2016 was not a good year for video games. Besides Doom, Overwatch, and Civilization VI, there weren’t many bright spots. Once again, we got to rely on the indie industry to surprise us. Campo Santo studios released a short but very intriguing and significant game: Firewatch.

It took time to gain its audience, but in the end, people dived into this adventure game with incredible writing and dialogue that made an itch on players for more games like Firewatch.

That’s why we are here. You did it in one sitting and want some more. We bring to you a big list of games like Firewatch that resemble it in different ways.

In this section, we’ll look at games with the main focus on exploration. You are presented with a landscape and discover that something happened, like Firewatch and the Wyoming park that you watch from your fire lookout.

Close to the Sun (2019)

• Release Date: May 2, 2019
• Developer: Storm in a Teacup
• Available on: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC
• Metascore: 66

Did you tell me that you like Firewatch AND Bioshock? So, Helios is the perfect place for you. The developer studio Storm in a Teacup took inspiration from Ken Levine’s work and made an homage to Andrew Ryan’s utopia, now reprised by Nikola Tesla. 

On this walking simulator, you are searching for your sister, exploring this “Art Deco” city. But, in the meantime, you have to uncover some horrifying truths about this perfect city and survive its many traps and dangers.

Kentucky Route Zero (2013)

• Release Date: January 7, 2013
• Developer: Cardboard Computer
• Available on: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC
• Metascore: 88

You are a delivery driver. You travel in your truck and make pitch stops on Gas Stations like many others. There is nothing extraordinary about it. You are a regular guy with a regular job. Then you start to talk to people, and things become…complicated.

Developed by Cardboard Computer for seven years, you will explore the wonders and weirdness that Kentucky Route Zero offers in this five acts story. By simply talking to strangers and making choices along the way, you’ll unravel the mystique that awaits you in this point-and-click adventure game.

Kentucky Route Zero Steam CD Key is available on RoyalCDKeys.

Tacoma (2017)

• Release Date: August 2, 2017
• Developer: Fullbright
• Available on: PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Amazon Luna
• Metascore: 79

It’s 2088. You are Amy Ferrier, a contractor aboard a futuristic spaceship. Using your special tech to see holograms, you explore this space station and get to know the people that used to work there. By gathering information on their quarters, you discover an engaging and unexpected story. 

Tacoma doesn’t only explore every inch of this place. The game creates an excellent narrative by reliving the experiences of former crew members. The characters you get to know are what leaves an impression on you, and it’s effortless to form very relatable connections with each one.

Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture (2015)

• Release Date: August 11, 2015
• Developer: The Chinese Room
• Available on: PS4 and PC
• Metascore: 78

Welcome to Yaughton, Shropshire, 1984. You are welcomed by no one. This small English village is empty, and you don’t even know who you are. Quarantine leaflets are stuck on every floor, but there are some strange guiding lights to help you discover the truth.

You can unravel the mysteries at your own pace, as it follows a non-linear story. You will witness the events and memories of their residents, listen to radios, and find clues that they may leave behind. It takes time to finally get there, but its brilliant voice acting, like Firewatch, lets you soak up every meticulous detail.

Everybody’s Gone tothe Rapture Steam CD Key is available on RoyalCDKeys.

Gone Home (2013)

• Release Date: August 15, 2013
• Developer: Fullbright
• Available on: PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, and iOS
• Metascore: 86

Let's travel back to 1995. You return home after being out for a year, but there isn’t anyone or anything. The whole house is empty, and something feels odd. As you walk through, you search through drawings and cupboards, read notes and messages, and listen to tapes to gather information about what happened.

This is the first game made by Tacoma developer, Fullbright, showing how much they love mystery and an intriguing atmosphere. And if you love Firewatch, exploring every inch of your space, and gathering any piece of information that you may find, Fulbright debut is a nice place to start.

Introspective Narrative

One heavy characteristic that made a lot of people like Firewatch was its narrative and dialogues. Their voice actors gave so much personality, and their characters became so relatable, which made the game so special. 

Well, the following games don’t fall short in that department, as their primary focus is on creating a heavy, introspective narrative that may challenge you not to shed a tear.

Life is Strange (2015)

• Release Date: January 30, 2015
• Developer: Don’t NOD
• Available on: PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Switch, PC, Android, and iOS
• Metascore: 85

An 18-year-old girl photographer named Max Caulfield comes back to where she ran off, Arcadia Bay. With all struggles that come with being a teenager, you return to the Blackwell Academy, back to your former best friend, Chloe. 

But an unfortunate event happens to her, and you discover your ability to rewind time. With this power, you can change future events, but different outcomes will result in different consequences, leading to choosing your own path on what you think is the best for Max, Chloe, and the town itself. 

This is the most known game on the list. It speaks for itself, as the success of Life is Strange spawned more games, with a spin-off released last year – True Colors – and a remastered collection released on February 2022, including its prequel “Before the Storm.” 

Don’t NOD, Life is Strange developer, build an interactive drama with unforgettable emotional moments through dialogue choices and compelling characters that resemble real-life people, packing up a fantastic and engaging story.

Life is Strange Remastered Collection Steam CD Key is available on RoyalCDKeys.

What Remains of Edith Finch (2017)

• Release Date: April 25, 2017
• Developer: Giant Sparrow
• Available on: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Switch, PC, and iOS
• Metascore: 89

Edith Finch comes back home to uncover her family history and the reasons for her being the last member of the Finch family. You will explore all the rooms of your house, collect clues and watch a collection of tales. Thanks to the first-person perspective, you will see these events through your relatives eyes, which will develop in a fantastical manner or an uncomfortable real way.

Giant Sparrow held together all kinds of experiences in its storytelling, packing another great game on the walking simulator genre, with lots of touching moments. 

What Remains of Edith Finch Steam CD Key, Switch Key, and Xbox Key are available on RoyalCDKeys.

Dear Esther (2012)

• Release Date: February 14, 2012
• Developer: The Chinese Room
• Available on: PS4, Xbox One, and PC
• Metascore: 75

Exploring the desolate island of Hebrides, you walk around and start to hear a mysterious voice. A man starts to narrate his story about love, loss, and redemption, accompanying your journey through the island's rocky landscape.

The Chinese Room built a more personal story with this first-person game. Like in Firewatch, the exploration and narrative are the title’s strong aspects, with more emphasis on the latter. If you want to play something more personal, Dear Esther is a great choice.

Oxenfree (2016)

• Release Date: January 15, 2016
• Developer: Night School Studio
• Available on: PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC, Android, and iOS
• Metascore: 80

You play as Alex, a teenager who went to Edwards Island with her step-brother, Jonas, at a party with some friends. But everything takes a wild turn when you accidentally open a ghostly rift. Your friends are separated, and you must discover what kind of mystery story is held on this island, uncovering its dark secrets. 

Along your way, you get to know all the other characters. Thus, what began as an exploration game, unfolds more on the people and starts to become more personal and relatable, dealing with the struggles of adolescence and loss. The choices we make come from the dialogue, and just like in Firewatch, they can lead to different paths. 

Night School Studio brought a unique experience empowered by a fantastic visual style to reprise the strange events we discovered on the island. Its success lead to a sequel, Oxenfree II: Lost Signal, with a release date delayed from 2022 to 2023.

Oxenfree Steam CD Key is available on RoyalCDKeys.

The Cat Lady (2012)

• Release Date: December 1, 2012
• Developer: Harvester Games
• Available on: PC 
• Metascore: 81

Susan Ashworth is done. With her loneliness and no hope left, she thinks of getting rid of her life once and for all. But an opportunity to improve her life appears. She needs to kill five psychopaths and gain a new friend in return. 

The darkest game on the list, The Cat Lady, mixes horror elements and puzzle solving in a grim story. Its distinctive and surrealistic visuals brighten the gameplay, which consists of making important decisions and solving puzzles in a pretty hard game developed by Harvester Games.

Welcome to the Isolated Wilderness

Games like Firewatch can throw you on a big landscape, as we got with the Wyoming wilderness, and still make you feel alone. The endless freedom of an open world does not feel captivating when you are trapped there.

The next five games on the list have similar settings, combining survival elements with a sense of isolation and creating an atmospheric journey through its open-world environment.

The Long Dark (2014)

• Release Date: September 22, 2014
• Developer: Hinterland Studio
• Available on: PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC
• Metascore: 77

In the frozen North of Canada, Will Mackenzie tries to fly out through the snow. He needs to deliver Dr. Greenwood a mysterious suitcase for her research about the geomagnetic disaster that wrecks our world. But the plane crashes, you are alone, and Greenwood is nowhere in sight. Now it is you against the forest, away from everything and anyone. 

It’s more a survival game, but for a more story-driven experience, you can play “Survival Mode” and “Story Mode,” with the latter focused more on the narrative, constructed on an episodic format. But you still will have to endure the dangers of this post-apocalyptic world, checking your thirst, hunger, and temperature.

The Long Dark developer, Hinterland Studio, brought us an adventure for survival games fans and other players looking for an engaging story and challenge.

The Long Dark Steam CD Key, Switch Key, Xbox Key, and PlayStation Network Key are available on RoyalCDKeys.

Kona (2016)

• Release Date: March 10, 2016
• Developer: Parabole
• Available on: PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC
• Metascore: 73

We are back in Northern Canada in 1970. Carl Faubert, a highly-rated detective, is hired to check on various vandalism incidents in the town. As you try to find clues about the true nature of these acts, a blizzard strikes over, shifting the game's perspective. Now, you are alone and fighting to survive. 

What started as a mundane investigation became a true mystery and adventure, where we needed to fight against wild animals like hungry wolves and freezing temperatures in a harsh environment. 

Parabole, the developer studio, is working on the sequel, Kona II: Brume, with a release date set up for 2023.

Kona Steam CD Key is available on RoyalCDKeys.

Miasmata (2012)

• Release Date: November 28, 2012
• Developer: IonFX
• Available on: PC
• Metascore: 76

Robert Hughes is a scientist stranded on a giant landmass populated by numerous rivers, inlets, hills, and valleys with many outposts, ruins, and statues. But that will not matter for you as you are dying from a strange disease and need to make a cure using the plants located on this wild land. 

You must explore every location on the map, searching for the right mixture of fungi and plants to heal you. As the adventure continues, you realize you aren’t the only living thing here. Some beasts are stalking your progress, and now you not only need to get a cure fast, but you have creatures threatening to end your life before. 

IonFX got so many details on this “race against time” of a game. The main mechanic of mixing plants not only functions for the main objective, but you will create another kind of medicine to help you along the way. A hidden gem of an open-world game.

Call of the Sea (2020)

• Release Date: December 8, 2020
• Developer: Out of the Blue
• Available on: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC
• Metascore: 81

Norah travels to a South Pacific Island searching for her husband’s missing expedition in the 1930s. Once you descend from your boat, Norah is alone and will stay in that regard for the entire game.

You will gather clues by collecting letters and listening to radio transmissions. To progress through the story, you will need to solve puzzles across a fantastic landscape with ancient ruins, temples, artifacts, and magic.

As in many games like Firewatch, throughout the story you will find that the setting becomes a character by itself, and the adventure shifts to a more personal and deep journey on Norah’s identity and purpose, as we experienced with Henry. 

Call of the Sea Steam CD Key is available on RoyalCDKeys.

The Witness (2016)

• Release Date: January 26, 2016
• Developer: Thekla Inc.
• Available on: PS4, Xbox One, and PC
• Metascore: 87

The Witness is mainly a puzzle game, with little backstory and plot for the player to uncover. You wake up on a strange island, suffering from amnesia, and travel through lots of sections (10), each one with its puzzle to solve. There are 500 of them, and you need to get to the center of this open-world island. In between, you can do some exploration, with a great art style, and be amazed by the vistas.

What makes it fun are the many variations of these puzzles. They all follow the same mechanic, to trace a line from start to finish. But in the middle, how you do it, will throw you lots of ways and interactions to complete it. A fine surprise from Theckla Inc.

The Witness Steam CD Key and Xbox Key are available on RoyalCDKeys.

They Aren’t Firewatch but You’ll Love Them!

All the ones above are games like Firewatch. Some more, some less, but they all share a core purpose. The following games deviate from that, but regardless if you are a fan of Firewatch and want something different, you should give it a try on any of these.

The Stanley Parable (2013)

• Release Date: October 13, 2013
• Developer: Davey Wreden
• Available on: PC
• Metascore: 88

The Stanley Parable is the fourth-wall-breaking master of video games. It follows the story of Stanley, an employee that works in a typical office, tasked with monitoring information from your computer. One day it goes blank, and he doesn’t know what to do. Stanley decides to abandon his position, discovers that everyone is gone, and starts to follow the narrator’s instructions. Or not. 

That’s the beauty of this game. You can decide what to do. You follow what the narrator says or do the opposite. Stanley Parable has many endings, and many key decisions can forge the path to a different one, most of them breaking the fourth wall and messing with your head. It encourages players to explore and discover all the endings with multiple playthroughs. 

The Stanley Parable Steam CD Key is available on RoyalCDKeys.

The Beginner’s Guide (2015)

• Release Date: October 1, 2015
• Developer: Davey Wreden
• Available on: PC
• Metascore: 76

The Stanley Parable’s developer, Dave Wreden, made another fourth-wall-breaking story with The Beginner’s Guide. Both are similar games and similarly tell their stories. They share the first-person view, and the gameplay is the same. But this time, it's more about introspective and the relationship between creators and players. 

The players are taken on a journey through several areas that feature incomplete games by a person called Coda. These are used as reflection points to understand who Coda is.

The story follows us while we are walking and looking at these incomplete games in chronological order, with every passing game being more complex and abstract. Once the game is completed, we can revisit these locations to see how everything went on.

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter (2014)

• Release Date: September 25, 2014
• Developer: The Astronauts
• Available on: PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC
• Metascore: 82

Detective Paul Prospero travels to Red Creek Valley, Wisconsin, after receiving a disturbing letter from Ethan Carter. But once he gets there, the 12-year-old kid is nowhere to be found. Furthermore, the town is overcome with violence, which originated from a paranormal source. Our main character discovers the origins of these surreal events: Ethan summoned a dark spirit known as the Sleeper. 

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter developers disguised this exploration game as a horror game, just for its dark setting and violence. If you are a fan of horror or similar titles, beware as it isn't what it seems. And if you get scared easily, don’t worry. You can take its story as the ones you could see in Cops or Thriller movies.

Murdered: Soul Suspect (2014)

• Release Date: June 3, 2014
• Developer: Airtight Games
• Available on: PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and PC
• Metascore: 59

Detective Ronan O’Connor was murdered by the Bell Killer. This strange figure is on a rampage, leaving a Bell symbol near its victims. But your death won’t stop you from investigating. Now you are a ghost on the other side of life, with some business to take care of before your everlasting rest. 

Murdered: Soul Suspect flew under the radar, despíte being published by Square Enix. It brings some interesting mechanics such as interacting with the real world to mess around and gather information, possessing people to read their thoughts and see through their eyes. You can also go through walls as a ghost and teleport to large distances, all in an intriguing story chasing this killer that is constantly escaping the hand of justice.

Murdered: Soul Suspect Steam CD Key is available on RoyalCDKeys.

The Bottom Line

There you have it. These are some of the best game to continue your journey left behind by Campo Santo Studios and Firewatch. Most of them on the category of walking simulators, with many stories to be told and discover.

Took off the helicopter, get home and enjoy this large list of incredible games. Expend hours playing and unfold their tales.