Top 10 Adventure Games To Play Right Now

When we say a game’s writing is good, we’re usually comparing it to other video games, but 1000xResist transcends even that categorization as an example of fantastic writing, full stop. It’s set in a post-apocalyptic world where everyone is a clone of the same person – the Allmother, whom they have an almost religious reverence for. You play as Watcher, one tasked with communing with your fellow sisters to learn about the world. In doing so, you live through the past, observing the Allmother’s teenage life, the events that led the world to fall apart, and the fractures within the surreal colony you live within. With complex, flawed characters, a rich, layered world, a plot that goes places you couldn’t expect, and gorgeous, poetic dialogue, it’s an easy game to recommend, and it’s one that’s raised the bar for the narrative games that follow. | Game Informer’s 1000xResist Review

And Roger is not a traditional adventure game, but it belongs in the genre thanks to the way the player interacts with the world and solves its puzzles. It recalls games like 2018’s Florence and even WarioWare, oddly, but without the rigid timers of Nintendo’s bizarre microgame collections. Over the span of three succinct chapters, And Roger tells the tumultuous tale of a girl scared and confused by the presence of a mysterious man in her home. Who is the person? Why does he seem to know her even though he’s a stranger? What happened to the girl’s father? The narrative is effective in that it’s an ordinary tale grounded in a tragically relatable core, but it is ultimately an affecting tale of love, patience, and forgiveness. | Game Informer’s And Roger Review

Dispatch picks up the pieces of Telltale’s TV-series-like approach to video games and takes it a step further. The result is a game that’s basically a TV series with some light interaction, and it rules. It helps that the original conceit of Dispatch was an animated series, and that pedigree is on full display in the game, but dialogue choices, critical story-changing moments, and a fun superhero dispatching minigame make it an even better experience. Mecha Man suit user Robert Robertson is returned to a life of normalcy when his suit is trashed by villains and placed in control of a dispatch operation for this universe’s Suicide Squad equivalent. Across the game’s 6 to 10 hours, he begins to care for this group of misfits, and they care for him in turn, turning a charming workplace comedy into a high-stakes family drama in its final hours. With an all-star voice cast, which includes Aaron Paul, Laura Bailey, Jeffrey Wright, Matthew Mercer, Travis Willingham, Erin Yvette, and more, Dispatch feels like a Hollywood-style adventure game that understands why this is one of gaming’s oldest (and best) genres. | Game Informer’s Dispatch Review

Famicom Detective Club’s roots in the adventure genre run deep, back to 1988’s The Missing Heir. These adventures had players solving mysteries through basic text menus, inputs, and choices: look around an area, decide what to look at, and who to talk to. Emio – The Smiling Man picks up right where those games left off with its 2024 revival, as you investigate a string of deaths tied to the mysterious “Smiling Man” legend. It’s dark and tense, with moments of sheer tension and thrills you wouldn’t always expect in a Nintendo game. But Emio’s core, beneath the twisting mystery, is its town and setting. This is perfect for someone who wants a small-town tale with compelling characters and outstanding atmosphere.

There’s nothing worse than being a nun who wants to be devout to her faith only for Satan to come along, personally whisper in your ear, and cause you to embark on a surreal odyssey with a prisoner that will have you running from bloodthirsty wolves, operating heavy machinery in winter, and looking at your past in new and revealing ways; at least if your name is Indika. Set in 19th-century Russia, Indika is an outcast who just wants to feel like a normal nun, but the aforementioned Satan invades her mind, and while he’s not as mischievous as other versions of the fallen angel, he’s a powerful storytelling device that serves as a catalyst for the questions the game serves up about morality, sin, faith, and doggedness. The surrounding third-person adventure game will have you solving environmental puzzles, engaging with 16-bit platformer flashbacks, and navigating through hellacious hallucinations as you search for a remedy to your devilish ailment. The next moment is always surprising and weird in Indika, and the way it asks you to engage with its narrative and its mechanics is a reminder that there are stories that only video games can tell. | Game Informer’s Indika Review

Mixtape is a coming-of-age story that follows counterculture music aficionado Stacey Rockford, everyone’s hometown stoner Van Slater, and the goody-two-shoes Cassandra Morino, who is ready to strike out on a path not created by her parents, as they spend their last night together. With high school graduation behind them, Stacey is ready to make her dream of becoming a music supervisor in the Big Apple happen, and there’s no convincing her she can’t do it. Though disappointment and frustration permeate this trio, so, too, do love, nostalgia, and a deep friendship, articulated through a genre-hopping mixtape of songs curated by Stacey. Each song represents a different chapter in the history of this trio and is backed by an often dream-like gameplay experience, whether that’s flying through sunset-kissed flower fields, headbanging in cars, orchestrating a magical fireworks display, or moving a couch. Though your mileage will vary depending on your own teenage history, it’s hard not to recognize the naive but heartfelt romanticism at the heart of Mixtape. That feeling, which every teenager who dreams of something bigger for themself has felt, is omnipresent in Mixtape’s Blue Moon Lagoon, and it makes Mixtape one of 2026’s best adventure games. | Game Informer’s Mixtape Review 

The premise of Mouthwashing is simple: your spaceship, the cargo carrier Tulpar, is stranded. An accident has left you adrift, with little hope for survival. What follows is a short, punchy, and dare-we-say visceral telling of the build-up and fallout of that fateful accident. Mouthwashing has garnered praise and acclaim for its tackling of heavy topics, as well as its gorgeous PSX-era art direction. It is also a game that wants to make use of the medium to impart something on you, to make you uncomfortable and then see what comes from that discomfort. As aptly said in Mouthwashing’s intro: I hope this hurts. This is easily one of the best examples of the indie horror space’s incredible output over the last few years, and a must-play if you’re interested in video games as an art form. | Game Informer’s Mouthwashing Review

2023’s Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo was a bit of a surprise: a horror-adventure led by mobile mystery maker Takanari Ishiyama that mixed gorgeous 360-degree dioramas with spine-chilling horror. Then, 2026 started off with a surprise anthological follow-up in The Mermaid’s Curse. While both are worth your time, The Mermaid’s Curse trades some of the scares for incredibly inventive use of its narrative structure, perspective-swapping, and lovely tactile puzzles. As the story winds through several different point-of-view leads – each wrapped up in the local legends of mermaids, curses, storms, and immortality – it’s all grounded in real-world history, folklore, legend, and places. There’s even an in-game encyclopedia to scour for more details, and yes, you are required to use it more than once to progress the plot. Paranormasight is a wonderful new series from Square Enix, one that keeps the adventure spirit alive while also pushing it forward onto new horizons. You won’t regret a few evenings squirreled away, seeing The Mermaid’s Curse all the way through to its ultimate conclusion. | Game Informer’s Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse review

The premise of Slay The Princess is exactly how it sounds. There’s a princess locked in a dungeon, and you’re supposed to kill her. The thing is, she looks pretty innocent; helpless, even. Surely she can’t be so bad, right? This highly-reactive game is molded based on your dialogue choices, and you’ll replay over and over (usually after dying) to see as many of its branching paths as possible. It’s all rendered in a pencil-sketch art style, ranging from cute and simple to horrifying and Lovecraftian. Oh, also, this is a bit of a horror game. You’re unlikely to make it out alive. Maybe that princess is worth slaying after all.

The Mermaid Mask is SFB Games’ best (and most recent) entry in the Detective Grimoire series, and it’s a great time for fans of murder mysteries or Ace Attorney. You’ve been tasked with investigating the Mortuga Submarine, as its captain, Magnus Mortuga, has been mysteriously slain. The ensuing mystery is captivating, but the bells and whistles are what make The Mermaid Mask stand out. The soundtrack is orchestral and grand, but not distracting. The environments are detailed and a treat to explore. But most of all, the characters are charming and lovingly animated, with eccentric designs and personalities to match. Skilled voice performances seal the deal (a relief, as most of the game is dialogue), and it’s always fun to strike up another conversation with a suspicious suspect. Each Detective Grimoire game has been even greater than the last; here’s hoping SFB Games decides to make more. | Game Informer’s The Mermaid Mask review