My two all-time favourite videogames, one of them kinda obscure and the other very obscure: What Remains of Edith Finch and Kentucky Route Zero respectively.

What Remains of Edith Finch is a ~2 hour story where you explore your family home as Edith Finch. The Finch family has had a lot of bad luck, and most of its members do not get old. As Edith, you explore the house room by room to see the respective person’s last moments. It’s not a horror game, though I should put a trigger warning for child and infant mortality for the game. Play it in a single sitting, treat it as an interactive movie. I cannot recommend it enough.

The other one, Kentucky Route Zero, is a bit harder to recommend to a general audience. The synopsis is as follows: Conway drives deliveries for an antiques shop, the last one he will ever do as the shop is closing down. On his way to his destination, he asks for directions, and is told he needs to take Kentucky highway 0, an underground highway with a hidden entrance. As the game goes on, we explore the mysterious underground world of Kentucky, with its strange inhabitants and culture, and expand our cast of characters along the way. I honestly cannot give a more accurate description of it without giving stuff away. This game has no puzzles or interesting game mechanics. You cannot alter the story much either. What it offers, though, is a glimpse into a surreal world filled with hope, longing, loss, regret, and, most of all, mystery. The game will not answer all your questions. There is no grand reveal before the curtain closes. You can puzzle things together from your exploration only.

I think that, for many people, it will be quite boring. But it pushes buttons for me that no other media I have encountered does. It is best played at night if you’re tired, as the whole game kind of feels like a weird dream that you struggle to recall as you wake up. If that sounds up your alley, well, here you go.