Imaginaria
Very story driven adventure with some simplified pixelart
Interactive objects (on top part) give you more details about the environment/storyline
Lots of areas to check & explore!
Funny little details & objects, story as well has it’s funny moments
Can’t really compare it to nowadays or big adventures games for sure it has a really old classic vibe,
which is nice if you are into that kind of games!
– Real player with 5.8 hrs in game
Read More: Best Atmospheric Visual Novel Games.
Imaginaria is a short game where you explore an antarctic science station. It combines walking simulator and point & click elements, but the game side of it is light as you only have a handful of choices to make. It’s more of a fun, interesting exploration of the dev’s experience.
– Real player with 1.7 hrs in game
SOMA
I replayed this game and it hits me just as hard today as it did back when I purchased it at launch.
Plus, all the bugs I had at the launch (such as crashes during scene switches) have all been fixed.
Don’t want to say anything about the game itself in case I spoil it, but if you enjoy existential and thought provoking science fiction I would highly recommend it. The game drips with thick emotional atmosphere and the occasional cheap jump scares, but it doesn’t diminish the plot or impact.
I also love that the game (like PREY, the 2017 version) gives you several important decisions to make which ultimately do not get resolved as part of the plot; You are left to your own imagination to figure out what impact they had upon the world. That’s the sort of engaging thinking exercises I wish more games would give me.
– Real player with 28.0 hrs in game
Read More: Best Atmospheric First-Person Games.
Different than thought, different than expected and yet really good!
When I got the game, I assumed it would be a kind of bioshock that was just creepier. Yes, reading helps, at least sometimes 😊
But in this case it played absolutely no role because I didn’t miss the shooter aspect in any way. Soma is a pure adventure game from the first-person point of view.
Nevertheless, the underwater scenario is somewhat reminiscent of Bioshock but with an incredible sound experience. Everywhere it creaks and groans. The game lives from the great soundscape and you should definitely use headphones to play.
– Real player with 22.1 hrs in game
tomorrow won’t come for those without ██████
I don’t typically write reviews, but I genuinely loved playing this game. This is just based off of my experience but I would definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys:
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Connecting dots and working a little to figure out the plot. The game doesn’t just come out with an exposition bomb, which I appreciate though I can understand that isn’t for everyone.
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Psychological thriller/horror elements. Creepy vibe? Check. A dash of body horror and existential/cosmic dread? Check.
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Puzzles. There are a few puzzles that stumped me for a bit, but it never felt entirely unfair. (Plus, if you really need help, there is a guide written by luna-terra that will help you through the game and get the alternate ending without spoiling the experience)
– Real player with 4.5 hrs in game
Read More: Best Atmospheric Minimalist Games.
tomorrow won’t come for those without ██████ gives you the same feeling after playing as all of etherane’s other work. your mind gets foggy, your hands feel numb, and you want to cry but you don’t know how. you lay down in bed, turn the lights down to low, and just ponder.
etherane’s newest game comes with a new story just as surreal and mind-boggling as hello charlotte, seeped deep in low-humming religious trauma and blocked memories. the art is beautiful, and the slow-brewing horrors and states of melancholy make it even more so. i do appreciate the ability to turn flashing images off [which, to those curious, only comes up in one ending, and there are flashes when going between some rooms].
– Real player with 3.6 hrs in game
Afterglitch
You are an astronaut whose multidimensional journey to find an extraterrestrial civilization is more important than the destination!
An audiovisual experience in the form of a video game inspired by utopian science fiction illustrations of the second half of the 20th century and hyperspace in modern art.
“And on the eighth day, time and space collapsed…”
“I’m searching for the beginning in time.”
“I’m searching for a boundary in space.”
“I’m searching for the creator.”
Glitchhikers: The Spaces Between
What do you see up there, when you consider the infinity around us? And as you wander on your own journey, who are the strange, unworldly others who probe those questions as they pass like ghosts through your travels? Were they ever really real?
Glitchhikers: The Spaces Between is about the thoughts that exist between destinations, the parts of journeys that dominate our time but not our attention, when our minds wander to parts of ourselves and our world normally left unexamined. On a late night highway drive, a quiet train car in the early hours, a walk through a moonlight park, or the endless wait in a deserted airport, we listen to weird music amid the ambient announcements of delays, and question our place in the universe.
Inspired by long travel and the stream of consciousness it fosters, Glitchhikers asks you to look inward. Find the answers to your questions, and question the answers you receive. Ruminate on life, the universe, our place and purpose in it. Voyage through a freeform narrative experience, converse with the endless inevitability, and explore the cosmic, hopeful world you find yourself in.
A follow up to the critically praised short game released in 2014, Glitchhikers: The Spaces Between is an expanded experience, reborn and reimagined.
No pressure, no failure, no optimal path, no journey exactly the same. Glitchhikers: The Spaces Between is an introspective freeform game where the player picks a journey, slips into that liminal space and has a unique experience travelling into their own thoughts, guided by the characters they meet along the way.
A late night drive, a deserted airport lounge, a moonlit walk through an empty park, a quiet carriage on an overnight train, a 24-hour convenience store. Never the ultimate destination, spending time in the inbetween creates a setting for contemplation and reflection, a mood that exists in these liminal spaces.
The hikers you meet on each journey will travel with you for a time, offering thought-provoking conversations, and questioning your place in the universe. Who will you meet? What will you talk about? Were they real or just a figment of your imagination?
An extensive original soundtrack full of chill grooves, upbeat wonder, dreamy synths controlled by your movement through space, and that one busker who makes you feel right at home: each journey has its own feel.
Glitchhikers: The Spaces Between both expands and dives deeper into the ideas behind the original Glitchhikers (released as a short conceptual game in 2014), to fully realise the concepts and present a polished and fleshed out experience to a new generation of players.
Silverstring Media are a vital and vibrant voice within narrative indie games, creating a string of short experimental titles and working as narrative guns for hire on indie darlings including Celeste, Crypt of the Necrodancer, Where the Water Tastes Like Wine, Manifold Garden and Wandersong.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1449230/
Let Me Die (inside)
In principle, the game in places resembles Russian locations both by entrances and gloomy surroundings, it seems to me that the developers want to teach us how to cope with despair, and it is also instructive with the stories of the characters
– Real player with 3.9 hrs in game
After 3 hours of playing, I came to the conclusion that the game is rather boring and monotonous, I don’t even know who might like it. I believe that such games only exacerbate the situation and very rarely can help someone. Friends, I do not recommend it.
– Real player with 3.1 hrs in game
What We Pretend To Be
Cheap, relaxing and really nice soundtrack.
This is the kind of game you buy if you have some money to spare, and you’re in need of a casual relaxation game. There is no point to the game, and it’s really really short, but honestly, I think it was worth the small fee. I love the graphic style, and the lighting is god-tier, but the texturing is kinda off-putting in some areas, with glitching clouds and the ground clipping with the grass. There’s not much to the story, but that’s not really the appeal of the game, so I wouldn’t leave much criticism there.
– Real player with 3.3 hrs in game
Very short game play, not much story. Mindless wheat farming, once the builder dies you can’t make any more improvements to your town.
– Real player with 1.8 hrs in game
Daffodil Yellow: A few poems from an insect collector
“Daffodil Yellow: a few poems from an insect collector” is a 3D game/interactive experience about the reconciliation between someone and a season.
The story takes place at the very beginning of summer. This season makes the collector see everything in black and white. One day, after taking a nap, he turns into a butterfly.
He will go through three memories that are dear to him, which took place during previous summers. Looking for a color in each of them, he will repaint his current summer.
Lost Voice
At first glance, the story is simple, if not cliched. A player finds themselves in a strange and unfamiliar world - they don’t know where they are or how they got there. And it appears they don’t remember anything up to this point. Almost immediately the player is contacted by a group of characters with similar symptoms and together they start an investigation to unravel these mysteries. Where are they? Why can’t they remember anything? These and many other questions will be answered in the most unexpected ways.
At its core, Lost Voice is a first-person shooter, with strong exploration and some puzzle elements. Town Square is a safe space where the player can go to seek shelter and communicate with NPCs. Teleport Room that can be found there is used to reach other worlds (dungeons). Each world has its own gameplay twist.
There is no “Game Over” screen in Lost Voice. Instead of dying, the player teleports to the Well when HP is depleted. Upon climbing the Well to the top, the player transports to the Secret Room, nearest to the player’s “death” location. These rooms are closed from the inside, so the player will need to figure out how to unlock them.
Sisyphus Reborn
I believe I’m a less common player on Steam, I buy games for several different reasons, some I buy for myself and also for other people, some games I prefer to watch and comment on instead of play. I collect games for their beauty, for their art design, for their challenge or if they convince me they have a good story. This “game” is, above all, a philosophical reading, you basically need to follow the only way of doing the things.
Inspired by the Albert Camus' essay in which he introduces his philosophy of the absurd: that of the man in search of meaning, unity and clarity in the face of an unintelligible world devoid of God and eternity. Does the realization of the absurd demand suicide? Camus replies: “No. It demands revolt.” He then describes various approaches to the absurd in life. The last chapter compares the absurdity of man’s life with the situation of Sisyphus, a personage of Greek mythology, condemned to always repeat the same task of pushing a rock to the top of a mountain, and every time he was almost at the top, the stone rolled down the mountain again to the point of departure by an irresistible force, completely invalidating the hard effort expended. You can and, sometimes, you have to do your own way, and even your closer beloved ones will be against you, because people are doctrinated to live an absurd life with no purpose other than gather properties. I call it contemporary (and cheap) slavery, the utilitarian and materialist world we live to serve purposes and reach goals that are not the ours.
– Real player with 1.5 hrs in game
When you finish playing Sisyphus Reborn, it will feel like being suddenly roused from deep sleep in the middle of a blustery night. It’s raining heavily outside; the window is wide open, and the cold, damp air makes you uncomfortable, finding its way under the blanket and disturbing your peace. You remember that the dream was uniquely pleasant; disappointed, you rub your eyes somewhat forcefully for no apparent reason, turn over, adjust the pillow a bit and prepare to go back to sleep. Some intrusive thoughts linger for a couple of minutes. They have no discernible form or purpose, but they feel vaguely threatening. Being awake at this hour seems strange and unnatural, so your only desire is to plunge into nothingness once more.
– Real player with 1.1 hrs in game