Best Lore-Rich Games on Steam
Games packed with backstory, worldbuilding, history, codices, and hidden context.
Browse all Lore-Rich →
1DARK SOULS™ III - Dark Souls continues to push the boundaries with the latest, ambitious chapter in the critically-acclaimed and genre-defining series. Prepare yourself and Embrace The Darkness!
Apr 11, 2016
In this game, you can…
- unlock a door or elevator and realize the level loops back over itself to where you started.
- hit a chest that turns out to be a monster and fights back.
- get invaded by a hostile player in your world and fight them off mid-journey.
- find secret rooms by striking walls that look solid.
- use special weapon skills that change your moves and spend a magic-like meter.
- summon strangers to co-op, then beat the same bosses in both of your worlds together.
- do a full boss fight that's a puzzle, like breaking a giant's bracelets instead of dueling normally.
- gesture at the Fire Keeper and get a unique gesture response back.
2The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - EPIC FANTASY REBORN The next chapter in the highly anticipated Elder Scrolls saga arrives from the makers of the 2006 and 2008 Games of the Year, Bethesda Game Studios. Skyrim reimagines and revolutionizes the open-world fantasy epic, bringing to life a complete virtual world open for you to explore any way you choose.
Nov 10, 2011
In this game, you can…
- start a full-town brawl by punching a chicken.
- enter a drinking contest, black out, wake up in a temple, track down a missing goat from a giant, and end up meeting a Daedric Prince for a reward staff.
- stand on a mountain, learn magical shouts, then spend dragon souls to unlock more words and yell enemies around as a core combat tool.
- pick a direction with almost no guidance and stumble into caves, dungeons, and random sights just by wandering.
- build your entire character around a once-per-day racial power, like berserker rage or rapid magicka regeneration.
- buy or build a house and turn it into an organized museum with weapon racks, sorted chests, and crafting supplies placed by each station.
- become a werewolf and ignore the main quest to live off the land, hunting deer and tearing through bandits.
- watch a dragon swoop down mid-conversation, grab a guard in its mouth, fling him into the air, and kill him instantly.
3Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 - Lead the members of Expedition 33 on their quest to destroy the Paintress so that she can never paint death again. Explore a world of wonders inspired by Belle Époque France and battle unique enemies in this turn-based RPG with real-time mechanics.
Apr 24, 2025
In this game, you can…
- dodge or counter basically anything enemies throw at you, including spells, projectiles, cosmic rays, and even buildings.
- spend action points to free-aim in third person and shoot an enemy's weak spot to end a fight early.
- watch the story's yearly death countdown tick toward "33," then head out on a final mission to stop it.
- dodge, parry, and counter enemy attacks in real time during turn-based fights.
- jump over low attacks mid-fight, then land right back into the dodge-and-parry rhythm.
- swap builds to answer a specific encounter, then stack party synergies into a setup that can delete bosses in one turn.
- wander a huge world map packed with secret areas, hidden encounters, and travel methods that unlock with companions.
- walk into higher-level areas and still win if your timing is good enough on dodges, parries, and jumps.
4Halo: The Master Chief Collection - The Master Chief’s iconic journey includes six games, built for PC and collected in a single integrated experience. Whether you’re a long-time fan or meeting Spartan 117 for the first time, The Master Chief Collection is the definitive Halo gaming experience.
Dec 3, 2019
In this game, you can…
- swap between the 2001 and anniversary visuals instantly, mid-mission, while everything else keeps playing normally
- get blindsided when a straight sci-fi shooter mission suddenly turns into claustrophobic survival horror
- build custom maps and modes, then jump into weird community-made games people invented in the browser
- storm a beach, then spill into a huge open battlefield where you choose the route, vehicles, and targets for the assault
- dual-wield guns and turn a normal firefight into a two-weapon rushdown
- play the entire campaign in 4-player co-op as your own spartans, start to finish, with everyone in the same missions
- remix the whole campaign with skulls that change how combat works, turning familiar levels into totally different challenge runs
- fight 16-player multiplayer battles with tanks, aircraft, and alien weapons all on the same map
5DARK SOULS™: REMASTERED - Then, there was fire. Re-experience the critically acclaimed, genre-defining game that started it all. Beautifully remastered, return to Lordran in stunning high-definition detail running at 60fps.
May 23, 2018
In this game, you can…
- get lost, take an elevator shortcut, and end up back at the starting shrine.
- open the wrong treasure chest and get eaten alive by the "chest."
- lure the first boss to the edge of a narrow wall and watch it dodge itself straight off to its death.
- get invaded by a naked stranger who only punches, then watch the host jump off a cliff to give them the win.
- summon a random player into your world and survive a two-boss fight together after dozens of tries.
- fight what looks like a single boss, then have a second one drop in as a surprise.
- wear heavy armor, realize it changes your dodge, swap gear mid-run, and suddenly win fights that felt impossible.
6Middle-earth™: Shadow of Mordor™ - Fight through Mordor and uncover the truth of the spirit that compels you, discover the origins of the Rings of Power, build your legend and ultimately confront the evil of Sauron in this new chronicle of Middle-earth.
Sep 30, 2014
In this game, you can…
- kill a captain, then meet him again later with new mutations and new immunities.
- turn orc captains into sleeper agents, promote them into bodyguard slots, and trigger a betrayal mid–war-chief fight.
- aim your bow in slow motion, then warp straight to the enemy instead of just firing.
- get ambushed by an orc you killed earlier, now scarred up and hunting you.
- interrogate a random grunt for intel, then have the target captain show up minutes later because he can appear unexpectedly.
- learn a captain's specific fears and weaknesses, then plan an assassination that exploits them on purpose.
- drop a hornet's nest, shoot an explosive barrel, free a caged beast, and turn the whole camp into a chain reaction.
- brand enemies in a stronghold, then come back later and watch your turncoats climb the ranks and start a civil war.
7DEATH STRANDING - From legendary game creator Hideo Kojima comes an all-new, genre-defying experience. Sam Bridges must brave a world utterly transformed by the Death Stranding. Carrying the disconnected remnants of our future in his hands, he embarks on a journey to reconnect the shattered world one step at a time.
Jul 14, 2020
In this game, you can…
- build highways and zipline networks, then watch other players use them and feed resources back into your infrastructure.
- leave ladders, ropes, bridges, and chargers in the world for other players to use later.
- carry a living baby in a pod on your chest and soothe it when it gets stressed during rough travel.
- haul towering stacks of cargo across open wilderness.
- wear powered exoskeletons and armor plates that change your balance, speed, and how much weight you can haul over rough terrain.
- stumble into Half-Life crossover deliveries and equipment inside the same delivery-focused world.
8DARK SOULS™: Prepare To Die™ Edition - Dark Souls will be the most deeply challenging game you play this year. Can you live through a million deaths and earn your legacy?
Aug 24, 2012
In this game, you can…
- get invaded by a stranger who drops endgame weapons and piles of humanity at your feet.
- tap a wall that looks solid, watch it vanish, and walk into a whole hidden area behind it.
- look at a distant castle on the horizon, then later stand there because the vista was an actual place.
- fight your way through a brutal area, find a hidden ladder or door, and suddenly loop back to where you started hours ago.
- invade other players, get invaded mid-run, or summon help, so any stretch of the game can suddenly turn into co-op or a duel.
- walk into the wrong path early, get crushed instantly, and realize the world lets you go anywhere out of order if you can survive.
- strip down for speed, equip a ring that lets you cross lava, sprint past forty-plus dinosaur-like monsters, and reach a boss arena on the far side.
9Blasphemous - Blasphemous is a brutal action-platformer with skilled hack’n slash combat set in the nightmare world of Cvstodia. Explore, upgrade your abilities, and perform savage executions on the hordes of enemies that stand between you and your quest to break eternal damnation.
Sep 10, 2019
In this game, you can…
- unlock fast travel by donating 20,000 Tears of Atonement to a hidden system.
- encounter enemies like shrieking nuns who swing caged captives as weapons, a cursed boy birthing an old man from his chest, and a dead bishop puppeteered by followers.
- bow before towering statues to have your guilt absolved and your death penalty lifted.
- wake up in a field of naked, faceless, masked corpses as the only apparent survivor.
- die, drop your currency, leave a guilt mark on your corpse, then make a tense pilgrimage back to recover it.
- find story clues in item descriptions, cryptic dialogue, corpses, hidden doors, and boss encounters, then piece the plot together yourself.
- learn boss fights by parrying, dodging, and striking only in tiny openings until you beat towering religious monstrosities through timing alone.
- enter New Game+ penances that change your playstyle, then stack on optional challenges that force a completely different approach.
10Five Nights at Freddy's - Welcome to your new summer job at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, where kids and parents alike come for entertainment and food! The main attraction is Freddy Fazbear, of course; and his two friends. They are animatronic robots, programmed to please the crowds!
Aug 19, 2014
In this game, you can…
- crank each animatronic's AI level up to 20 on Custom Night and build brutal combinations like 20/20/20/20.
- keep checking Pirate Cove to stall Foxy, or he can sprint straight down the hallway at you.
- waste too much power and lose access to your tools, leaving you staring into a dark office while Freddy approaches.
- balance your power use between camera checks, hallway lights, and two electric doors.
- watch animatronics vanish from the stage and reappear in hallways or blind spots on your cameras.
- catch a threat at the door, open up, and realize another one is already coming because you mistimed your checks.
- hear tiny off-screen cues like shuffles and childlike sounds that warn something is in the room before you can see it.
