If you want to explore stories in more mediums than simply on paper, it might be time to take the step into video games. So here’s where to start.
Any reader can lose hours and hours into reading, but many of us are also big fans of video games. If that’s you, and you’re not sure what to read next, then you’re in the right place.
Alternatively, if you’ve never delved into the world of video games, and you want to test the waters, then you’re in luck. There are plenty of games out there that, whether or not they are made by bookish people, are all about books and the world of reading. Whether you’re after a cozy sim, a mystery game, or anything in between, there’ll be something for you to try your hand at.
Book of Hours
The Book of Hours asks the player to restore a failing, crumbling library of the occult by a cold, winter sea. Your job is simple: to build the world’s best collection of grimoires, arcana and to master the invisible arts.
The game is super cozy, set in the 1930s (although not the 1930s we know), and is a brilliant narrative RPG for anyone who loves to read or loves all things bookish.
The Bookwalker: Thief of Tales
The Bookwalker: Thief of Tales is a narrative adventure game. The protagonist, Etienne Quist, is a writer-turned-thief who has the ability to dive into books. With her powers, players have to delve into book world after book world to steal incredible, legendary items like Thor’s Hammer or Excalibur, all in the hopes of restoring Etienne’s ability to put pen to paper.
The Librarian
For players who want a shorter game, The Librarian is ideal. It’s a bite-sized, 30-minute game—perfect for a quick break between books!
The game follows Liz, who must uncover the mysteries of a fantasy world after discovering that something is wrong in the library. On her journey, she encounters the mystical, magical, and outright supernatural.
Prose & Codes
Do you love a puzzle? Do you love doing good things?
Then this game might be for you. Ten percent of every purchase of Prose & Codes is donated to Project Gutenberg, an online library with over 60,000 free books, making it not just a good game but a good deed!
The game itself involves solving intriguing and delicate cryptograms, making it perfect for people who love a little mystery and something to chew over.
Storyteller
This award-winning puzzle game is perfect for both readers and writers, or anyone who just loves a good story. The game aims to build short stories. Using a title, setting, and characters, you create stories that fit the given description on each level. This allows you to play around, to mess with the typical tropes, and to craft new stories each time you play!
Lost Words: Beyond the Page
Set in the pages of a diary, Lost Words: Beyond the Page is a super atmospheric story-driven game written by Rhianna Pratchett, an esteemed video game writer and Terry Pratchett’s daughter!
Run on the words and use them to interact with the supernatural world around you in this brilliant, all-encompassing game.
Book Bound
Do you love a cozy sim? Do you love books and bookish things?
Then Book Bound is the game for you. It’s a cozy simulation that allows the player to try their hand at running a bookstore. Customize your store, pick your books and genres, design your layout— everything is possible in Book Bound.
Beacon Pines
Set within a mysterious book, Beacon Pines is equal parts super cute and kind of creepy. Players sneak around with their new characters and friends to discover the truth and collect words that might just change everything that they thought they knew.
Tiny Bookshop
Another cozy sim, Tiny Bookshop, allows players to leave the real world behind. Forget what’s going on around you, and open a tiny bookshop by the sea. Stock it with different books and items, and run your little store while you get to know the locals in your sleepy seaside town.
Book of Travels
The Book of Travels is a hand-painted MMORPG game. It’s completely beautiful and allows players more freedom than many of the other games on this list. You can choose your path, meet other travelers, and ultimately just craft your own story as you explore the stunning scenery.
Letters: A Written Adventure
Follow the life of Sarah as you solve world-based puzzles found in letters and chat messages. Your choices as you play will help to shape Sarah’s whole life, and, ultimately, your experience within the game.
The Collage Atlas
Drawn all by hand by one person over the span of five years, The College Atlas takes you as a player on the journey through an entirely hand-drawn dream world based on a picture book. It’s serene, calm, and completely fantastical.
Dragon Age
A bigger game than many of the above, Dragon Age is an epic fantasy role-playing game that changes depending on the choices you make. There are six different beginnings, and as you play, you build relationships, romances, and the lore and history are so rich that it feels like something straight out of a book.
What Remains of Edith Finch
Storytelling is the core of the cult-classic What Remains of Edith Finch. You play as Edith, who returns to the family house to figure out a family curse. Exploring room after room (even when you think there are no rooms left), this game is gothic, dark, and weird as hell. Perfect for lovers of mystery, the gothic, and all things strange.
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Millie Ramm
Millie has been writing since she was a child, and has spent more time with her nose in books than anywhere else. She has been ghostwriting novels and editing for the past few years, and when not working she is curled up with her cats, looking for her next read.
