Adventure games span every platform and every visual style — from the Nintendo Switch’s handheld exploration games to PS5 cinematic epics to PC point-and-click classics to VR immersive experiences. This guide covers the best adventure games available in 2026 organized by platform, plus the complete genre breakdown covering 2D, 3D, first-person, pixel art, tactical, and classic adventure game formats, hidden object games from the 2010s, point-and-click adventures, and how to find adventure games on Roblox.
For narrative-driven adventure games, horror puzzle platformers, cooperative adventures, and text-based games, see our guide to the best narrative-driven adventure games 2026 — story, horror, co-op, and text adventures.
Best Nintendo Switch Adventure Games 2026
| Game | Genre | Why It’s Essential |
| The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom | Action adventure | Best open world adventure game on Switch; massive creative freedom |
| Hollow Knight | Metroidvania | Best 2D adventure on Switch; enormous world; challenging combat |
| Metroid Dread | Metroidvania | Best pure Metroid game in decades; tense and stylish |
| Xenoblade Chronicles 3 | JRPG adventure | Epic 100-hour story; best RPG on Switch |
| Disco Elysium | Narrative RPG | Best dialogue-driven adventure available on any platform |
| Oxenfree / Oxenfree II | Supernatural mystery | Teen mystery on island; radio-based supernatural adventure |
| Ori and the Will of the Wisps | Platformer adventure | Stunning 2D adventure; emotional story; best-looking Switch game |
| Spiritfarer | Cozy adventure | Manage a ferry for the dead; gentle but emotionally devastating |
| Tunic | Action adventure | Isometric adventure about a fox; Dark Souls meets Zelda |
| Hades | Roguelike adventure | Best narrative roguelike; story unfolds through hundreds of runs |
Nintendo Switch Action Adventure Games
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom — The peak of open world action adventure on Switch
- Metroid Prime 4: Beyond — Anticipated first-person action adventure; Nintendo Switch 2 launch title
- Astral Chain — Platinum Games action adventure; Switch exclusive; police action with dual fighter
- Monster Hunter Rise — Action adventure RPG; lighter than World but excellent Switch version
- Bayonetta 3 — Character action adventure; Switch exclusive; most ambitious Bayonetta
Nintendo Switch Puzzle Adventure Games
- Baba Is You — Logic puzzle adventure; change the rules by moving words
- Return of the Obra Dinn — Insurance investigator mystery; deduce what happened to every crew member
- The Witness — Open world puzzle adventure on an island; 500+ puzzles
- Outer Wilds — Space exploration mystery; solar system adventure with time loop
- Talos Principle 2 (Switch) — Philosophical first-person puzzle adventure
Best Adventure Games for PS4 and PS5
PS4/PS5 Action Adventure Games
| Game | Platform | Notes |
| God of War / God of War Ragnarök | PS4/PS5 | Cinematic action adventure; Norse mythology; masterpiece storytelling |
| Spider-Man 2 | PS5 | Open world superhero action adventure; best PS5 exclusive |
| Horizon Forbidden West | PS4/PS5 | Open world sci-fi adventure; stunning world design |
| Ghost of Tsushima | PS4/PS5 | Samurai open world adventure; one of most beautiful games made |
| Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End | PS4 | Peak cinematic adventure game; Naughty Dog masterwork |
| The Last of Us Part I/II | PS4/PS5 | Emotional survival adventure; best story in gaming |
| Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart | PS5 | 3D platformer adventure; PS5 technical showcase |
| Returnal | PS5 | Third-person sci-fi adventure roguelike; intense; mysterious story |
Single Player Adventure Games on PS5
- Astro Bot (2024) — Best 3D platformer adventure ever made; GOTY 2024; PlayStation exclusive
- Stellar Blade — Action adventure with deep combat; Korean development; visually stunning
- Final Fantasy XVI — Action RPG adventure epic; best boss fights in series history
- Baldur’s Gate 3 — Available on PS5; best RPG adventure of the generation
Adventure Games for PS3
- Uncharted 2: Among Thieves — The franchise’s best entry; available via PS3
- Red Dead Redemption — Original; available on PS3 and PS Now
- Journey — Meditative adventure; one of the most beautiful games ever made
- The Walking Dead (Telltale) — Season 1 on PS3; narrative adventure masterpiece
Best PC and Steam Adventure Games 2026
| Game | Genre | Platform |
| Disco Elysium | Narrative RPG | PC/Steam |
| Outer Wilds | Space mystery adventure | PC/Steam |
| Return of the Obra Dinn | Insurance detective mystery | PC/Steam |
| Kentucky Route Zero | Magic realist episodic | PC/Steam |
| Pentiment | Medieval narrative mystery | PC/Steam/Xbox |
| Hades II | Action roguelike adventure | PC/Steam Early Access |
| Hollow Knight | Metroidvania | PC/Steam |
| What Remains of Edith Finch | Narrative exploration | PC/Steam |
| Firewatch | Mystery adventure | PC/Steam |
| Elden Ring | Open world action adventure | PC/Steam |
Best Adventure Games on Steam 2026
- Good adventure games on Steam: Filter by Genre → Adventure → Sort by Overwhelmingly Positive reviews — Disco Elysium, Outer Wilds, Firewatch, Hollow Knight, and What Remains of Edith Finch top this list
- Best adventure games PC 2026: Avowed (Obsidian, open world RPG adventure), Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 (realistic medieval RPG), and any 2025-2026 releases from Remedy Entertainment
- Free open world PC adventure games: Genshin Impact (gacha), Sky: Children of the Light, and many Steam free-to-play adventure games with hundreds of hours of content
Best Point-and-Click Adventure Games
Classic Point-and-Click Adventures — 2010s and Earlier
The golden age of point-and-click adventure games peaked in the 1990s with LucasArts and Sierra games, then saw a revival in the 2010s with indie studios and episodic adventures. The best 2010s point-and-click adventure games:
- Telltale’s The Walking Dead (2012): Reinvented point-and-click as emotional narrative; multiple seasons
- Broken Age (2014): Double Fine’s crowdfunded adventure; charming dual-story
- The Wolf Among Us (2013-2014): Telltale Fables adaptation; best Telltale art direction
- Kentucky Route Zero (2013-2020): Ethereal magic realist adventure released across seven years
- Night in the Woods (2017): Coming-of-age point-and-click; suburban small-town story
- Thimbleweed Park (2017): Ron Gilbert’s retro callback to classic LucasArts adventures
- Grim Fandango Remastered (2015): LucasArts classic restored for modern platforms
Hidden Object Adventure Games — 2010s
Hidden object adventure games blend spot-the-item puzzle gameplay with adventure game narrative — popular on casual game platforms in the 2010s. Top platforms for 2010s hidden object adventure games:
- Big Fish Games (bigfishgames.com): The largest hidden object adventure game catalog; Artifex Mundi and other publishers
- Artifex Mundi: Most prolific hidden object adventure developer; Dark Tales series, Enigmatis series, Grim Legends
- Steam Hidden Object tag: Over 500 hidden object adventure games on Steam; many with full adventure game narratives
- Top 2010s hidden object series: Haunted Legends, Mystery Case Files, Hidden Expedition, Grim Legends, Lost Chronicles
Great Point-and-Click Games — All-Time Recommendations
- The Secret of Monkey Island / Monkey Island 2 — LucasArts classics; best comedy adventure games ever made
- Grim Fandango — Day of the Dead noir mystery; LucasArts masterpiece
- Full Throttle Remastered — Biker action adventure; LucasArts cult classic
- Sam and Max: Hit the Road — Irreverent detective adventure; best LucasArts humor
- Broken Sword series — European adventure; longest-running point-and-click franchise
First-Person Puzzle Adventure Games
First-person puzzle adventure games put you in the explorer’s perspective — solving environmental puzzles and uncovering stories from inside the world rather than observing it from outside.
| Game | Puzzle Type | Platform |
| Portal 2 | Physics portals | PC/PS3/Xbox 360 |
| The Witness | Pattern recognition in landscape | PC/PS4/iOS |
| The Talos Principle 2 | Logic + philosophy | PC/PS5/Xbox |
| Outer Wilds | Exploration + archaeology | PC/PS4/Xbox |
| Myst (Remastered) | Environmental observation | PC/Switch/Mobile |
| Antichamber | Non-Euclidean space | PC |
| Prey (2017) | Immersive sim | PC/PS4/Xbox |
| Subnautica | Survival exploration | PC/PS4/Xbox/Switch |
2D and 3D Adventure Games — Genre Breakdown
Best 2D Action Adventure Games
- Hollow Knight — 2D Metroidvania adventure; best in class; available on all platforms
- Ori and the Will of the Wisps — 2D platformer adventure; most beautiful 2D game ever made
- Dead Cells — 2D roguelike action adventure; excellent combat
- Blasphemous — 2D dark fantasy action adventure; brutal and beautiful
- Nine Sols — 2D Sekiro-inspired action adventure; Taiwanese mythology
Best 3D Adventure Games
- Elden Ring — 3D open world action adventure; the standard for the genre
- God of War Ragnarök — 3D cinematic action adventure; PS4/PS5
- Astro Bot — 3D platformer adventure; 2024 GOTY
- Outer Wilds — 3D space mystery adventure; PC/console
VR Adventure Games
- Half-Life: Alyx — Best VR game ever made; PC VR; action adventure
- Lone Echo 2 — Sci-fi VR adventure; narrative and exploration focused
- Asgard’s Wrath 2 — Norse mythology RPG adventure in VR; Meta Quest
- Moss / Moss: Book II — Third-person VR adventure with tiny mouse protagonist
- The Room VR: A Dark Matter — Puzzle adventure in VR; atmospheric and clever
Pixel Art Adventure Games
- Undertale — Pixel RPG adventure; subverts genre expectations; beloved
- Eastward — Pixel action adventure; Zelda-inspired; excellent writing
- CrossCode — Pixel action RPG adventure; dense and content-rich
- Unsighted — Pixel Metroidvania action adventure; time-pressure mechanic
Tactical Adventure Games
- Disco Elysium — Dialogue and skill-check tactical roleplaying adventure
- Baldur’s Gate 3 — Turn-based tactical adventure RPG; best of generation
- Divinity: Original Sin 2 — Tactical RPG adventure; deep systems; excellent co-op
- Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous — Tactical RPG adventure; massive scope
Adventure Games on PSP, GBA, and Classic Portables
Best PSP Adventure Games (PPSSPP Compatible)
- Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII — Action RPG adventure; plays beautifully on PPSSPP
- Persona 3 Portable — JRPG adventure; one of the best PSP games
- Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep — Action RPG adventure; essential KH story
- The 3rd Birthday — Action RPG adventure; Parasite Eve sequel
- Jeanne d’Arc — Tactical RPG adventure; underrated PSP gem
Best GBA Adventure Games
- The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap — Best GBA adventure game; Zelda mythology
- Golden Sun / Golden Sun: The Lost Age — RPG adventure duology; best GBA story
- Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow — Metroidvania adventure; soul-collecting mechanic
- Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones — Tactical adventure; accessible entry point
Adventure Games on PSX / PS1
- Vagrant Story — Tactical RPG adventure; Yasumi Matsuno masterpiece
- Final Fantasy IX — JRPG adventure; most story-focused FF; highly emotional
- Chrono Cross — JRPG adventure with 45 playable characters; ambitious
- Silent Hill — Third-person horror adventure; defined the genre
Adventure Games on Roblox — Best Picks
Roblox’s adventure game category has grown significantly — these user-created games offer genuine adventure experiences within the platform:
- Blox Fruits — One Piece inspired adventure RPG; most popular Roblox game; open world exploration
- Shindo Life — Naruto inspired shinobi adventure; deep progression system
- World Zero — Fantasy adventure RPG with dungeons, bosses, and crafting
- Tower of Hell — Platformer adventure challenge tower; competitive and social
- Doors — Horror adventure game on Roblox; monsters and puzzles through 100 doors
- Piggy — Horror adventure mystery; community-built story chapters
Games Like Uncharted — Uncharted-Type Adventures
Uncharted’s cinematic third-person action adventure formula — traversal, combat, puzzles, and set-piece storytelling — has been replicated by several games:
| Game | Platform | Uncharted Similarity |
| Tomb Raider trilogy (2013-2018) | All platforms | Most similar; traversal + combat + narrative archaeology |
| Indiana Jones and the Great Circle | PC/Xbox Game Pass | Same adventure-archaeology tone; first-person; acclaimed |
| A Plague Tale: Requiem | PS5/PC/Xbox | Cinematic third-person; linear narrative; incredible story |
| God of War (2018) | PS4/PS5/PC | Cinematic third-person action; Norse mythology epics |
| The Last of Us Part I | PS4/PS5/PC | Same Naughty Dog DNA; survival instead of adventure |
| Control | PS4/PS5/PC/Xbox | Third-person adventure; supernatural mystery in brutalist setting |
For narrative-driven adventure games, horror puzzle platformers, cooperative adventures, text-based games, and visual novels, see our guide to the best narrative-driven adventure games 2026 — story, horror, co-op, and text adventures.
For adventure game reviews and platform coverage, see IGN Adventure Games — reviews and top lists. For Steam adventure game rankings and reviews, see Steam — best adventure games by user review.
For the best action adventure games including horror, hack-and-slash, and action RPG across all platforms, see our genre guide to the best action games by genre 2026 — horror, roguelike, hack-and-slash, and action RPG.
Minecraft Adventure Mode and Adventure Game Elements
Minecraft’s Adventure mode is one of the game’s lesser-used but interesting settings — players can explore and interact with objects but cannot break blocks without the correct tools, making it ideal for custom map adventures created by the community. To set Adventure mode in Minecraft: open the chat console and type /gamemode adventure, or use /gamemode 2 in older versions. Adventure mode is primarily used for custom adventure maps downloaded from community sites — players experience crafted narratives, puzzles, and exploration designed by other creators. Some of the most ambitious Minecraft adventure maps recreate classic game worlds, tell original stories across dozens of hours, and use command blocks to create scripted events that feel like a real game. For anyone interested in Minecraft adventure content, the Planet Minecraft website (planetminecraft.com) hosts thousands of downloadable adventure maps covering every genre from mystery to horror to fantasy RPG.
Classic Sierra and LucasArts Adventure Games — Where to Play in 2026
The golden age of adventure games produced titles from Sierra On-Line and LucasArts that defined the genre for a decade. In 2026 these classics remain playable through several routes. GOG.com (gog.com) has the largest catalog of classic adventure games — King’s Quest series, Space Quest, Police Quest, Monkey Island series, Day of the Tentacle, Sam and Max: Hit the Road, and Full Throttle are all available with modern compatibility fixes. ScummVM (scummvm.org) is the open-source engine that allows classic LucasArts and Sierra point-and-click games to run on modern systems — download original game files and load them into ScummVM for the most authentic experience. Steam also carries several remastered classic adventures including Grim Fandango Remastered, Day of the Tentacle Remastered, and the Monkey Island: Anniversary Edition collections. For players who want to experience the games that defined adventure gaming — the Monkey Island series, King’s Quest VI, Day of the Tentacle, and Grim Fandango — these platforms make them fully accessible in 2026.
Bottom Line
| Best Switch adventure game | Tears of the Kingdom (action) or Hollow Knight (2D) |
| Best Switch puzzle adventure | Outer Wilds or Return of the Obra Dinn |
| Best PS5 adventure game | Astro Bot (2024 GOTY) or God of War Ragnarök |
| Best PC adventure game | Disco Elysium or Outer Wilds |
| Best Steam adventure 2026 | Hades II or Pentiment |
| Best point-and-click game | Grim Fandango or The Walking Dead (Telltale) |
| Best hidden object 2010s | Artifex Mundi catalog or Big Fish Games |
| Best first-person puzzle adventure | The Witness or Outer Wilds |
| Best VR adventure | Half-Life: Alyx (PC VR) or Asgard’s Wrath 2 (Quest) |
| Games like Uncharted | Tomb Raider trilogy (all platforms) |
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the best Nintendo Switch adventure games?
The best Nintendo Switch adventure games are The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (best open world adventure ever made), Hollow Knight (best 2D Metroidvania adventure), Metroid Dread (best classic Metroid in decades), Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (best JRPG adventure on Switch), and Ori and the Will of the Wisps (most beautiful 2D adventure). For puzzle adventure on Switch: Outer Wilds, Return of the Obra Dinn, and Baba Is You are the top picks. For co-op Switch adventure: It Takes Two and Unravel Two are excellent.
What are the best PS5 adventure games?
The best PS5 adventure games are Astro Bot (2024’s GOTY and greatest 3D platformer adventure ever made), God of War Ragnarök (cinematic action adventure epic), Spider-Man 2 (open world superhero adventure), Horizon Forbidden West (sci-fi open world), Ghost of Tsushima (samurai open world), and Returnal (sci-fi roguelike adventure). For single-player story adventures: A Plague Tale: Requiem, Disco Elysium, and Pentiment are outstanding narrative adventures available on PS5.
What are the best PC adventure games on Steam?
The best PC adventure games on Steam are Disco Elysium (best narrative RPG adventure ever made), Outer Wilds (best mystery adventure), Return of the Obra Dinn (best detective puzzle adventure), Hollow Knight (best 2D Metroidvania), What Remains of Edith Finch (best walking simulator narrative), Hades and Hades II (best roguelike adventure), and Firewatch (best single-location mystery adventure). To find more: filter Steam by Genre → Adventure → Sort by ‘Overwhelmingly Positive’ user reviews.
What are the best point-and-click adventure games?
The best point-and-click adventure games of all time are The Secret of Monkey Island (comedy pirate adventure; LucasArts 1990), Grim Fandango (noir mystery; LucasArts 1998, remastered 2015), Broken Age (Double Fine 2014), The Wolf Among Us (Telltale 2013), and Night in the Woods (2017). For 2010s hidden object adventure games: the Artifex Mundi catalog (Enigmatis, Grim Legends, Dark Tales) on Steam and Big Fish Games is the definitive resource.
