Games That Show the Potential for Being Art

Games are an important part of my life. They provide me with relaxation, escapism, good times with friends, and they are even helpful for keeping in touch with friends that don’t live close by. In addition to all of this every now and then a game comes along that is thought-provoking, beautiful, or just so well written that it brings tears to my eyes. These are the games that have convinced me that the medium is suited as an art form, and I want to show as many people as possible all it can be.

The discussion on whether games are a form of art has been around for many years. These days I think most people would agree that video games are at least a possible medium for artistic expression. Or I might be wrong.

That said, this is not meant to add to that debate. I firmly believe that there are games that are a work of art, and just as valid as paintings, music, film, literature, etc. can be. However, I don’t want to argue that they are, or should be considered that way in the eyes of the general public.

What follows here is merely some of the games that have made an impression on me in some significant way. Maybe see it as a list of recommendations if you are interested in seeing what the industry has to offer besides Fortnite and Call of Duty. I have listed them in four different categories. Three of them I think are things that most people associate with traditional art. The last is a bit different but it shows how some games try to use interactivity to draw players into the experience in new ways.

Aesthetic Beauty

This is an easy category to start with. These are games that simply look gorgeous. Now I would be the first person to tell you that games don’t need high-end graphics to be worth your time, but that doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate games that are beautiful to look at. Here are some of the games that stunned me with their artistic direction.

Shadow of the Colossus

Broadly speaking there are only two things to do in this game: traveling, and fighting bosses. During both of these activities, the game is an impressive feat of artistic direction. There is not much to do on your way to the boss, but that is actually a good thing since it puts more emphasis on the environment. On your travels, you will see beautiful plains, canyons, ruins, and more. It makes it a joy to just relax for a bit

And then there are the colossi themselves. Most of them are huge beings that at first don’t even seem to acknowledge you. Their frightening sight contrasts nicely with the calming atmosphere of the journey to them. At the start of a fight you are usually at a fair distance, and as you close in you get a sense of the size of these monsters. Then you have to climb them to even get to their weak spots. Now you’re so close that you can’t even see the whole creature anymore, and you notice the detail that was put in creating them.

It’s a pretty old game by now, though I think the original still holds up. Still, if you have never played Shadow of the Colossus, the remake for the PS4 is definitely a step up.

Journey

Traveling is a joy in Shadow of the Colossus, but it is even better in Journey. A good thing too, because it is pretty much the whole game. Throughout the game, there is a simple goal: there is a mountain on the horizon, and you need to go there. You start in the desert, and the first moment already shows how much care the creators put in the visuals. The sand glistens and reacts naturally to your movements through it.

There is no text in the game at all, and this means that the story is told through pictures and the environment. Journey does this very well. The game is very linear, but exploring your surroundings can still give some interesting insights into the world you travel through, and the purpose of your pilgrimage.

Unfortunately, I can’t say a whole lot about the things you would see, as discovering them is what this game is about. Let me just say that it is varied and definitely worth your time. This game has the single most beautiful looking moment in video games that I know (I’m not going to spoil it), and that alone makes it a must-play in my opinion.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Most games on this list are smaller projects by independent studios, but with graphics becoming more and more detailed, there are few that can compete with the big budget releases. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is definitely the most impressive looking game I have ever played.

My experience might be limited on this front though since I don’t play that many high-end games these days. Most of them just don’t seem that interesting, and they are usually very expensive. That said I still think this game shows a lot about good art direction as well as high fidelity graphics. Every location feels distinct, the towns feel alive when walking through them, and the enemies and dungeons are suitably terrifying. I found myself stopping quite often to just admire my surroundings.

I focus a lot on its looks, but The Witcher 3 is a well-designed game in many ways. If you’re looking for a solid fantasy RPG, this is among the best.

Narrative

There are some amazing stories that are told in video games. They have a unique way to tell stories, by letting the player figure it out themselves, or letting them play a part in it. This means that the experience might be different from person to person, but I don’t think that is a bad thing. It means they are worth discussing, and replaying, and exploring in a way that is not possible in any other medium.

Following here are some games that have stories that stuck with me, either because of the quality of the story, or the way they are told.

To the Moon

First is a game that just tells a really touching story. It’s the near future when people have found a way to enter and alter a person’s memory. The main characters, doctors Rosalene and Watts, use this technology to fulfill the wishes of people on their deathbeds. Their client in this game is Johnny, who wants to go to the moon.

The story mostly follows the life of the patient in reverse, gradually forming a picture of Johnny. I can’t say much more about the story, but there are some genuinely emotional moments that will make you cry.

It’s not perfect. It’s written by one person, and this shows at some points, with references to things that clearly mean a lot to the writer, yet might not mean anything to the player. Also, while most of the game involves simply walking around and exploring in between story moments, sometimes you are required to solve a puzzle that, while fairly simple, breaks the immersion somewhat.

I’m quick to forgive the game for it, though, because it knows when to be serious, and the love and care put into the creation is apparent throughout. Both To the Moon and its sequel Finding Paradise are incredible stories that I would recommend to anyone that wants to experience a story, as opposed to just reading or seeing it.

Her Story

When you start this game, the goal might not be apparent right away. You are presented with an old looking computer desktop and one booted program that looks to be some sort of database browser. The search bar has the word “murder” already filled in. You hit search, and it spits out a few short video clips of a woman being interviewed about someone who has been murdered. Then one of those clips mentions the name of the victim. You enter that in the search bar, get some different clips, and now you are playing the game.

Her Story is about telling the story as much as it is about finding the story. You are always only given the five first search results of a given query, so the trick is paying attention to what is said, and coming up with possible search terms. I got out pen and paper to write down everything I thought noteworthy, and a few hours later I had a few pages worth of notes. It made me feel like a detective, and this is something that just wouldn’t be possible if it were a film or a book.

Thomas Was Alone

I went into this game not really knowing what to expect. It was part of a bundle of games which I bought for something else, but since I had it I decided to give it a try. This was years ago, yet I can still barely believe I cared so much… for a bunch or shapes!

Thomas Was Alone is a puzzle-platformer with abstract graphics. The world is simply black walls, floors, and ceilings, and the characters are colored rectangles, each with their own abilities. In every level, you simply have to move all the shapes to their respective exits.

So where does the story come in? It’s narrated. While you are playing, a voice is talking to you as if you are listening to an audiobook, describing the thoughts and actions of the characters at that moment. The amount of personality this gives them is impressive. All of them have names, and by the end of the game you will care for their fate, and want them to achieve their goals.

I would recommend playing the game twice, the second time with developers commentary. This gives a bit more insight, and it made me appreciate the game even more.

Though-provoking Games

One of the things people sometimes say is that they want art to make them think. To offer some new perspective, or make you contemplate some issue. While most games are made for the purposes of entertainment, you can find some that try to do more. Here are some games that might not all be fun to play, but that touch on and show topics that are worth knowing about.

Orwell

Its name is intentionally ironic, as it refers to both the writer, as well as the fictional system the game revolves around. You play an agent of a government organization that is investigating a bombing. For this, you get access to all kinds of personal information, and correspondence of people that are suspected to be involved.

It’s a game that puts you in the shoes of Big Brother. You gather clues and figure out a lot about peoples personal lives. As you get further into the game it also does a decent job of showing how not everything is black and white, and how some things can be taken out of context to mean whatever someone wants it to.

The scariest thing, though, is realizing that the scenario is not as far-fetched as it might seem. To be clear, I don’t think there is an agency that monitors everything we do and say, but with the internet the way it is, we don’t always know who has what information about us. If nothing else, it might make you think about the information you share on Facebook or Twitter.

This War of Mine

This is a game about war. There are a lot of those out there, but what makes this one different is the perspective. You are not a brave soldier killing Nazis, but a group of civilians in a besieged city. Your goal is not ending the war, but surviving it.

To do this you need to find food, fortify your shelter against raiders, and make sure your survivors keep their will to live. During the day you manage your shelter. building barricades, furniture, and other necessities. At night you can choose to venture into other buildings and try to find the vital resources you need to make it through another day.

What this game does really well is showing the heartbreaking choices people might have to make when they try to survive. You might desperately need food, so you visit a location where the game says you can find some. Upon arriving, you find out that it is actually a simple home where an old couple lives. They are defenseless and beg you to leave. What do you do? There is nothing stopping you from just raiding their fridge, but could you live with yourself knowing you might take away these people’s means to survive? The game has a lot of these kinds of decisions, and you won’t always like your options.

I don’t think this game is fun. In fact, it can at times be downright depressing, but I think this is what allows it to be so powerful. It paints a believable picture of what it is like to live in a war-torn area. The fact that the decisions are up to you mean that you feel responsible for the consequences.

Papers Please

Congratulations! You are given a job, and you have even been provided with an apartment. Unfortunately, the game isn’t really cheerful. The atmosphere is carefully set up to look like a Soviet nightmare.

You are selected to work at a border checkpoint, and determine whether people are allowed into the country based on the rules you are given. At first, these rules are very simple, but as the days go on, more and more documents are required, and more rules are added. You get paid for every person you process, so you want to be as fast as possible, but this makes it easier to make mistakes, which could cost you money instead.

Papers Please is similar to This War of Mine in that it is about choices and survival. It is also not a game I would say is fun, but it’s still worth playing because it shows how bureaucracy can be a bad thing if it is taken too far.

Meta Games

This category will require a bit of an explanation. In the last couple of years, there have been quite a few games that break the mold in some way. They try to seem self-aware of the fact that they are a game and address the person playing as a separate entity to the character they are controlling in the game. Or they try to go beyond the confines of the screen and create files that the player is supposed to look up on their computer. It usually breaks the fourth wall in some way. Some games have this to create a funny moment, but these are some of the experiences that blew my mind the first time I played them.

The Stanley Parable

I had never played, nor heard of the original Stanley Parable. I found out about the game when it was remade for Steam. It looked different, so I watched a trailer. It was… weird, but intriguing, so next was the demo. This was even weirder, and it still felt like I had no idea what the game was about, or what even the gameplay would be. Reviews were really positive, so I just decided to see it for myself. The hours that followed changed how I view games forever.

The reason I’m telling this story is that everything around The Stanley Parable amplified the impression it made on me when I actually played it. The trailer was about a letter someone had sent to the developers, and it didn’t show any gameplay. The demo, which usually introduces a player to the game by letting them play a small part, didn’t show anything that was in the game proper. It even goes out of its way to make this clear to you. I was invested before I had even bought the game, and that is something very special that very few games, or frankly any media can manage. The Stanley Parable was a unique experience.

And I haven’t even started talking about the game itself. I realize that this is not how most people will be introduced to this game, so maybe my perception is a bit skewed. However, even disregarding everything around it, this is still a worthwhile experience.

There is unfortunately not much that can be said about The Stanley Parable without spoiling it. All I’ll say here is that it is a game that has some of the best commentaries on video games in general. Specifically about a player’s choices and the impact and futility of them. Besides that, it’s just incredibly funny.

OneShot

I already talked about OneShot in my previous post, but it really is an incredible game, that deserves all the praise it gets. What I didn’t mention is that it also has meta-elements. Even though you control the protagonist, Niko, yourself the game also recognizes you as a player playing the game. You even have occasional conversations with him. This seems like a novel idea at first, but it is actually used in some unique ways later on.

The game itself is fairly simple, mostly consisting of exploring a very charming world, and solving some puzzles. Where the game shines is in its story, and how it involves the player in it. Again, unfortunately, I can’t say much more without spoiling. Play the game, and try to let yourself be immersed in your role. If you can suspend your disbelief for just a little bit, this could be an experience you will never forget.

Undertale

Last but not least, I can’t end this list without mentioning Undertale. There is so much this game does right that it could be a post on its own. It’s got a good story, the battle mechanics are unique and used in surprising ways, and the music is amazing. However, I will focus on the aspect that made this game truly unforgettable for me.

But first, the gameplay. Undertale plays, and looks mostly like an old RPG like Earthbound (which this game is inspired by). You walk around, talk to people, and have random encounters which take you to a separate battle screen to resolve. The twist is that you don’t necessarily have to fight the creatures you meet. Instead, there is always some way to win without killing the other side.

Before I started playing I heard that this game could be completed without killing a single enemy. I usually go for the most peaceful option first, so I went for that. At some point, I misinterpreted some advice given to me by the game, and I ended up accidentally killing the first boss. I considered just moving on and trying again in a future playthrough, but then the game started mocking me for killing the boss, so I decided to reload a previous save. I figured out how it was supposed to go, and moved on. This is when the game did something I had never seen before.

A game usually saves progress in one of two ways. Either there is some manual save system where the player has to tell the game to save, or it is done automatically at set points. The latter is either for the player’s convenience, or to prevent them from going back, and forcing them to deal with the consequences of their actions.

So what does Undertale do? As it turns out, a bit of both. You still manually save the game, but after I reloaded to fix my mistake, the next scene called me out on it. I was told it knew I killed the boss before. It made me feel like I was caught with my hand in the cookie jar.

For the rest of the game, I felt like everything I did was being watched. It doesn’t help that characters are almost always faced towards the camera, staring at me.

This is not the only thing that makes Undertale a worthwhile meta game experience, but as with most of them, it is best experienced yourself, so I hope you can take my word for it.

And Many More

This list could be a lot longer, but I have to stop somewhere. I hope this gives a bit of an idea of what games can offer. Of course, I’m limited by the games that I have actually played, and some games just haven’t really made an impression on me, even though others might argue that they would also be considered works of art. As I said, I don’t want to argue whether or not these games or any others are, or are not art. There are people that are smarter than me that can do that. However, this medium is an important part of my life, so I do what I can to spread the word about the more beautiful parts.