No interest in video games? Understandable. They can be expensive, time-consuming and in the case of one of 2016’s best, Dark Souls 3, both cryptic and sadistic. But this National Video Games Day, try out one of these nine games. They’re accessible, inexpensive, short, tell engaging stories and require only a laptop.
Image: Toby Fox
What at first seems like a simple homage to 16-bit role-playing games like Earthbound, Undertale soon becomes evocative in its own right. As sparse chiptunes become lush orchestrations, so too do the binary kill-or-be-killed conventions of gaming dissipate to deliver a bittersweet moral tale full of lovable characters.
Life is Strange imagines the teenage dream: the ability to turn back time. Choices made throughout affect the story of photography student Max Caulfield. (On the nose, I know.) The game commits to its Twin Peaks influence, pairing melodramatic sci-fi with enigmatic, colorful characters, leading to powerful moments.
Image: Everything Unlimited Ltd.
Banksy eat your heart out. Davey Wreden, the developer of The Beginner’s Guide, serves as a tour guide through the vignettes of a cagey game developer, dissecting the thought-processes behind each game while you explore them. Together, an interactive bricolage forms, the implication of which rests upon your shoulders.
Image: Sam Barlow
Boldly employing antiquated full-motion video, Her Story invites you to piece together a murder mystery by searching keywords in a database to find brief video clips of a police interview. A true non-linear narrative, you can start the story at any point, naturally altering your perception of the suspect in question.
Image: BlankMediaGames
Town of Salem offers a respite from the panic-inducing complexity of multiplayer games while still maintaining their suspenseful edge. Each player is assigned a role; a select few murder at night while the rest must decide who’s deserving of the gallows. Features all the deceit of board games, but free in your browser.
Image: 3909
Yes, Papers, Please makes scanning documents for minute discrepancies arresting. While verifying immigration papers as a border agent in a Soviet-inspired nation, you bear witness and perhaps take part in human rights violations. Opportunities for sabotage present themselves but you also have a family to feed at night.
Image: Starbreeze Studios AB / 505 Games
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons sees siblings journey to find an elixir for their sick father. Inspired by his time growing up during the Lebanese Civil War, Swedish filmmaker Josef Fares makes use of a controller as an ingenious storytelling device. Both sides are used to simultaneously control the two protagonists.
Image: The Fullbright Company
Miles Davis said, “Don’t play what’s there, play what’s not there.”Gone Home’s refusal to indulge our expectations says as much about gaming’s weaknesses as our own biases towards the medium. In searching your family’s home to learn of their whereabouts, you become both unnerved and comforted through the familiar.
Image: Cardboard Computer
Detours abound in the Lynchian adventure, Kentucky Route Zero. Characters shake loose old stories connected to the landmarks seen during a meandering trip down a lost highway — many of which you take part in telling. Tales of eminent domain share time with stunning magical realism. The surreal art matches the prose.
[Source:-Forbes]
