Games Like Jay Schilling's Edge of Chaos

A text adventure game about a 19th century explorer who finds himself stranded and alone.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 45%, Text-Based 36.9%, Adventure 18.2%

A darkly comedic legal sim where your goal is to get disbarred—spectacularly. Play as a defense attorney or prosecutor in ethically disastrous cases full of bad decisions, weird clients, and Kafkaesque courtroom chaos. Succeed, and you lose.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 34.6%, Text-Based 28.9%, Crime 19.7%, Comedy 11.1%, Adventure 5%

Thaumistry: In Charm's Way is an all-new comedy text adventure from award-winning Infocom and Legend Entertainment author Bob Bates.

Why similar: Text-Based 31.1%, Interactive Fiction 30.7%, Adventure 23.4%, Comedy 13.4%, Singleplayer 1.3%

I found myself at the station. The story unfolds as you type commands on your keyboard. As the days repeat, I keep wondering what I can do for her. A command-driven adventure steeped in nostalgic pixel art and sound.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 46.4%, Text-Based 37.9%, Adventure 15.7%

Alchemy, puzzles, and a crashed starship. Old-style interactive fiction — a classic text adventure. No graphics! No dialogue trees! No point-and-click! You type your commands, and read what happens next.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 50.6%, Text-Based 39.9%, Adventure 9.6%

The most anticipated game since chess! A text-based comedy adventure in which you interact with the world by slamming one of two brightly colored buttons: Harm or Other

Why similar: Text-Based 32.9%, Interactive Fiction 29.4%, Comedy 22.4%, Adventure 14.5%, Singleplayer 0.7%

A kidnapped woman. A dying phone. One detective. Investigate clues, track her location and find her before the battery reaches zero.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 28.6%, Crime 22.7%, Text-Based 22.6%, Detective 16%, Adventure 9.7%

A story-driven deduction game set in Okayama, Japan, where everyone has an answer—but you need evidence. Examine evidence and records, cross-reference witness accounts, reconstruct timelines, and separate plausible theories from provable facts across six murder investigations.

Why similar: Crime 31.1%, Detective 23.2%, Interactive Fiction 19.8%, Text-Based 17.4%, Adventure 7.9%

Interactive fiction starring Molly the Werezompire - a grad student who jumped into a portal, was killed by a werewolf, a zombie, and a vampire, and became a heroic werezompire! Also includes the sci-fi parody, Epiphany in Spaaace! Originally released on XBLIG.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 36.9%, Text-Based 29.5%, Comedy 19.9%, Adventure 12.3%, Singleplayer 1.4%

ATMOSPHERIC UNDERGROUND ADVENTURE. You seek revenge against the oligarch who destroyed your family. Is killing ever justified?

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 46.7%, Crime 33.3%, Adventure 18.7%, Singleplayer 1.3%

CLOSED HANDS is a groundbreaking work of interactive fiction that explores the tangled intertwined stories of five people thrown together by a fictional terror attack.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 43.3%, Text-Based 34%, Adventure 21.1%, Singleplayer 1.5%

The Broken Crown is a dark fantasy text adventure between game and novel. Read through a fallen kingdom, make choices at key moments, and face the weight of memory and sacrifice.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 42.5%, Text-Based 33.9%, Adventure 22.1%, Singleplayer 1.5%

Find the Golden Pineapple and the crimes against the Mayans. In Pineapple Legend, solve investigations with amusing and humorous situations. Explore the city of Takitani: investigate, solve puzzles, collect cards, equip accessories, fish, garden, fight in the arena, and increase your affinity!!!

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 25.1%, Crime 22.8%, Text-Based 16.8%, Detective 15.9%, Comedy 11.3%

A mystery psychological thriller visual novel set in 2000. Follow a serial murder case through the eyes of three characters: the woman, the man, and the detective. With live-action backgrounds and silhouetted characters, every choice branches the story, and one wrong move means game over.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 29.9%, Crime 28.9%, Detective 19.3%, Text-Based 11.9%, Adventure 10%

A short narrative deduction game set in the overly litigious bowels of Hell. A simple text-based investigative game about asking the right questions of the right people. When surrounded by pathological liars always remember, the detail's in the devils. A simple text-based investigative game.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 32.5%, Text-Based 28.6%, Detective 19.7%, Crime 11.4%, Comedy 7.5%

A narrative survival horror where every choice matters. Explore, gather resources, face or avoid creatures, and try to survive a night where every decision can change your fate.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 42.6%, Text-Based 34.1%, Adventure 21.9%, Singleplayer 1.4%

Content Demo. Step into Mistbound City, a cinematic interactive mystery where every clue matters and every choice has consequences. Investigate a rain-soaked manor, question suspicious characters, uncover hidden secrets, and shape the story toward multiple possible endings.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 46.5%, Detective 27%, Adventure 24.4%, Singleplayer 2.1%

Immerse yourself in a dark fantasy world that is inspired by traditional text-based adventure and interactive fiction games.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 45.4%, Text-Based 41%, Adventure 11.9%, Singleplayer 1.7%

In the kingdom of Bruneva, an unlikely hero embarks on a magical mission full of humor. With eccentric characters, comedic challenges, and witty dialogues, "The Adventures of Bruneva" guarantees laughter at every turn.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 50.6%, Adventure 25.9%, Comedy 21.8%, Singleplayer 1.6%

Welcome to the Detective Club! Led by the troublesome and shy president Alice Baskerville. Follow this comedy story where together you will solve cases using your deductive powers!

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 26.7%, Text-Based 21.6%, Crime 19.6%, Detective 12.5%, Comedy 10.9%

Lacuna: Prologue tasks you – CDI agent Neil Conrad – with investigating the murder of a high-profile victim whose death could plunge the solar system into war. Solve the first in a series of cases that lead you ever deeper into the conspiracy at the core of this captivating 2D sci-fi noir adventure.

Why similar: Crime 26.7%, Interactive Fiction 26.4%, Text-Based 19.5%, Detective 19.1%, Adventure 8.3%

A British detective has vanished in Kyoto. Step into Detective Bennett's shoes and uncover a mystery that reaches far beyond the Yakuza.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 35.9%, Crime 30%, Detective 19.8%, Adventure 12.2%, Singleplayer 2%

戏班内扑朔迷离的死亡，步步紧逼的幕后黑手，封闭剧场内的死亡倒计时，案件主角的生命和救赎都取决于你的决断。当第一桩案件尘埃落定，你以为可以回到现实世界时，轮回之路才刚刚开始……

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 30.3%, Crime 29.8%, Detective 19.7%, Text-Based 17.2%, Adventure 2.8%

这是一款以中式校园为背景的推理类文字游戏，你将扮演一名高中生司空茂，在开学第一天目击密室杀人事件的现场，并经过调查和推理解决案件，找出真正的犯人和真相背后更深的阴谋。但在享受侦探游戏的同时，请千万不要忽视学习。保持情绪稳定，尽量维持活下去的念头...记住，你的成绩，永远比案件要更重要。

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 31.7%, Text-Based 24.2%, Detective 23.7%, Crime 15.6%, Adventure 4.5%

A Battle of Wits with AI: Solve the case by conversing with a suspect robot using GPT to gather evidence. What single truth emerges from countless dialogues and pieces of information?

Why similar: Crime 27.9%, Interactive Fiction 27%, Text-Based 22.3%, Detective 16.6%, Adventure 6.2%

A gritty, semi-kinetic visual novel about broken people and notorious gangsters, featuring six individualized routes with six different endings.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 31.7%, Text-Based 22.4%, Detective 20.3%, Crime 20.1%, Adventure 5%

Once you step through the door to Zork, you leave the world of arcade games and trite fantasies behind and enter the dimension of your imagination.

Why similar: Text-Based 52.4%, Interactive Fiction 29.3%, Adventure 18.3%

Writing on a blog and using her obscure ability, the mysterious Nightingale has been helping people in danger for years. Now, she’s forced to disappear, facing threats from a killer... one of those people she helped in the past. An interactive short story featuring an advanced navigation UI.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 36.1%, Text-Based 31.8%, Crime 24.4%, Adventure 6.9%, Singleplayer 0.9%

10 EPISODES. 8 HOURS+ OF GAMEPLAY. HUMOR, CHOICES, MULTIPLE ENDINGS. PROFILING, INTERROGATIONS AND INVESTIGATION. Play as a young FBI agent in New Orleans: search scenes, interrogate and profile suspects. Make choices that shape a branching story mixing offbeat humor with a gripping crime thriller.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 24.1%, Crime 23.2%, Text-Based 17.2%, Detective 16.4%, Comedy 12.4%

DARK CITY TROUBLE NIGHTS es un videojuego de ROL narrativo con toma de decisiones. Toma el papel de Chad Simons, detective privado. Tu comportamiento decidirá el final de tu historia en Dark City, ¿podrás resolver el caso, y salir con vida?

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 35.1%, Crime 30.5%, Text-Based 17.6%, Detective 16.2%, Singleplayer 0.6%

Explore an abandoned movie theater and step inside five black-and-white films in this mystery text adventure that pays tribute to classic Hollywood B-Movies and combines the best elements of interactive fiction, visual novels, and gamebooks.

Why similar: Text-Based 41.5%, Interactive Fiction 33.7%, Adventure 23.2%, Singleplayer 1.6%

Extract yourself from another fine mess–this time, with your family watching! Mischief, mix-ups, and bewilderingly urgent capers at your ancestral estate.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 46.2%, Text-Based 35.5%, Comedy 10.9%, Adventure 6%, Singleplayer 1.4%

The Baron's daughter is missing, and you are the man to find her. No problem. With your inexhaustible arsenal of hard-boiled similes, there is nothing you can't handle.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 28.9%, Text-Based 26.4%, Crime 22.8%, Detective 12.2%, Adventure 8.5%

Unravel the mysterious past of your parents and homeland while journeying through four unique lands in this exciting science-fantasy adventure!

Why similar: Text-Based 38.7%, Interactive Fiction 38.3%, Adventure 21.7%, Singleplayer 1.3%

Your first case as a detective is forcing you to open your eyes to a world bigger than you thought. Or maybe it's better to keep them closed. Seems the supernatural didn’t get the memo that nothing exciting ever happens in the little town of Wayhaven.

Why similar: Text-Based 39.4%, Interactive Fiction 31.7%, Adventure 16.7%, Detective 12.2%

Explore the fantasy world of Orm and build a life within it. Take on quests, duel its inhabitants, farm, fish, cook, craft and trade as you develop your character. An 80s-style text RPG with typed commands, clickable actions and illustrated locations.

Why similar: Text-Based 39%, Interactive Fiction 36.1%, Comedy 16.6%, Adventure 7.8%, Singleplayer 0.5%

A detective noir puzzle deduction game. Explore a non-linear timeline as a clairvoyant investigator in 1941 Borneo. Jump between time and locations to uncover motives and discover what truly happened in the Goodwill tobacco plantation that fateful night on the eve of the WW2 Japanese invasion.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 35.4%, Detective 28.1%, Text-Based 22.8%, Adventure 13.7%

疫病神の依神女苑ちゃん。 女苑ちゃんが提示してくるお題に大急ぎで答えて 見返りも求めずに物品を貢ぎまくろう！！

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 43.4%, Comedy 30.1%, Text-Based 23.6%, Singleplayer 2.8%

Follow amateur sleuth Marcella Moon to Ireland to investigate the disappearance of a famous writer.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 28.4%, Detective 20.9%, Text-Based 19.6%, Crime 19.2%, Adventure 11.4%

Ever wonder how heroes-in-training spend their time between epic confrontations with dastardly villains? Join the students at Speck Community College as they enjoy a tabletop roleplay game, investigate a legendary small-town monster, and endure the embarrassments of Parents’ Day.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 36.5%, Text-Based 29.6%, Adventure 18.9%, Comedy 13.9%, Singleplayer 1.1%

Homicide detective Ralph is distraught when his trusted, reliable partner goes missing around the same time strange killings begin to take place. While solving the case, Ralph is paired up with an impish rookie he can't get along with.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 32.9%, Crime 26.5%, Text-Based 24.6%, Detective 15.7%, Singleplayer 0.3%

Roadwarden is an illustrated text-based RPG that uses isometric pixel art and combines mechanics borrowed from RPGs, Visual Novels, adventure games and interactive fiction.

Why similar: Text-Based 48.2%, Interactive Fiction 30.2%, Adventure 11.5%, Detective 5.8%, Crime 3.6%

A crown upon your head, danger all around. Rule, marry, scheme, raise heirs, wage wars, fulfill prophecies, and survive the waking Wyrm. An interactive text-based dark fantasy novel, 850,000 words and hundreds of choices, without graphics or sound effects.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 46.6%, Text-Based 39.8%, Adventure 11.3%, Singleplayer 2.3%

You log on to a computer having no clue of what lies within. Explore its files, solve puzzles to recover missing pieces, and decipher passwords to enter otherwise prohibited folders. As you delve deeper into its content, you’ll find that there is a greater mystery to be solved.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 41.9%, Text-Based 30.4%, Detective 26.5%, Singleplayer 1.2%

Mykyta Pylypovych, PhD, has a little secret, an inner voice guiding him through difficult situations. Use classic parser commands or advise Mykyta with a natural language, to aid his perilous research activities and, maybe, to save the whole free world!

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 38.7%, Text-Based 33.2%, Adventure 13.9%, Comedy 12.6%, Singleplayer 1.7%

"Xiangsheng Simulator" is a humorous and witty adventure that takes you into the unique world of Xiangsheng. As a Xiangsheng Penggen, you'll team up with your Dougen partner to deliver a performance filled with laughter.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 39.5%, Text-Based 33.3%, Comedy 25.8%, Singleplayer 1.4%

Profession Investigator is an immersive simulator with a text-based interface in which you have to deal with real criminal cases. The game uses materials from court archives and specialized literature.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 30.3%, Detective 26%, Text-Based 24%, Adventure 18.8%, Singleplayer 0.9%

No criminal has ever been a match for you, and everybody is looking forward to a description of your brilliant deductions. There is just one small problem. One tiny detail that makes it different this time. A mere trifle, really. This time you have no idea who did it.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 32.1%, Text-Based 30%, Detective 19.2%, Adventure 10%, Comedy 8.7%

NINA AQUILA is back for her brightest, boldest, most magical adventure yet!

Why similar: Crime 29.8%, Interactive Fiction 26.5%, Detective 21.2%, Comedy 11.6%, Adventure 9.3%

Are you ready to solve the case and bring a criminal to justice?

Why similar: Crime 50.6%, Detective 32.4%, Adventure 17%

見知らぬ密室で目を覚ました主人公。 頼れるものは、手元に残された一台のスマートフォンだけ。 通話、メッセージ、アプリなどに残された痕跡をたどりながら、脱出の手がかりを探していく。 しかし、情報を集めるほどに、 この事件の裏に隠された異様な真実が浮かび上がっていく。 スマートフォンを操作して進める、サイコロジカル・ホラーADV。

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 44.3%, Text-Based 33.5%, Adventure 21.4%, Singleplayer 0.9%

You are shopping on a major online store when strange listings gradually begin to appear. The more you look into them, the more clearly the whole picture of a crime comes into view…

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 42.9%, Text-Based 37.6%, Adventure 18.1%, Singleplayer 1.4%

BEL/S is an Elemental Firewall: a fire elemental bound with C++ code to protect a network of people and places. She can learn things, develop relationships, and even gain sapience. Or she can burn everything with fire. It's up to you.

Why similar: Text-Based 45.7%, Interactive Fiction 33.4%, Adventure 19.4%, Singleplayer 1.4%

In a parallel universe text-based dialogue adventure game, a brand-new Three Kingdoms era is constructed. Players can freely choose to play as classic warriors, and each dialogue choice will lead to distinct and surprising events.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 53.3%, Text-Based 44.2%, Singleplayer 2.6%

DETECTIVE The Motel is a deduction game where, to advance, you must take a pencil and a piece of paper and write down everything that seems like evidence in order to answer all the questions that arise. Solving the case will depend only on you.

Why similar: Crime 36.9%, Interactive Fiction 29.4%, Detective 25%, Adventure 8.1%, Singleplayer 0.5%

You make every interaction with her feel like coincidence. You know her far more than she could ever imagine. But you don't seem to realize, a butterfliy don't usually fly into the net on their own.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 34.8%, Crime 24.1%, Text-Based 18.6%, Detective 14.5%, Adventure 7%

In The Watch Post you will explore areas through a living CRT television in this atmospheric dark-fantasy text adventure. Find strange items, unlock hidden paths, solve optional mysteries, and decide whether the signal should ever be answered.

Why similar: Text-Based 42.8%, Interactive Fiction 39.9%, Adventure 16.2%, Singleplayer 1.1%