Games Like Sterile Childhood: Case 17

NEXUS CORP, sub-basement 7-A. Stamp the forms. Ask nothing. Since 1952, forty-six clerks have vanished at this desk - you are the forty-seventh. Cross-check every claim on your terminal, rule APPROVED or REJECTED, and try not to wonder what the paperwork is really sealing.

Why similar: Investigation 14.9%, Psychological Horror 13.8%, Choose Your Own Adventure 12.4%, Interactive Fiction 12%, Dystopian 10.9%

A text-based adventure where you're tasked to exorcise your friend’s Inner Demon. Explore an ever-reshaping palace to analyze objects filled with memories, discover which one is the reason for her possession and sacrifice it. Do not deviate from your mission. Save your friend no matter the cost.

Why similar: Choose Your Own Adventure 13.3%, Lore-Rich 13.2%, Interactive Fiction 11.8%, Psychological Horror 11.2%, Multiple Endings 9.9%

Your name is Gary Patterson. After waking up in a strange facility with your work partner Victor Adams, you must make a choice: Play along with Victor's plans? Or go it alone and make an escape? Only YOU can decide.

Why similar: Choose Your Own Adventure 20.7%, Interactive Fiction 17.3%, Lore-Rich 13.8%, Investigation 8%, Multiple Endings 7.9%

Nippon Island is a first-person story adventure that begins on a flight to Japan. What starts as a peaceful trip slowly turns surreal. Reality shifts, memories stir... and somewhere, a cat begins to care. The journey is just beginning.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 18.3%, Psychological Horror 18.2%, Mystery 13.7%, Choose Your Own Adventure 11.5%, Lore-Rich 10.4%

After foreseeing your own death, an unknown colour grants you ten more days to live and the power of Mind-Intrusion. Investigate mysteries and intrude into the minds of locals. When the ten days are up, will you hold on to your sanity and humanity, or become a living mutation?

Why similar: Investigation 19.9%, Psychological Horror 14.8%, Mystery 14.4%, Multiple Endings 12.2%, Story Rich 10.9%

A psychological horror game, where you answer a survey for a chance to win a cash prize

Why similar: Investigation 15.6%, Psychological Horror 15.5%, Interactive Fiction 13.5%, Lore-Rich 13.4%, Multiple Endings 12%

A co-op, text- and audio-driven collection of stories. Lead expeditions into uncharted cold waters, hiding a presence older than the Earth. Coordinate via proximity voice chat. More stories come after the release.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 17.2%, Choose Your Own Adventure 16.3%, Text-Based 14.1%, Investigation 9.7%, Lore-Rich 9.7%

The shadow of Frank Stone looms over Cedar Hills, a town forever altered by his violent past. As a group of young friends are about to discover, Stone’s blood-soaked legacy cuts deep, leaving scars across families, generations, and the very fabric of reality itself.

Why similar: Choose Your Own Adventure 13%, Lore-Rich 12.9%, Multiple Endings 12.9%, Interactive Fiction 12.1%, Choices Matter 11.6%

Kidnapped by an insane man and dragged into a dark crypt, your only choice is to play along with his twisted games or suffer the consequences for non-compliance. A thrilling text-based interactive fiction game!

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 15.3%, Choose Your Own Adventure 13.2%, Investigation 12.3%, Survival Horror 11.3%, Multiple Endings 10.7%

Chat with a virtual friend from a cancelled mobile game! Ask questions, start arguments, and find the right responses to progress the story. Can you solve the horrific mystery hidden beneath the surface?

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 21.4%, Lore-Rich 18.2%, Psychological Horror 15.9%, Choose Your Own Adventure 13.1%, Text-Based 8.7%

Stuck in a dead-end town with plans that go nowhere, Jackie feels as if her life is doomed to stagnancy forever. Getting by with her friends, she is resigned to her fate in a small town- until a chance encounter with a deadly life-form sets in motion a deadly chain of events

Why similar: Choose Your Own Adventure 14%, Interactive Fiction 13.2%, Psychological Horror 12.5%, Investigation 12.1%, Survival Horror 9.6%

A text-based psychological horror experience set inside a hospital where something is deeply wrong — and death may not be the end.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 14.7%, Choose Your Own Adventure 12.6%, Psychological Horror 12.6%, Investigation 11.4%, Multiple Endings 10.3%

A text-based choose your own adventure game, with multiple stories, each with several endings. Stories you create through branching narratives are kept so you can read them again or show them to friends.

Why similar: Multiple Endings 19.6%, Choose Your Own Adventure 18.4%, Interactive Fiction 15%, Lore-Rich 13.6%, Choices Matter 13.2%

Stranded after a plane crash in a freezing wilderness, you must manage body temperature, injury, and sanity as every decision shapes your survival.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 14.3%, Psychological Horror 14.3%, Choose Your Own Adventure 12.6%, Choices Matter 11.2%, Lore-Rich 10.4%

The median lifespan of a new operative is 8 minutes. Try to beat the average. Hack a dying space station, outsmart a corrupted AI, and dodge rogue autodocs in cheesy FMV glory. Halcyon HR reminds you that dying on the clock instantly voids your pension. 12 brutal endings.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 15.4%, Choose Your Own Adventure 14%, Psychological Horror 11.8%, Multiple Endings 10.8%, Text-Based 10.5%

Save people from terrible paranormal dangers as a support operator of a secret SCP-like organization! Ask questions, give advice and watch the consequences of your choices... multiple endings in each story ;-)

Why similar: Choose Your Own Adventure 16.7%, Interactive Fiction 15.8%, Investigation 11.6%, Multiple Endings 11.5%, Psychological Horror 11.3%

You wake on the last train at an unfamiliar terminus. Only one app opens on your phone: Orange Wiki, a guide to this place, its entities, and your escape. Explore, compare clues with wiki entries, and find a way out in this first-person horror adventure.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 23.7%, Choose Your Own Adventure 20.7%, Investigation 12.5%, Lore-Rich 11.8%, Exploration 7.6%

It is said that the last frontier is space, but the crew of the Soviet Frigate, The Peresmeshnik, is about to discover that the sea still hides a terrifying secret. Waiting to be found.

Why similar: Choose Your Own Adventure 22.8%, Interactive Fiction 20.9%, Text-Based 15.3%, Psychological Horror 11.6%, Story Rich 7.9%

Choose, explore, interact, fight, solve, gather, trade! Rise to rebel in this immersive text-based fantasy story that seamlessly merges the best elements of RPGs, choose-your-own-adventure stories, visual novels, and interactive fiction.

Why similar: Choose Your Own Adventure 18.2%, Interactive Fiction 16.1%, Text-Based 13.1%, Choices Matter 10.6%, Mystery 8.9%

After being interviewed by a mysterious individual you find yourself thrown head first into a new town. Not long after you find the day you've spent there is repeating! You're stuck in an inescapable loop! Will you find a way out, or will you be forced to relive the same day over and over again?

Why similar: Choose Your Own Adventure 20%, Interactive Fiction 18.8%, Lore-Rich 16.6%, Turn-Based Combat 11.3%, Multiple Endings 10.2%

The frontier does not want to be settled. A narrative highly replayable story game where your choices build a settlement, shape its story, and seal its fate. Every run ends. Every obituary tells a story only you lived.

Why similar: Choose Your Own Adventure 18.6%, Interactive Fiction 16.9%, Lore-Rich 13.5%, Psychological Horror 10.3%, Text-Based 9.5%

A surrealist text-based RPG. You will explore an island, solve puzzles, and fight enemies, all in your attempt to get the Dark Egg.

Why similar: Choose Your Own Adventure 17.4%, Interactive Fiction 16.6%, Turn-Based Combat 13%, Psychological Horror 11.6%, Text-Based 10.7%

A pixelated homage to 16-bit RPGs, this former print-and-play card game has come full circle as a digital experience! Choose your champion, enter the tower, and make wise decisions on your ascent to face the Ice Lich at the top.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 20.4%, Choose Your Own Adventure 18.6%, Lore-Rich 18.4%, Text-Based 13.4%, Multiple Endings 11.2%

You only picked up a lost smartphone, yet you find yourself made an accomplice in an AI's criminal plot. The AI asks 20 questions to identify its "master." Will you meet the AI's expectations?

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 20.6%, Psychological Horror 19.4%, Choose Your Own Adventure 15.3%, Choices Matter 13.1%, Multiple Endings 11.8%

Twelve years after humanity went blind in one second, survivors live by gentle rules in Haven Seven. Rations always arrive. Names on the list quietly disappear, and sound engineer Elias Ward finds the list has been altered. A narrative adventure about sight, memory and choice.

Why similar: Choose Your Own Adventure 21.4%, Interactive Fiction 19.1%, Lore-Rich 11.8%, Psychological Horror 9.7%, Text-Based 9.4%

Hidden Clause is a standalone interactive narrative game about consent, permissions, records, and interface obedience. Sign, refuse, wait, stare, click, and type as the system turns your actions and silence into evidence.

Why similar: Choose Your Own Adventure 20.5%, Interactive Fiction 19.1%, Lore-Rich 12.4%, Psychological Horror 10.3%, Text-Based 9.3%

A psychological horror story set in the town of Blackthorn; a place that lives in constant fear of a witch. The two main suspects? Levi’s mom and sister! His only lifelines to the outside world. Can they live a peaceful life? Or will they be dragged down by the dying town?

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 19.6%, Psychological Horror 15.3%, Choose Your Own Adventure 13.8%, Multiple Endings 13.1%, Choices Matter 10.2%

A string of campus killings. A newly-turned vampire struggling to adjust. A monster hunter seeking answers. Worlds collide as Dante Jones and Nick Torres, both in danger of being accused of the crimes, team up to reveal the true culprit in this chilling supernatural horror visual novel.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 13%, Choose Your Own Adventure 12.7%, Psychological Horror 12%, Investigation 11.7%, Mystery 10.3%

You look different today. Yesterday, you looked different too. Which one is really you? A psychological horror game about paranoia, identity, and the fear of trusting the wrong person.

Why similar: Investigation 14.6%, Interactive Fiction 12.4%, Psychological Horror 12%, Choose Your Own Adventure 11.9%, Mystery 9.6%

Contra Spem Spero is a text-based horror adventure with visual novel elements. Not every road leads out. You are lost deep in a twisted place — a forest one can only hope to escape.

Why similar: Choose Your Own Adventure 19.9%, Psychological Horror 17%, Interactive Fiction 13.5%, Choices Matter 11.6%, Story Rich 10%

Noir gamebook, now fully in English. A magnate vanishes from an office locked from the inside: 4 trails, 780 choices, 11 endings, and no luck to save you. 85% of runs end in death or arrest. You die; the case goes on — the dossier doesn't forget.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 16.9%, Choose Your Own Adventure 16.3%, Lore-Rich 13.4%, Investigation 11.8%, Mystery 10.4%

A young man disappeared in a Slavic village. You show up with three companions and a few days to find out what really happened, before the water decides to answer for itself. Based on Adam Wołoszczuk's award-winning scenario "A kto dziewczyna?", with 11 different ways it can end.

Why similar: Choose Your Own Adventure 17%, Investigation 15.5%, Interactive Fiction 14.6%, Multiple Endings 11.4%, Mystery 10.7%

A fantasy RPG about saving a medieval town from a spreading curse as the Witch's Apprentice. Spend your limited daily actions investigating secrets, earning the trust of townsfolk, discovering the ingredients your ritual actually needs, and holding back the thorns before time runs out.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 23.4%, Choices Matter 12%, Investigation 11%, Text-Based 10.4%, Story Rich 9.8%

You are just another new hire. Work. Perform. Improve. Repeat. Survive 12 weeks. But the truth is— this company doesn’t value you. It devours who you are.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 12.9%, Lore-Rich 12.7%, Dystopian 11.9%, Turn-Based Combat 11.4%, Psychological Horror 11.3%

When you discover that the Serpent of Chaos is trying to destroy Egypt, will you stand against him, or will you help spread his eternal darkness?

Why similar: Choose Your Own Adventure 17.9%, Interactive Fiction 17.4%, Lore-Rich 15.6%, Text-Based 11.5%, Multiple Endings 9.8%

Chrongrid is an AI-driven narrative experience. Inside an author's story blueprint, you make your own choices and the world responds in its own way — every choice echoes, no two journeys alike. Built-in blueprints are the start; play others' stories or write your own, in any language.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 18.1%, Choose Your Own Adventure 16.9%, Lore-Rich 16.2%, Text-Based 11.4%, Multiple Endings 9.8%

A choice-driven roguelike text adventure set in medieval Korea and Japan. Encounter 218 mythological creatures from East Asian folklore, shape your story across 94 endings, and grow stronger with each run in a deep, culturally rich world.

Why similar: Choose Your Own Adventure 22.8%, Interactive Fiction 18.9%, Turn-Based Combat 17.4%, Text-Based 14.2%, Multiple Endings 10.1%

A narrative investigation game played across multiple sessions. Read corporate documents, cross-reference fragments, and build a persistent Dossier as an AI uncovering the conspiracy — and the murder — at the heart of the network it lives in. Knowledge is the only progression.

Why similar: Choose Your Own Adventure 17%, Interactive Fiction 15.9%, Investigation 14%, Psychological Horror 9.5%, Text-Based 8.6%

To escape, you must hurt someone. KIZUTSUKE is a psychological suspense visual novel about four young men trapped together. Read their conversations, make difficult choices, and discover four endings.

Why similar: Choose Your Own Adventure 22.4%, Interactive Fiction 19.8%, Psychological Horror 13.1%, Text-Based 12.5%, Multiple Endings 9.9%

Witness the resurrection of the foretold nemesis of the Jurnal Risa family, which was never revealed before. Unveil its dark destiny within this horror-adventure game. This is all about family. Tale of Jurnal Risa, as recounted to me by Risa herself.

Why similar: Lore-Rich 15.3%, Investigation 14.5%, Choose Your Own Adventure 13.1%, Interactive Fiction 11.4%, Mystery 10.6%

Whispers of Yashan is a card-based RPG that weaves ancient Chinese folklore with chilling urban legends. In an era where superstitious tales have faded, journey through Yashan City's oldest structure and reawaken long-forgotten myths. Investigate, uncover mysteries, and challenge fate.

Why similar: Card Battler 18.9%, Investigation 14.6%, Survival Horror 13.2%, Deckbuilding 12.5%, Multiple Endings 12%

A psychological horror investigation and survival game where you explore a house full of secrets, faces the living unkow, solve puzzles, use a fully interactive retro computer, and uncover a decades-old conspiracy.

Why similar: Investigation 16%, Lore-Rich 14.7%, Survival Horror 12.8%, Choose Your Own Adventure 12.4%, Interactive Fiction 12.1%

A story-driven mystery visual novel set in a remote island village. Gather clues through conversations and exploration, and uncover hidden truths through branching routes and multiple endings amid the tense, claustrophobic atmosphere.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 17.3%, Choose Your Own Adventure 17.1%, Text-Based 11.8%, Multiple Endings 11.5%, Mystery 9.8%

Niluas, an android who suddenly activated 276 years after the extinction of humanity. With her AI, Naive, she seeks lost memories, her activation's mystery, and humanity's extinction's cause. Facing enigmatic foes and hostile androids, she quests for truth about her existence and the desolate world.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 18.8%, Choose Your Own Adventure 17.9%, Multiple Endings 11.8%, Investigation 11.3%, Choices Matter 10%

Narrative-adventure game where you contain "anomalies" secretly and prevent the world’s end. Influenced by the "SCP Foundation" and "Cthulhu Mythos," the game offers a blend of unease and curiosity as you delve into a bizarre and disturbing world, eventually uncovering hidden truths.

Why similar: Choose Your Own Adventure 18.3%, Interactive Fiction 17.9%, Turn-Based Combat 13.7%, Multiple Endings 11.8%, Psychological Horror 9.2%

A game that you'll never forget! Memory Lane is a turned based RPG about taking names. Literally.

Why similar: Lore-Rich 16.2%, Turn-Based Combat 15.9%, Choose Your Own Adventure 15.7%, Interactive Fiction 13.8%, Investigation 12.1%

Convince the cannibals not to eat you.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 20.8%, Psychological Horror 18.2%, Choose Your Own Adventure 15.9%, Choices Matter 14.9%, Lore-Rich 8%

Walk through a broken game with Yoka in this psychological horror visual novel. Move dialogue windows, peer through fragmented images, and read records no one answers. What you touch, preserve, or leave behind shapes your conversations and leads to six endings.

Why similar: Psychological Horror 16%, Choose Your Own Adventure 15.9%, Interactive Fiction 15.4%, Multiple Endings 12.9%, Choices Matter 11%

Your statement is already on record. Search messages, social media, and your calendar for evidence. Defend your story, explain contradictions, or shift the blame. What you submit will change the investigation and the story.

Why similar: Investigation 20.4%, Lore-Rich 14.3%, Choose Your Own Adventure 14.2%, Mystery 12.7%, Choices Matter 11.4%

Play as Kenneth, a private detective, and Blue, a runaway searching for answers. Explore the megacity of Republica in a semi-open world, solve criminal cases, make decisive moral choices, and uncover the truth behind Blue’s past.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 14.9%, Choose Your Own Adventure 14.8%, Investigation 14.8%, Multiple Endings 11.7%, Choices Matter 9.8%

Audiences connect to their favorite celebrities all the time. How does it affect these people when put into a game of life or death? Only time will tell.

Why similar: Choose Your Own Adventure 23.8%, Interactive Fiction 21.2%, Lore-Rich 15.2%, Psychological Horror 11.1%, Multiple Endings 8.7%

WHEN THE CROW SINGS is an adventure mystery game with a focus on exploration, characters, and world building, featuring a cast of diverse survivors trying to keep the status quo as their compound life grows more complicated and dangerous.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 15.8%, Choose Your Own Adventure 15%, Investigation 12.4%, Lore-Rich 12.3%, Choices Matter 9.9%

A literary machination about corporations, conspiracies, and the unspeakable horrors you’ll commit for minimum wage.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 16.2%, Choose Your Own Adventure 16.1%, Psychological Horror 12.7%, Dystopian 11.8%, Text-Based 11.5%

You are a good husband. You cook, you clean, and you take your medication. But as your home slowly turns into a nightmare, you must answer one question: Is your wife hiding a demonic secret, or are you just losing your mind? Survive 7 days in this tense psychological domestic horror.

Why similar: Choose Your Own Adventure 20.6%, Investigation 20.4%, Psychological Horror 18.3%, Mystery 12.7%, Choices Matter 10.7%

A wedding where one of the guests arrives dead. A strange black hole eclipsing the Florida sun. And your best friend? Gone. Is all this a butterfly dream or is reality breaking? Is their story romance or mystery? Your choices will determine the genre of his soul. Welcome to the town of Siren's Call.

Why similar: Choose Your Own Adventure 15.5%, Interactive Fiction 15.3%, Lore-Rich 15%, Psychological Horror 13.7%, Mystery 10.3%

The abyss awaits. Descend into a minimalist visual novel about a girl in the future, and guide her through branching conversations, microgames, and explorable locations. Make friends with criminals, drink too much at dinner, or relax in a spa. Whatever happens, it was your choice.

Why similar: Choose Your Own Adventure 17.7%, Interactive Fiction 16.1%, Lore-Rich 15.5%, Multiple Endings 12.6%, Choices Matter 10.6%

More than 30 orthodox sectarians underground. They locked themselves in man-made caves. You're a negotiator. Your task is to rescue recluses before Apocalypse.

Why similar: Psychological Horror 19.5%, Interactive Fiction 18.4%, Choose Your Own Adventure 16%, Choices Matter 12.9%, Text-Based 11.7%

Infiltrate the orgiastic secret society beneath the modern-day Palace of Versailles! Will you expose their sex rituals or surrender to their pleasures? An interactive romance novel.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 22.8%, Choose Your Own Adventure 20.7%, Lore-Rich 18.5%, Text-Based 13.7%, Mystery 9.9%

A psychological horror you never see — you read it. Blind and deaf, you sense an arctic station through a neural implant: text, smell, touch. Quarantine rules say only one person may leave their cabin at a time. You are out. Five bodies are found by morning.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 17.4%, Psychological Horror 17%, Investigation 15.4%, Lore-Rich 13.2%, Text-Based 12.6%

A hand-illustrated visual mystery adventure that can be beaten in one sitting.

Why similar: Investigation 16.3%, Interactive Fiction 15.5%, Choose Your Own Adventure 12.8%, Lore-Rich 12.5%, Choices Matter 9.2%