Did you know that Netflix has games? The streaming video company has taken steps into the gaming industry in recent years with the mobile gaming feature on its app, which includes a variety of titles, including a game based on the Too Hot to Handle reality show and even the genuinely great indie strategy game Into the Breach. One of our writers even sampled some of the early games, though the catalog has changed and expanded since then.
Note that these games are only available to download through the Netflix app on Android phones and tablets, iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. If you’re a Netflix subscriber and confused about how to access your games, check out our guide about how to download Netflix for iOS or Android and play games on your phone.
Here are five games worth playing on Netflix, ordered by their Metacritic score.
5. Oxenfree
Netflix bought Night School Studio as its first gaming studio for a reason. The creators of Oxenfree and Oxenfree II know how to tell an engaging story. Oxenfree centers on a supernatural mystery about a group of friends on a haunted island and sets players at the wheel. It’s up to players to solve spooky happenings and pick from the dialogue options that lead into branching paths.
Oxenfree is especially worth playing if you’re looking for a narrative adventure with spooky vibes. Alex and his stepbrother Jonas stay out overnight at an old military island for a senior-year tradition. Little do they realize their seemingly innocent teenage fun will take a ghostly turn.
4. Moonlighter
League of Legends is accessible through more than just the popular MOBA. Riot Games’ flagship franchise has expanded to spinoff games and even the hit Netflix series, Arcane. Moonlighter is just one of its spinoffs, starring an original character in the League of Legends world.
Will is a shopkeeper with dreams of being a hero. He ventures into roguelite dungeons to scavenge materials for his shop, which he manages when he’s not hacking at monsters. It might not be the most relevant entry into the League of Legends universe, but it’s an accessible RPG for those new to the roguelite genre who don’t mind a little bit of social mechanics mixed in.
Digital Sun later went on to develop another League of Legends spinoff, The Mageseeker. Check that out if you end up liking Moonlighter.
3. Immortality
Immortality might be better suited to Netflix than computers or consoles. Our reviewer wrote that the theatric narrative was an admirable film experiment, even though it wasn’t much of a video game. In it, the player unravels the mystery behind actress Marissa Marcel’s disappearance through three of her lost films. It plays like an interactive movie, even though piecing together the mystery through footage is a more active part of it.
Note that things take a bit of a spooky turn, so it might not be for the horror-squeamish. However, if you end up liking it, you can check out all the other games like Immortality on other platforms.
2. Kentucky Route Zero
Kentucky Route Zero is the kind of game meant for a English major. It reads more like a literary masterpiece than a button-masher. Our entertainment team even noted how it took inspiration from theatrics with its storytelling. It isn’t meant to pump your blood with thrilling action and webs of skill trees. Instead, it picks players brains about their values and what it really means to live in America.
Conway, a truck driver, is on his way to make his final delivery. Much of the story takes place in a magical realism realm, masquerading as a simple Kentucky highway. Kentucky Route Zero only has one ending, but you have multiple ways to get there. Your choices affect how the story plays out and what it teaches you in the process. It tackles themes of debt and loss, and especially how those themes relate to the United States.
1. Into the Breach
Into the Breach is definitely one of the most highly-rated games in Netflix’s catalog. It’s difficult to deny that the mech-suit strategy game is anything but a critical success with its 90 percent Metacritic rating. It doesn’t have much of a story but more than makes up for it with tight, tactical gameplay.
Each game takes place on an 8 by 8 board where the player defends structures and completes objectives before the end of five turns. You have three mechs that you can control at a time, but there are 27 that you can pick from in total. These mechs and their pilots all have unique characteristics that make them worth considering, depending on the terrain and other obstacles.
