Best Story-Rich Games

The top story-rich games right now, based on critic scores and popularity, are Dredge, Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon, and Still Wakes the Deep. The list updates every day as new games and reviews come in.

Every game here is known for its story, and comes from a genre built around storytelling - adventure, RPG, visual novel or point-and-click. We leave out online-first games where the story is just a side dish, so you can expect a real beginning, middle and end.

Life is Strange: True Colors lets you read and shape the emotions of everyone around you, As Dusk Falls follows two families over 30 years and can even be played with friends voting on every choice, and Disco Elysium: The Final Cut turns every conversation into a new path. For many more games like these, see our Games Where Choices Matter list.

Plenty. South of the Circle tells a touching Cold War love story in an afternoon or two, Gorogoa is a beautiful hand-drawn puzzle story you can finish in one sitting, Planet of Lana is a short and gorgeous adventure, and The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe is best played again and again to find all its endings.

If you want something to get lost in, Horizon Forbidden West, Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl all offer dozens of hours of story, side quests and characters to meet. Prefer mysteries? The Case of the Golden Idol and Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One are great for amateur sleuths - more in our Detective Games list. And if you like your stories dark, Dead Space 2 and Darkwood will keep you on edge, with more in our Psychological Horror Games list.