Most Popular Philosophical Games on Steam
Unlike generic lists, our game recommendations use a rigorous analysis of Steam user reviews to identify and feature only the best, community-validated philosophical games.
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Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy
A game I made for a certain kind of person. To hurt them.
The Talos Principle
The Talos Principle is a first-person puzzle game in the tradition of philosophical science fiction. Made by Croteam and written by Tom Jubert (FTL, The Swapper) and Jonas Kyratzes (The Sea Will Claim Everything).
The Witness
You wake up, alone, on a strange island full of puzzles that will challenge and surprise you.
BioShock® 2
Set approximately 10 years after the events of the original BioShock, the halls of Rapture once again echo with sins of the past. Along the Atlantic coastline, a monster has been snatching little girls and bringing them back to the undersea city of Rapture.
Milk inside a bag of milk inside a bag of milk
A short story about what sort of challenges everyday little things can be. Help the girl buy milk, be the first not to disappoint her.
The Beginner's Guide
The Beginner's Guide is a narrative video game from Davey Wreden, the creator of The Stanley Parable. It lasts about an hour and a half and has no traditional mechanics, no goals or objectives. Instead, it tells the story of a person struggling to deal with something they do not understand.
The Last Campfire
The Last Campfire is an adventure, a story of a lost ember trapped in a puzzling place, searching for meaning and a way home.
The Forgotten City
The Forgotten City is a narrative-driven time loop adventure in ancient Rome. Discover the ruins of an ancient underground city, travel 2000 years into the past, and unravel the mystery of who destroyed it by cleverly exploiting the power to wind back time. The fate of the city is in your hands.
Thomas Was Alone
Guide a group of rectangles through 120 levels, using their different skills together to overcome a series of obstacles in each environment. Discover the human-made story of the first sentient artificial intelligences with Danny Wallace’s BAFTA-winning narration.
The Swapper
What if someone knew your mind better than you did? The Swapper is an award-winning, narrative driven puzzle game set in the furthest reaches of space.
Nobody Wants to Die
Lose yourself in the dystopian world of New York, 2329; immortality comes at a price that someone has to pay. In this interactive noir story, lead the investigation using advanced technology, as Detective James Karra who risks it all in pursuit of a serial killer targeting the city’s elite.
Before Your Eyes
Embark on an emotional first-person narrative adventure where you control the story—and affect its outcomes—with your real-life blinks. With this innovative technique you will fully immerse yourself in a world of memories, both joyous and heartbreaking, as your whole life flashes before your eyes.
The Red Strings Club
The Red Strings Club is a cyberpunk narrative experience about fate and happiness featuring the extensive use of pottery, bartending and impersonating people on the phone to take down a corporate conspiracy.
The Talos Principle 2
The Talos Principle 2 is a thought-provoking first-person puzzle experience that greatly expands on the first game's philosophical themes and stunning environments with increasingly mind-bending challenges.
Coffee Talk
Coffee Talk is a coffee brewing and heart-to-heart talking simulator about listening to fantasy-inspired modern peoples’ problems, and helping them by serving up a warm drink or two.
When the Darkness comes
When the Darkness comes is a walking simulator whose glitchy and dark tale tries to illustrate the hardships of depression and anxiety through a variety of imaginary digital landscapes.
The Turing Test
The Turing Test is a challenging first-person puzzle game set on Jupiter’s moon, Europa. You are Ava Turing, an engineer for the International Space Agency (ISA) sent to discover the cause behind the disappearance of the ground crew stationed there.
Manifold Garden
Rediscover gravity and explore an Escher-esque world of impossible architecture. Witness infinity in first-person and master its rules to solve physics-defying puzzles. Cultivate a garden to open new paths forward, where an eternal expanse awaits.
A Space for the Unbound
A magical adventure about two high school sweethearts set at the end of their school days - and the end of the world. Explore a crumbling town and help friends face their inner demons, which could be the key to stopping reality itself disintegrating. And don’t forget to pet the cats.
Democracy 4
Democracy 4 lets you take the role of President / Prime minister, govern the country (choosing its policies, laws and other actions), and both transform the country as you see fit, while trying to retain enough popularity to get re-elected...
Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition
Uncover secrets of past lives in this story-rich, tactical roleplaying game set in Sigil, a dark fantasy city at the heart of the Dungeons & Dragons multiverse. Explore the planes, survive combat alongside a party of bizarre companions, and solve puzzles unlike any ever seen in the genre.
A Difficult Game About Climbing
This is a difficult game about climbing.
The Bridge
The Bridge is a logic puzzle game that forces you to reevaluate your preconceptions of physics and perspective. It is Isaac Newton meets M. C. Escher. Manipulate gravity to redefine the ceiling as the floor while venturing through impossible architectures.
One Hour One Life
A multiplayer survival game of parenting and civilization building. Get born to another player as your mother. Live an entire life in one hour. Have babies of your own in the form of other players. Leave a legacy for the next generation as you help to rebuild civilization from scratch.
Minds Beneath Us
MINDS BENEATH US is an emotional sci-fi narrative game. Through the eyes of a humble individual, experience a mad world where humans are exploited as computing devices for AI. Listen to the concerns of those you meet and offer guidance. Together, face challenges and confront an uncertain destiny.
Notch - The Innocent LunA: Eclipsed SinnerS
This is an isolated town, a town of memories that have been forgotten by its people. However, this small town has not been quiet and peaceful since the murders began... Time passes by, where are the sinful spirits going? Are my memories reality, or just a dream?
Fingerbones
Explore a mysterious abandoned bunker and find notes that paint a disturbing picture.
AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES - nirvanA Initiative
Special Agents Mizuki and Ryuki, along with their AI partners Aiba and Tama, are tasked to solve the bizarre Half Body serial killings in this sequel to the critically acclaimed AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES.
Dreaming Sarah
Dreaming Sarah is an adventure platformer where you play as Sarah, a girl who is in a coma. Explore the world around her and help her wake up!
Subsurface Circular
When the truth is buried, go underground. Step into this new take on text-based adventure from the award-winning team behind Thomas Was Alone and Volume. A short story that hands you the fate of the world above, as a detective looking for answers on the Subsurface Circular.
Stygian: Reign of the Old Ones
Delve into a role-playing game of horror, loss and madness set in the strange worlds of HP Lovecraft. Stygian: Reign of the Old Ones offers a mix of rich role-playing and turn-based tactical combat, represented in an illustrative visual style. Can you find salvation in a dead world?