The 10 best adventure games to play right now

The Artful Escape are two seemingly incompatible things. On the one hand, it’s a grounded story about accepting yourself, even if it means challenging other people’s views of you. On the other hand, it is also a completely implausible musical adventure through the psychedelic depths of space. Although they seem to disagree, the fanciful and easily identifiable aspects of the interstellar epic work together and strengthen each other. The title (available on Xbox Game Pass) has light platforming and rhythm game elements, but its playability isn’t the star of this show. Instead, this adventure is about exploring the various amazing levels, both alien and terrestrial, while playing an evil guitar solo. The performances will have you believe that you are on a mission to transform into a galactic rock star with a star-studded cast that includes Jason Schwartzman, Carl Weathers, and Lena Headey. | Our review

Try not to blink. This truly unique title arrived earlier this year and surprised us with its innovative and evocative take on storytelling. The game takes advantage of the player’s webcam and flashes forward. Not only is this distinctive mechanic there on its own, it actually supports the narrative in which you, as the recently deceased Benjamin Brynn, watch your life events as they transport you to the afterlife. You force the game to jump through the protagonist’s personal story by blinking, even if you didn’t mean to. This creates a sense of immersion, unlike other titles where you’re experiencing these flashbacks the way the main character really would, and sometimes wishing it hadn’t happened so quickly. | Our review

An updated version of the Team Salvato release in 2017, Doki Doki Literature Club Plus offers players a school boy’s love story and literature with enhanced visuals, new side story missions, even more music and more than 100 images to to unlock. Despite the game’s cute dating sim appearance, Doki Doki Literature Club Plus isn’t all bubblegum and rainbows as it would lead you to believe. It is easy to spoil for those who have not experienced it, but if you know that it is sensitive to certain scenarios, please check here for more information on how to access in-game content warnings. Anyone ready to get involved can look forward to writing poetry, meeting the adorably drawn characters, and surprisingly unexpected revelations.

Strange, dreamlike, and all too real, Kentucky Route Zero will be with you long after you leave the controller. Examine the broken promise of the American dream as the delivery man, Conway, makes his way down the enigmatic title track. Just trying to finish his last assignment for the day, Kentucky native Conway veers off onto Route Zero and encounters strangers with difficult lives struggling with tough problems, including substance abuse, poverty, and corporate expansion. These problems are all wrapped up in a surreal, point-and-click package where you are as likely to find the incredible as the mundane. The game unfolds through a series of choices, such as where to go, what to say, or what to believe, that advance the narrative and sometimes alter aspects of the journey, if not its final destination. | Our review

Looking through the eyes of empath Alex Chen, you can see the feelings of the people around you. Represented by various colorful auras, the super-powerful protagonist can help others overcome their toughest complexes and, in some cases, completely eliminate difficult emotions. However, it does not occur to Alex to call herself a hero. After battling the foster care system for years, she is confident that her gift is truly a curse that marks her as a broken monster. Only when he is reunited with his long-lost brother does his perception begin to change. Following the path of previous Life is Strange titles, True Colors is a poignant exploration of humanity, with the supernatural elements working to bring out the character-centric narrative. Its gameplay consists mainly of walking, interacting with objects and people in the world, and making decisions that define personality and plot. | Our review

Night in the Woods recently launched on iOS, allowing a new generation of gamers to uncover the dark secret that lurks in the cozy-looking story. Initially released in 2017, our review calls it a game “about mistakes, recklessness, and friendship all wrapped up in a colorful adventure.” The cartoonish character designs, vibrant palette, and simple mechanics could fool a player into thinking the game’s narrative will be lighter, but Night in the Woods touches on a variety of difficult subjects. The story begins when Mae, a recent college dropout, reluctantly returns to her hometown. As he grapples with his failure, he reconnects with old friends, community members, and his own family before stumbling upon an insidious mystery. | Our review

The first and final DLC for Outer Wilds, called Echoes of the Eye, debuted just a few days ago, putting the game back on many players’ playlists during this busy launch season. Developer Mobius Digital insists that the new content, revealed in publisher Annapurna Interactive’s first self-produced exhibit, fits seamlessly with the original game’s narrative while offering new mysteries to search for in Dark Bramble. The base game is a time-looping experience built around space exploration and a quest to stop the destruction of the universe. It would be a difficult task even if you didn’t have just 20 minutes to complete it. Death is an eventuality and will come for you in a staggeringly large number of ways, like having all the oxygen ripped from your lungs, colliding with a planet, or a good old-fashioned fall off a cliff. Consequently, the experience can be a bit frustrating even with all its cosmic beauty. | Our review

Whether you’ve played it before or never had a chance, it’s a great time to catch up on Night School Studio’s haunting adventure. Why? In April, the team took the stage at Nintendo’s Indie World storefront to reveal Oxenfree II: Lost Signals. In the first game, teenage Alex finds herself on Edwards Island with her stepbrother and some friends. His plans to party on the mysterious island are cut short when Alex inadvertently stumbles upon the supernatural. Navigating through the cascade of strange and puzzling events will require you to examine some of Alex’s most painful memories and make decisions that will influence the outcome of the story. The sequel takes place on the same island, but five years after Alex’s adventure, and follows a new set of characters. It’s currently in development and is scheduled to release sometime in 2022, so there’s a bit of time left to jump into the first game. | Our review

An impressive experience with player-driven exploration, Sable only released last week. You play as Sable, a young woman living in the desert world of Midden about to embark on her coming of age mission called Gliding. While there is something of a goal to this journey, essentially collecting as many masks as possible, Sable really encourages you to venture out into the world to see what you may discover. And you find amazing things. The world’s vibrant and stylish design brings the barren landscape to life, while a diverse cast of NPCs continue to give you reason to explore. Even without any specific tasks to complete, the environment invites you to climb, slide and ride your motorcycle while you investigate all the mysteries you see on the horizon. | Our review

Although it was initially released in 2017, What Remains of Edith Finch has maintained a steady stream of releases on new platforms and devices. It came out on Switch in 2019, joined Game Pass in January, found a spot in publisher Annapurna Interactive’s PS4 box in February, and even made it to iOS in August. So this game is hard to lose. A brief contemplative walk through an unusual family home, What Remains of Edith Finch weaves together several vignettes varying in design and mechanics that slowly reveal a narrative brimming with grief, nostalgia, and family legacy. Each section of the story reveals how members of the Finch family, ranging from hideous to fanciful, have died due to a family curse. In his review, Joe Juba called it “the next big step forward” in adventure games, where the plot unfolds as the player inspects the environment and places it alongside some of the best games in the genre. | Our review