Philosophical Games That Make You Think

There is nothing better than searching through console or PC game stores and coming across an intriguing and perplexing synopsis of an either unfamiliar or previously misunderstood game, only to take a chance and download it. Sometimes, players want to immerse themselves in a fantasy world, especially when playing RPGs, but for some gamers, they might prefer games that make them question their own perspectives and attitudes on life.

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Video games that challenge players’ beliefs and philosophies on life are on a different level to the famous, oft-quoted franchise giants. The following selection of games is for those players who are looking for something different; a philosophical game to make them think.

6

This War Of Mine

Moral Ambiguities In Wartime

9/10

This War of Mine: Final Cut

Systems

Released

May 10, 2022

ESRB

M For Mature 17+ Due To War Of Mine

This War of Mine is a game firmly in the war category but with one significant difference. Instead of the protagonist being a soldier in an army or other battling faction, they are a group of ordinary people in a war-torn city. The game’s narrative is clearly split between daytime and nighttime hours. During the day, players must avoid the constant circle of snipers outside their dwellings, protect their homes, and take care of injured survivors in the group. At night, players need to choose a civilian to take on a journey to locate hidden items that the group needs to survive the siege.

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Philosophically speaking, This War of Mine not only highlights the personal impact on people thousands of miles away from those making war-time decisions but, more crucially, brings into discussion the moral ambiguities of wartime. Furthermore, this game asks the player to consider the supreme importance of loyalty, health, and freedom over more materialistic and power-based gains.

5

The Stanley Parable

The Game Ends. The Game Never Ends

Released

October 17, 2013

ESRB

E10+ For Everyone 10+ due to Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood, Mild Language, Tobacco Reference

The Stanley Parable is a philosophical game bordering on surrealism. Contradictions are threaded through every single aspect of this brilliant, yet baffling, game. The player is Stanley, but the player is not Stanley. The player has a choice; the player has no choice. The player will follow the narrative; the player will not follow the narrative.

The beauty of The Stanley Parable and The Stanley Parable Ultra Deluxe lies in these contradictions and, from the beginning, when the player is transported into a banal office space, the only meaning to be found is the level of meaning the player applies to the game. The Stanley Parable raises one hugely significant and multi-layered philosophical question: Is fate real?

4

Outer Wilds

Lost In A Perpetual Time Loop

Systems

Released

May 28, 2019

ESRB

E10+ For Everyone 10+ due to Fantasy Violence, Alcohol Reference

Outer Wilds is a multi-award-winning and critically acclaimed space adventure. An open-world adventure game, Outer Wilds is an absolute monster of a philosophical puzzle, dealing with the personification of time itself. The fictional solar system has been thrown into existential crisis whereby it—and the player—finds itself perpetually trapped in a never-ending time loop that concludes with the explosion of the nearby sun.

This game is a total mind-blower and plunges the player into a complete existential experience. Outer Wilds deals with philosopher Nietzsche’s eternal battle—optimism vs nihilism—and even questions the complete absurdity of life and existence in the first place.

3

Disco Elysium

A Full-On Philosophical Journey

Released

October 15, 2019

ESRB

M For Mature 17+ due to Blood, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Use of Drugs, Violence

Plunged into a dystopian world of crime and politics, new players to Disco Elysium are in for a real treat. Unlike the vast majority of other popular RPGs, this game features little to no combat, and instead focuses on the player making their own decisions whether they will listen to societal norms or not. Disco Elysium is truly a game like no other and has won a whole slew of awards, including several Game of the Year titles. The protagonist, an addict, and an amnesiac, is a worn-down detective who’s every choice impacts both the moral, ethical, and political influences on the narrative, as well as the way the story unfolds.

At its heart, the core philosophical questions in Disco Elysium deal with the nature of reality itself and questions of existence and how they relate to everyday choices. In a broader context, the political philosophy of the game is absolutely incomparable to any other RPG, making Disco Elysium an absolute must-play for any player who is looking for an immersive, sensory RPG experience.

2

That Dragon, Cancer

Poignant, Poetic, & Humbling

Systems

Released

January 12, 2016

ESRB

e

That Dragon, Cancer is a narrative game that will make even the most hardened player softer from playing it. Most definitely placed in the immersive narrative genre, this game was developed by a father who lost his son, Joel, to cancer. In this way, his son is immortalized forever in this hauntingly beautiful and, at times, harrowing and sorrowful game. That Dragon, Cancer tells Joel’s story through a mixture of third-person and first-person perspectives and is a raw, personal, and highly emotional memoir of a video game.

That Dragon, Cancer highlights the biggest question of all: what it means to be alive and, conversely, what it means to die. Finding hope when the outlook is bleak and battling the worst possible thing that could ever happen to a father, this game will stick in the player’s memory for a long, long time.

1

The Talos Principle

How Do You Know You’re Awake?

Released

December 11, 2014

ESRB

T For Teen Due To Mild Language, Mild Sexual Themes, Mild Violence

If the phrase ‘Philosophical Science Fiction’ was a heading in the dictionary, the definition would most certainly be The Talos Principle. Very much touching on a hot topic right now, The Talos Principle is set in a hyperbolic world featuring a blend of AI and ancient civilization. The player is given little to no information and has to work out what is happening, and how to proceed, by exploring the narrative.

This game throws a huge number of giant philosophical issues the player’s way, such as the nature and depth of personal identity and the idea of consciousness and what it is to be awake. On a deeper level, The Talos Principle discusses, through narrative and puzzle-based gameplay, how much of life is weighted towards free will over pre-determined events by a higher being.

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