Deep lore and dialogue trees are all well and good, but ocasionally we all have a hunger to simply play a game without worrying about reading or paying attention to cutscenes. The following list of games all have zero to minimal written text and spoken dialogue, with no menus or inventories to sift through, no HUD to read, and narratives told entirely through visual storytelling. Simply boot up the game and begin vibing immediately, no instructions or handholding necessary.
Neva
The critically acclaimed Neva is the newest title from GRIS developers Nómada Studio, bringing players on a journey through an enchanted forest. A young woman named Alba is accompanied by a wolf cub in this 2D action platformer that takes place over many years, with your titular wolf growing into a full adult by the end. There’s simple combat, environmental puzzles, and a beautiful story between man and beast told without a word spoken.
INSIDE & Limbo
You’ve likely already played Danish indie developer Playdead’s legendary games, but it’s always worth shouting them out just in case. Both Limbo and INSIDE are narrative-driven 2D puzzle platformers with not a single line of spoken or written text, even going so far as to have no tutorial or HUD text. Purely through environmental storytelling, players are trusted to experience a world and put together the story of what happened here. And make sure to hunt down INSIDE‘s secret ending!
Monument Valley Series
Back in 2014, the ancient days of early mobile gaming, British developers Ustwo landed a smash hit with Monument Valley. This perspective-based puzzle game is one of a kind and features a simple story told with the help of shifting worlds, a couple of crows, and an adorable one-eyed totem that stole the hearts of millions. Fans of Salvador Dali’s hidden-perspective artwork will find a lot to love. Monument Valley is short and sweet, but never fear – it has two excellent sequels as well.
Keeper
Keeper is an extremely weird game where you play as a sentient lighthouse, but what else would you expect from the creators of games like Psychonauts, Brutal Legend, and Costume Quest? This wordless game tells a story in a strange new way – achievements. With no text in the game, players can look over the achievement titles and descriptions after completing it to put together context for DoubleFine’s visually stunning platformer and the solemn tale it tells. Or, ignore it entirely and simply vibe; it’s a great experience either way.
Sword of the Sea
Sword of the Sea perfectly blends excitement, adventure, and solmen ponderance into what could reductively be called an ancient skateboarding game. You’ll play as a little guy riding a large sword like a surfboard across deserts, jungles, mountains, and more environments in the pursuit of doing totally sick tricks through beautiful ruins. As you solve puzzles and do stunts, the world heals around you, reverting back to the ocean it used to be and inviting in wondrous sea creatures. There are a few cryptic poems scattered on tablets across the ruins, but outside of that it’s up to your imagination to figure out the story. Be sure to check out the creator’s previous games, Abzu, The Pathless, and Journey, all with minimal words as well.
Animal Well
Animal Well, the incredible metroidvania from solo-developer Billy Basso, published by YouTuber Videogamedunkey, has one thing going for it to set it apart from the entire rest of its genre – it features no combat. In addition to having no UI, no tutorial, and no words, Animal Well trusts that you the player have played video games before and understand how things work, and can put two and two together to understand your next objective. This fascinating adventure does whatever the opposite of handholding is, and does it quite skillfully.
Tunic
If you’re looking for something even more inscrutable than Animal Well, the classic 2D Zelda-like Tunic should be your next stop. Canadian indie developers Isometricorp Games knocked it out of the park on their debut title, winning multiple awards and capturing the hearts of gamers looking for something to truly, truly stretch their brains to the limit. All language in Tunic, whether it be the map, items, or notes, is written in a symbol-based language that doesn’t exist. A huge part of the game is staring at the symbols, figuring out how to progress and solve puzzles on your own, then going back and ascribing meaning to the symbols based on what you’ve done.
Cocoon
Cocoon is the latest project from the co-creator of Limbo and INSIDE, and continues the silent legacy of those games in a puzzle game that’s much smarter than it has any right to be. By manipulating worlds within worlds, your brain will be tested to the limit with no instructions on how to proceed except the environment around you. Cocoon is particularly smartly designed as it essentially features only a single mechanic, but keeps finding new ways over its five hour runtime to challenge players with it in completely new ways.
Rime
Rime is an indie exploration game set in an ancient Greek isle’s wondrous ruins, developed by Spanish studio Tequila Works. A young boy traverses a set of Mediterranean islands, guided by a fox spirit that’s objectively adorable. Solve environmental puzzles, enjoy the music, and take in the heartfelt story told without words. At just around four hours long, it’s the perfect length to explore in an afternoon. Rime is best suited for anyone looking for good vibes and a strange island to explore.
Astro Bot
If you own a PlayStation 5, you have no excuse to miss out on arguably PlayStation’s best game of the current generation. With no words anywhere to be found, Japanese developer Team Asobi’s 15 hour action platformer is one of the greatest of its genre, holding its own against the best games of a certain red-hatted plumber. With dozens of full-sized levels and well over a thousand collectibles to be found, there’s no shortage of amazing worlds to jump, beep, and make friends across. And top of it all, there are tons of deep cut characters and references to PlayStation games all the way back to the PlayStation 1 in this earnest celebration of the gaming medium.
Little Nightmares Series
Little Nightmares has garnered a reputation as one of the best horror games out there for good reason; this powerfully-themed story about overconsumption and gluttony is told entirely with no words. The visual storytelling from Swedish indie studio Tarsier is so precise, so detailed, that you really will feel that a picture is worth a thousand words. The sequel, Little Nightmares II, is just as good, with an existential wordless story about media consumption. Grab a buddy, cozy up in front of the TV, and be ready to cover your eyes!
Planet of Lana
Swedish indie studio Wishfully brings you a delightful but solemn puzzle platformer in Planet of Lana. Join forces with a little cat buddy in a post-apocalyptic world where machines have revolted against humans and guide Lana to safety. The puzzles are all themed around controlling both Lana and the cat in tandem, giving a little twist on the usual formula. This story is widely loved and the art is gorgeous, so it’s hard to go wrong with this game.
Chants of Sennaar
It may be cheating (or a stroke of genius) to include Chants of Sennaar on this list, but it’s simply too good to ignore. In a world with no English (or other real language) words, your character will attempt to decipher the symbols in the world around them to find their meaning. If you saw three symbols next to each other on a carving depicting people walking towards a pyramid under the sun, you could surmise that each one of those symbols means either people, pyramid, or sun, by solving other puzzles around the world you can narrow down the meanings of these symbols. It’s a genius concept that goes a long way in making a phenomenal puzzle game.
Bonus: Classic Games on Nintendo Switch Online
This may be a no-brainer for some, but many gamers looking for games that throw you immediately into gameplay may not be considering some of the classics. Back in the 1980s and 1990s, there were a lot more games that didn’t rely on text to tell their simple but memorable stories. With the Nintendo Switch Online subscription, you can access a treasure trove of wordless old favorites like Super Mario Bros. 1 to 3, Super Mario World, F-Zero, the original Legend of Zelda, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, and most notably all-time classic Super Metroid.
Did we miss your favorite wordless games? Comment below!
