Arthouse films are known for pushing the boundaries of film, and experimenting with the expressive capabilities of the medium to tell stories in a unique and exciting way. While there is no set definition for an “Arthouse Game,” there are most certainly titles that do their best to push the boundaries of their medium in order to tell the stories or provide experiences that otherwise aren’t offered. If you want to dive into some video games that will make you think, feel, or experience something different than what is usually on offer, we’ve got you covered with our list of some of the best Arthouse games you can play.
Antichamber
Antichamber is perhaps one of the most mind-bending puzzle games conceived of to date.
The brainchild of Alexander Bruce, Antichamber places you in a series of chambers you have to navigate. Each puzzle you think your way through opens up the way to more puzzles, and every conundrum is designed to mess with your perceptions of space and conventional-level design.
The game’s manipulations of those perceptions are as seamless as they are skillful. The title is also a masterclass in teaching players, as its ethos is built around pushing the player to solve problems through gameplay. It defies conventional design wisdom by confusing and confounding players and taking away the ground they stand on, yet also gives them the tools to see through the tricks used on them by thinking outside the box.
Firewatch
Firewatch is a perfect example of an arthouse game, transplanting the highly personal character drama and exploration of story themes you would see in a novel, movie or in a premium tv show into a video games.
The title tells the story of a man who volunteers to become a fire lookout in a Wyoming Park and has to untangle a mystery. Though the gameplay is mostly walking and doing odd jobs, it buoys the interactivity of the experience and allows you to be fully immersed in the branching narrative of the game. Its well-crafted narrative is top-notch too, allowing you to feel as though you are in the starring role of the plot.
There are few games as good at making the player feel cut off from the world in such a convincing way as Firewatch.
Where the Water Tastes Like Wine
Art isn’t always successful, and this underappreciated game is emblematic of that.
Where the Water Tastes Like Wine is one of those games that was sadly forgotten after its release. It’s a shame, as it’s a game with a very unique premise: In depression-era America, you play as a man who has lost a card game against a supernatural entity. You are tasked with finding and then seeding stories throughout the land, so they can grow and change with each retelling.
To be sure, Where the Water Tastes Like Wine is not for everyone. It involves traveling the bredth of the continental United States, often the slow way and with constant nuisances. However, the game understands that gameplay doesn’t have to be strictly exciting if it is in service to a greater story, and the feeling of the breadth and scale of America is captured in those movement mechanics.
The travelling through and exploration of the States also elevates the points where you discover little seeds of the stories you plant coming back to you. Seeing the world and it’s stories is as intriguing as it is unique, and stands as one of the rare times that gameplay and story are so totally married.
What Remains of Edith Finch
What Remains of Edith Finch is the answer to the question “What if they made Mario Party an arthouse game?”
Kidding aside, this game dodges the accusations of ‘Walking Simulator’ by employing multiple forms of gameplay to tell the engrossing story of one family grappling with their many, many demons. You are guided through this story by an expectant mother telling the story of what happened to her family members to her unborn child, all while jumping into their perspectives via gameplay.
It pushes the boundaries of what sort of gameplay a narrative experience is limited to, and boasts a wide range of gameplay and aesthetic styles that are sure to keep most anyone enthralled the whole way through. Its writing feels dark and gothic, yet has an undeniable wry sense of humor about itself the whole way through.