Summary
- Games with great writing elevate overall experience for players and garner critical acclaim.
- There are games where you can play as a writer, like Loco Motive and Bugsnax.
- Characters like Jade from Beyond Good & Evil and Alan Wake embody the essence of playable writers.
Games with great writing stand out from the crowd, elevating everything else about the game for the player and garnering critical acclaim as well. Writing is undoubtedly celebrated, but are writers? You might struggle to even think of many games where you play as a writer, with one obvious exception.
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PostsThere are more than you might think, and they deserve their time in the sun. If video game writing can be celebrated, so can playable writers in games. Read below to find some of the best video games where you get to play as a writer.
8 Loco Motive
Waiting For The Suburban Burden
12 Images 12 Images Close Like Follow FollowedLoco Motive
Mystery Comedy Adventure Puzzle Systems 3.5/5 Released 2024 Developer(s) Robust Games Publisher(s) Chucklefish Engine Unity Number of Players 1 Steam Deck Compatibility VerifiedWHERE TO PLAY
DIGITALLoco Motive is a love letter to classic point-and-click adventure games like the original Monkey Island or Broken Sword games, indulging in pixel graphics, madcap characters and puzzles with obscure solutions.
There are three playable characters, but the absolute standout is Herman Merman, detective novelist. He's almost absurdly over the top and a lot of fun, with fantastic novel titles like Herman Merman And The Suburban Burden.
7 Writer's Rush
Author Simulator
Some people question why you would want to play a game simulating a regular job, like a retail simulator or a mechanics simulator, although these games have a lot to offer. There are plenty of simulation games that simulate the fantasy of a harder to achieve career though.
Writer's Rush is an author simulator, pitting you against other authors and tasking you with writing the best book possible within the deadline. It's a very different approach to playing a writer and worth taking a look at.
6 Bugsnax
Eat All About It
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Like Follow FollowedBugsnax
Action Adventure Indie Games Puzzle Systems 3.0/5 OpenCritic Reviews Top Critic Avg: 75/100 Critics Rec: 65% Released November 12, 2020 ESRB E10+ for Everyone 10+: Animated Blood, Crude Humor, Fantasy Violence, Suggestive Themes Developer(s) Young Horses Publisher(s) Young Horses Engine Irrlicht EngineWHERE TO PLAY
SUBSCRIPTIONWhen you think of a game where you play as a writer, it's easy to imagine a novelist first, but don't overlook the not-so-humble journalist. In Bugsnax, you play as an unnamed journalist investigating the vanished Elizabert Megafig, bugsnax expert.
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Posts 1Although the stars of this game are the culinary critters, you'll be interviewing island residents and chasing down leads too. Bugsnax is an almost singular experience and one that more people need to take a big bite out of.
5 Marvel's Spider-Man
Hear Us Out
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LikeMarvel's Spider-Man
Action Adventure Open-World Systems OpenCritic Reviews Top Critic Avg: 88/100 Critics Rec: 95% Released September 7, 2018 ESRB T For Teen Due To Blood, Drug Reference, Language, Mild Suggestive Themes, Violence Developer(s) Insomniac Games Publisher(s) Sony Engine Insomniac Engine v.4.0 Franchise Marvel's Spider-ManWHERE TO PLAY
PHYSICALA game where you play as a writer can be great even while the sections where you play as that writer are... not so great. Marvel's Spider-Man is an amazing experience, putting you in the tights of the famous webslinger. Except for when it doesn't.
Sometimes the game yanks you out of the action and puts you in the shoes of journalist MJ Watson for a forced stealth section. She's a great character, but no one wanted this. Everyone wanted to be fighting crime with superpowers, not creeping around crates.
4 Beyond Good & Evil
Jaded Journalism
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Like Follow FollowedBeyond Good And Evil
Action Adventure Systems Released November 11, 2003 ESRB T For Teen due to Comic Mischief, Violence Developer(s) Ubisoft Milan, Ubisoft Montpellier Publisher(s) Ubisoft Engine JadeWHERE TO PLAY
DIGITALYou don't have to be sitting at a desk to qualify as a writer, and freelance journalist Jade is one of the best examples of this in any video game. She doesn't wait for the story to come to her; she gets out there and finds it.
Compared to other journalists you might play as, Jade isn't just relegated to conversation and stealth options. She gets into the thick of the action when she needs to, making good use of her staff to fight her way to the truth.
3 The Monkey Island Series
You Also Sell Fine Leather Jackets
Guybrush Threepwood is many things. A sort-of pirate, a surprisingly good insult sword fighter, and perhaps most shockingly of all, a writer. Guybrush has written memoirs of his experiences in the games, which, in line with his general luck, probably didn't sell well.
The Monkey Island games are undeniable classics, the cornerstone of the point-and-click genre. Guybrush bumbling his way through epic nautical adventures will never lose its charm. If only those memoirs were real, they'd be a great read.
2 Silent Hill
He'd Have Plenty Of Inspiration For A Horror Novel...
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Like Follow FollowedSilent Hill
Survival Horror Systems Released January 31, 1999 ESRB M For Mature 17+ Due To Animated Blood and Gore, Animated Violence Developer(s) Konami Publisher(s) Konami Engine Unreal Engine Franchise Silent HillWHERE TO PLAY
PHYSICALGiven everything that happens to Harry Mason in Silent Hill, it's easy to forget that he does have a life outside the horrors and monsters he encounters in the titular town. He's a writer, although nothing he could write would compare to his real life experiences.
Not a great deal of information is shared with the player about his career as a writer, but it isn't needed for the unbelievable experience that is Silent Hill.
1 Alan Wake
You Knew It Would Be Here
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LikeAlan Wake
Third-Person Shooter Survival Horror Systems 10.0/10 OpenCritic Reviews Top Critic Avg: 77/100 Released February 16, 2012 ESRB T for Teen: Blood, Language, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco, Violence Developer(s) Remedy Entertainment Publisher(s) Microsoft Engine havok, proprietary engineWHERE TO PLAY
DIGITALSome characters carve out such a distinctive space for themselves that they take full claim over something. Alan Wake in his titular game and the amazing sequel has done just that. No conversation about writers in video games is complete without discussing him.
Not only is he one of the best playable writers in video games, but his writing is central to his games in a way that no other game could realistically hope to achieve without just seeming like a ripoff. Most people envision Alan with a flashlight, but sitting at a typewriter is where the real action happens.
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