16 Great Games That Will Mess With Your Head

Many games want you to forget that you’re playing a game, to immerse you in their worlds as an escapist form of entertainment. Everything that happens in the game stays firmly within the bounds of that game. But what if the game got out and started affecting the real world? What if you weren’t sure you were still playing the game anymore? What if the game seemed to know what you were going to do, no matter how creative you got–and told you as much? Or maybe it’s as simple as the ending of the game being so powerful that you can’t stop thinking about it for days after.

The list below features some of our favorite examples of games that want to stay with you, running around in your head, long after you’ve finished. As an aside, the majority of these games are not available just on Windows, but Mac and Linux as well, making them that much easier to get your hands on and play. And if you don’t have a PC, you’ll find some on PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch consoles as well.