PC | Dark fantasy, action role-playing game with intensive, but rewarding battle mechanics and big open world with alternate paths. |
| L.A. Noire | 2011 | Team Bondi | Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC | The game is set in Los Angeles in 1947 and is known for its presentation, which utilizes elements found in noir films popular in the 1940s and 1950s. |
| Child of Eden | 2011 | Q Entertainment | Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 | A rail shooter music game similar to Rez in which players shoot at various targets which produce melodic sounds upon destruction. As with Rez, it was designed to evoke the feeling of synesthesia. |
| The Cat and the Coup | 2011 | Peter Brinson Kurosh ValaNejad | PC | A documentary puzzle game about the life of Mohammad Mosaddegh, who was Prime Minister of Iran in the early 1950s. |
| Papo & Yo | 2012 | Minority Media Inc. | PlayStation 3 | It tells a personal story about love, loss, and growth. |
| Dear Esther | 2012 | The Chinese Room | PC, Mac OS X | A minimalist first-person exploration game centered around its graphical environment and story. The narrative is provided through monologues as the player journeys through the environment. |
| Gravity Rush | 2012 | SCE Japan Studio | PlayStation Vita | An open-world action-adventure game featuring a female protagonist with the power to manipulate how gravity affects her, and who uses her powers to help the people of Hekseville against the mysterious Nevi, ultimately helping its people against human threats and uncovering the mystery behind her past. The art, music, and themes of the game have been cited for its status as art. |
| Journey | 2012 | thatgamecompany | PlayStation 3 | Journey has been described as an emotional experience, due to its immersive setting, distinctive visual style, dynamic music which responds to the player's actions, and de-emphasized gameplay. A central mechanic is that players are able to cooperate with other real-life players on the same journey, but cannot communicate with them via speech or text until after the game's credits, which was praised for forging a sense of companionship between anonymous players. |
| The Unfinished Swan | 2012 | Giant Sparrow SCE Santa Monica Studio | PlayStation 3 | The game starts with a completely white space in which the player, a boy named Monroe, is chasing after a swan that has escaped a painting. The player has to splat gobs of black paint to draw and materialize the world around him. |
| ' | 2012 | Yager Development | PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 | A third-person shooter that deconstructs the "shooter genre". Inspired by Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, Spec Ops: The Line dwells heavily on themes of moral ambiguity as the player finds themselves struggling to justify their actions in the plot. |
| The Walking Dead | 2012 | Telltale Games | PC, Mac OS X, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation Vita | An episodic adventure game set in the world of Robert Kirkman's acclaimed comic book series, The Walking Dead has been praised for its story, meaningful player decisions, and believable characters. It is often considered one of the greatest examples of storytelling in video games. |
| The Cat Lady | 2012 | Harvester Games | PC | A horror point-and-click adventure game about depression, death, friendship, suicide, etc., with an underground graphic style. |
| ' | 2013 | Quantic Dream | PlayStation 3 | An interactive drama that tells the story of Jodie, who possesses supernatural powers through a psychic link to Aiden, a bodiless entity, growing from adolescence to adulthood while learning to control Aiden and the powers they share. |
| BioShock Infinite | 2013 | Irrational Games | PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Mac OS X | A first-person shooter set in 1912 in an alternate universe where American Exceptionalism is flourishing aboard the flying city Columbia. The game's narrative challenges concepts of nationalism, religion, and racism prevalent during that period, providing a "funhouse mirror of American ideological history", according to Ben Popper of The Verge. |
| Grand Theft Auto V | 2013 | Rockstar North | PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 | Rockstar Games' open-world crime-based title satirizes the modern-day lifestyle of the West Coast of the United States, taking place in a city that is a smaller-scale but detailed stylization of the city of Los Angeles and its vicinity, often used by players and artists as a backdrop for their own creations. |
| Papers, Please | 2013 | 3909 LLC | PC, Mac OS X, Linux | A border control simulation game where a political uprising plot develops in the background of mechanical, grinding gameplay that mimics the mechanical, repetitive work of an immigration officer in a fictional country, presenting the player with ethical and moral choices between job and family. |
| Proteus | 2013 | Ed Key David Kanaga | PC, Mac OS X, Linux, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita | A procedurally generated walking simulator game that allows players to explore an expanse of musical environment, where every creature and plant has its own unique musical signature to accompany it, resulting in changes according to where players explore. |
| ' | 2013 | Starbreeze Studios | Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC | A story-driven game praised for its visual style, gameplay, and "sedate" pace, the game has no intelligible dialogue and provides players with a powerful, emotive experience. It drew comparisons to Ico, Journey, and Fable. |
| Gone Home | 2013 | The Fullbright Company | PC, Mac OS X, Linux | An exploration game where the player takes the role of a teenaged girl returning to her unoccupied home after spending time abroad. Gone Home has been praised for its narration, gameplay, and atmosphere. |
| The Stanley Parable | 2013 | Galactic Cafe | PC, Mac OS X | An interactive fiction game praised as a thought-provoking narration on the nature of choice and predestination within video games, and defined as a "meta-game where is not the gamer to play the game, but the game to play the gamer". |
| Flappy Bird | 2013 | .GEARS | Android, iOS | An arcade-style mobile game now present in both the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Museum of Modern Art. |
| The Vanishing of Ethan Carter | 2014 | The Astronauts | PC, PlayStation 4 | A first-person mystery adventure game that has been praised for its realistic graphics, atmospheric open world, and suspenseful narrative. |
| Kentucky Route Zero | 2013–2020 | Cardboard Computer | PC, Mac OS X, Linux | An indie episodic point-and-click adventure game with a focus on storytelling and a "beautiful", immersive atmosphere. The game features a twisting, self-referential narrative, as well as deep characterization through evocative dialogue. Kentucky Route Zero was named Game of the Year in 2013 by Rock, Paper, Shotgun. |
| Elegy for a Dead World | 2014 | Dejobaan Games | PC, Mac OS X, Linux | A side-scrolling exploration game where the player writes a diary visible to other players. The player explores three worlds inspired by romantic poets Percy Bysshe Shelley, Lord Byron, and John Keats. While exploring, the player is prompted to make notes on their observations; notes are publicly visible via Steam Workshop. The collective note-taking mechanic, representing not only an artistic game experience but also the ability of sandbox-style games to support further collaborative artistic creation by their players, earned it an honorable mention for the Nuovo Award at the 2014 Independent Games Festival. |
| Monument Valley | 2014 | ustwo games | iOS, Android | An indie puzzle game where the player leads the princess Ida through mazes of optical illusions and impossible objects while manipulating the world around her to reach various platforms. Its visual style was inspired by Japanese prints, minimalist sculpture, and indie games Windosill, Fez, and ', and was compared by critics to M. C. Escher drawings and Echochrome. The art was designed such that each frame would be worthy of public display. The game received generally favorable reviews. Critics praised its art and sound design. It won the BAFTA Video Game Awards for best "British Game" and "Mobile/Handheld Game", while nominated for "Best Game", "Artistic Achievement", and "Original Property" awards. |
| This War of Mine | 2014 | 11 Bit Studios | Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux, Android, iOS, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch | A side-scrolling survival based strategy game in which the player controls a group of civilians trying to survive in the fictional city of Pogoren while it is under siege The game has been praised for its morally grey depiction of war, as well as its unique setting, focusing on the impact war has on civilians rather than militaries. |
| The Talos Principle | 2014 | Croteam | Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux, Android, PlayStation 4, iOS, Xbox One | The Talos Principle is a narrative-based puzzle game, played from a first- or third-person perspective. The player takes the role of a robot with a seemingly human consciousness as they explore a number of environments that include over 120 puzzles. The game features a philosophical storyline. It takes its name from Talos of Greek mythology, a giant mechanical man who protected Europa in Crete from pirates and invaders. Other names taken from mythology and religion and used in the game include Elohim, Gehenna, Milton, Samsara, and Uriel. |
| Beyond Eyes | 2015 | Tiger & Squid | Xbox One, PC, Mac OS X, Linux, PlayStation 4 | An adventure game centered on a blind girl exploring her environment, where her other four senses are visualized in unique ways for the player. |
| Her Story | 2015 | Sam Barlow | PC, Mac OS X, iOS | An interactive film which incorporates police procedural elements and live-action footage, in which the player controls a police interrogation database and must piece together how a murder occurred through entering keyword searches. The game was praised for its unique system of storytelling, character performance, and unconventional gameplay mechanics. |
| The Beginner's Guide | 2015 | Everything Unlimited Ltd. | PC, Mac OS X | An exploration game by Davey Wreden, creator of The Stanley Parable, in which Wreden himself narrates the player through several eccentric, uncompleted games by a recluse developer named Coda, with Wreden ascribing what these games mean about Coda's personality. The nature of the story reflects on the relationship between player and developer in modern game development, with elements of Wreden's own sudden success with The Stanley Parable. |
| Life Is Strange | 2015 | Dontnod Entertainment | PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One | A story-driven game featuring hand-painted textures and based on a time-rewind mechanic, which affects the development of the story. The game addresses themes of surveillance, suicide, and assisted suicide, as well as the ontological search for a defined and specific identity and coming of age. |
| Undertale | 2015 | Toby Fox | PC, Mac OS X | A role-playing game where multiple in-game decisions by the player result in many different consequences, including but not limited to the actions of non-player characters, the mood and atmosphere of the game, and the ending. Undertale |
| Ori and the Blind Forest | 2015 | Moon Studios | PC, Xbox One | A 2D open-world platform game where the player controls an orphan named Ori, a white guardian spirit. The game was critically acclaimed for its gorgeous art, touching narrative, and clever gameplay. |
2016–present
| Title | Year | Developer | Original platform | Description |
| That Dragon, Cancer | 2016 | Numinous Games | PC, Mac OS X, Ouya, iOS | An exploration game designed by Ryan and Amy Green to help share their experiences in learning and coping with the terminal cancer and death of their five-year-old son Joel. |
| Abzû | 2016 | Giant Squid | PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows | An adventure game set in the ocean, the player controlling a silent diver to explore the different ocean environments by interacting with nature. |
| ' | 2016 | Naughty Dog | PlayStation 4 | An action-adventure game following Nathan Drake, who seeks to find Henry Avery's lost treasure with his brother Sam. |
| ' | 2016 | iNK Stories | Microsoft Windows, OS X | An interactive drama game set in Iran during the 1979 Iranian Revolution, the game was particularly praised for its accurate portrayal of the events of the revolution, allowing players to become fully immersed in its setting. |
| No Man's Sky | 2016 | Hello Games | PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC | An open-world space exploration game inspired by 1960s and 1970s sci-fi comic books. Players can explore over 18 quintillion procedurally generated planets while choosing the path of explorer, trader, or fighter. |
| Firewatch | 2016 | Campo Santo | PlayStation 4 | "Firewatch is about solitude and space, a first-person journey through the massive wilderness of America's Shoshone National Forest. It's a space of such magnitude that it almost unavoidably conjures mysteries and conspiracies of corresponding size. But in this game, we are drawn back down to the essential and human." |
| The Witness | 2016 | Thekla, Inc. | PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One | A puzzle game that "does something that you can't do with any other art form. This game has a clear message: 'Change your perspective', and unless you do so, you can not succeed. Every aspect of The Witness is based upon this idea." |
| Inside | 2016 | Playdead | Xbox One, PC, PlayStation 4 | Playdead's followup to Limbo, Inside is a puzzle-platformer that follows an unnamed boy's trek across a surreal landscape while being chased by pursuers. It uses a wider array of cinematographic elements described by Christopher Byrd of The Washington Post: "It's a mood piece, a series of expertly framed environments that escalate in their strangeness." |
| Mafia III | 2016 | Hangar 13 | PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, Mac OS X | The game is set in a re-imagined version of New Orleans in the 1960s and received praise for exploring controversial themes such as racism and segregation in the Southern United States. |
| The Last Guardian | 2016 | SIE Japan Studio genDESIGN | PlayStation 4 | The third Team Ico game, following Ico and Shadow of the Colossus, designed around a realistic-acting giant bird-cat-like creature that the player must learn to tend and care for in order to entice the creature to help solve puzzles. |
| Virginia | 2016 | Variable State | PC, Mac OS X, PlayStation 4, Xbox One | A first-person mystery thriller adventure game using a strong cinematographic language in the style of David Lynch films. |
| The Town of Light | 2016 | LKA | PC | A first-person 3D adventure about madness and ancient psychiatric asylum horrors. |
| Hyper Light Drifter | 2016 | Heart Machine | Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC | An action role-playing game praised for its visual storytelling, hack-and-slash combat, emotional storyline, and anime-inspired 8-bit visuals. |
| Bound | 2016 | Plastic Studios | PS4 | Bound is a platform and art video game featuring a dancer as the main character. The game received mostly positive critical reviews, praising its art style and originality. |
| Night in the Woods | 2017 | Infinite Fall Secret Lab 22nd Century Toys | PC, Mac OS X, Linux, PlayStation 4, Xbox One | A single-player exploration game about an anthropomorphic cat named Mae, who dropped out of college and has returned to her slowly dying hometown to find that a lot has changed since she left. It has been praised for "a fantastic narrative with a beautiful art-style, theme and plenty of small touches occupying a wonderful world full of loving characters covering a sinister story underneath". |
| ' | 2017 | Nintendo EPD | Wii U, Nintendo Switch | The most recent entry in The Legend of Zelda franchise, which differs from previous entries by creating a fully immersive, non-linear open-world experience with a realistic physics engine and an extremely precise attention to detail across an unprecedentedly vast world. Breath of the Wild received critical acclaim for its graphics and gameplay and has been hailed as not only a landmark title for the genre but as one of the greatest games of all time. |
| What Remains of Edith Finch | 2017 | Giant Sparrow | PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One | A first-person exploration game, the player explores the odd childhood home of Eddie Finch and her family, while interacting with short vingettes that relate to the strange deaths of past Finch members. Indie studio Giant Sparrow conjured an adventure that blends exploration, reading, reality, and fantasy. |
| Hollow Knight | 2017 | Team Cherry | PC, Mac OS X, Linux | A Metroidvania-style hack-and-slash platform game about an insect warrior trying save a town from a terrible curse. |
| Last Day of June | 2017 | Ovosonico | PlayStation 4, PC | A 3D graphic adventure with a colorful cartoon aesthetic reminiscent of Tim Burton's films in stop-motion and a soundtrack composed by Steven Wilson. The story is about love and loss, life and death, and is like a puzzle. |
| Gorogoa | 2017 | Jason Roberts | PC, iOS, Nintendo Switch | A puzzle game presented with four images in a grid in which the player may arrange, combine, and explore each image to find a connection between them in order to advance the story. The creator who developed Gorogoa, Jason Roberts, drew all of the scenes by hand; he cites David Roberts, Gustave Doré, Christopher Manson, and Chris Ware as influences to his art style. |
| The Invisible Hours | 2017 | PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC | The Invisible Hours is an Agatha Christie-style murder mystery, a classic whodunit similar to And Then There Were None; it is also heavily inspired by Christopher Nolan's 2006 film The Prestige. Six people with an obscure past are invited by scientist Nikola Tesla to his mansion on an uninhabited and isolated little island. It was presented at NEXT during the 2017 Cannes Film Festival. | |
| ' | 2018 | Warhorse Studios | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One | Set in the early 15th century, in the Kingdom of Bohemia, the game is noted for its focus on historical accuracy as well as both its attention to detail and realism in its gameplay. |
| 2018 | Digixart Aardman Animations | PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 | A story-driven 3D adventure and interactive drama set during World War I, it is an antithesis to mainstream shooters, with an ambition to echo the centenary of World War I so that younger generations never forget. It was universally acclaimed for its Van Gogh-like aesthetics, opening new expressive possibilities, and introducing technical innovations with great impact for the future of gaming. | |
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 2018 | Rockstar Studios | PlayStation 4, Xbox One | A large open-world game set in the late 19th-century American frontier, Red Dead Redemption 2 was noted for creating background settings, characters, wildlife, and other events that make the game immersive, while emphasizing the impact of the choices a player makes on how the player later interacts with these elements. |
| Return of the Obra Dinn | 2018 | 3909 LLC | PC, Mac OS X | The game is set aboard a fictional East India Company ghost ship in the early 1800s whose crew and passengers have all mysteriously died or disappeared, with the objective being to discover how. "A mystery that makes a grand and intricate game out of deduction." |
| Gris | 2018 | Nomada Studio | PC, Mac OS X, Nintendo Switch, iOS | A puzzle platformer that follows a girl named Gris, who wakes up in a crumbling world. |
| Assemble with Care | 2019 | ustwo games | iOS, Mac OS X, PC | The game is set in the fictional town of Bellariva where the player follows a young restorer named Maria. The gameplay consists of mechanical puzzles and a series of written and voice acted vignettes. |
| Manifold Garden | 2019 | William Chyr | PC, Mac OS X, Linux, OS | William Chyr was a sculpture artist with interest in architecture, and wanted to explore how he could take large-scale art into the virtual space of computer games. |