Best Text-Based Games on Steam
Unlike generic lists, our strategy game recommendations use a rigorous analysis of Steam user reviews to identify and feature only the best, community-validated text-based games.
Filters & Lists
Loading...
Age of Gladiators
"Age of Gladiators" is a single-player strategy/management sim set at the height of the bloody gladiatorial games in ancient Rome. As your fighters increase in level, it will be up to you to decide how to forge their attributes and abilities.
Sorcery! Parts 1 and 2
An epic adventure in a land of monsters, traps and magic. Journey across the deadly Shamutanti Hills and through Kharé, Cityport of Thieves. Armed with your sword and over fifty spells with weird and wonderful effects, embark on a narrative adventure of a thousand choices where every one is remembered.
Sepia Tears
A visual novel about a memory that a boy named Mark tries very hard to forget, and a girl named Myra who unearths it.
The Sad Story of Emmeline Burns
A short lesbian / yuri visual novel set in England. Our heroine, Toma Andrews, meets a ghost girl wearing an old-fashioned nightgown in a graveyard who calls herself Emmeline. Just who is she, and how did she die?
Emily is Away
Emily is Away is an interactive story. Create a screenname and choose your path through the branching narrative.
King of Dragon Pass
Create your own epic saga of survival, mythology and diplomacy! Rule your clan, make strategic decisions that affect the game world, win battles and expand your influence in this unique mix of RPG, strategy and story-telling.
60 Seconds!
60 Seconds! is a dark comedy atomic adventure of scavenge and survival. Collect supplies and rescue your family before the nuke hits. Stay alive in your fallout shelter. Make difficult decisions, ration food and hunt mutant cockroaches. And maybe survive. Or not.
SanctuaryRPG: Black Edition
SanctuaryRPG: Black Edition is a humorous and strategic turn-based dungeon crawling ASCII adventure. Drawing heavy inspiration from both Roguelikes and Japanese RPGs, the game offers a robust action-RPG inspired combat system.
Choice of Robots
Your robots will change the world! Will you show them the true meaning of love, or conquer Alaska with your robot army? A 300,000-word epic interactive sci-fi novel.
Choice of the Deathless
Battle demons and undead attorneys, and win souls to pay back your student loans! At the elite demonic-law firm of Varkath Nebuchadnezzar Stone, you'll depose a fallen god, find romance, and maybe even make partner, if you don't lose your own soul first.
Heroes Rise: The Prodigy
Do you have what it takes to become a legendary Powered hero? "Heroes Rise" is an epic interactive novel where your choices control the story. The game is entirely text-based--without graphics or sound effects--and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination. How high will you rise?
Type:Rider
In this platform game you embody ":" ready to travel through the History of typography, from it's origin to today! Overcome obstacles, escape your enemies and collect asterisks, but beware not to fall down! Will you come out of this journey unscathed?
Zafehouse: Diaries
Stuck in a remote, abandoned town, you must lead five survivors with conflicting motivations, fragile relationships and fiery prejudices to safety from the roving undead. A sophisticated engine generates new survivors, towns and content so every adventure is a different experience, and you can use built-in editors to add yourself and...
Monster Loves You!
Live the life of a Monster, from birth to elderhood and beyond, making decisions that affect the world of Monsters and Humans. Solve problems. Meet animals and interesting people. Get to know them. Eat them. Make your own story!
Hacker Evolution
Hacker Evolution is a hacking simulation game, featuring unparalleled graphics and features. You play the role of a former intelligence agent, specializing in computer security. When a chain of events sets off worldwide, leaving critical service disabled, you assume the role a computer hacker to find out what happened and attempt to stop...
Uplink
Uplink lets you play as a freelance hacker tackling risky contracts for corporations. Break into systems, steal data, sabotage rivals, and upgrade your gear. Support factions or go rogue in this immersive, strategy-driven hacking simulation game where your choices shape the outcome.