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25 Great Games Like Dear Esther

Our experts have spent time searching for great games similar to Dear Esther and have found the following:

In Dear Esther you explore an uninhabited Hebridean island while an old man reads a series of letters to his eponymous deceased wife. Themes of love, loss, guilt and redemption intertwine with the bleak geography and orchestral music. As you explore the derelict remains of buildings, shipwrecks and caves, you find a story that must be interpreted to make sense.

Unfortunately, Dear Esther is not available on Android, Switch or iOS. However, we recommend the following games that offer a similar experience or theme:

Dear Esther

Game Details

Release Date: 14/02/2012, updated in 2016

Out Now: Mac, PC, PS4 and Xbox One

Content Rating: PEGI 12

Players: 1

Genres: Narrative, Traversal and Adventure

Accessibility: 3 features

Components: 3D First-Person and Open World

Developer: Chinese Room (@ChineseRoom)

Costs: Purchase cost

6 Similar Games Short List

Here are our hand-picked short list of similar games; the perfect thing to play next if you enjoyed Dear Esther. We don't use automatic matching, instead, we hand-pick games that are good to play if you have enjoyed Dear Esther.

Everything

Release Date: 21/03/2017, updated in 2019

Out Now: Mac, PC, PS4 and Switch

Skill Rating: 3+ year-olds

Components: 3D Third-Person and Open World

Everything is an unusual game that simulates a world where you can become any object. It sounds strange and not much fun, but the enjoyment is in discovering how small or how big a thing you can become. From tiny atoms to whole planets and everything in...

A Walk With Yiayia

Release Date: 20/08/2022

Out Now: PC

Skill Rating: 11+ year-olds

Components: 2D Overhead and Hand-Made

A Walk with Yiayia is an adventure game where you go on a walk with your Greek grandmother after she's lost her confidence from having a fall. You reassure her and connect with conversation and help her complete small quests in a relaxing neighbourhood.

Farewell North

Release Date: Coming soon

Coming Soon: PC

Skill Rating: 10+ year-olds

Components: 3D Third-Person and Cartoon

Farewell North is an adventure where you play a collie dog who restores colour to a desolate Scottish island. You explore with your owner who you help by uncovering hidden paths, evading monsters, and freeing wildlife. It stands out for the fluid canine...

Everybody's Gone to the Rapture

Release Date: 12/08/2015, updated in 2016

Out Now: Mac, PC and PS4

Components: 3D First-Person and Open World

Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture lands you in a fictional deserted English village in 1984. As you walk the streets of another era you discover bright human forms who re-enact events like a radio play. Through their eyes, you see a web of fear,...

Firewatch

Release Date: 20/09/2016

Out Now: Mac, PC, PS4, Switch and Xbox One

Skill Rating: 11+ year-olds

Components: 3D First-Person, Cartoon and Open World

Firewatch is an explorative adventure where you play a fire lookout in America’s Shoshone National Forest. It has a relational and conspiracy undertone similar to the podcast/radio drama and Netflix show [link to...

Journey

Release Date: 14/03/2012, updated in 2019

Out Now: PC, PS3, PS4 and iOS

Skill Rating: 11+ year-olds

Components: 3D Third-Person and Open World

Journey is an adventure game set in a desert. Exploring the eerie sandscape, you discover a world abandoned by the race that created it. The sense of space and scale evokes feelings of aloneness and being lost. But then the game pairs you with other...

18 Similar Games Long List

Here are our hand-picked long list of similar games; the perfect thing to play next if you enjoyed Dear Esther. We don't use automatic matching, instead, we hand-pick games that are good to play if you have enjoyed Dear Esther.

The Unfinished Swan

Release Date: 16/10/2012

Out Now: PC, PS Vita, PS3, PS4 and iOS

Skill Rating: 8+ year-olds

Components: 3D First-Person

The Unfinished Swan invites you to explore a world by splashing paint on it. The tactile experience leads you into a fairy tale about an unfinished painting that leads a child back to his parent. It stands out for the unusual revealing of a world you...

Tree

Release Date: 13/08/2018

Out Now: PC

Components: 2D Side-On and Hand-Made

Tree is a short 15 minute game that tells the story of a boy who plants a small tree. You control the planting, watering and how the tree grows each season. As you do this the years pass and the boy...

What Remains of Edith Finch

Release Date: 18/04/2017, updated in 2022

Out Now: PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One and iOS

Coming Soon: Xbox Series X|S

Skill Rating: 14+ year-olds

Components: 3D First-Person

Edith Finch is the surviving member of the Finch family, who seem to have died from a curse. In first-person perspective, you return to the family’s coastal home to learn about each relative’s final hours by exploring their rooms in turn.

Virginia

Release Date: 22/11/2016

Out Now: Mac, PC, PS4 and Xbox One

Components: 3D First-Person and Cartoon

Virginia is a mystery adventure game where you play a graduate FBI agent Anne Tarver as she investigates her first case: the disappearance of a boy in rural Virginia. You explore the world and find clues to solve the crime, all the time aware that other...

Gone Home

Release Date: 15/08/2013, updated in 2016

Out Now: Mac, PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One and iOS

Skill Rating: 13+ year-olds

Components: 3D First-Person

Gone Home places you in the role of Katie, returning from overseas to her family home. But the house is deserted and by exploring the rooms you piece together what happened to her sister, Sam. It’s a mystery to solve, but a common one of family...

LOCK

LOCK (Dreams)

Release Date: 17/10/2020, updated in 2021

Out Now: PS4 and PS5

Skill Rating: 9+ year-olds

Components: 3D First-Person

LOCK is a puzzle game about escaping rooms. LOCK stands for Logic Operated Combination Keep, referring to a digital password protected door lock. You must discover secret four letter word clues by exploring each space, in order to unlock panels, collect...

A Dark Room

Release Date: 10/06/2013, updated in 2019

Out Now: Switch, Web and iOS

Skill Rating: 8+ year-olds

Components: Open World and Text

A Dark Room is an adventure where you try and survive in the wild. The world is depicted with just text but leads you into a dense narrative with intriguing visitors and a steadily expanding world. It has a simple start – a single option to stoke a...

Myst

Release Date: 01/01/1983

Out Now: 3DS and 2DS, Android, DS, Mac, PC, PSP, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and iOS

Components: 3D First-Person

Myst is a classic video game graphic adventure. Published in 1983, and selling over six million copies, it pre-dates many modern adventure games and created a new genre for gaming. Exploring by clicking in the world to move, you use a special book to...

Fractured Minds

Release Date: 14/11/2019

Out Now: PC, PS4, Switch and Xbox One

Components: 3D First-Person

Fractured Minds is a short game that explores the implications of living with mental illness. It aims to promote awareness and empathy for these issues. You explore everyday spaces that behave in strange and sometimes disturbing ways. To progress, you...

The Stillness of the Wind

Release Date: 07/02/2019

Out Now: Mac, PC, Switch and iOS

Components: 2D Overhead and Hand-Made

In The Stillness of the Wind you play an old woman who looks after a dilapidated farm. Over the course of a few hours, no matter what your efforts, the farm falls apart as you learn about the woman’s family and have the chance to ruminate on her...

Sunset

Release Date: 21/05/2015

Out Now: Mac and PC

Components: 3D First-Person

Sunset tasks you with cleaning a large apartment in a fictional 1970s South American city. But outside the apartment, there is unrest and rioting. The chaos of the country and the repetitive daily chores grate against one another to create a meditative...

Where the Water Tastes Like Wine

Release Date: 28/02/2018, updated in 2019

Out Now: Mac, PC, PS4, Switch and Xbox One

Skill Rating: 12+ year-olds

Components: 2D Side-On

Where the Water Tastes Like Wine is a narrative adventure game about sharing stories. You travel across the Depression-era United States discovering and collecting the stories of the people and places you encounter on your journey. You use this...

A Memoir Blue

Release Date: 24/03/2022

Out Now: PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One and iOS

Skill Rating: 8+ year-olds

Components: 2D Overhead and Cartoon

A Memoir Blue is a narrative game about an athlete's relationship with her mother. It's a story told through a dream, which you move along by interacting with everyday objects. It stands out for the metaphorical use of visual styles and the poignant...

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter

Release Date: 26/09/2014, updated in 2019

Out Now: PC and PS4

Coming Soon: Switch and Xbox One

Components: 3D First-Person and Open World

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is a narrative mystery game about Paul Prospero, an occult-minded detective who receives a disturbing letter from Ethan Carter saying he is in danger. It turns out that Ethan vanished in the wake of a brutal murder. You...

Skye

Release Date: Coming soon

Coming Soon: PC

Components: 3D Third-Person, Day and Night and Open World

Skye is an open-world survival game set in Viking times. You explore a vast 1:4 scale map of the Isle of Skye as you barter with locals, survive the brutal weather, grow crops and hunt animals. The varied and detailed ever-changing world and the expanse...

Ghost on the Shore

Release Date: 24/02/2022

Out Now: Mac and PC

Skill Rating: 10+ year-olds

Components: 3D Third-Person

Ghost on the Shore is a narrative adventure about emotional and community ties that last after people pass away. You encounter a headstrong ghost who urges you to investigate an island with a tragic secret. Choices in dialogue shape the bond between the...

N.E.R.O.: Nothing Ever Remains Obscure

Release Date: 15/05/2015

Out Now: PC, PS4, Switch and Xbox One

Components: 3D First-Person, 3D Third-Person and Open World

N.E.R.O. is a story-driven first-person indie game with puzzles to solve and story threads to follow. The player character essentially walks a linear path and solves puzzles blocking their way, while a story is narrated.

Blackhaven

Release Date: 27/07/2021

Out Now: PC

Skill Rating: 12+ year-olds

Components: 3D First-Person

Blackhaven is a narrative adventure where you play a college intern at Blackhaven Hall, a historic mansion burned down during the American Revolution. Play involves exploring the building and discovering a trail of secrets and misdeeds that span centuries.

12 Younger Content Rating than Dear Esther

If Dear Esther is not age appropriate for your child, here are similar games ordered by age rating so you can find an age-appropriate alternative that’s also a game they will love.

Everything

The Stillness of the Wind

N.E.R.O.: Nothing Ever Remains Obscure

Journey

The Unfinished Swan

A Dark Room

2 Video Games Like Dear Esther Based on Genre

These are games of a similar genre mix to Dear Esther. This includes games from the Adventure, Narrative and Traversal genres. We pick out games of a similar PEGI rating to further hone these generated suggestions.

A Walk With Yiayia

Cloudpunk

11 Video Games With More Documented Accessibility Features than Dear Esther

If you like the sound of Dear Esther but it doesn’t offer the accessibility you require, the games in this section offer a similar experience but with more Accessibility Features. You can view a full breakdown in our Dear Esther Accessibility Report.

Gone Home

Farewell North

Where the Water Tastes Like Wine

Everybody's Gone to the Rapture

Tree

The Stillness of the Wind

Journey

Dear Esther is in These Lists

In addition to the similar games listed above, which have been linked to this game specifically in the database, you may find games with a similar theme to Dear Esther in the following lists:

The Great British Video Game

LIST

Solve a Mystery

LIST

Independent Games Festival Awards

LIST

Play The Seasons: Get Lost in Bleak Winter Tales

LIST

Curated lists:
Game genre:
Style of Play:
Components:

How long to play:
User-generated content:	No
Accessibility features:	Yes

Controls
Gamepad:
Mouse And Keyboard:
Touchscreen:
Motion:	Motion Aiming Motion Pointing Motion Tilting Motion Gesture Motion Camera
Remap Controls:
Button Combinations:	Holding Down Buttons Optional Rapid Repeated Pressing Optional No Simultaneous Buttons
Controller Vibration:
Sensitivity:

Getting Started
Onboarding Before Play:
Assistance Getting Starting:	Tutorials Practice Area View Control Mapping Assistance With Controls Reaction-Time Not Critical Low Pressure Adjust Speed No Jump Scares
Assistance For Progressing:	Guaranteed Progress With God Mode Bank Progress With Frequent Checkpoints Assisted Progress With Boosts Assisted Progress With Hints Assisted Recall for Characters Assisted Recall for Narrative and Dialogue Save Progress Anytime

Reading
Reading Level:
Text Visibility:	Large Clear Text High Contrast Text
Subtitles:
Captions:
Voice Acted:

Navigation
Clarity:
Head-Up Display:
Menu Navigation:

Visual
Contrast:
Interactive Elements:
Visual Distractions:
Audio Cues for Visual Events:
Narration for Visual Elements:
	Motion Sickness Friendly
Colour Options:
Play Without Sight:
Violence:

Audio
	Balance Audio Levels
Audio Events:
	Play Without Hearing

Communication
Player-to-Player Online Communication:
Online Communication Assistance:

Difficulty
Difficulty Options:	Simple and Full Version No Memorisation Advantage No Hidden Information No Deceit Advantage No Colour Advantage No Mathematics Advantage No Weighing Decisions

Getting Started
Assistance Getting Started:	Clear Manual Electronic Version of Manual Electronic Version of Manual for Screen Readers Getting Started Video Digital Version Reference Aid
Assistance Progressing:	Play Order Tokens (Or play order doesn’t change) Reaction-Time Not Critical Low Pressure Low Impact Catch Up Rule

Reading
Reading Level:
Necessary Text Visibility:	Large Clear Text on Board (Or no text required) Large Clear Text on Cards (Or no text required) High Contrast Text (Or no text required) QR Code For Text (Or no text required) Primary and Secondary Text Distinguishable (Or no text required) Information Orientation Clear Icons

Physical
Pieces:	Components are Distinguishable by Touch Components are Replaceable No Non-Standard Dice (Or No Dice) No Tiny Pieces No Paper Money No Sprawl
Cards:	Large Card Size Standard Card Shape Limited Hand Management No Excessive Card Shuffling No Right-Handed Advantage
Placement:	No Unbound Placement Player Components Not Shared No Fiddly Placement Easily Verbalised Actions

Visual
Printed Visibility:	Colour Blind Friendly Design Double-Coding Colour High Contrast Colours
Component Identifiability:	Outline Key Elements No Busy Backgrounds Easily Verbalised Game State No Close Inspection Disadvantage Playable Without Sight

Audio
Communication:	Audio Cues Mirrored Visually (Or no critical audio signals) No Pressured Reveals No Pressured Communication Playable Without Hearing

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In-game purchases:
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Gender and Sexuality Choices:
Gender Representation:
Sexual Orientation Representation:

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25 Great Games Like Dear Esther

Game Details

6 Similar Games Short List

18 Similar Games Long List

12 Younger Content Rating than Dear Esther

2 Video Games Like Dear Esther Based on Genre

11 Video Games With More Documented Accessibility Features than Dear Esther

Dear Esther is in These Lists

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