What keeps today’s youth up at night? For many, it’s the perennial scramble for a good job, affordable housing, and a quality education. These are serious, age-old dilemmas, but they’re far from the only things weighing on the minds of the younger generation. The digital age has introduced a whole new set of anxieties.
The truth is, there’s no shortage of problems. So, instead of a dry dissertation on the modern condition, let’s take a look at a whole heap of issues that concern young people around the globe—from abusive relationships and painful breakups to the inability to grow up, mental health struggles, surveillance, and even the profound challenges of moving to a new country. And what better way to explore these themes than through a medium that’s as relevant as it is engaging?
Essays on Empathy: Ten Stories That’ll Pull at Your Heartstrings
Essays on Empathy, developed by the Spanish studio Deconstructeam, isn’t a single game but an anthology of ten distinct short experiences. But to say it was “developed” might be a stretch. This collection is more like a carefully curated gallery. A large portion of these games were created during game jams—intense, multi-day events where developers build a digital adventure from scratch based on a specific theme.
For the Deconstructeam crew, Essays on Empathy served as a much-needed creative outlet and a form of therapy. The global events of 2020 put a major dent in their larger project, so the team decided to take a break and compile their prototypes.
Don’t expect blockbuster gameplay. Instead, prepare for a captivating mix of genres, from a visual novel and a simple platformer to point-and-click and walking simulators. What the collection lacks in complex mechanics, it more than makes up for in compelling, mature storytelling.
In Underground Hangovers, you play as a space miner with a killer hangover trying to get home. After a wild party in a tunnel, he and his colleagues wake up to find their employer has abandoned them on an alien planet. They must now scramble to build a rocket and reunite with their loved ones.
Another standout is 11:45: A Vivid Life. The protagonist, a girl haunted by the obsessive thought that her skeleton belongs to someone else, steals an X-ray machine and a first-aid kit. She heads into the wilderness with the chilling intention of performing self-surgery.
But the collection isn’t all high-concept sci-fi. The Bookshelf Limbo is a beautiful, mundane story about a protagonist in a bookstore, melancholically searching for a gift for their father. As they leaf through volumes and read annotations, they reveal their difficult relationship with their parent.
De Tres al Cuarto follows the ordinary lives of two struggling stand-up comedians. Not the A-listers who sell out arenas, but the average guys just trying to make a living and a few people laugh.
Yet, perhaps the most poignant story is Behind Every Great One. You become a housewife whose husband is always locked away in his workshop. You’re burdened with endless chores—washing, ironing, watering plants, cooking—with no time to yourself. You try to relax and restore your mental state, but no matter how hard you work, your tired husband greets you in the evening with reproach, utterly oblivious to your spiraling depression. The pressure mounts when his relatives arrive, and it gets even worse. The ending reveals what the husband has been painting in his studio all this time, a devastating conclusion that lays bare the reality of an abusive relationship.
When The Past Was Around: When Love Becomes a Memory
Speaking of relationships, it’s impossible to ignore When The Past Was Around, a short, two-hour point-and-click adventure by the Indonesian studio Mojiken. The gameplay is simple: you click on objects, find keys, and solve basic puzzles. But the story’s emotional core is anything but.
The main character, a 20-year-old girl named Eda, is navigating the most painful period of her life: the irrevocable loss of a loved one. Her lover, represented in the game as an anthropomorphic owl, helped her find herself and was her guide to a world of passion and new feelings. But he passed away far too soon.
The game unfolds through Eda’s fragmented memories, which are interwoven with her present reality. The owl is a profound image of her wise beloved, initially depicted as a shadowy figure. Eda must learn to accept her bitter present by sifting through the pleasant memories of her past, no matter how painful it is. The story of acceptance is filled with a spirit of melancholy reminiscent of the mobile game Florence. Both games tackle the universal problem of painful separation, a problem we all eventually face.
League Of Enthusiastic Losers: A Tale of Refusing to Grow Up
At 20, you’re a whirlwind of energy, ready to kick down doors and take risks, believing a bright future awaits you. But what happens at 40 if you haven’t started a family, bought property, or climbed the corporate ladder? Welcome to the League Of Enthusiastic Losers!
This game follows two friends who have reached their forties and have achieved… absolutely nothing. The author, is far younger than his protagonists, yet the theme he tackles—the refusal to grow up—is a timeless and relevant issue.
Vitya and Volodya live together in a rented apartment. One is a struggling children’s writer, the other a plumber. With no families, no money, and no stable jobs, they’re watching their classmates succeed while their landlord threatens to evict them. Their predictable lives take a turn when, instead of finding a job, they decide to hunt for treasure in a park with a metal detector. When that fails, they take jobs as museum guards, not to earn a living, but to find a treasure map.
This is the recurring theme: instead of solving their serious problems, they chase treasures, have fun, launch paper airplanes, and live in a state of infantilism. The game’s protagonists are not just “un-grown men”; they’re modern adults who have remained children at heart. They still believe in miracles, dedicate their free time to their hobbies regardless of public opinion, and are convinced everything will turn out fine. The gameplay is minimal—you move the characters around and solve simple puzzles—but it’s an endearing and nostalgic story.
Know by heart: A Haunting Look at Nostalgia and Memory
Know by heart tells the story of 25-year-old Mikhail, who lives in a quiet town near Kazan, Russia. He has a simple, monotonous life working at a railway station, trapped in an endless cycle of “home-work-home.” But one day, his routine is shattered when two friends and his first love return to town for a brief visit. The old gang reunites to walk the streets, reminisce about their childhood, and collect photos from their shared past.
For the first half of the game, you wander the streets, engaging in dialogue and mini-games—folding a paper boat, pushing a car, typing on a typewriter. The characters indulge in a dreary yet relatable nostalgia. Who hasn’t had a first crush who was oblivious to your feelings? A friend you said goodbye to for the last time? A forgotten childhood dream that was abandoned in adulthood? While Mikhail’s friends have ambitions and plans for the future, he’s not ready for decisive action. He’s content to live in the same old rhythm, with no desire to move forward, lost in nostalgia.
Then, a sudden twist. People are unexpectedly afflicted by a terrible virus that erases memory. They forget not only the distant past but even their own family members. The town descends into a quiet horror, as the game poignantly illustrates how people can become strangers overnight, stripped of their shared memories. It’s a powerful story about the importance of protecting the past without being trapped in it.
Milk inside a bag of milk inside a bag of milk: A Haunting Glimpse into Mental Health
This short psychological horror visual novel invites you to help a young girl with the most mundane of chores: buying milk from the store. But this routine task won’t uncover a conspiracy or lead to a grand adventure. Instead, you’re the girl’s inner voice or imaginary friend, accompanying her and learning about her deeply troubled inner world.
It turns out she’s cripplingly lonely and suffering from a whole host of mental health disorders: depression, social phobia, delusions, and hallucinations. A simple trip to the store can trigger a panic attack. She sees the world in eerie red-purple tones, and the people around her appear as strange, frightening creatures. This surreal, distorted art style powerfully emphasizes how detached the heroine is from reality.
In its direct sequel, Milk Outside a Bag of Milk Outside a Bag of Milk, the visuals are more polished, and you get to explore the abnormal world the girl inhabits. You’ll dive into her personal hell and learn more about the events that led to her unstable mental state. It’s a raw and honest look at the silent battles many face every day.
Not for Broadcast: The Perils of Censorship and the Power of the Press
The year is 1984 in a fictional, UK-like country. Alex Winston, a janitor at a major television studio, is unexpectedly given a promotion to news program director. The country is in turmoil. The new “Progress” party has come to power, promising to end crime and poverty by seizing wealth from the rich. Soon after, they begin to restrict press freedom and censor anti-government statements.
Protests erupt, and a resistance group called “Pereboi” emerges. Their leader tries to break onto the airwaves, and you, as Alex, have to decide which political views get airtime and which are cut. You must censor the programs, all while keeping a close eye on your viewer ratings.
The gameplay is an FMV (Full Motion Video) experience. You sit at a director’s desk, controlling a live broadcast and using a wide range of tools: switching cameras, changing the picture itself, muting obscenities, and even adding special effects like laugh tracks. The further you get, the more mechanics are unlocked. Catching a speaker’s words by ear makes it much easier to decide who needs to be silenced immediately. The game is a powerful, interactive lesson in media control and the fight for free speech.
American Arcadia: The Truman Show on Steroids
If you had to describe American Arcadia in a single sentence, it would be “The Truman Show, but on an entirely different scale.” In the film, Truman Burbank is unknowingly the star of a reality TV show. His whole life is broadcast to millions, with his hometown being a set and everyone he knows being an actor.
American Arcadia takes this concept to the next level. The audience follows an entire metropolis of people, not just one person. The residents’ popularity ratings are constantly tracked, and anyone deemed “boring” is quietly eliminated from the show.
Trevor Hills, one of the game’s protagonists, is one of those boring people. His popularity has plummeted, and he’s about to be “retired” from the show. But Angela, a company employee, fundamentally disagrees with his fate and decides to help him escape, revealing the truth to him along the way.
Throughout the game, the heroes fight against the show’s producers and crew so Trevor can finally live in peace, free from cameras on every corner and total surveillance. The gameplay is split into two parts: a puzzle-platformer where you control Trevor, and a first-person adventure where you control Angela, exploring the world and solving puzzles. Angela helps Trevor by using her corporate access to manipulate the set—lifting elevators, opening doors, and providing him with valuable intel.
Going Under: A Comical Look at Corporate Greed
In the fictional city of Neo-Cascadia, the monstrous corporation Cubicle rules the market. It buys small firms and startups in bulk, and these companies almost always go bankrupt shortly after. The protagonist, Jacqueline, starts an internship at Fizzle, a sparkling water company that Cubicle recently acquired.
Her first task? To clear a dungeon of monsters. It turns out Cubicle hides its bankrupt startups underground, and the failed employees mutate into grotesque creatures. This is the tragic fate of young businesses swallowed by a monopoly. In reality, while they don’t turn into monsters, small businesses often suffer a similar, sad ending. The game uses this fantastic premise to explore a very real issue: corporate greed and the destruction of competition.
Going Under is a colorful roguelike where you battle your way through a procedurally generated dungeon. Between battles, you can buy utilities, upgrade skills, and chat with colleagues. Jacqueline must defeat hordes of enemies and uncover the corporation’s secrets to save Fizzle from bankruptcy and her own transformation into a monster.
Plasticity: The Silent Environmental Apocalypse
This free game, developed by students at the University of Southern California, tackles one of the most critical issues of our time: environmental pollution. In this dystopian future, humanity has ignored all warnings and continued to produce plastic. The planet is now largely depopulated, plants are dying, and plastic waste is everywhere.
The world has been hit by a quiet apocalypse. However, the game’s charming, watercolor art style makes the end of civilization look oddly beautiful, which only adds to the unsettling feeling.
Plasticity is a simple puzzle-platformer. You play as a survivor named Noah, running to the right and solving basic puzzles like moving boxes and pulling switches. The gameplay isn’t groundbreaking, but for a free game made by enthusiasts, it’s a surprisingly effective and moving exploration of a global catastrophe.
Road 96: A Journey of Political Disillusionment and Escape
Road 96 is a road trip adventure that paints a grim picture. In the fictional country of Petria, a presidential election is looming. The current ruler, a dictator named Tyrac, has turned his citizens’ lives into a living hell. With no hope for a fair election, young people are fleeing the country in droves, hoping to find a better life abroad. You play as these desperate teenagers.
Your goal is to help six different characters reach the border and cross it. Each journey is fraught with danger, and a single imprudent decision can lead to prison or even death. In a way, the game is a roguelike, but without the intense battles. Everything is much more down-to-earth and terrifyingly realistic.
On your journey, you’ll randomly encounter eight colorful characters, whose fates are all interconnected. How you reach them is up to you. You can walk, hitchhike, or steal a car. If you have enough money, you can take a bus or a taxi. Along the way, you can explore locations, find money and food, and play a variety of mini-games. The game effectively captures the fear and desperation of young people trying to escape a oppressive regime.
Bury Me, My Love: A Modern Refugee’s Struggle
The visual novel Bury Me, My Love is told entirely through a messenger app. It follows a Syrian immigrant named Noor, who has fled to Europe because of the civil war. Her husband, Majd, remains behind, supporting her decision to find a better life.
The entire game unfolds as a text conversation between them. Noor faces countless challenges during her journey, and she constantly asks her husband for advice. Should she wait for things to calm down or take a risk? Should she take a boat or a truck? The choices are often between bad and very, very bad. Majd can offer advice, but the final decision rests with you. Your choices will lead to one of nineteen possible endings, not all of them happy. Bury Me, My Love is not a story about superheroes; it’s a deeply human story about the difficult and dangerous path of a refugee simply trying to survive.
We. The Refugees: Ticket to Europe: Empathy Through Experience
In the novel We. The Refugees: Ticket to Europe, a 30-year-old Polish journalist decides to write a book about the European migrant crisis. To make it authentic, he goes to Africa and pretends to be a refugee himself, experiencing firsthand the challenges and struggles of their journey.
The game’s screen is split in half. On the left, you see detailed art, and on the right, you read the story. As you read, you are asked to make fateful decisions, some of them under a strict time limit. A single playthrough takes about two to three hours, but you’ll have to play it multiple times to see all the different events. It’s a powerful experience that forces you to confront the difficult choices refugees face every day.
A Pair of Micro-Adventures: The Night Fisherman & The Outcast Lovers
Finally, let’s touch on two free, short visual novels that are thematically linked.
In The Night Fisherman, you’re a fisherman on a small boat in the middle of the English Channel. An armed man on a patrol boat pulls up to you. He’s a patriot fighting illegal immigration. But you, the fisherman, make a living by transporting migrants. One of them is currently hiding on your boat. The quiet night suddenly becomes a tense standoff.
The Outcast Lovers is a sort of sequel. A young foreigner, who was hiding on the boat in the previous game, wakes up on the shore and makes his way to a secluded house. Inside, two women lead a hermit’s life. They are faced with a social dilemma: should they turn the illegal immigrant over to the authorities or risk sheltering him? Both games are short but impactful, confronting the complex issue of immigration from different perspectives.
Other Games Worth Mentioning
It would be a mistake not to mention some other popular games that also touch on current themes. While they may be well-known, they still offer valuable insights into the modern world.
- It Takes Two: A co-op game that explores a couple’s marital issues and the importance of working together.
- Death Stranding: A post-apocalyptic game about reconnecting a fragmented society.
- MiSide: A game that delves into the dark side of online content creation.
- Stray: A game about a stray cat in a dystopian, robotic city, exploring themes of surveillance and what it means to be human.
- South of the Circle: A narrative game about memory, love, and isolation in the Cold War era.
- Arise: A Simple Story: A beautiful game about a man reflecting on his life, love, and loss.
And what about you? What other games would you add to this list?
