The Best Experimental Games

Update : Mind Palace added at rank #31.
1

Townscaper (2020)

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95
Review score
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PC Windows Nintendo Switch Android Xbox One Xbox Series X IOS iPhone Mac OS

Townscaper is a relaxing and creative town-builder game that lets you design your own picturesque floating towns with ease. With its colorful blocks and shapes that you can mix and match, you can create your dream villages whether you’re fidgeting or multitasking. The absence of missions or objectives allows you to immerse yourself fully in your creative flow and design your perfect idyllic town in no time. Get Townscaper for a soothing and creative gaming experience!


What we like:
  • Simple mechanics
  • Stress-free
  • Perfect for fidgeting
What could be improved:
  • Limited building tools and updates
  • Lack of variety in buildings and structures
  • Unsymmetrical grid pattern
  • No greenery except in enclosed areas
  • Building larger structures can be tedious

  • city-building
  • experimental
  • sandbox
  • building
  • short
  • cute
  • minimalist
  • grid
  • procedural
  • nature
  • relaxing
  • family-friendly
  • stylized
  • colourful

2

Paradise Marsh (2022)

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89
Review score
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PC Windows Mac OS Nintendo Switch Xbox Series X Xbox One

Stars have vanished from the sky and scattered around in a perfect wetland crawling with wildlife... Catch bugs and chat with delightful characters while wandering through peaceful scenery. But don't lose sight of the night sky, the constellations need help!

Buy

  • collector
  • creature
  • walking-simulator
  • short
  • procedural
  • experimental
  • relaxing
  • colourful
  • pixel
  • retro
  • exploration
  • firewatch
  • cute
  • open-world
  • nature

3

Tandis (2022)

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99
Review score
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PC Windows Mac OS Linux

Tandis is a short puzzle game where you discover mind-bending geometric forms.

Buy

  • illustration
  • design
  • abstract
  • psychedelic
  • education
  • development
  • experimental
  • 3d
  • building
  • procedural
  • minimalist
  • relaxing
  • nature
  • puzzle
  • science

4

The one who pulls out the sword will be crowned king (2022)

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96
Review score
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PC Windows Linux Mac OS

Are you The Rightful King™ or just a filthy peasant? The sword is waiting for you to lift it, but it gets longer and heavier each time some else succeeds...

Buy

  • instrumental
  • cinematic
  • short
  • experimental
  • emotional
  • soundtrack
  • music
  • dark
  • medieval
  • comedy
  • atmospheric
  • walking-simulator
  • historical
  • 3d

5

Manifold Garden (2019)

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92
Review score
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Mac OS IOS iPhone Nintendo Switch Playstation 4 Xbox One PC Windows Xbox Series X Playstation 5

Rediscover gravity and explore an Escher-esque world of impossible architecture. Witness infinity in first-person and master its rules to solve physics-defying puzzles. Cultivate a garden to open new paths forward, where an eternal expanse awaits.


  • abstract
  • surreal
  • philosophical
  • nonlinear
  • puzzle
  • psychedelic
  • experimental
  • minimalist
  • multiple-endings
  • first-person
  • atmospheric
  • exploration
  • relaxing
  • colourful
  • mystery

6

Nauticrawl (2019)

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88
Review score
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IOS iPhone Mac OS PC Windows

A stolen, enigmatic machine is your only way out. It's likely to kill you, but so will the hostile planet you're escaping. Pull levers, hack devices, and puzzle out how to pilot the Nauticrawl to freedom in this unusual atmospheric adventure... or die trying.


  • steampunk
  • short
  • experimental
  • sci-fi
  • point-and-click
  • space
  • stealth
  • simulation
  • exploration
  • atmospheric
  • genre-defying
  • puzzle
  • turn-based
  • submarine
  • survival

7

My Dream is a Lost Memory (2022)

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92
Review score
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PC Windows

My dream is a Lost Memory is a short interactive story about having Déjà vu, realizing that this Déjà vu came to you because of a dream, and then wondering if that dream is actually a memory. It's a story about work, limitations and self-respect.

Buy

  • philosophical
  • fiction
  • lore
  • visual-novel
  • hand-drawn
  • linear
  • point-and-click
  • experimental
  • interactive
  • dark
  • minimalist
  • drama
  • 2d
  • cartoony
  • stylized

8

Sunlight (2021)

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84
Review score
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Game Boy Advanced (GBA) PC Windows

Traverse a harmonious hand painted forest in this first person hike. ☀️The trees guide you with gentle whispers, as you explore a philosophical story.

Buy

  • walking-simulator
  • abstract
  • cinematic
  • experimental
  • emotional
  • philosophical
  • nature
  • walking
  • stylized
  • hand-drawn
  • 3d
  • relaxing
  • narrative
  • uk
  • narration

9

Depanneur Nocturne (2020)

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95
Review score
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PC Windows Mac OS Linux

A short exploration game about poking around a convenience store and finding a gift with the help of its owner. But sometimes the perfect gift finds you.

Buy

  • adventure
  • experimental
  • noir
  • atmospheric
  • inventory
  • surreal
  • 3d
  • cats
  • conversation
  • cute
  • walking-simulator
  • first-person
  • multiple-endings
  • choices
  • supernatural

10

The Wake: Mourning Father, Mourning Mother (2020)

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80
Review score
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PC Windows IOS iPhone Mac OS

The Wake is a record of past wounds opened at a three-day funeral. The journal is encoded with a simple substitution cipher that the player must break in order to reveal the writer’s psyche and discover the contradictions that define him.

Buy

  • hacking
  • experimental
  • text
  • drama
  • immersive
  • pixel
  • atmospheric
  • story
  • simulation
  • visual-novel
  • education
  • exploration
  • 1990s
  • minimalist
  • stylized

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