The Best Dystopian Games

Update : Despot Zombie added at rank #42.
1

Beyond a Steel Sky (2020)

View Similar Games
93
Review score
Logo of Beyond a Steel Sky Screenshot of Beyond a Steel Sky Screenshot of Beyond a Steel Sky Screenshot of Beyond a Steel Sky

PC Windows Xbox Series X Xbox One Playstation 4 Nintendo Switch Playstation 5 IOS iPhone Mac OS Linux

Beyond a Steel Sky is a thrilling cyberpunk adventure game with engaging puzzles and a fast-paced narrative that will keep you hooked. Follow Robert Foster as he tries to rescue a kidnapped child in Union City, a futuristic utopia controlled by an altruistic AI. The game features a beautifully detailed comic-book style world and plenty of humor. Unravel dark conspiracies and defeat a terrifying antagonist in this innovative and exciting adventure!


What we like:
  • Engaging storyline and characters
  • Built-in hints system
  • Great setting and world design
  • Innovative puzzle mechanics
  • Plenty of humor and nostalgia nods
What could be improved:
  • Controlling the character is clunky
  • Hacking can be repetitive
  • Lack of puzzle diversity
  • Story can be simplistic with bad pace
  • Cutscenes are too long and boring

  • cyberpunk
  • adventure
  • puzzle
  • point-and-click
  • dystopian
  • narrative
  • classic
  • sci-fi
  • thriller
  • futuristic
  • cult
  • third-person
  • hacking
  • political
  • inventory

2

Norco (2022)

View Similar Games
89
Review score
Logo of Norco Screenshot of Norco Screenshot of Norco Screenshot of Norco

PC Windows Android Xbox Series X Xbox One Playstation 4 Playstation 5 Mac OS

Norco is a captivating point-and-click adventure game set in a dystopian Louisiana town which has been devastated by corporate exploitation. Follow Kay on her journey to uncover the truth behind her mother's death and find her missing brother while exploring eerie swamplands and oil refineries. With a compelling soundtrack, immersive visuals and a unique blend of technological terror and poverty, "Norco" is a must-play for adventure game fans.


What we like:
  • Compelling and thought-provoking story
  • Sharp, funny and poignant dialogue
  • Immersive visuals and soundtrack
  • Unique blend of gameplay elements
What could be improved:
  • Combat encounters can feel tonally inconsistent

  • point-and-click
  • dystopian
  • pixel
  • mystery
  • gothic
  • narrative
  • adventure
  • surreal
  • noir
  • sci-fi
  • story
  • investigation
  • cult
  • conspiracy
  • philosophical

3

Beholder: Adventure (2017)

View Similar Games
91
Review score
Logo of Beholder: Adventure Screenshot of Beholder: Adventure Screenshot of Beholder: Adventure Screenshot of Beholder: Adventure

Android Linux Mac OS PC Windows IOS iPhone

You’re a state-installed landlord in a totalitarian country. Place listening devices, steal and sneak into your tenants’ apartments. Use what you uncovered to report anyone capable of plotting against the state. You MUST! But WILL you?


  • dystopian
  • political
  • dark
  • simulation
  • multiple-endings
  • humor
  • choices
  • point-and-click
  • atmospheric

4

Return. (2018)

View Similar Games
87
Review score
Logo of Return. Screenshot of Return. Screenshot of Return. Screenshot of Return.

PC Windows Xbox One

Return to your home planet after 200 years of space travel in this atmospheric, art-driven adventure. Shoot, slash, and roll your way through dangerous enemies and ancient bosses, purchase items and unlock powerful weapons, and explore your unfamiliar home for parts to repair your ship.


  • dystopian
  • soundtrack
  • pixel
  • stylized
  • scroller
  • atmospheric
  • post-apocalyptic
  • souls
  • exploration
  • hack-and-slash
  • 2d
  • sci-fi
  • story
  • difficult

5

Papers, Please (2013)

View Similar Games
97
Review score
Logo of Papers, Please Screenshot of Papers, Please Screenshot of Papers, Please Screenshot of Papers, Please

PC Windows Android vita IOS iPhone Linux Mac OS

Congratulations. The October labor lottery is complete. Your name was pulled. For immediate placement, report to the Ministry of Admission at Grestin Border Checkpoint. An apartment will be provided for you and your family in East Grestin. Expect a Class-8 dwelling.


  • dystopian
  • document
  • political
  • simulation
  • non-photographic
  • thriller
  • endless
  • war
  • point-and-click
  • pixel
  • difficult
  • puzzle
  • story
  • multiple-endings
  • addictive

6

GunGuru (2024)

View Similar Games
80
Review score
Logo of GunGuru Screenshot of GunGuru Screenshot of GunGuru Screenshot of GunGuru

PC Windows

Real world US Marine Veteran Machine-gunner makes a video game. Explore the every evolving jungle of GunGuru, an ancient procedurally generated environment, full of magic and mystery. Unlock the secret of the Runes and find out what is hidden beneath.

Buy

  • shooter
  • science
  • procedural
  • dystopian
  • post-apocalyptic
  • sandbox
  • shoot-em-up
  • action
  • sci-fi
  • third-person
  • rogue-like
  • deadwood
  • autry
  • dark
  • arena

7

The Last Worker (2023)

View Similar Games
68
Review score
Logo of The Last Worker Screenshot of The Last Worker Screenshot of The Last Worker Screenshot of The Last Worker

Xbox Series X osvr Playstation 5 PC Windows Nintendo Switch Xbox Series X/s ps1 vr2

The Last Worker is an immersive narrative adventure centered around a lone worker’s last stand in an increasingly automated world. Kurt works for the world’s largest retailer and is forced to choose between capitalism or activism.


  • dystopian
  • parody
  • capitalism
  • narrative
  • automation
  • narration
  • first-person
  • stealth
  • satire
  • puzzle
  • time-management
  • cyberpunk
  • robots
  • fiction
  • multiple-endings

8

HAAK (2020)

View Similar Games
90
Review score
Logo of HAAK Screenshot of HAAK Screenshot of HAAK Screenshot of HAAK

Nintendo Switch PC Windows IOS iPhone Android

Explore the ruins of the once glorious city as Haak, the brave traveler. With retro-futuristic pixel world and hand-drawn graphics, this Metroidvania-style game will keep you hooked, using your hook, dash, and charged slash to uncover hidden rooms and secrets. Enjoy extremely good and fluid platforming, fun mechanics, solid level design and challenges that adapt to your skills. Make meaningful choices to change the game's fate with multiple endings. Join in and become the light that repels the darkness!


What we like:
  • Fun platforming
  • Great combat mechanics
  • Well-designed levels
  • Good controls
  • Engaging story and atmosphere
What could be improved:
  • Linear with stingy ability gating
  • Tedious and punishing platforming with dubious checkpoints
  • Inconsistent exploration
  • Poor translation
  • Lack of boss variety

  • platform
  • underground
  • dystopian
  • metroidvania
  • comic
  • post-apocalyptic
  • scroller
  • pixel
  • 2d
  • action-adventure
  • book
  • rpg
  • exploration
  • puzzle
  • combat

9

Silicon Dreams (2021)

View Similar Games
90
Review score
Logo of Silicon Dreams Screenshot of Silicon Dreams Screenshot of Silicon Dreams Screenshot of Silicon Dreams

PC Windows amiga amstrad cPC Windows amstrad PC Windowsw apple ii atari 8-bit family atari st bbc micro commodore 64 dos Mac OS msx zx spectrum Linux

It’s 2065, and you are an interrogator-model android tasked with rooting out deviants among your own kind. You must probe for lies, monitor and exploit emotional spikes, earn the trust of your subjects, and make the final call: release, or destroy?

Buy

  • conversation
  • investigation
  • multiple-endings
  • dystopian
  • cyberpunk
  • choices
  • emotional
  • futuristic
  • sci-fi
  • detective
  • experimental
  • text
  • political
  • story
  • visual-novel

10

Beholder 3 (2022)

View Similar Games
74
Review score
Logo of Beholder 3 Screenshot of Beholder 3 Screenshot of Beholder 3 Screenshot of Beholder 3

PC Windows Nintendo Switch Playstation 5 Playstation 4 Xbox Series X Xbox One

When a high-ranking security officer saves you from prison, you end up a pawn in her schemes. Now you must eliminate anyone standing in the way of her secret plans and try to get your life back while working two jobs. No tenant, employee or superior is safe from your spying.

Buy

  • dystopian
  • political
  • choices
  • dark
  • point-and-click
  • simulation
  • lgbtq
  • multiple-endings
  • humor
  • management
  • isometric
  • nonlinear
  • atmospheric

Not seeing your game?