25 Best Adventure Games You Need To Play

Adventure games have taken on many forms over the years whether they are adventure puzzlers, adventure horror, or sci-fi adventure. The genre has pushed the gaming industry forward, with developers constantly evolving and learning new ways to give players the most immersive experience possible. This list of 25 adventure games you need to play is filled with heavy-hitters like Uncharted, while also including indie titles such as Night in the Woods. They’re all definitely worth checking out!

#25 Exo One

• Genre: Simulation, Adventure
• Release: 2021
• Platform: Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC

Developed by Australian studio Exbleative, this simulation game is a sci-fi adventure. The premise follows humanity’s first mission outside of the Solar System and players take control of an alien spacecraft. The game has gamers travel across the surface of a surreal procedurally-generated world. The ship utilizes three modes of movement: roll, glide and fly. This allows players to explore the skies or dive into the oceans of any planet. Check out this thrilling adventure game on Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.

#24 What Remains of Edith Finch

• Genre: Adventure
• Release: 2017
• Platform: PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC

Game developers, Giant Sparrow debuted this game in 2017. What Remains of Edith Finch is a single-player adventure game that centers around Edith, a member of the Finch family. The Finch’s are afflicted by a curse that causes all but one member of each generation to die in unusual ways. The game sees Edith return to her family’s home off the coast of Washington state where she finds out about each of her family’s members’ deaths by visiting memorials set up in their bedrooms. When the game was released, it received positive reviews from both gamers and critics. Check it out across all consoles and PC today!

#23 The Room Two

• Genre: Puzzle, Adventure
• Release: 2013
• Platform: PC

The Room Two is a great game for fans of puzzles. This sequel to The Room was originally developed for the iPad in 2013, with a PC version released in 2016. This 3D game has each level in a single room with different tasks for players to solve. Gameplay involves figuring out a series of connected puzzles by collecting clues. The objective of The Room Two is to exit each room and proceed to the next. The game continues on from the first in the series where players were trapped in a mysterious dimension. A third game, The Room Three was also released in 2015.

#22 Tale of Immortal

• Genre: RPG, Adventure, Sandbox
• Release: 2021
• Platform: PC

Tale of Immortal is an open-world sandbox game based on Chinese mythology and cultivation. Players can grow their characters and become immortal, conquer beasts from the Classic of Mountains and Season, and make choices that will impact the game. Tale of Immortal gives players the chance to experience the journey from being a mortal to a strong, god-like being. Check out this adventure RPG on PC via Steam!

#21 Her Story

• Genre: Interactive Fil, Adventure
• Release: 2015
• Platform: PC

Her Story is a unique game in that it’s an interactive film. Written and directed by Sam Barlow, it has players search through a database of video clips from fictional police interviews. Gamers are meant to use the short videos to solve the case of a missing man. The interviews focus on the man’s wife, Hannah Smith. This is definitely a great game for fans of true-crime documentaries. Check out this interesting and mysterious game on PC!

#20 Firewatch

• Genre: Adventure
• Release: 2016
• Platform: PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC

Developers, Campo Santo released this game in 2016. It follows the story of a fire lookout named Henry in the Shoshone National Forest a year after the Yellowstone fires of 1988. A month after his first day of work, the man starts witnessing strange things. Firewatch has players unravel a mystery that began several years before the start of the game. The gameplay offers a first-person view and takes place in Wyoming in the year 1989. Choosing from various dialog options also gives players the power to affect the story. Find this adventure game across all consoles and PC!

#19 To The Moon

• Genre: Adventure
• Release: 2011
• Platform: Nintendo Switch, PC

To the Moon is just as much a psychological drama as it is an adventure game. Developed and published by Freebird Games, it follows two doctors who offer to fulfill a during man’s last wish using artificial memories. The game features relatively few gameplay mechanics, with players controlling the two doctors, exploring the narrative, and solving puzzles as they try to reconstruct the dying man’s memories in order to fulfill his wish. It’s definitely an interesting game to check out. Find it on Nintendo Switch and PC.

#18 Night in the Woods

• Genre: Adventure
• Release: 2017
• Platform: PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC

Developed by Infinite Fall, Night in the Woods is a single-player adventure game that is story and exploration-focused. Players control a young woman named Mae Borowski who recently dropped out of college and has returned to her hometown. Upon arriving, she finds many things have changed unexpectedly. In a world populated by zoomorphic humans, Mae must solve a mystery concerning a horrible secret. Find this game on all consoles and PC.

#17 The Witness

• Genre: Puzzle
• Release: 2016
• Platform: PS4, Xbox One, PC

The Witness is a 2016 puzzle game developed and published by Thekla, Inc. The game was strongly influenced by another title called Myst and involves exploration in an open-world island. The environment includes various natural and man-made structures. Players progress through The Witness by solving a series of puzzles that are based on interactions with different grids located on panels around the island. No direct instructions are given to players on how to solve the puzzles, making for an even bigger challenge.

#16 Tales From The Borderlands

• Genre: Graphic-Adventure
• Release: 2014 – 2015 (5 Episodes)
• Platform: PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC

Tales From The Borderlands is an episodic interactive comedy game with elements of science fiction. It is based on the popular Borderlands series and was developed by Telltale Games. The game is set sometime after the events of Borderlands 2 and centers around Hyperion employee Rhys and Pandoran con artist Fiona. The two team up on an adventure to find and open a Vault. Fans of Borderlands and other Telltale games such as The Walking Dead and The Wolf Among Us are sure to enjoy this adventure game. Check it out on all consoles and PC.

#15 Day of the Tentacle

• Genre: Graphic Adventure
• Release: 1993, Remaster 2016/2020
• Platform: PS4, Xbox One, PC

This 1993 graphic adventure was originally developed and published by LucasArts. It also goes by the name Maniac Mansion II: Day of the Tentacle, being a sequel to the first Maniac Mansion. The game follows  Bernard Bernoulli and his friends Hoagie and Laverne as they attempt to stop an evil Purple Tentacle, a sentient, disembodied singular tentacle. Players take control of the trio to solve puzzles while using time travel to explore different periods of history. It’s a whole lot of fun.

#14 Grim Fandango

• Genre: Graphic Adventure
• Release: 1998 / 2015 (Remaster)
• Platform: PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC

This 1998 adventure game was published by LucasArts and offers gameplay where players must converse with characters and examine, collect, and use objects to solve puzzles. Grim Fandango is set in the Land of the Dead where recently departed souls are represented as calaca-like figures. The story follows travel agent Manny Calavera as he attempts to save a new arrival named Meche Colomar. She is a virtuous soul, on her journey through the area. Fans can find this game across all consoles and PC.

#13 Kentucky Route Zero

• Genre: Point-and-Click Adventure
• Release: 2020
• Platform: PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC

Developed by Cardboard Computer, Kentucky Route Zero follows the story of a truck driver named Conway and the strange people he meets as he tries to cross the mysterious Route Zero in Kentucky. He is attempting to make a final delivery for an antique company. This point-and-click game is mainly dialogue-driven, with the focus of the game being storytelling and atmosphere. The animation is intriguing, along with the plot. Find it on all consoles and PC.

#12 Journey

• Genre: Adventure, Art
• Release: 2012
• Platform: PS4, PC

This indie-adventure game was originally developed by Thatgamecompany, released in 2012 on PS3. It has since been ported to PS4 and PC. In Journey, the player controls a robed figure in a vast desert, traveling towards a mountain in the distance. Other players on the same journey can be discovered, and two players can meet and assist each other, but they cannot communicate via speech or text and cannot see each other’s names until after the game’s credits. It is a unique experience. Definitely check out this adventure game!

#11 Samorost 3

• Genre: Adevnture Puzzle
• Release: 2016
• Platform: PC

Samorost 3 is a puzzle point-and-click adventure game developed by Amanita Design. It is the third game in the Samorost series and the sequel to Samorost 2. The story takes place across five planets and four moons. It contains no comprehensible dialogue, only a system of animated thought bubbles and gibberish. The player controls Gnome on his journey through space full of planets, equipped with an inventory and a flute. It’s great for fans of adventure and puzzles.

#10 Deadly Premonition

• Genre: Suvival Horror
• Release: 2010
• Platform: Nintendo Switch, PC

Developed by Access Games, Deadly Premonition is an open-world survival horror game. It is set in the fictional, rural American town of Greenvale, Washington, and follows FBI Special Agent Francis York Morgan. Players help him investigate the murder of an eighteen-year-old woman, which bears similarities to a series of murders across the country. The game was originally released on Xbox 360 and PS3 but has since been brought over to PC and Nintendo Switch.

#9 Outer Wilds

• Genre: Action-Adventure
• Release: 2019
• Platform: Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch, PC

This action-adventure game was developed by Mobius Digital. The game features exploration through a solar system stuck in a 22-minute time loop, which ends as the sun goes supernova.  The player progresses through the game by exploring the solar system and learning from clues that cause the time loop. The game received critical acclaim when it was first released and later got an expansion titled Echoes of the Eye in 2021. Definitely check it out!

#8 The Wolf Among Us

• Genre: Graphic Adventure
• Release: 2013
• Platform: PS4, Xbox One, PC

The Wolf Among Us is a graphic mystery-drama adventure game developed by Telltale Games. It is based on Bill Willingham’s Fables comic book series and serves as its prequel. The game consists of five episodes that were released throughout 2013 and 2014. The Wolf Among Us has players control Bigby Wolf, the sheriff of Fabletown and takes place in the 1980s near New York City. Players must investigate a series of mysterious murders to progress in the story.

#7 Life is Strange

• Genre: Graphic Adventure
• Release: 2015
• Platform: PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC

This graphic adventure was developed by Dontnod Entertainment and published by Square Enix. The game was originally released in five episodes periodically throughout 2015. The plot focuses on Max Caulfield, an 18-year-old photography student who discovers that she has the ability to rewind time at any moment, leading her every choice to enact a butterfly effect. Player choices strongly affect the story. There have recently been reports that Netlfix has plans to make it into a new series, so now’s the perfect time to check out this classic game.

#6 The Vanishing of Ethan Carter

• Genre: Adventure
• Release: 2014
• Platform: PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC

Developed by The Astronauts, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is set in an open-world environment where players can roam around and explore at will. In an opening message to players, it says it “does not hold [the player’s] hand”, and as such, features very little by way of explanation to the mechanics. To piece together the story, players must solve the deaths of the Carter family. Upon finding a dead body, paranormal abilities are given to players. It’s definitely an intriguing game, check it out on any console or PC!

#5 Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons

• Genre: Adventure
• Release: 2013
• Platform: PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC

This adventure game was developed by Starbreeze Studios and first released in 2013. The narrative takes place in a fantasy world filled with fictitious creatures such as orcs and trolls, where two young brothers set out on a journey to find a cure for their father’s illness. The gameplay is presented from a third-person view overlooking the two brothers. Gamers can find it on all consoles and PC.

#4 The Walking Dead: Season 1

• Genre: Graphic Adventure
• Release: 2012
• Platform: PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC

Telltale Games’ The Walking Dead: Season 1 was the first major game for the developers and led them to make games on other big IPs such as Back to the Future and Borderlands. This episodic adventure is based on the comic book series of the same name. The Walking Dead: Season 1 consists of five episodes, which were released between April and November 2012. The game takes place in the same fictional world as the comic, with events occurring shortly after the onset of the zombie apocalypse in Georgia. Fans of the comic or popular TV series are sure to enjoy this game.

#3 Shadow of the Tomb Raider

• Genre: Action-Adventure
• Release: 2018
• Platform: PS4, Xbox One, PC

Developed by Eidos-Montréal and published by Square Enix, Shadow of the Tomb Raider continues the narrative from the 2015 game Rise of the Tomb Raider and is the twelfth mainline entry in the series. It is also the third and final entry into the Survivor trilogy. The story expands on Lara Croft’s narrative as she ventures through the tropical regions of the Americas to the legendary city Paititi. Players must help her battle the paramilitary organization Trinity and race to stop a Mayan apocalypse she has unleashed. It’s definitely a game worth checking out.

#2 Uncharted Series

• Genre: Action-Adventure
• Release: 2007-2022
• Platform: PC, PS4, PS5

The Uncharted series is by far one of the best collections of action-adventure games around. The recently released Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection brings the two PS4 Uncharted games to the PS5 in this remastered collection. When it was released in January, the Legacy of Thieves Collection was heralded as a perfect example of what a remastered collection should be. The game offers a variety of modes that take advantage of the power of the PlayStation 5, including a sublime 120fps mode. The collection contains Uncharted 4 and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy in one package. The best part is that anyone who already owns either of those games can get the upgraded collection for just $10. Definitely check out the Uncharted franchise if you get a chance.

#1 Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart

• Genre: Platform, Third-Person Shooter, Adventure
• Release: 2021
• Platform: PS5

As the first Ratchet and Clank game to be exclusive to the PS5, Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart was released in 2021 and received glowing reviews from both critics and gamers. Developed by Insomniac Games, the adventure game is the sixteenth installment to the franchise. It retains elements of previous Ratchet & Clank games, such as strafing, gunplay, collection of bolts, automatic weapon and health upgrades, manual Raritanium weapon upgrading, and gadgets. The main playable character is Ratchet, with a female Lombax named Rivet playable as well. This game will not disappoint, so check it out if you’ve got a PS5!