Story-rich games, visual novels, interactive fiction I’ve tried and you should too.
Doubts is a short interactive fiction game from a talented solo developer by German artist, Fulmen. Play the role of Gerda, a woman in 1926 Berlin, Germany. She has decided to run away with her boyfriend and is left by herself during her boyfriend, Joseph's, temporary absence. She contemplates her surroundings and decisions in a session of examining items around their hotel room while he is away. Without certainty, she wonders if her decision to be with Joseph is such a good idea.
Scarlet Hood and the Wicked Wood is a new visual novel/interactive fiction game. The story follows Scarlet, a budding musician in an aspiring band of close friends. Start your journey on route to your band's major performance at a club in the city, plus the opportunity it provides with a heavy offer from the club's boss. In an unexpected twist, you'll soon find yourself, through unforeseen circumstances, in another world! This land is filled with popular themes from classic fantasy stories and solvable puzzles, all blended nicely into a one-of-a-kind story.
The Last Act is a visual novel with a theatric theme about an actress in a lead play character. Interact with a social group of charismatic characters, while find yourself getting more and more into the script as the serious drama unfolds. The choices you make unfold the story in different ways, but ultimately you'll find yourself interacting with supernatural characters that seek to interact in your fate. Will you continue on with the play? Or is it too much? Or do people just need to mind their own business? It's up to you.
Half Past Fate: Romantic Distance is a visual novel about a dating during the pandemic. It was released February of 2021. The story revolves around a mutual interest involving a young man and his broken laptop named Stephen and a clerk at a computer repair shop named Robin. Soon after they meet, the city goes into lockdown because of the pandemic. They try to make it work using video dating for multiple months, and test the limits of distant relationships. The game has a very pleasing 2.5D pixel art aesthetic and a catchy chiptune soundtrack.
//TODO: today is a visual novel and dating sim. You'll follow the main character through a crisis involving life direction in the context of paying rent, becoming an artist, working in a bookstore, dating, and the help of a cute but invasive artificial intelligence named Joyce. The game takes advantage of bright pastel colors and hand-drawn art. It conveys a message of getting out of a rut as an adult and using a motivation to solve life's problems. The gameplay is a few hours and very interesting.
VA-11 Hall-A (Or Valhalla as it's known) is an interactive cyberpunk bartending simulator with elements of visual novel character interaction. Play from the perspective of Jill, a young woman who lives in the year 207X in a city called Glitch…
CRASH: Autodrive is a visual novel style point-and-click mystery that takes place in Pittsburgh, PA, the year 2027. You are a passenger in a robot auto cab that hosts you and three other passengers on your way to your respective destinations. The car takes an unanticipated detour and strikes a crossing bicyclist on a deserted back road in the city. With the aid of a host full of clues from your cab-sharers, you will use information and evidence from the individual to unravel the mystery behind the crash. In a world where A.I. is everywhere, you'll have to deduct on your own the implications of this accident. The game is due for release sometime in the spring of 2021.
Arcade Spirits: New Challengers takes place in an alternate history, the year 20XX, where arcades have not been subjected to deprecation or obsoleteness, unlike what happened after consoles in the 1980s. As such, the arcade is quite an interesting place…