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These Great Games Let You Play As An Author

Published 1 week ago5 minute read

Games with great writing stand out from the crowd, elevating everything else about the game for the player and garnering critical acclaim as well. Writing is undoubtedly celebrated, but are writers? You might struggle to even think of many games where you play as a writer, with one obvious exception.

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There are more than you might think, and they deserve their time in the sun. If video game writing can be celebrated, so can playable writers in games. Read below to find some of the best video games where you get to play as a writer.

Herman Merman from Loco Motive, a man in a purple vest and beret in a pixelated graphics style.
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Loco Motive
The Gamer rate

3.5/5

2024

Robust Games

Chucklefish

Unity

1

Verified

Loco Motive is a love letter to classic point-and-click adventure games like the original Monkey Island or Broken Sword games, indulging in pixel graphics, madcap characters and puzzles with obscure solutions.

There are three playable characters, but the absolute standout is Herman Merman, detective novelist. He's almost absurdly over the top and a lot of fun, with fantastic novel titles like Herman Merman And The Suburban Burden.

A screenshot from Writer's Rush of a graph tracking various data points.

Some people question why you would want to play a game simulating a regular job, like a retail simulator or a mechanics simulator, although these games have a lot to offer. There are plenty of simulation games that simulate the fantasy of a harder to achieve career though.

Writer's Rush is an author simulator, pitting you against other authors and tasking you with writing the best book possible within the deadline. It's a very different approach to playing a writer and worth taking a look at.

bugsnax.jpg
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Bugsnax
The Gamer rate

3.0/5

November 12, 2020

E10+ for Everyone 10+: Animated Blood, Crude Humor, Fantasy Violence, Suggestive Themes

Young Horses

Young Horses

Irrlicht Engine

PC, PS4, PS5

8 Hours

Strong

When you think of a game where you play as a writer, it's easy to imagine a novelist first, but don't overlook the not-so-humble journalist. In Bugsnax, you play as an unnamed journalist investigating the vanished Elizabert Megafig, bugsnax expert.

Game art from Genshin Impact, Final Fantasy 14 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

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Although the stars of this game are the culinary critters, you'll be interviewing island residents and chasing down leads too. Bugsnax is an almost singular experience and one that more people need to take a big bite out of.

Mary Jane Watson firing a stun gun in an office.
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Marvel's Spider-Man

September 7, 2018

T For Teen Due To Blood, Drug Reference, Language, Mild Suggestive Themes, Violence

Insomniac Games

Sony

Insomniac Engine v.4.0

Marvel's Spider-Man

PS4, PS5, PC

18 Hours

87

Mighty

A game where you play as a writer can be great even while the sections where you play as that writer are... not so great. Marvel's Spider-Man is an amazing experience, putting you in the tights of the famous webslinger. Except for when it doesn't.

Sometimes the game yanks you out of the action and puts you in the shoes of journalist MJ Watson for a forced stealth section. She's a great character, but no one wanted this. Everyone wanted to be fighting crime with superpowers, not creeping around crates.

The character Jade, from Beyond Good And Evil.
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Beyond Good And Evil

November 11, 2003

T For Teen due to Comic Mischief, Violence

Ubisoft Milan, Ubisoft Montpellier

Ubisoft

Jade

You don't have to be sitting at a desk to qualify as a writer, and freelance journalist Jade is one of the best examples of this in any video game. She doesn't wait for the story to come to her; she gets out there and finds it.

Compared to other journalists you might play as, Jade isn't just relegated to conversation and stealth options. She gets into the thick of the action when she needs to, making good use of her staff to fight her way to the truth.

A still of Guybrush Threepwood holding up a giant diamond ring from The Curse of Monkey Island.

Guybrush Threepwood is many things. A sort-of pirate, a surprisingly good insult sword fighter, and perhaps most shockingly of all, a writer. Guybrush has written memoirs of his experiences in the games, which, in line with his general luck, probably didn't sell well.

The Monkey Island games are undeniable classics, the cornerstone of the point-and-click genre. Guybrush bumbling his way through epic nautical adventures will never lose its charm. If only those memoirs were real, they'd be a great read.

PlayStation Silent Hill Harry Mason lost in the snow.
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Silent Hill

Systems

January 31, 1999

M For Mature 17+ Due To Animated Blood and Gore, Animated Violence

Konami

Konami

Unreal Engine

Silent Hill

PS1

7 Hours

86

14 Hours

Given everything that happens to Harry Mason in Silent Hill, it's easy to forget that he does have a life outside the horrors and monsters he encounters in the titular town. He's a writer, although nothing he could write would compare to his real life experiences.

Not a great deal of information is shared with the player about his career as a writer, but it isn't needed for the unbelievable experience that is Silent Hill.

Image of Alan Wake holding a flashlight and a gun at night in Alan Wake.
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Alan Wake

February 16, 2012

T for Teen: Blood, Language, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco, Violence

Remedy Entertainment

Microsoft

havok, proprietary engine

Some characters carve out such a distinctive space for themselves that they take full claim over something. Alan Wake in his titular game and the amazing sequel has done just that. No conversation about writers in video games is complete without discussing him.

Not only is he one of the best playable writers in video games, but his writing is central to his games in a way that no other game could realistically hope to achieve without just seeming like a ripoff. Most people envision Alan with a flashlight, but sitting at a typewriter is where the real action happens.

A split image of Elden Ring, Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth and Baldur's Gate 3.

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