Games like Firewatch represent some of the best video game stories in the industry, and some of the best LGBTQ games too. Campo Santo delivered an incredibly rich world to explore with this one, with a narrative that's full of heart and mystery, so finding games like Firewatch isn't easy. Thankfully, there's some brilliant indie developers out there who have sought to pick up the mantle, and these 10 games will certainly help you recapture the Firewatch spirit if that's what you're after.
Gone Home
Developer: Fullbright
Available on: PC, Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch
Firewatch is filled with mystery, exploration and an engaging story, and Gone Home packs all of these elements in its own unique way. Instead of exploring the outdoor world, the entirety of the game takes place in a house, but with so many rooms to explore and secrets to uncover, it’s still just as intriguing. Set in 1995, you return home after a year abroad to find that your family isn’t there. The house is completely empty, and something feels off.
As you work your way through the house, you’ll have to search through draws and cupboards, read notes and messages, and listen to tapes and answering machines, to try to piece together just what has happened while you were away. You’ll want to check every inch of each room to make sure you don’t miss anything that might give you some insight. Everything you find helps to shape an interesting narrative that explores some very relatable themes, too. If you’re a Campo Santo fan, Fullbright Company’s atmospheric story-driven exploration game will tick all the right boxes for you.
What Remains of Edith Finch
Developer: Giant Sparrow
Available on: PC, Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch
The magic of Firewatch is that there’s so much more to it than meets the eye. It takes you on an emotional journey you might not have first expected, and What Remains of Edith Finch certainly fits that bill and then some. In this wonderfully creative and beautifully crafted game, you play as Edith Finch who returns to her homestead to uncover her family history, and discover why she’s the last remaining Finch left alive. The story of her family is formed through a collection of intriguing tales that all take place in a different room in the house.
All in first-person, you experience the stories of your relatives by filling their shoes. Some of their experiences are portrayed in some rather fantastical ways, while others can be uncomfortably real in very moving, and unexpected ways. Each experience is very different, but every tale of each deceased Finch family member will leave a lasting impression on you. If you’re after another uniquely touching game that you’ll likely be thinking about long after it’s over, this is the one for you.
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
Developer: The Astronauts
Available on: PC, Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch
As another exploration game that puts an emphasis on its storytelling, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter sees you fill the shoes of detective Paul Prospero who receives a strangely disturbing letter from a boy named Ethan Carter. Just as you unravel the secrets hidden in Wyoming with Henry, you have to find out what has transpired in Red Valley Creek with Paul. But the detective is no ordinary investigator. With a knowledge of the occult, Paul has a supernatural power that enables him to communicate with the dead.
What starts as a search for a missing boy unravels into a full blown murder investigation that begins to go much deeper than you might expect. Very atmospheric, with several very memorable moments and encounters, The Astronauts first-person mystery makes you use your powers of observation to try and discover the fate of Ethan and what secrets lie hidden within the valley.
The Long Dark
Developer: Hinterland Studio
Available on: PC, Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch
In Firewatch's Wyoming wilderness, the sense of isolation is palpable. Whether it be sitting in your solitary tower watching out for smoke, or traversing the landscapes by yourself, the setting is just as much of a character as Henry or Delilah, and it allows for plenty of reflection. The Long Dark delivers this very same feeling tenfold in its own distinct style. In the frozen Northern Canadian wilderness, you play as Mackenzie who’s trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world that suffered the consequences of a geomagnetic disaster.
While it is a survival game where you need to keep a watch over your hunger and thirst levels, as well as ensuring you keep warm in the freezing temperatures, the episodic story mode tells an impacting tale filled with reflection, loss, and perseverance in a world that’s changed forever. The story begins when Mackenzie agrees to fly out in the harsh, snowy skies to help Dr. Greenwood, who has a mysterious suitcase that needs to be delivered. When the plane crashes, you awake to find you’re alone, and Greenwood is nowhere in sight. As you journey to find her, the quiet, desolate world takes you on a poignant journey of discovery.
Tacoma
Developer: Fullbright
Available on: PC, Xbox One, PS4
Human connections and relationships are just one of the many themes coursing through Firewatch, and Tacoma puts a focus on its characters who are on board a futuristic space station set in the year 2088. Another exploration game from Gone Home creator Fullbright Company, you play as Amy Ferrier, a contractor who boards the space station and can use special tech to see holograms of the crew which enables you to get to know them as individuals and see how they lived and worked on the station. You also gather information by exploring their personal quarters, searching through desks, lockers and everything in between, and as you continue to journey through each facility on the station, you’ll start to unravel an engaging and rather unexpected story. While the narrative is very memorable, the characters you get to know are what really leaves an impression on you, and it’s very easy to form very relatable connections to each member on board.
Oxenfree
Developer: Night School Studios
Available on: PC, Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch
Night School Studio’s supernatural story-driven thriller is just what you need if you’re after another intriguing story with memorable characters wrapped up in an appealing art style. You play as Alex, a teenager who travels to Edwards Island with her new step brother Jonas to have a party with a group of friends. But things take a turn when Alex unknowingly opens a ghostly rift. The group are separated, and you have to journey through the island and uncover its dark history and the hidden secrets lurking beneath the surface.
All of the characters are very relatable, and it looks at themes like the struggles of adolescence and loss. Just as you can with Henry in Firewatch, you decide how Alex responds to every conversation and situation through dialogue choices, which will determine the relationships she has with her friends, and the outcomes of certain events. Another one with great voice actually and a gripping story, Oxenfree will surprise and move you in equal measure.
Life is Strange
Developer: Dontnod
Available on: PC, Xbox One, PS4
Firewatch takes place over a series of days that jump forward in time throughout the story. In a similar way, Life is Strange plays out in an episodic format and puts its characters and story in the spotlight. As 18-year-old Max Caulfield, you return to your hometown in the fictional setting of Arcadia Bay to attend Blackwell Academy. Faced with the struggles being a teenager brings, Max finds it difficult to adjust to being back in the town she moved away from - especially since she hasn’t spoken to her rebellious old best friend Chloe in a long time.
After an unfortunate event occurs involving Chloe, Max discovers she has the ability to rewind time, which is the main mechanic of the game that you use to solve puzzles and see the different outcomes of certain choices and dialogue responses. With many twists and turns, emotional moments, and a sprinkling of the supernatural, Life is Strange is a great way to help you move on from your adventures with Henry.
Everybody's Gone to the Rapture
Developer: The Chinese Room
Available on: PC, PS4
If you loved the mystery and narrative focus of Firewatch, you might enjoy The Chinese Room’s exploration game set in Yaughton, Shropshire in 1984. In the gorgeously rendered Shropshire countryside, the idyllic looking village is completely empty. Quarantine leaflets are stuck on the doors of abandoned houses, birds have fallen from the sky, and the remnants of what once was are all that’s left of the village so many used to call home. You appear to the best only person that still remains, but you don’t know who you are, or what’s going on.
As you travel around the village, you’ll discover strange guiding lights that take you on a journey to discover the fate of the residents, and what happened to this unassuming place. The story is non-linear, so you can uncover it at your own pace by witnessing the events and memories of the residents, listening to radios, and searching for traces of information they’ve left behind. Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture is eerily fascinating, with brilliant voice acting. It might be slower in pace than most, but it lets you soak up every inch of its meticulously detailed setting.
Kentucky Route Zero
Developer: Cardboard Computer
Available on: PC, Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch
If you're on the look out for a something similar that offers a different kind of story-drive experience, Kentucky Route Zero offers a rare kind of experience that really pushes how choice affects the story of the game. Indie developers Cardboard Computer have created a point-and-click adventure takes you on a different kind of atmospheric journey told across of series of different acts. Nuanced both in its style and its narrative, you follow the journey of deliveryman Conway who travels through the mysterious Route Zero highway in Kentucky.
Some of the pit-stops along the way might seem mundane on the surface - be it a gas station, or a bait shop - but the characters you meet who travel the highway really bring it to life. With some rather surreal events that occur along the way, it’s one of the most memorable and distinctive road trips you can ever go on. While it tells it story in quite a different way to Firewatch, it has just as much personality and style.
Dear Esther
Developer: The Chinese Room
Available on: PC, Xbox One, PS4
Another one from developers The Chinese Room, Dear Esther takes you on an emotional journey in first-person as you explore a desolate island in the outer Hebrides. Just like Firewatch, it puts a focus on exploration and story-telling. As you walk around the island and explore its atmospheric environments, you’ll hear mysterious voice of a man who starts to narrate the story of his life.
As you continue to journey through the rocky landscapes of the islands, with its beaches, cliff tops, and dark caves, you start to unravel a story seeped in love, loss and redemption. It has one very intriguing story that will undoubtedly surprise you and tug at your heartstrings for good measure. It also features a beautiful soundtrack that adds to the atmospheric experience.
Looking for recommendations? Why not check out this selection of titles that satisfy your need for more games like Life is Strange instead?
