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It has been one of the many cruel ironies of lockdown: we all have time to read more, but the constant uncertainty and worry, together with the endlessly transmogrifying news narrative, have made it difficult to concentrate on novels.
A few keen readers have turned to essay collections, short stories or diaries, which are less demanding on the memory and attention, but video games may also offer a way back into reading during these difficult times. Here are 12 interesting puzzle and adventure games that play with words, text and narratives in innovative ways, which may well guide you back into a reading frame of mind.
Hypnospace Outlaw (PC / Mac)
If you’re spending a lot of time aimlessly browsing the web right now, this might be the perfect narrative game for you; you’re a new moderator on a weird alternative 1990s version of the internet, trying to block malicious software and hunt cyberbullies through a range of retro web sites.
Blackbar (iOS / Android)
Set in an Orwellian dystopia, Blackbar provides the player with a series of personal letters that have been censored by the Department of Communication – you have to work out which words have been blacked out. It’s a simple premise, but it really gets you thinking, both about language and power.
Where the Water Tastes Like Wine (Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, Xbox One)
This is a fascinating exploration of oral storytelling traditions, where you travel across Depression-era US collecting tales from the travelers you meet and passing them on to others as you go. The game teaches us that telling stories is a form of barter, a human currency of delight and experience.
Counterfeit Monkey (PC / Mac)
Emily Short is one of the leading lights of the modern interactive fiction canon and in this fascinating text manipulation adventure you find yourself trapped on the island of Anglophone Atlantis. There you must use your ability to remove letters from words in order to create new objects and solve puzzles.
Oxenfree (iOS, Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, Xbox One)
A group of teenagers row out to a deserted island and find themselves trapped in a ghost story – but the key driver of the action in this supernatural thriller is the real-time conversation system, which has you directing the narrative through joke-strewn discussions. If you love dialogue-heavy novels, it’s a lot of fun.
Device 6 (iOS)
An ingenious mobile game adventure in which text and images provide the environment that lead character Anna must explore and decode in order to escape from… yes, yet another island. It makes beautiful use of the smartphone touchscreen and is very much an interactive exploration of the term “close reading”.
Neo Cab (iOS, Nintendo Switch, PC)
Futuristic taxi driver Lina must cruise the streets of a neon-drenched city picking up rides and chatting to her passengers, earning a rating for the quality of her conversation while investigating the disappearance of her best friend. Cyberpunk fans will love its frazzled, cynical analysis of technology and alienation.
Dear Reader (iOS)
Rather like Blackbar, this clever puzzle game has you adding missing words to a series of texts, only this time they are classic works of literature, and the tasks also include rearranging sentences and other literary pursuits. With over 70 novels featured, from Pride and Prejudice to Moby Dick, it’s a playful way to experience intimidating tomes you’re not familiar with.
Kentucky Route Zero (Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, Xbox One)
Fans of magical realist novels should definitely seek out this ethereal point-and-click adventure, in which a truck driver navigates ghostly secret highways criss-crossing the rural landscape. “Samuel Beckett meets David Lynch” we wrote when it was released.
80 Days (iOS, Android, Nintendo Switch, PC)
Loosely based on the Jules Verne novel, you play as Phileas Fogg’s valet, selecting his route around the world as well as what to pack on each leg of the journey. Your selections greatly affect the narrative, which is told through vivid and evocative text snippets. You can play through again and again, discovering new tales as you go.
Reigns: Her Majesty (iOS, Android, PC)
A fantasy kingdom-ruling adventure told through the screen-swiping mechanic of a dating app, this is a brilliant, often hilarious study of power and gender masquerading as a strategy simulation.
Sunless Sea (iOS, Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, Xbox One)
Along with its sequel, Sunless Skies, this is a wonderfully glum and forlorn tale of hopeless, doom-laden exploration where players trade goods and battle enemies, seeking to amass enough wealth to put it all behind them. The story is told in hundreds of short, well-written fragments and grips like an existential Victorian adventure novel.
