5 computer games that will enrich your inner world as well as literature

Dear Esther

Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows, Linux, macOS.

Dear Esther began the history of the walking simulator genre. The creation of The Chinese Room is difficult to judge by traditional video game criteria. Moreover, it is generally difficult to say anything specific about him. Everything raises questions here: from the personality of the protagonist (if he is here at all) and ending with the essence of the infinitely beautiful island on which the action unfolds. And is it unfolding? Is everything that happens real or is there an ingenious multi-layered illusion in front of us? A figment of the imagination, the result of tactile-visual synesthesia, an inexplicable fictional fiction?

A two-hour experience of wandering in the unknown to the melodic accompaniment and masterfully voiced artistic text leaves enthusiastic feelings and ends with the strongest catharsis, which only true art can give.

Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs

Platforms: PlayStation 4, Windows, Linux, macOS.

A Machine for Pigs is a rare example of creativity over commerce. The gaming community, anticipating the continuation of the successful horror Amnesia, received an incredibly strong and deep literary work, presented in a CG wrapper.

The player here almost does not have to do anything, interactivity is added, rather for show. In essence, the developers of The Chinese Room have created another Dear Esther, only with a more specific and meaningful narrative.

The multidimensional narrative, subtle metaphors and the most complex socio-philosophical issues make A Machine for Pigs a game not for everyone. But a sophisticated literary gourmet will find something to enjoy: the most interesting texts, strong images of characters, a portrait of the era and a unique author's style are available.

Soma

Platforms: PlayStation 4, Windows, Linux, macOS.

Soma is a sci-fi philosophical drama. Isaac Asimov, Stanislav Lem and a dozen other science fiction writers in one bottle. The focus of philosophical reflections on artificial and natural intelligence.

What is our "I"? What are the criteria for the reality of the world? What will happen after death? All these questions cannot be called original, however, it is not possible to meet them in the center of the game plot so often. The abundance of text notes, audio recordings, visual details provide the game world with a powerful artistic background, due to which the philosophical issues offend the player at all not at an abstract level.

To the moon

Platforms: Windows, Linux, macOS.

Everyone will die someday. But, unfortunately, not everyone gets the chance to do this with a sense of complete satisfaction from the life they have lived. The heroes of To the Moon are engaged in an unusual business: they rewrite the memory of people on their deathbed so that they can pass away with peace of mind.

The player has to take part in one working operation. Get into the memory of dying Johnny, study his biography and fulfill the client's last wish - to "send" him to the moon. The story is told so vividly and touchingly that only your keyboard will be able to hold back a tear by the end credits. To the Moon will forever remain in your memory as one of the brightest and kindest adventures.

The stanley parable

Platforms: Windows, Linux, macOS.

If you are reading a novel and suddenly, in the middle, find that half of the pages of the book have been torn out, then you will surely be upset, thinking that you never knew how the story ended. Is your reading project ruined? Do you think that the book does not correspond to the normal model, and you have failed? “No matter how it is,” The Stanley Parable tells you. You just read another novel and in your own way - a novel in which half of the pages are missing.

Missing information is the same information. This option is neither worse nor better than the so-called full-fledged one. There are no absolute criteria, the work is created at the time of your reading.

The Stanley Parable is a postmodern discourse on the relationship between storyteller, storytelling and listener. You can play this game as you like: trying to follow the canonical plot, fighting it, bypassing it, breaking the game and looking for software bugs. All options are calculated and equal - and this fact shakes the mind better than any modern philosophical book.