Who of us does not dream of leaving everything for a new adventure? Admit it. Everyone does. And while in real life, the plan of moving to the wilds may meet some difficulties, in Firewatch this idea can become true.
This walking simulator equals breaking away from reality. In the beginning, it will entertain you with calm gameplay of exploring the forest and talking to your coworker, to gradually introduce you to the atmosphere of mystery.
The story of Firewatch is written perfectly, and the characters’ personalities are clearly outlined, which makes the title definitely engaging. You love Firewatch and would like to play something similar? Or maybe you can’t decide what to choose? No matter what brought you here, this list should help you find something truly awesome.
| Name | Released | Genre | Developer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Gone Home | 2013-08-15 | Adventure | Fullbright |
 | What Remains of Edith Finch | 2017-04-24 | Adventure | Giant Sparrow |
 | Layers of Fear | 2016-02-15 | Adventure | Bloober Team |
 | Layers of Fear 2 | 2019-05-28 | Adventure | Bloober Team |
 | Dear Esther | 2012-02-14 | Adventure | The Chinese Room |
 | Kona | 2017-03-17 | Adventure | Parabole |
 | The Beginner's Guide | 2015-10-01 | Adventure | Everything Unlimited Ltd. |
 | The Vanishing of Ethan Carter | 2014-09-25 | Adventure | The Astronauts |
 | The Stanley Parable | 2013-10-17 | Adventure | Galactic Cafe |
 | Life Is Strange Complete Season | 2015-01-29 | Adventure | DON'T NOD |
 | Life is Strange 2 Complete Season | 2018-09-27 | Adventure | DONTNOD Entertainment |
 | To the Moon | 2011-11-01 | Adventure | Freebird Games |
 | The Wolf Among Us | 2013-10-11 | Adventure | Telltale Games |
 | The Witness | 2016-01-26 | Adventure | Thekla, Inc |
 | The Talos Principle | 2014-12-11 | Adventure | Croteam |
 | SOMA | 2015-09-21 | Adventure | Frictional Games |
 | The Cat Lady | 2012-12-01 | Adventure | Harvester Games |
 | The Long Dark | 2017-08-01 | Adventure | Hinterland Studio Inc. |
 | Everybody's Gone to the Rapture | 2016-04-14 | Adventure | The Chinese Room |
 | Tacoma | 2017-08-02 | Adventure | Fullbright |
 | Oxenfree | 2016-01-14 | Adventure | Night School Studio |
Gone Home
| Release date | 2013-08-15 |
| Genre | Adventure |
| Developer | Fullbright |
It is an adventure game in which, like in Firewatch, the gameplay focuses on exploration and finding clues. Play the role of a girl who returns home from a trip around Europe and finds it abandoned.
The gameplay in Gone Home is about exploring and searching rooms. The title is kept in a rather touching and a bit gloomy tone, piece by piece presenting the history of the family once living in this house. Explore, find clues, and put together the puzzle of a deserted home.
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What Remains of Edith Finch
| Release date | 2017-04-24 |
| Genre | Adventure |
| Developer | Giant Sparrow |
It is an indie adventure game in which you will play as the last surviving member of the family, burdened with a mysterious curse. Enter the grim world developed by Giant Sparrow and discover the secret of your family tree.
What Remains of Edith Finch will introduce you to a linear adventure with a story so mature and rich that you will not be able to tear yourself away from it. Explore, study memories, and learn the stories of family members. Immerse into the atmosphere inspired by the works of H. P. Lovecraft, which you will not forget for a long time.
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Layers of Fear
| Release date | 2016-02-15 |
| Genre | Adventure |
| Developer | Bloober Team |
A first-person psychological horror from Bloober Team, in which you will play the role of a mentally ill painter who wanders the rooms of his enormous mansion.
Layers of Fear is one of the games similar to Amnesia, in which the essence of the gameplay is not the action but an unforgettable experience. As a maddened painter, explore the rooms of a massive house and learn the story of your sanity. This adventure will be psychedelic, full of delusions and bizarre events. If you like mysterious stories full of strange climate, Layers of Fear will satisfy your taste.
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Dear Esther
| Release date | |
| Genre | Adventure |
| Developer | The Chinese Room |
The video game many say is not a video game at all. Although lacking the mechanics of any traditional gameplay, Dear Esther represents a story that can impress.
You are on a dark, deserted island that hides many secrets from the past. Your task is to explore it and learn about the history that surrounds you. This video game is a delightful and addictive simulator. The game world is beautifully designed, and exploration is enhanced by an excellent soundtrack.
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Kona
| Release date | 2017-03-17 |
| Genre | Adventure |
| Developer | Parabole |
An adventure game with survival elements in which you will investigate a snowy wilderness. Just like in Firewatch, you will explore the wild world, to gradually discover its secrets.
Play as Carl hired to investigate a location in northern Canada. The game creates a unique feeling of loneliness, in which you will feel chills on your skin more than once. Explore, collect items and solve puzzles. Gather all the information and recreate the story that took place here. Also, take care of your survival because many dangers are lurking in the snowy woods.
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The Beginner's Guide
| Release date | 2015-10-01 |
| Genre | Adventure |
| Developer | Everything Unlimited Ltd. |
An adventure video game, released by Everything Unlimited in 2015 for PC. The gameplay presents a complex creative process taking place in the minds of game developers.
The Beginner’s Guide is a set of mini-chapters, the aim of which is to explore and discover the message hidden in them by the author. You will be accompanied through the story by Davey Wreden himself – the creator of the game. It is original gameplay, a bit quirky, and perfectly portrays the problems associated with the inventive process in the mind of a creative person.
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The Vanishing of Ethan
| Release date | 2014-09-25 |
| Genre | Adventure |
| Developer | The Astronauts |
An adventure video game from the Polish studio – The Astronauts. Play as a private investigator and travel to Red Creek Valley to unravel the mystery of the disappearance of a little boy.
Ethan Carter is missing, and it is your job to explain how. Armed with paranormal abilities, explore the dreary wilderness of the open world of Red Creek Valley and collect clues. Find out what happened to the boy’s kidnappers, follow the visions, put the information together, and find out what happened to Ethan Carter. While you don’t have to fight or survive in the game, the dark atmosphere of the game can give you shivers down your spine.
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The Stanley Parable
| Release date | 2013-10-17 |
| Genre | Adventure |
| Developer | Galactic Cafe |
A walking simulator in which your journey in an empty office is the very core of the game. Play as Stanley, an employee of a massive corporation, and leave your computer to get to know the world of the office you work in.
The Stanley Parable is gameplay based on exploring and listening to the commentary of the narrator. These two things add to an absolutely perfect story with many endings. There is no gathering of clues here, no puzzle-solving, no combat. There is, however, an intriguing network of corridors and a wonderfully constructed scenario that will ensure you will never forget this game.
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Life Is Strange
| Release date | 2015-01-29 |
| Genre | Adventure |
| Developer | DON'T NOD |
An adventure game, in which you will return to your hometown as Max Caulfield, and blessed with the ability to travel through time, you will confront a new reality there.
Play this episode adventure game to hit a web of puzzles and mysteries right from the start. Armed with a camera and the company of a childhood friend, explore your hometown. Talk with people, inspect clues, learn about citizens’ stories, and face visions of a terrible catastrophe. Each decision will have an impact on the development of the further story, and it is only up to you whether you can complete the mission.
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To the Moon
| Release date | 2011-11-01 |
| Genre | Adventure |
| Developer | Freebird Games |
It is an adventure game with RPG elements released in 2011 for PC and in 2020 for Nintendo Switch. Meet dying Johnny Wales and help him fulfill his greatest dream.
Direct the actions of two scientists with the technology of transferring people to their memories and allowing them to alter events of the past. Dying Johnny always wanted to go to the Moon. As part of the game, you will learn his memories, explore the area and collect the information required to put the man’s story together. To the Moon is a game for fans of titles that combine emotions with humor.
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The Wolf Among Us
| Release date | 2013-10-11 |
| Genre | Adventure |
| Developer | Telltale Games |
It is a comic-book noir-style adventure game divided into episodes, in which you will solve the mystery of murder as a fairy-tale big bad wolf. It is a title from the makers of The Walking Dead and uses similar mechanical solutions.
Welcome to the Fables universe. Forced to escape, the fairy-tale characters left the world of fantasy and found a new home in the world of humans. This situation creates an opportunity for conflicts to arise, fueled more and more by social differences. As the big bad wolf, you will enter this world to unravel the mysteries of terrible crimes. And each of the choices you make will have a significant impact on what happens in the following chapters.
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The Witness
| Release date | 2016-01-26 |
| Genre | Adventure |
| Developer | Thekla, Inc |
If you like solving logical puzzles in gameplay without any plot – The Witness will be a title just for you.
Find a completely deserted island and complete a series of puzzles that will reveal new secrets of this strange world. Explore, solve and discover hidden clues and patterns. There is no tutorial in the game, so you will have to rely on your own mind and brilliance from the very beginning. The gameplay atmosphere will be complemented by various philosophical elements that provoke contemplation and make The Witness more an experience than just a video game.
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The Talos Principle
| Release date | 2014-12-11 |
| Genre | Adventure |
| Developer | Croteam |
It is a puzzle video game in which you will play as an android who wakes up in a world resembling ancient Greece. Guided by the words of the mysterious Elohim, you will begin to solve a series of puzzles.
The Talos Principle presents the world after the fall of humanity, in which artificial intelligence faces logical puzzles and issues from the area of physics and philosophy. As one of the androids, you will begin a series of puzzles that will reveal the secrets of this world and its philosophical foundations. If these are the topics you particularly admire – play The Talos Principle.
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Soma
| Release date | 2015-09-21 |
| Genre | Adventure |
| Developer | Frictional Games |
A horror game from the devs of Amnesia: The Dark Descent, released for PC, PS4, and XONE. You find yourself in an extremely dark, underwater facility, and your task is to get out of it at all costs.
Driven by artificial intelligence, the research facility is the darkest and scariest place you have ever dealt with. And your task is to unravel its many mysteries and get out of it. Explore, solve puzzles and immerse in the madness of philosophical and religious matters. The claustrophobic atmosphere of the game is enriched with meetings with representatives of artificial intelligence and with monsters. All this in the scariest audiovisual setting you can imagine.
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The Cat Lady
| Release date | 2012-12-01 |
| Genre | Adventure |
| Developer | Harvester Games |
An adventure game with elements of horror from Harvester Games, released in 2012. Guide the fate of Susan Ashworth, who, lost in loneliness, gets one last chance to improve her life before committing suicide.
Susan has no one, and the hopelessness of life provokes her to end with herself once and for all. But it turns out that if she defeats five new people in town, she will find a friend in return. It will not be an easy task because the gameplay is based on making extremely important decisions and solving difficult logical puzzles. The entire game is installed in expressive, cartoon graphics that give the story a surrealistic vibe.
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Video games similar to Firewatch are not productions for everyone. Not only because they can confuse players with their complexity or dark atmosphere. Some players may just get bored because these titles don’t look like action and easy fun.
But if you are intrigued by this hazy mysterious halo of video games like Firewatch, then prepare for a great adventure of discovering all new awesome suggestions. Depending on whether you prefer horror or logic puzzles – you will find something for yourself here. However, if the number of games featured doesn’t meet your expectations, you can always search for similar titles on Reddit.
There you will find video games such as Long Dark, Tacoma, Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, and many similar, that fantastically keep the atmosphere of games similar to Firewatch. And be prepared for shivers down your back, complicated intrigues, challenging decisions, and beautiful stories of relationships. One thing you can be sure of, it will not lack these unique solutions and non-obvious endings that we all crave so much.