There's nothing better than getting lost in a good story. While picking up a good novel is a great way to while away the hours, there's something special about narrative-driven video games, too. It's fun to explore an imaginary world while having some agency about where the story will go.

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The following games are varied in genre (RPGs, visual novels, dating simulators), but they all have two things in common: in-depth lore and a thoroughly engaging story. Book lovers of all kinds will be able to find something here to enjoy.

6 Disco Elysium

It seems fitting to start this list with a game containing over a million words. Disco Elysium is the very definition of a story-rich RPG: players can spend hours pouring over the lore and backstory of Elysium, with many interesting characters to find and nuggets of history to discover. Hours can be spent just exploring the protagonist's mind.

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The player steps into the role of Harry, a beleaguered (and massively hungover) cop on the floor of a hotel room in the fictional city of Revachol. Harry is supposed to be solving a mystery; the problem is that he needs to remember who he is. What unfolds is an incredibly complex, engaging, and funny story with an enormous amount of dialogue to enjoy. A cult classic RPG with a huge following, it's a truly unique game perfectly suited for book lovers.

5 Subsurface Circular

Released in 2017, Subsurface Circular is a text adventure game with beautiful visuals and an intriguing story. Players will control a robot, interacting on an underground train, slowly working to solve a mystery by swapping information with other robots. There are puzzle elements involved: players must collect 'focal points' from conversations, which they can use to gain knowledge from other robots.

There's an interesting underlying story here about how robots interact with humanity and the impact of automation on human life. The story becomes tenser as the player progresses, and the ending is dramatic. As players may expect from a text adventure game, it's a good choice for book lovers. It's a little like stepping into a sci-fi novel for a while.

4 I Was A Teenage Exocolonist

I Was A Teenage Exocolonist is another interesting sci-fi story, this time following the first extrasolar space colony as they try to settle on the alien planet of Vertumna. It's an interesting mixture of light and darkness: gentle content warnings, quiet gameplay, and gorgeous pastel watercolors are juxtaposed with the game's darker themes and shocking story beats.

Taking on the role of a child living her formative years in the colony, players can choose how to spend their time each 'season,' slowly getting to know other characters along the way. I Was A Teenage Exocolonist has a branching narrative, and players will make many small decisions over the course of a playthrough, which can lead to one of 29 endings. Fans of Becky Chambers and other sci-fi authors will probably enjoy this one.

3 The Outer Worlds

RPGs are a good choice for book lovers: the dialogue, world-building, and rich lore tend to appeal to those who love to lose themselves in a good story. There are many to choose from, of course, but The Outer Worlds is a sci-fi game that gets a special mention for a few reasons: the gorgeous visuals, excellent world-building, and interesting characters to interact with.

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The Outer Worlds is the story of the crew onboard the good ship Unreliable as they navigate to beautiful, vibrant worlds to complete quests. Each member of the party has a rich and interesting backstory, and it's fun to slowly get to know them as the game progresses. With around 40 hours of content to explore, The Outer Worlds is a nice place to get lost in for a while.

2 Doki Doki Literature Club

What could be better for book lovers than a literature club? It's worth noting here that there will be some minor spoilers in this section, so if players have never experienced Doki Doki before, they might want to stop reading here! In this highly regarded visual novel, the protagonist is looking to meet girls. What's a better way to do that than by joining a club? Persuaded by his friend Sayori, he joins a group of four girls, sharing their poetry together every week.

Unfortunately, things start to go wrong when a tragic event impacts the club. From that point on, Doki Doki goes from a harmless dating simulator to something much more meta (and horrifying, of course). Doki Doki Literature Club is a must-play for horror fans, as well as players looking for a visual novel with a twist.

1 Emily Is Away

Set in the early noughties, Emily Is Away manages to perfectly replicate the feeling of being a teenager exploring Facebook for the first time. Back in the day when Facebook was the hottest new thing, teens were at the forefront of learning how to relate to each other using social media.

An indie visual novel, Emily Is Away allows the player to choose different dialogue options when sending messages to their friends. Slowly, the player will start to build friendships (and romantic relationships) with different characters, and there are several endings (and even more sub-endings) to find. Sitting down to play Emily Is Away will rocket players back to 2004/2005, from the mockup of early Facebook to a cute nod to old-school YouTube.

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