Novel adventures: 12 video games for when you're too restless to read

It has been one of the many cruel ironies of lockdown: we all have time to read more, but the constant uncertainty and worry, together with the endlessly transmogrifying news narrative, have made it difficult to concentrate on novels. A few keen readers have turned to essay collections, short stories or diaries, which are less demanding on the memory and attention, but video games may also offer a way back into reading during these difficult times. Here are 12 interesting puzzle and adventure games that play with words, text and narratives in innovative ways, which may well guide you back into a reading frame of mind. Hypnospace Outlaw (PC/Mac) If you're spending a lot of time aimlessly browsing the web right now, this might be the perfect narrative game for you; you're a new moderator on a weird alternative 1990s version of the internet, trying to block malicious software and hunt cyberbullies through a range of retro web sites. Blackbar (iOS/Android) Set in an Orwellian dystopia, Blackbar provides the player with a series of personal letters that have been censored by the Department of Communication – you have to work out which words have been blacked out.