The most popular games in the gaming industry usually revolve around quick reflexes, complex game mechanics, and flashy gameplay. Just visit SteamCharts, and you’ll see that games packed with action are the majority in the top 10 list. However, the constant adrenaline rush can be tiring in the long run, so sometimes it’s better to chill out and put the gun or sword down.

In recent years, we’ve seen increased popularity in the walking simulator genre. While it doesn’t sound particularly appealing, walking simulator games are known for their clever storytelling and rich atmosphere. Gone Home is one of those games featuring slow, well-crafted pacing as you uncover the deep, emotional story filled with plot twists.

Looking for a similar story exploration game? If so, we’ve prepared a list of similar games like Gone Home, where character development and story presentation sit above everything else. Furthermore, you can purchase most of the games presented here at RoyalCDKeys at low prices!

• Release Date: April 24, 2017
• Developer: Giant Sparrow
• Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, iPhone/iPad
• Metascore: 89

What Remains of Edith Finch is an unusual, first-person perspective adventure game that touches on the transience of human life as we try to discover why we are the last surviving member of our family. Giant Sparrow won a Bafta Award for this one, so you’re in for a real treat.

The game is a collection of short stories telling the fate of individual members of the American Finch family burdened with a mysterious curse. Each story ends with a family member’s death. The action of individual episodes takes place over a period of 100 years, from the beginning of the 20th century to the present day. In turn, the place of action is the state of Washington, full of forest and mountainous terrain, reminiscent of David Lynch's cult series Twin Peaks.

Edith sets on a journey to investigate what’s behind this alleged curse. She discovers that genuinely likable characters have met the same tragic end. The individual stories are a mix of comedy and drama, leaving you laughing and crying alternately. The family history blends surrealism and reality with utmost accuracy, making you almost believe these are real-life events. It’s a true gem among walking simulators and a definite must-play for every fan of the genre.

What Remains of Edith Finch Steam Key is available on RoyalCDKeys.

Key Features

• A deep, emotional narrative that touches on the transcience of life.
• A mix of comedy and drama.
• A short story that can be completed in one evening.
• Surprising and satisfying ending.

• Release Date: September 25, 2014
• Developer: The Astronauts
• Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One
• Metascore: 82

Do you love detective stories? If so, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter delivers a twisted story for all criminal minds out there. It’s a horror game where you will investigate the cause of a brutal murder in Red Creek Valley – where nothing is as it seems.

The story revolves around the mysterious disappearance of Ethan Carter. You’ll get in the shoes of Paul Prospero, a private investigator with paranormal abilities who received a disturbing letter from Ethan and realizes the boy is in grave danger. He ends up in a beautiful mountain valley in the Midwest of the United States, where he finds the horribly massacred bodies of Ethan's abductors. With the help of modern detective tools and various abilities, you must unravel the dark mystery of the murders and learn the fate of the lost child.

As a detective, you will explore the environment and search for clues. Paul has a special ability, however. He can communicate with the dead, and dead men are a valuable source of information tied to Ethan’s vanishing. You will work on several cases throughout the story, slowly piecing everything together to a final conclusion. The photogrammetric visuals are aesthetically pleasing, and the overall tone fits perfectly with the narrative experience.

Key Features

• A psychological horror adventure for all criminal minds out there.
• Photorealistic graphics.
• Non-linear approach to solving cases.
• Vast and unknowable world of Red Creek Valey ready to explore.

• Release Date: September 10, 2020 (PC)
• Developer: Giant Sparrow, Inline Assembly
• Platforms: PC, PlayStation 3/4/Vita, iPhone/iPad
• Metascore: N/A

Before anyone ever heard about What Remains of Edith Finch, Giant Sparrow had debuted with an exploration adventure game The Unfinished Swan. Interestingly, the production was part of the developer's special agreement with Sony, committing to deliver three high-quality titles exclusively for the PlayStation 3 console. They began the project in 2008 and continued intermittently for nearly four years. Sometime after, it also got released on PC. Was it worth the wait?

In some respects, The Unfinished Swan is even better than its spiritual successors. Especially when it comes to gameplay, based on the abstract idea of painting the world. You’re going to move in a flat, lacking depth environment, as all the scenery elements are snow-white and remain completely indistinguishable. There’s also a mysterious guide in the form of a swan, leaving yellow footprints, but it’s not your only navigation source.

At any time, you can splatter a portion of paint which, by adhering to various surfaces, highlights the shapes and textures of the world, revealing the strange creatures that inhabit it. In this way, you’ll find completely new places and surprises that the creators have hidden from your sight at every turn. A must-play for Giant Sparrow’s games fans.

The Unfinished Swan Steam Key is available for purchase on RoyalCDKeys.

Key Features

• The debut game from the creators of What Remains of Edith Finch.
• Surreal world where learning its secrets will get you closer to its builder and eccentric ruler.
• Easter eggs and findings hidden in unusual places.

• Release Date: October 20, 2020
• Developer: Frictional Games
• Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
• Metascore: 80

After The Dark Descent and A Machine for Pigs, Frictional Games delivers the third installment of the iconic, first-person horrorgame. Does it deliver the same tension and feeling of restlessness around you? Let’s say that completing its seven-hour campaign will give you nightmares for a long time. While the second game was met with mixed reviews, the third part redeemed its sins, improving in almost every aspect.

The action takes place in the Algerian desert. However, it is not a direct continuation of Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, but a new title in the same universe. You play as Tasi Trianon, who remembers nothing of her past and embarks on a terrifying adventure full of dangers. She has to look deep into her mind and answer the nagging questions about who she is and how she found herself in the middle of the desert. Our heroine overcomes numerous obstacles, faces her fear, fights pain, and escapes and hides from a mysterious beast. She also battles her inner weaknesses and tries to survive.

The gameplay mechanics are the same across all the games in the series. It’s a first-person horror with puzzle game elements and a dense, chilling atmosphere. You’ll meet some terrifying monsters along the way, but you can’t fight them. To survive, Tasi has to hide and run away. You’re also going to wander through locations shrouded in darkness, collect items and notes, and learn the history of the place, bringing you closer to the grand finale.

Amnesia: Rebirth Steam Key is available on RoyalCDKeys. 

Key Features

• The third installment of the renowned Amnesia series, one of the most popular walking sims.
• A great story with plenty of plot twists.
• Great soundtrack and unsettling sound effects, especially in headphones.
• Polished shadow and lighting effects create a bleak and dark atmosphere.

• Release Date: October 17, 2013
• Developer: Galactic Cafe
• Platforms: PC
• Metascore: 88

The Stanley Parable is quite a phenomenon. It started as a Half-Life 2 mod created by a small group of enthusiasts, but due to overwhelming popularity, it was released as a standalone game sometime later. And it’s hardly possible to write anything about it without spoiling the fun. However, I’ll try my best to point out its advantages spoiler-free.

The game starts in your typical office environment, where Stanley is employee number 427. He’s been busy doing the same repetitive tasks every day when suddenly his monitoring screen went blank, leaving Stanley clueless about what to do. Given the unusual circumstances, Stanley decides to leave the safety of his office to discover what happened. Even worse, the entire facility seems completely abandoned.

Once you gain control over our protagonist, you can freely decide if you want to strictly follow the path told by the narrator or go your own way. Of course, he will actively comment on every action you take, often leaving you wondering how developers predicted dozens of unusual decisions players would make.

The Stanley Parable offers a quite unique interactive experience, highly rewarding those thinking outside the box and not afraid of breaking the rules. There aren’t many games that break the fourth wall as intelligently as The Stanley Parable does. Non-linear storytelling offers more than 10 different endings, so discovering everything will take dozens of playthroughs. Not to mention the typical British humor, bringing the narration to another level, often leaving you with bursts of laughter.

The Stanley Parable Steam Key is available on RoyalCDKeys.

Key Features

• One-of-a-kind first-person adventure with dozen endings based on your decisions or lack of them.
• Phenomenal narrator voiced by British voice actor Kevan Brighting.
• A non-linear story makes you question the video game industry and life itself.
• Half-Life 2 mod that got released as a standalone game.

• Release Date: August 1, 2017
• Developer: Hinterland
• Platforms: PC
• Metascore: 77

The Long Dark has a lot in common with walking simulators, but other than that, it’s a survival game in flesh and blood. If you’ve ever felt that Gone Home was underwhelming difficulty-wise, this one will certainly meet your demands. Instead of exploring a family home, you’ll travel through a snowy, hostile environment with dangers lurking everywhere.

As one of the survivors of a plane crash caused by a geomagnetic storm, you’ll embark on the journey to find your missing friend, Dr. Greenwood. However, you’ll soon discover how unpleasant is the area you’ve found yourself in. You won’t find anything supernatural here; it’s the very nature that’s most dangerous. You need to hide from the harsh cold, seek food, and search for valuable resources. Only then will you be able to set a campfire or craft weapons to defend against wildlife.

The best feature, however, is the inclusion of two separate game modes. In addition to the basic sandbox mode, there’s a single-player campaign divided into five episodes. The story focuses on two survivors – William and Astrid. They both must find each other and discover the history of Great Bear Island, where the action takes place.

Apart from survival mechanics, in story mode you have to carry out dialogues with the quirky characters, perform various tasks for them, and sometimes face moral choices. If you’re not afraid of the chilling silence and want to test your survival skills, there isn’t a better choice than The Long Dark.

The Long Dark Steam Key is available on RoyalCDKeys.

Key Features

• Unpleasant wilderness covered in snow and ice.
• Thought-out survival mechanics where you have to look out for wild animals but also hide from bad weather.
• Sandbox and story mode.

• Release Date: April 14, 2016
• Developer: The Chinese Room
• Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4
• Metascore: 76

A spiritual successor to Dear Esther by the same studio, which follows the exact same formula in terms of gameplay. However, it’s the prettiest game on our list, thanks to the usage of CryEngine, and a must-play for die-hard walking simulator fans. Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture focuses solely on exploration without any puzzles along the way, but the terrific voice acting and an intriguing story makes up for it.

You’ll visit the idyllic town of Yaughton, located in English Shropshire. It is clear that something terrible has happened in this place – not a living soul can be seen in the area, and objects scattered around suggest that people have left their homes in a hurry. Your task is to explore this abandoned world, and you’re free to go whenever you want, right from the start.

Hundreds of messages, recordings, tapes, or phone calls are scattered throughout Yaughton. Discovering and replaying them will reveal a linear but multi-threaded plot, telling the story of several villagers. The more hidden messages you’ll find, the better knowledge of what happened in Yaughton you’ll have.

Developers have put a lot of effort into recreating the atmosphere of a sleepy British town, along with the surrounding fields, windmills, or campsite located on the lake. The game very quickly introduces additional narrative means, using the repertoire of science-fiction literature, which fits perfectly within the presented world. It’s not the most mechanically advanced game here, but it redeems itself with its visuals and story.

Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture Steam Key is available on RoyalCDKeys.

Key Features

• A post-rapture world stylized as a small British town.
• Five different story chapters in total.
• Uncover the mystery behind Yaughton through radios, broadcasts, and phones.
• Stunning visuals thanks to CryEngine and exceptional voice acting.

• Release Date: February 9, 2016
• Developer: Campo Santo
• Platforms: PC
• Metascore: 81

Independent studios often pick walking simulators as their genre of choice. And it’s not a bad thing since they’re usually spiced by dedication, immersion, and true passion. Firewatch is no exception here, which resulted in immediate success and a huge praise from the critics. The majority of the positive reception comes from the accurate depiction of Wyoming wilderness.

You play as Henry, a tired guy of about forty who decides to get away from his daily problems. He escapes from civilization to serve as a fire lookout, whose main task is to look out for fire outbreaks from a high tower set among the trees. He passes his days patrolling the park and using a walkie-talkie to talk to a supervisor. The seemingly peaceful job of solitude soon becomes complicated when strange things happen around Henry.

Like the game above, you will focus solely on exploration and be in constant touch with Delilah, your supervisor, through a handheld radio. As the game progresses, your relation with her will become more personal, getting to know the protagonist better. The conversations between them soon become the game's driving force as weirder events and ongoing signs of human sabotage emerge. Firewatch mastered its narrative aspect, and it’s a perfect proposition for a one, long evening.

Firewatch GOG Key is available on RoyalCDKeys.

Key Features

• A perfect representation of Wyoming wilderness.
• Comic-like graphics.
• Intriguing storyline for fans of mystery-solving.
• Exceptionally written relationship between the main protagonist and his supervisor.

• Release Date: June 3, 2014
• Developer: Altright Games
• Platforms: PC, PlayStation 3/4, Xbox 360/One
• Metascore: 59

Yet another proposition for criminal minds. Murdered: Soul Suspect should satisfy all mystery-solving experts since this one is quite unusual. You don’t always have the opportunity to solve the case of your own murder, anyway. It’s an interactive thriller where detective elements play a key role. It’s also the only TTP game on our list.

The action occurs in Salem, Massachusetts, and is associated primarily with 17th-century history concerning witches being hunted down and burned at stake. The game also takes pains to create a mystical atmosphere, with exposure to supernatural powers.

You play as Ronan O'Connor, a detective murdered at the beginning of the game, and – like in the film Ghost starring Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore – transforms into a ghost. It’s your task to unravel the intriguing mystery behind his murder and discover who is behind this foul deed, thus bringing peace to the soul. Airtight Games studio has paid much attention to incorporating a gripping story layer.

You’ll uncover successive fragments of the investigation, in many ways resembling the detective production of the Team Bondi studio – L.A. Noire. Then, you can draw conclusions based on the available clues. When the protagonist collects sufficient facts, it will lead to an uncomplicated mini-game, recreating the course of events.

To sum up, it’s a unique mix of cinematic games like Beyond Two Souls and The Walking Dead decorated with original ideas. It’s more about storytelling and immersion rather than the difficulty of case-solving, so keep that in mind, and you’ll have a blast playing this one.

Murdered: Soul Suspect Steam Key is available on RoyalCDKeys.

Key Features

• Detective game with paranormal abilities.
• Unique presentation of the city of Salem.
• Third-person perspective.
• Resemblance to L.A. Noire, Beyond: Two Souls, and The Walking Dead.

As we said at the beginning, this concise list is all you need to delve into high-quality walking simulators. Whether you’re a fan of the genre or discovered it recently, they will give you hours of unique experience and leave you craving more. If you’ve liked our list, visit RoyalCDKeys’ blog for more gaming-related articles. See you at the next one!