Dear Esther is an intriguing game with gorgeous graphics and a hauntingly beautiful soundtrack. It originally started out as a mod for half-life 2, where it was praised for it's storyline. An nontraditional game, it is basically a ghost story that is told through a first-person view. The emphasis is on exploration on an island and finding letters mysteriously addressed to Esther. Throughout the game you will be questioning yourself over who Esther is, why you are on the island, and even who you are as the player.

I love this game. It's story unfolds in pieces, which can be a little confusing, but pieces together in the end. The game is mostly about the atmosphere it creates, and the graphics and soundtrack go perfectly together. I seriously got chills playing through this game. It's $10 USD from Steam, and although the playtime is short (about 2.5 hours), it is definitely worth it. Also, you can play through it multiple times, as different dialogues are present in the story, and multiple play-throughs will help you figure out what's really going on.

Find out more at http://dear-esther.com

This just... looks amazingly interesting. The premise and the graphics caught me, I'm definitely adding this to my list of things to play.

Is the story somewhat mindfuck-ish? Or do you have instances of fridge horror in it where something only becomes scary or disturbing once you've stopped to think about it?

Sounds neat as hell... I love ghost stories and psychological thrillers. Must find out more...

Honestly, if it's playthrough is only about 2.5 hours, then I think that it'd be 10 dollars well spent. That's pretty damn cheap for a game these days. But do you have to pay for Steam?

All it took was 'mod for half-life 2'.

half-life 2

half-life 2

SHUTUP AND TAKE MY MONEY! (Lol, not directed towards you :I)
Unless it's real horror. I don't do so well with heavy horror games, orz. From your description, it sounds fucking awesome, so I'll make a note.

Oh, and how would you compare this game to Amnesia: The dark descent?

>>5 Wasn't that game suspposed to be like "shit shit your pants" scary?

>>6 Indeeeeeeeed.

Watching the gameplays can be deceiving. Playing and watching and two entirely different things. Amnesia was scary as fuck, but I wanted to see how scary this game was in comparison.

are*, not and :p

>>2 I think it's more of the fridge horror variety. I actually spent a lot of time thinking about what certain statements meant and how they all fit together. However, as the game goes along, the story does get more and more WTH-ish.

>>4 Steam is free! And cool, if you like to play games with friends and share achievements.

>>5 Haven't played Amnesia yet! This game isn't heavy horror. Also, the reason I gave this game a glance was because it was a mod. The premise is what really drew me in though!

>>9 If steam is free, then I'll probably buy it when I have spare cash lol. But I wasn't going to pay for a service only to use it just once, lol.

The 1st game I played. This is my favourite by far and that I have downlaned the entire soundtrack. If you don t know this game please play it.