In the world of gaming, there is a wide range of game genres out there. Usually, it is very difficult to classify a game under a specific genre. For example, an action game can be classified into many subgenres such as platform games and fighting games.
Mystery and exploration games are also difficult to put under one roof. However, they share something in common which is the magic of telling a great story. Besides completing mission objectives, games that offer exploration as a choice allow players to fully immerse themselves in a virtual environment. Rather than fighting or solving puzzles, exploration games objective is to take in the surroundings. Sometimes, these games try to push the boundaries by telling emotionally gripping, cinematic stories which shape a magical experience for the player.
Game developpers and creators deserve all the credit for their creativity to make and produce such amazing games.
Gone Home
Gone home is an interactive exploration simulator. Interrogate every detail of a seemingly normal house to discover the story of the people who live there. Open any drawer and door. Pick up objects and examine them to discover clues. Uncover the events of one family's lives by investigating what they've left behind.
June 7, 1995. 1:15 AM.
You arrive home after a year abroad. You expect your family to greet you, but the house is empty. Something's not right. Where is everyone? And what's happened here?
Shelter
Shelter is a survival video game developed by Might and Delight for Windows and Mac. It was released on 28 August 2013 after being accepted through Steam Greenlight. In the game players control a mother badger who must protect and feed her cubs while travelling from their burrow to a new one.
Journey
Journey is a video game developed by thetgamecompany and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the Playstation 3. It was released on March 13, 2012, via the Playstation Network. In Journey, the player controls a robed figure in a vast desert, traveling towards a mountain in the distance.
Dear Esther
Dear Esther is a first-person video game developed by The Chinese Room for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. Spurning traditional game design, Dear Esther features virtually no puzzles or tasks. The player's only objective is to explore an unnamed island in the Hebrides, listening to a troubled man read a series of letters to his deceased wife. Details of her mysterious death are revealed as the player moves throughout the island.
Firewatch
Firewatch is a mystery set in the Wyoming wilderness, where your only emotional lifeline is the person on the other end of handheld radio. The year is 1989. You are a man named Henry who has retreated from your messy life to work as a fire lookout in the Wyoming wilderness. Perched atop a mountain, it's your job to find smoke and keep the wilderness safe.