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meIt has been one of the many cruel ironies of the running of the bulls: We all have time to read more, but the constant uncertainty and concern, along with the endlessly transfigured news narrative, have made it difficult to concentrate on the novels.
Some enthusiastic readers have turned to collections of essays, short stories, or diaries, which are less demanding on memory and attention, but video games can also offer a way back to reading during these difficult times. Here are 12 cool puzzle and adventure games that play with words, text, and narration in innovative ways that may well guide you back to a reading state of mind.
Hypnospace Outlaw (PC / Mac)
If you spend a lot of time aimlessly browsing the web right now, this might be the perfect narrative game for you; You’re a new moderator in a weird alternate version of the internet from the 1990s, trying to block malicious software and hunt down cyberbullies through a variety of retro websites.
Blackbar (iOS / Android)
Set in Orwellian dystopia, Blackbar provides the player with a series of personal letters that have been censored by the Department of Communication: he must find out what words have been obscured. It’s a simple premise, but it really makes you think, both about language and about power.
Where water tastes like wine (Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, Xbox One)
This is a fascinating exploration of oral storytelling traditions, where you travel across the depression-era United States collecting stories from travelers you meet and passing them on to others as you go. The game teaches us that storytelling is a form of barter, a human coin of delight and experience.
Counterfeit monkey (PC / Mac)
Emily Short is one of the main lights of the modern interactive fiction canon and in this fascinating text manipulation adventure you find yourself trapped on the island of English-speaking Atlantis. There you must use your ability to remove letters from words to create new objects and solve puzzles.
Ox free (iOS, Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, Xbox One)
A group of teenagers row to a desert island and find themselves caught up in a ghost story, but the key driver of action in this supernatural thriller is the real-time conversation system, which leads you to direct the narrative through discussions. full of jokes. If you love novels full of dialogues, it’s a lot of fun.
Device 6 (iOS)
An ingenious mobile gaming adventure in which text and images provide the environment that the main character Anna must explore and decode to escape … yes, yet another island. It makes beautiful use of the smartphone’s touchscreen and is very much an interactive exploration of the term “close reading.”
Neo Cab (iOS, Nintendo Switch, PC)
Futuristic taxi driver Lina must roam the streets of a neon-soaked city picking up rides and chatting with her passengers, earning a rating for the quality of her conversation as she investigates the disappearance of her best friend. Cyberpunk fans will adore his cynical and exhausted analysis of technology and alienation.
Dear reader (iOS)
Like Blackbar, this nifty puzzle game makes you add missing words to a series of texts, only this time they are classic works of literature, and tasks also include rearranging sentences and other literary activities. With over 70 novels featured, from Pride and Prejudice to Moby Dick, it’s a playful way to experience intimidating tomes that you’re unfamiliar with.
Kentucky route zero (Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, Xbox One)
Fans of realistic magic novels should definitely look for this ethereal point-and-click adventure, in which a truck driver navigates ghostly secret highways that cut through the rural landscape. “Samuel Beckett meets David Lynch,” we wrote when it was released.
80 days (iOS, Android, Nintendo Switch, PC)
Based on Jules Verne’s novel, you play as Phileas Fogg’s valet, selecting his route around the world and what to pack on each leg of the journey. His selections greatly affect the narrative, which is told through vivid and suggestive snippets of text. You can play again and again, discovering new stories as you go.
Queen: Her Majesty (iOS, Android, PC)
A fantastic adventure that rules the kingdom told through the swiping mechanics of a dating app screen, this is a brilliant, often hilarious study of power and gender disguised as a simulation of strategy.
Sunless Sea (iOS, Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, Xbox One)
Along with its sequel, Sunless Skies, this is a wonderfully sad and sad story of a desperate, doom-laden exploration in which players trade goods and battle enemies, seeking to accumulate enough wealth to leave everything behind. The story is told in hundreds of short, well-written snippets, like an existential Victorian adventure novel.
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