Beyond Eyes
Released: 2015
Console: Mac OS X
Developer: Tiger & Squid
Storytelling Reinvention: explores the nature of being blind by compromising the player's field of view, forcing them to rely upon auditory and limited visual clues
Braid
Released: 2008
Console: Xbox 360
Developer: Number None, Inc.
Storytelling Reinvention: conveys its narrative through the game’s time reversal mechanic, creating a powerful metaphor
Cave Story
Released: 2004
Console: Mac OS X/Windows
Developer: Studio Pixel
Storytelling Reinvention: makes use of multiple ending scenarios, decided through player-choice, in order to expand and enhance the player’s interactions with the narrative
Cibele
Released: 2015
Console: Mac OS X/Windows
Developer: Star Maid Games
Storytelling Reinvention: employs the act of exploring various multimedia elements via a computer interface in order to create an immersive narrative experience
Colosse
Released: 2015
Console: Oculus Rift
Developer: Colosse Team
Storytelling Reinvention: progresses the narrative through the player's gaze, giving them a subtle influence over events as they unfold
Contrast
Released: 2013
Console: Xbox 360
Developer: Compulsion Games
Storytelling Reinvention: conveys its narrative through depictions of shadows, creating a visual metaphor of lightness and darkness
Device 6
Released: 2013
Console: iOS
Developer: Simogo
Storytelling Reinvention: uses the placement, style and movement of text, images, and sounds in order to tell a dynamic story
Dwarf Fortress
Released: 2006
Console: Mac OS X/Windows
Developer: Tarn Adams
Storytelling Reinvention: features the capability to generate an entire world and its history, complete with thousands of characters who all actively partake in thousands of years of activity
Gone Home
Released: 2013
Console: Mac OS X/Windows
Developer: Fullbright Company
Storytelling Reinvention: focuses on exploration of a world and interactivity with the story, allowing player-agency to reach their own interpretations
Half-Life
Released: 1998
Console: Mac OS
Developer: Core Design
Storytelling Reinvention: one of the first video game stories that was told entirely by means of scripted sequences, keeping the player in control of the first-person point-of-view
Her Story
Released: 2015
Console: Mac OS X/Windows
Developer: Valve Corporation
Storytelling Reinvention: employs the act of searching through a database as a storytelling technique, slowly revealing pieces of narrative information
I Expect You To Die
Released: 2015
Console: Oculus Rift
Developer: Schell Games
Storytelling Reinvention: fully immerses the player in a virtual reality world, creating an embodied narrative experience
iNethack 2
Released: 2015
Console: iOS
Developer: Future Shock Software
Storytelling Reinvention: the most popular "rogue-like" game, introducing millions to the concept of a world and challenges authored by the game's programming itself
Invisible Inc.
Released: 2015
Console: Mac OS X/Windows
Developer: Klei Entertainment
Storytelling Reinvention: employs procedural generation to create unique story scenarios featuring a variety of objectives, obstacles, and difficulty levels
Journey
Released: 2012
Console: PlayStation 3
Developer: Bioware
Storytelling Reinvention: utilizes randomly assigned online cooperative game-play to create unique story experiences for both players
Life is Strange
Released: 2015
Console: Xbox 360
Developer: Dontnod Entertainment
Storytelling Reinvention: allows the player to revise event outcomes through time-travel, enhancing the player-agency and understanding of the narrative
Limbo
Released: 2013
Console: iOS
Developer: Playdead
Storytelling Reinvention: utilizes an eerie black and white environment in order to impart a vivid metaphorical journey through limbo
NaissanceE
Released: 2014
Console: Oculus Rift
Developer: Limasse Five
Storytelling Reinvention: uses the affordances of virtual reality in order to convey an immersive story that the player must interpret from the surrounding environment
Never Alone
Released: 2014
Console: WiiU
Developer: E-Line Media, Upper One Games
Storytelling Reinvention: uses two characters with varying skillsets in order to create a co-op narrative game in which both players experience the story simultaneously yet individually
Papers, Please
Released: 2013
Console: iOS
Developer: 3909
Storytelling Reinvention: incorporates a strong morality through player-choice in order to create a game-world wherein it is difficult for the player to be neutral
Papo & Yo
Released: 2012
Console: PlayStation 3
Developer: Minority
Storytelling Reinvention: utilizes metaphorical game mechanics and aesthetics to communicate and reinforce a complex relationship between two characters
Passage
Released: 2007
Console: Mac OS X/Windows
Developer: Jason Rohrer
Storytelling Reinvention: conveys its narrative through metaphorical game mechanics that represent the act of living one’s life and the process of aging
That Dragon Cancer
Released: 2016
Console: Mac OS X/Windows
Developer: Numinous Games
Storytelling Reinvention: uses real-life biographical media to tell and enhance the story
The Stanley Parable
Released: 2013
Console: Mac OS X/Windows
Developer: Galactic Cafe
Storytelling Reinvention: uses branching choices in order to comment on player-choice and decision-making in modern video games
This War of Mine
Released: 2014
Console: Mac OS X/Windows
Developer: 11 Bit Studios
Storytelling Reinvention: implements player-choice by allowing players to weave their own understanding of the game world, characters, and the events that take place
Thomas Was Alone
Released: 2013
Console: PlayStation 3
Developer: Mike Bithell
Storytelling Reinvention: tells a compelling story about simple blocks by imbuing them with unique movement, functionality, and personality attributes
To the Moon
Released: 2011
Console: Mac OS X/Windows
Developer: Freebird Games
Storytelling Reinvention: focuses on exploration of a world and interactivity with the story rather than puzzles or battles
Undertale
Released: 2015
Console: Mac OS X/Windows
Developer: tobyfox
Storytelling Reinvention: subverts the RolePlaying game genre by presenting a world wherein every conflict can be solved nonviolently, and every random encounter is a chance to make a friend
Unravel
Released: 2016
Console: PlayStation 4
Developer: Coldwood Interactive
Storytelling Reinvention: employs yarn as a metaphorical game mechanic to explore the themes of love, family and connection between people
White Night
Released: 2015
Console: PlayStation 4
Developer: OSome Studio
Storytelling Reinvention: uses black and white aesthetics and minimal lighting in order to drive the plot and create an atmospheric story
Year Walk
Released: 2013
Console: iOS
Developer: Simogo
Storytelling Reinvention: uses multiple layers of information, including a companion encyclopedia application, in order to craft a narrative experience