Science fiction is a genre that often features humans dealing with the interstellar and technological discoveries that are assumed to take place as the years go on. That being said, the world of video games is home to plenty of science fiction stories without humans.
Some of them feature human-adjacent or related species, while others introduce original and fantastical alien races ranging in appearance, morality, and personality. Spanning from indie games to giant AAA blockbuster releases, video games are one of the best mediums for science fiction, with interesting new experiences releasing every year.
8 Warframe
The main race in the popular science fiction multiplayer game Warframe is called Tenno. They are a derivative race of the race known as Orokin, who themselves happen to be an evolutionary offspring of the human race. So, though the Tenno are relative to humans at some level, they aren't exactly close, genetically speaking.
Part of what makes Warframe visually appealing is the alien-like movement the Tenno are capable of, which lends itself to the fast-paced melee action gameplay that helps serve the game through its numerous updates and mechanical evolutions.
7 Oddworld
A big part of why gamers aren't immediately disgusted by Oddworld's gameplay is that it is filled with alien races, which include the race of its main character Abe, that being the Mudokon. The game sees dozens of these Mudokons die, which would be a hard thing to digest for most people if it was human beings.
The neat thing about this series is that it instills the reality that empathy and a desire for true freedom aren't uniquely human desires. No one should have to suffer under an oppressive rule and Oddworld asks the player to help the Mudokon overcome these specific circumstances.
6 Astro Bot Rescue Mission
Astro Bot Rescue Mission isn't just a playful science fiction adventure devoid of any humans, but it happens to be a phenomenal virtual reality experience. Many critics and fans alike consider it to be one of the best games people can play on PlayStation VR. The game is a platformer that's filled with colorful robotic personalities and a wonderful collection of music and level design.
It helps provide people with a basic understanding of what virtual reality is capable of doing when given to developers who understand how to merge the technology with gameplay genres, instead of forcing the two to coexist unnaturally alongside one another.
5 Rocket League
One would be hard-pressed to find a human in Rocket League. Many will have assumed that humans are behind the wheel of the fantastic science fiction vehicles working to score soccer-like goals, but that's just an assumption.
Nothing states that the vehicles in Rocket League are not sentient robotic creations that control themselves in an existence solely realized to provide a new form of entertainment. In the unlikely event that the team behind Rocket League decides to make a single-player story campaign then maybe the answer to whether or not humans canonically exist in its world will be answered.
4 Stray
2022's Stray is a neat little indie game in which players controlled a stray cat in a world full of robots. It may not be a challenging platformer, but the game offers an experience and perspective rarely realized in any entertainment medium. Sure, cats aren't for everyone, but the game manages to expertly deliver a gameplay experience where the player is in control of a fully realized and adorable cat.
Both cats and dogs yearn for human affection in their own distinct way, so seeing how a cat would respond to living in a world without human warmth and love is a nice backdrop to a video game where the focus is moving around a city as a cat would.
3 Ratchet & Clank
On the surface, Captain Qwark may look like the single human character in the Ratchet & Clank series, but eagle-eyed players will have noted that he only has three fingers on each of his hands. Canonically, Captain Qwark's race is labeled as Kerwanian and they are described as "human-like" with large chins.
The fact that they have six total fingers and not ten should also be labeled as a defining distinction between them and the human race. The world of Ratchet & Clank is as science fiction as anything can be and showcases how wonderous it can be even with the exclusion of humans.
2 The Outer Wilds
The draw of The Outer Wilds works specifically because it deals with a universe beyond that of humanity. Players have the task of figuring out what is happening as they become trapped in a time loop. It offers space exploration and travel and forces the player to figure out the mystery surrounding them.
Hearthians are the alien race at the core of the story, but they're not the only ones players interact with. The game is available on a variety of platforms and is considered a must-play for anyone interested in science fiction, alien races, or space travel.
1 NieR Automata
During NieR Automata, it is believed that humans escaped Earth successfully and colonized the moon in order to ensure survival. Well, it turns out that wasn't entirely true and the reality is a much more grim affair.
Humans actually went extinct thousands of years ago and the bunker on the moon was nothing but a false beacon of hope. Not all players who completed the game will have come to this conclusion though, as the information is hidden away in various in-game text files such as the logs and data files that players can come across.