Best Text-Based 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 text-based games.
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Overboard!
GET AWAY WITH MURDER. Highly replayable detective game where you're the one whodunnit. From the creators of 80 Days and Heaven's Vault.
幽灵高校(Ghost College)
An average college girl takes an elective class and everything is different. Death, spooky, enveloped her, uncovering the truth, looking for clues, making the right choice was the only way.
RONIN: Two Souls CHAPTER 1
Create your own adventure with Kenji who wants to be a samurai and is trained for it. But beware, you might go out on your own way in this path, it is entirely up to your choices. Can someone else’s desire of revenge lead your purpose and choices? Or, does he decide that?
Lacuna – A Sci-Fi Noir Adventure
A murder. A hack. A bombing. All it takes to plunge the solar system into war – unless you do something about it. Help CDI agent Neil Conrad make a string of increasingly difficult decisions in this modern dialog-driven adventure set in a gorgeous 2D sci-fi noir universe.
cyberpunkdreams
2090s America, torn apart by war and corporate greed. A lone traveller stands outside the gates of Cincinnati, greatest of the border cities. How far will you go to make it to the top? How far will you go to fulfil your mission?
Insurmountable
Confront various terrains as a lonely mountaineer and endure the countless dangers of climbing! Many tough decisions await you in a risky environment. Make your way up and down the mountain, overcoming insurmountable heights!
The Darkside Detective: A Fumble in the Dark
Delouse your room with sage and pack up your travel-sized ouija board, it’s time to re-enter Twin Lakes - America’s 34th most haunted city. Join Detective McQueen as he puzzles his way through 9 chilling cases, risking life and pixelated limb to solve the macabre mysteries that plague the poor town.
Your Chronicle
"Let's begin your own story." This is a text-based idle RPG game. There are already more than 3,000 unique story actions and it's still growing.
Pro Wrestling Sim
Pro Wrestling Sim is a text-based pro-wrestling booking simulator. Control a wrestling promotion, decide your roster, and create storylines, feuds and matches where the winners and losers are in your hands.
Doctor Who: The Lonely Assassins
Uncover the dark secrets of Wester Drumlins and confront a new evil in a thrilling found-phone mystery from the award-winning creators of Sara Is Missing and SIMULACRA.
The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante
A narrative-driven hardcore RPG set in a gritty world ruled by real but unrelenting gods. Set out on a challenging lifetime journey, where every choice has a price and entails consequences. Will you become an inquisitor, a judge, or conspire against the old order? Dare to decide!
Buddy Simulator 1984
Thanks to next generation AI technology, BUDDY SIMULATOR 1984 simulates the experience of hanging out with a best buddy! Your buddy learns from you, constantly adapting to your interests and personality. But most importantly, your buddy can play games with you!
Suicide Countdown: 7 Days
Only 7 days remain until death embraces you -- the everyday life of a young boy begins to distort little by little, unfolding into a bizarre and ghastly series of events... When fate comes knocking, will you have the courage to make a choice?
Firework
An accidental fire at a funeral forces the police to re-investigate a closed case of massacre. Lin Lixun participates the re-investigation by chances. As the investigation goes deeper, the past of the victims gradually emerges. However, the case becomes more bewildering.
Ghost in the pool
A bizarre campus legend, take you into the traditional Japanese black-and-white comic horror story. Witness the familiar scenes and contemplate the terrifying moments.
Who Needs a Hero?
A stick and a dream: that's all you need in an RPG. Make choices that shape your destiny, build relationships, face epic monsters, and choose between being a feared villain or a legend.
Fujiwara Bittersweet
Girl protag heartwarming slice of life with bittersweet twists!
Knights College
KnightsCollege is a kemono visual novel set in the Knight College, where elite knight candidates live. In this game, every choice is presented as a card, and the protagonist lives in the dormitory while collecting cards.
Soccer Manager 2021
Be a top football manager in Soccer Manager 2021. Take a football team to the top and test your management skills against the best, or help a struggling team fight for glory!
Suzerain
Assume the role of President Anton Rayne and guide the nation of Sordland. Amidst brewing international conflicts, need for reform, deep-seated corruption, and economic recession, you must make the decisions in this political drama. How will you lead?
The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante — Chapter 1&2
A narrative-driven hardcore RPG set in a gritty world where the gods are real. Set out on a challenging lifetime journey, where every choice you make has a price to pay and consequence to it. Will you become an inquisitor, a judge, or conspire against the old order? Dare to decide!
Lighthouse Keeper
This dark act takes place from a single day of the Lighthouse Keeper. Listen to keeper carefully and help him to interrupt his twenty-years-old shift at the Lighthouse.
Tribal Wars
Compete in hardcore PvP strategy in persistent game worlds where real time resource and troop management in coordination with other players is required to expand your kingdom from one village to hundreds as you conquer the map in this winner takes all medieval contest.
Witches x Warlocks
Witches x Warlocks is a cute and light-hearted Halloween Raising Sim; featuring a customizable protagonist and 4 love interests of different genders!
Touhou Gensokyo Visitor
Walking through the forest, Reimu meets a stranger in the forest, now she needs to understand where he came from, and how he got through the barrier.
Monster Prom 2: Monster Camp
"Monster Prom 2: Monster Camp" brings you more of the world's best (and maybe only?) multiplayer dating sim; but in a way you've never expected!
Rogue
Experience the commercial port of the game that spawned a thousand 'Rogue-likes'. Venture into the Dungeons of Doom in search of the legendary Amulet of Yendor, and hopefully escape with your life! Randomly generated dungeons await you, full of nasty monsters, insidious traps, and glittering loot.
Werewolf: The Apocalypse — Heart of the Forest
Explore the myths and monsters of Europe’s last primeval wilderness. Play as Maia, who arrives at the ancient Białowieża Forest looking to explore her family history. Discover Rage in an adventure game inspired by the experience of the legendary tabletop roleplaying game Werewolf: The Apocalypse.
Cooking Companions: Appetizer Edition
Cabbage and the Chompettes want to play hide and seek! Can you find all five of them?
Vampire: The Masquerade — Night Road
The elders have entrusted you, an elite vampire courier, to deliver their secrets. Can you outrun the hunters, the other drivers, and the rising sun?
My Vow to My Liege
《My Vow to My Liege》is a visual novel dating game. Players get to play as a girl disguised as the King of Ng, a man. The 4 dateable characters are: the guide, the enemy, the minister and the guard.Will they choose the man over the country? Love over hate? Who will they finally end up with?
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.
Incremental Adventures
Lead your heroes in their neverending adventures! A minimalistic Idle game where combat is fully automated. It's up to you to make the most of that automation to reach extremely high numbers!
The Night Fisherman
A short, twisted tale about a smuggler and a late night encounter in the English Channel. Control the camera and make tough choices, will you escape with your life?