Best Text-Based Games on Steam
Games driven primarily by text, parser commands, prose, or written choices.
Browse all Text-Based →
1Firework
- Players say: A rookie officer reopens a massacre investigation in a mountain village, exploring eerie scenes and solving story-linked puzzles. Players like: Emotional Storytelling · Eerie Village Atmosphere · Memorable Characters
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An accidental fire at a funeral forces the police to re-investigate a closed case of massacre. Lin Lixun participates the re-investigation by chances. As the investigation goes deeper, the past of the victims gradually emerges. However, the case becomes more bewildering.
Feb 3, 2021
In this game, you can…
- reopen a closed massacre case when a funeral coffin catches fire.
- talk to the dead to pull out hidden memories that advance your investigation.
- watch the world abruptly shift between reality, remembered scenes, and the realm of the dead as you chase clues.
- follow a routine murder inquiry in a mountain village until you're uncovering each victim's past life, one by one.
- reconstruct what happened to a family from scattered clues, only for the presumed murder-suicide to collapse into a different tragedy.
- stumble into a nasty jump scare by interacting with a TV at just the wrong time.
- uncover a grim family history tied to an illegal underground ancient-artefact trade intertwined with murder and local myths.
- hit a climax where multiple myths, family sins, and earlier scenes suddenly click into one explanation all at once.
2Milk inside a bag of milk inside a bag of milk
- Players say: Act as a young woman's inner voice as she navigates a milk run transformed by anxious thoughts, choices, and warped perceptions. Players like: Anxiety-Focused Writing · Unsettling Atmosphere · Distinctive Pixel Art
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A short story about what sort of challenges everyday little things can be. Help the girl buy milk, be the first not to disappoint her.
Aug 26, 2020
In this game, you can…
- be the voice in a girl's head, choosing whether to reassure her or tear her down.
- get addressed directly as if you're a new medication, and have to type "No" with the exact capitalization the game demands.
- walk to a store by counting steps and obsessing over where each foot lands so the "predestined coordinates" stay correct.
- talk her through buying milk when she blanks on what to do and the cashier looks like a monster to her.
- meet a warped, inhuman presence that just repeats "O" over and over while she tries to function.
- sit with her on a bench while she asks you to pick a name for yourself, like you're a real companion.
- rehearse a conversation, endure the walk, buy the milk, then make it home for a calmer, reflective walk back that only happens if you hold it together.
3Doki Doki Literature Club Plus!
- Players say: Join a school Literature Club, write poems for potential crushes, and uncover psychological horror in a choice-driven visual novel. Players like: Character Writing · Friendship Side Stories · Unsettling Horror
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Welcome to the club! Write poems for your crush and experience the terror of school romance in this critically-acclaimed psychological horror story.
Jun 30, 2021
In this game, you can…
- dig through a fake computer desktop where the game's files change, hiding secrets in mail, pictures, and folders.
- run into a character who was "deleted," then watch her get erased for good as the world breaks.
- play a cute club-life romance that slowly turns into horror disguised as a visual novel.
- write poems by picking keywords to charm a specific girl.
- watch the story get forced off your chosen route as one girl's obsession takes over and everything destabilizes.
- unlock emails and meta lore by completing desktop tasks, including why Monika was made self-aware on purpose.
- play side-story prequels showing how the girls met, clashed, and slowly became friends before the main story.
- use a built-in music player to unlock 26 tracks, build playlists, and loop a single song forever.
4Football Manager 2024
- Players say: Run a football club as manager, shaping tactics, transfers and training while guiding your squad through matches and seasons. Players like: Tactical Depth · Long-Term Saves · Squad Building
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Build a world-class team ready to dominate your rivals in football’s most prestigious competitions. Progress never stops when you’re pursuing footballing greatness.
Nov 6, 2023
In this game, you can…
- win the World Cup with Lithuania after years of building a national team program.
- take a tiny sixth-tier club all the way to the Bundesliga over 16 seasons.
- refuse a Manchester United job offer and just keep managing elsewhere.
- import your Football Manager 2023 career and keep the same save going for hundreds of hours.
- win an MLS Cup after a shootout that takes 15 penalty kicks.
- scout villages in Nigeria for a teenager who can change your club.
- turn set pieces into a real tactical weapon by designing your own routines.
- pull off a giant-killing cup upset, like Mansfield Town beating Liverpool.
- take a club from local obscurity to European nights, then switch into national-team management mid-career.
5The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog
- Players say: As a new Mirage Express employee, help Tails investigate Sonic’s apparent murder by searching train cars and questioning suspects. Players like: Characterful Dialogue · Hand-Drawn Art · Lighthearted Mystery
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Sonic the Hedgehog...was murdered!? Get to the bottom of the mystery in this brand-new adventure!
Mar 31, 2023
In this game, you can…
- investigate a real-looking Sonic "murder" on a party train, moving car to car, gathering alibis, and piecing together what happened.
- prove your deductions by sprinting through Sonic-style runner courses, jumping gaps, dodging hazards, and grabbing rings as the floor crumbles.
- reach an ending where Metal Sonic shows up wearing a "Let's go Dad!" shirt.
- team up with Tails, interview whoever's in a train car, then confront them with evidence until their story breaks.
- turn on assist options that remove drop-offs or make you invulnerable so the runner sections can't stop the mystery.
- poke around highlighted surroundings for clues, then match evidence against someone's alibi like a compact detective puzzle.
- get pulled into an unexpectedly emotional scene with Tails in the middle of the mystery.
- take a roulette-like casino gambling detour long enough it feels like half your time on the train.
- unlock lots of dialogue branches and hidden surprises by replaying and choosing different conversation options.
6Milk outside a bag of milk outside a bag of milk
- Players say: As a voice in a troubled girl's head, guide her through a surreal evening by choosing dialogue and exploring her apartment. Players like: Distorted Pixel Art · Haunting Soundtrack · Personal Storytelling
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A sequel to Milk inside a bag of milk inside a bag of milk. Dive into demented and bizarre world once again and help the girl become a little happier.
Dec 16, 2021
In this game, you can…
- sprint through your own house as hallways stretch impossibly long and something reaches cold fingers toward your arm.
- act as a voice in her head, trying to get her to take pills and sleep while her thoughts keep slipping away.
- trigger sudden flashbacks and even deaths just by choosing the wrong line in a conversation.
- collect her scattered thoughts around the room, then piece them together until she can finally calm down.
- repeat a mirror-before-school scene where her reflection won't cooperate, her lips won't move, and she can't force a smile.
- question whether she knows she's in a game, then watch her turn the tables and shut you down with unsettling certainty.
- replay routes where rare dialogue lines and scenes only appear with a small chance, turning repeats into new discoveries.
- examine ordinary bedroom objects as clues—scribbled notebooks, dead plants, a plugged-in laptop—to reconstruct what's happening in her mind.
7Football Manager 2022
- Players say: Take charge of a football club: build a squad, shape tactics, manage staff and transfers, then guide the team through matches. Players like: Long-Term Appeal · Tactical Choices · Club Management Depth
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The closest thing to real football management. FM22 brings new, progressive ways to find your winning edge, instill your footballing style and earn it on the pitch.
Nov 9, 2021
In this game, you can…
- watch goals get overturned or awarded by VAR mid-match, with decisions swinging the scoreline after the ball hits the net.
- run a long save where a nation's youth talent rises or falls as that country gets stronger or weaker over time.
- race through transfer deadline day, juggling agents and last-minute negotiations to steal a signing before rivals beat you to it.
- overhaul how hard your team presses and manage fitness so you can start swarming opponents from the first whistle.
- use defenders who surge forward on the ball, including a wide center-back role that turns a back three into an attacking weapon.
- dig into a data hub that compares your squad to the league, spots tactical problems, and shows why your plan is failing.
- assign scouts to tightly defined regions on a continent, targeting specific hotspots like Uruguay or Peru for young prospects.
- trade an overflowing inbox for regular staff meetings that bundle recruitment, coaching, development, and staffing decisions in one place.
8Murders on the Yangtze River
- Players say: A traveling detective investigates murders along early-20th-century China’s Yangtze, seeking clues to his brother’s death. Players like: Connected Case Story · Historical Detail · Memorable Characters
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"Murders on Yangtze River" is an Ace Attorney-like detective game that takes you on a journey through early 20th century China as you solve a series of intriguing cases. Use your logical reasoning and deduction skills to uncover clues, interrogate suspects, and solve the mysteries.
Jan 30, 2024
In this game, you can…
- watch the steamship glide down the Yangtze between cases, with hand-drawn landscapes and poems as your travel scenes.
- cross-examine a suspect line by line, then pick the exact sentence your evidence contradicts.
- follow a mystery that starts with your brother ruled a suicide in London, then find a Shanghai detective novel describing the exact same death.
- re-enact a crime scene, mixing in one-off puzzles like connect-the-dots and liquid experiments when a case demands it.
- play cases that keep changing the rules on you, swapping between debates, group testimonies, and brand-new mechanics each chapter.
- unlock an in-game glossary of Qing-era laws, forensics, autopsy methods, and murder techniques as the story relies on them.
- deliberately chase wrong answers to collect bad endings that come with their own unique artwork.
- hit later cases that turn into locked-room mysteries and courtroom-style showdowns, stacking contradictions until you can finally crack them.
9Football Manager 2023
- Players say: Take charge of a football club, recruit and develop players, set tactics, and guide the team through matches and seasons. Players like: Tactical Management · Squad Building · Long-Term Replayability
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Build your dream squad, outsmart your rivals and experience the thrill of big European nights in the UEFA Champions League. Your journey towards footballing glory awaits.
Nov 8, 2022
In this game, you can…
- convert a center-back into a striker, train long shots, and have him end up your top scorer.
- sell a club legend for an A+ from the board and get an F from furious supporters.
- quit your club, take a rival job, and watch your old team finish bottom as you win the league.
- threaten to resign over club spending and get instantly accepted.
- use a squad planner to map future starters, target cheap teenagers, and build development paths around them.
- start a press conference feud, then get demolished and watch the champions celebrate their title in your own stadium.
- watch official European match nights with live draws, anthems, branded graphics, and full tournament presentation.
- say one wrong thing to a player, trigger a dressing-room mutiny, and watch the mood crash spill onto the pitch.
1060 Seconds! Reatomized
- Players say: Race through your home in 60 seconds to save family and supplies, then ration, explore, and make choices in a fallout shelter. Players like: Unpredictable Runs · Darkly Absurd Humor · Timed Supply Scramble
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The post-apocalyptic dark comedy is back - remastered and even more radioactive than before! Scavenge supplies, rescue your family, and stay alive in your fallout shelter. Make difficult decisions, hunt mutant roaches... and maybe survive. Or not.
Jul 25, 2019
In this game, you can…
- open the shelter door to strangers, then watch them "clean out the trash" by taking your food, water, and even your son.
- deal with bunker events where a giant spider moves in and pays rent while you decide how to respond.
- sprint through your house for 60 seconds, grabbing supplies and family members, then slam the shelter door right before the nuke hits.
- choose between saving a family member or stuffing your last slot with soup, a gas mask, or a flashlight.
- send a family member into the wasteland, then have them return with supplies, return injured, or come back green.
- try to befriend a giant cockroach while mutant roaches and other radioactive creatures infest your shelter.
- survive long enough for a military rescue, even if the rest of your family dies along the way.
