Video games can be love letters to the human experience. While not as often seen as such, some throughout recent history have been used as vessels to tell beautiful stories, ask philosophical questions or simply ask life’s toughest questions.
To showcase the effectiveness of video games as an art form, here are five games that have affected me through their innovative storytelling.
“BioShock”
“BioShock” is the “1984” of video games. Rather than covering over-governance, it does the opposite. If a society were to reject altruism, isolate itself and lack basic governmental protections while being highly scientifically advanced, it would grow to become the city of Rapture.
Rapture is an underwater city filled with beautiful architecture, interesting sights and insane inhabitants. According to a video from Gameranx, “This is a game that just is atmosphere.”
“BioShock” is video gaming’s dystopia, and it will prove to stand the test of time.
“Thomas Was Alone”
“Thomas Was Alone” is if therapy was a video game.
The game is simply about interactions with others, the beauty of friendship and most importantly, how it is OK to feel alone.
The characters are so human and relatable, the interactions are funny and the narrator is very quotable. During the fourth level of the game, the narrator says “… a big jump. But Thomas noted there was no real danger in missing it. The world did not want him to fail here. It was pushing him but gently.”
That is the art behind the game, utilizing simplistic storytelling to showcase the beauty of connection and the world around us. 
“The Last of Us”
“The Last of Us” uses zombies, a common story element in horror, as a vessel to give commentary on how humans deal with loss.
The five stages of grief do not exist in the world of “The Last of Us.” The only stage is acceptance, and that leads to some devastating consequences.
The main character, Joel, is not a bad man, just one that never gets closure for his world being taken from him.
The simple inclusion of the zombies throughout the story helps the game show the beauty of life and human connection, and it is entirely about human experiences.
“Cuphead”
A team of 17 people created the 2017 game, “Cuphead,” by hand-drawing 50,000 frames of animation for the game. The visual style resembles 1930s cartoons, while the gameplay feels similar to early ’90s run-and-gun action games like “Contra.”
The game focuses on boss fights, unlike many before it. According to video game analyst Game Maker’s Toolkit, “These old boss fights were essentially the template for ‘Cuphead,’ which has massive great villains, which are, really, the stars of the game.”
“Cuphead” is a love letter to early forms of media, inspired by early cartoons and video games, and resulted in one of the greatest indie games of all time.
“Cuphead” proves the artistic nature of gaming, not because it is hand drawn, but rather because it is the love child of two brothers’ passion for early media. Not only is it unique and interesting, but it works beautifully.
“Outer Wilds”
“Outer Wilds” is terrifying; it is one of the scariest games I have ever played. Rather than going with the standard tropes in space, it gives players a hint of what regularly happens out in space at all times.
Stars explode, black holes suck in everything around them, planets get destroyed and this happens in “Outer Wilds” every 22 minutes. In 22 minutes, it ceases to exist.
The best way to describe how “Outer Wilds” made me feel comes from video game reviewing YouTuber, OfficialNerdCubed, when he said, “The universe is big and long and impossible and daft, and you, you happen to be experiencing it at the same point that you can play the ‘Outer Wilds’ as well. Embrace that coincidence. What are you waiting for? The sun could explode tomorrow.”
Video games are an art form and allow people to highlight their feelings, beliefs and talents. While there may be some with deeper meanings than others, each game is another form of human expression.
Each game offers another round of beautiful experiences for everyone to learn from, and that is undoubtedly worth it.