Art Game – TV Tropes

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ArtGame

This is the sort of Video Game that takes Doing It for the Art as a motto. While all games are in some way trying to create a gameplay experience, these put more emphasis than most on the more aesthetic aspects of the medium. Essentially, this is a type of game where as much or even more emphasis is put on the game being a story or an art piece as on it being interactive entertainment. While in many cases the actual gameplay experience is minimal, others are just as developed gameplay-wise as more typical games (some can even be quite difficult), it’s just that the story or visuals or themes are played up more and are commonly considered to be at least as important as the gameplay to the overall experience.

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Note that the term “art game” isn’t really a “genre” as such, as the games listed below encompass everything from puzzle games to third-person shooters. It’s more of a blanket term for games that are commonly seen to have artistic qualities, or whose developers are perceived to have taken a highly artistic approach to game design.

Examples: