Renowned video game designer Sid Meier once said, “A game is a series of interesting choices.” On that note, choosing a psychedelic-friendly video game – to either enhance a trip or to simply emulate one – is easily the most interesting choice you can make. Not all video games are created equally, however. Sure, the original Mario game may feature a plumber who chows down on magic mushrooms, but no one’s lining up to watch him slide through 8-bit pipelines.
Below, you’ll find a short list of some of our go-to’s regarding video games with a mind-altering angle. Enjoy them while under the influence… or play through them completely sober. You may not be able to spot much of a difference.
Games for Chilling Out
Many popular video games usually include gratuitous explosions, a wide array of deadly weapons, or an onslaught of boggling challenges. But sometimes, you need a game that can entice the senses without burning out the proverbial hard drive.
Becalm
Let’s start with the chillest game on the list, Becalm. Becalm isn’t exactly a game, per se, since your only goal is to experience it. Which may be exactly what you need as you’re zipping up to that first peak.
In Becalm, you sail through a dazzling, impressionist world toward an unreachable sunset. And that’s pretty much it. The primary focus is on relaxation and contemplation, with no traditional gameplay mechanics or objectives to complete. Instead, players are invited to sit back, vibe to some soothing tunes, and go 100 percent Zen.
Hello Kitty Island Adventure
Inspired by an 18-year-old episode of South Park (yes, really) Hello Kitty Island Adventure is a life simulation game based in the mouthless Hello Kitty universe. Although the premise may sound high stakes (Hello Kitty and her friends must restore an abandoned amusement park!), the gameplay is ultra-chill. You can quest, explore, compete in minigames and partake in side activities like fishing and interior design. It’s sort of like World of Warcraft, except there’s no gear grinding, no combat, and it’s, y’know, Hello Kitty.
Available on Apple Arcade. Available on Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and PlayStation 5 in 2025.
READ: Trippies Video Games for Nintendo Switch
Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles
If you love a vibrant adventure game, but don’t want to spend your precious energy fighting an endless mob of enemies, then Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles may be for you. In this game, you play Sprite-Seer, who must rid the sinister Murk from the enchanted island of Gemea. Instead of combat, you’ll focus on exploring, crafting, farming and establishing relationships with the local NPCs. Think Breath of the Wild meets Animal Crossing.
Also available on the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4.
Brain-Twisting Puzzle Games
Even if you don’t have the cognitive chops to get through a puzzle game, you can, much like above games where you don’t have to do anything, simply mess around and enjoy the visuals. Having some puzzle-solving skills will enable you to progress forward, though.
Antichamber
Antichamber is a first-person puzzle game that challenges players’ perceptions of space and reality. The game features non-Euclidean geometry and optical illusions, creating impossible spaces that shift and change as you move through them. With its stark, minimalist visuals dominated by bold colors and abstract shapes, Antichamber offers a truly psychedelic experience that forces players to think outside the four-dimensional box.
Manifold Garden
Manifold Garden is another visually stunning puzzle game that fiddles with physics and architecture in unexpected ways. The game presents an infinite, recursively repeating world where gravity can be manipulated, allowing players to walk on walls and ceilings. Its striking visual style, featuring vibrant colors and impossible structures, creates a mesmerizing and disorienting environment. As players solve puzzles and progress through the game, they’re treated to increasingly mind-boggling vistas and uncanny spatial concepts.
Also available on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch.
Superliminal
Have you ever played with perspective, such as making it appear you’re holding the moon through clever camera placement? That’s essentially Superliminal in a nutshell. This puzzle game plays with perspective and optical illusions in creative ways. Objects can be picked up and placed, changing size based on the player’s viewpoint, allowing for otherwise impossible solutions to spatially based puzzles. The game’s dreamlike atmosphere, weird storyline, and clever manipulation of the visual cortex create a trippy, surreal experience that challenges players to imagine new dimensions.
Also available on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch.
Edgy Games for Those Who Crave Crazy Trips
Yep, it’s that section at the end of the list where we plunge into some darker media. Only dive into these games if you’ve got a love for gore, the macabre or the unhinged.
Layers of Fear
What if “The Portrait of Dorian Gray,” in some sense, was made into a video game? If Dorian’s portrait were painted with sacrificial blood, you’d get Layers of Fear, a psychological horror game that immerses players in a constantly shifting, hallucinatory environment. As you explore a Victorian mansion as a painter descending into madness, your world warps and changes unsettlingly. Rooms rearrange themselves, paintings come to life, and reality seems to unravel. The game’s use of surreal imagery, distorted perceptions, and a haunting atmosphere creates a deeply trippy horror experience.
Also available on Xbox One and PlayStation 4.
Cruelty Squad
Surprisingly, one of the ugliest games ever made is one of the most highly acclaimed. Cruelty Squad is a laughably unconventional first-person shooter that assaults the senses with its garish, deliberately grotesque visuals and bizarre gameplay mechanics. Set in a dystopian future, the game features a chaotic mix of neon colors, distorted textures, and unsettling body horror elements. Its fever-dream aesthetic, combined with unpredictable gameplay and a gnashingly satirical narrative, creates a uniquely trippy and often disturbing experience that defies traditional game design.
