2013 was an interesting year for games, particularly in its delivery of solid, compelling narratives. While the landscape has been full of sequels and spiritual successors (not a new trend), there has been no lack of deep storylines to scratch the more intellectual itch of gamers everywhere.

Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs

After terrifying PC gamers the world over with the harrowing Amnesia: The Dark Descent, developer Frictional games handed the reins of responsibility over to Dead Esther creators The Chinese Room, whose profoundly Victorian writing sensibilities lend a very different sort of horror to Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs. Scrubbing away the dank gothic dungeons of the predecessor for a brassy steampunk vibe and replacing the supernatural with the scientific, the underlying story is a slow burn that manages to work its way under the player’s skin and nest there for the duration. Not to say that the usual...