This is the sort of Video Game that uses games as an art form. 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.
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:
- 10 Beautiful Postcards
- ABZÛ
- And Everything Started to Fall
- Aether
- Aisle
- And Yet It Moves
- Anatomy
- Anodyne
- Antichamber
- Antigone Will Take The Stairs Today
- An Untitled Story
- Arise: A Simple Story
- Armed & Delirious
- Asher Series
- Au Sable
- Bad Day on the Midway
- Bevel's Painting
- Beyond Eyes
- Bientot Lete
- The BIT.TRIP series, except for Runner2
- Blue Chairs
- Bound
- Braid
- Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
- But That Was Yesterday
- Cart Life
- The Cat and the Coup
- The Cat Lady
- Child of Light
- Cloud
- Closed Faith
- Coil
- Colour My Series
- Covetous
- The Company of Myself
- Crypt Worlds
- Depict1
- Deadly Premonition
- Dear Esther
- Dear Mariko
- Decarnation
- Deltarune
- Delve
- Device 6
- Diaries of a Spaceport Janitor
- Don't Look Back
- Dreaming Mary
- Dr. Langeskov, The Tiger, and The Terribly Cursed Emerald: A Whirlwind Heist
- Eastern Mind: The Lost Souls of Tong-Nou
- Eastshade
- Endeavor
- The Endless Empty
- The Endless Forest
- End Roll
- Eternally Us
- Ether One
- Event[0]
- Eversion
- Every Day the Same Dream
- Façade (2005)
- Farethere City
- Fez
- Firewatch
- flOw
- Flower
- Flower, Sun and Rain
- Flywrench
- Galatea
- GARAGE: Bad Dream Adventure
- Gone Home
- Gravity Bone
- GRIS
- Harvester
- Heavy Rain
- Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
- Hello Charlotte
- Hello? Hell...o?
- Hero of Many
- Her Story
- Hylics
- I See You
- Ib
- Imscared
- Inside
- Journey (2012)
- Jupiter & Mars
- Kentucky Route Zero
- killer7
- Knock-Knock
- Knytt
- Libretta
- Life Is Strange
- Limbo
- Liyla and the Shadows of War
- Lone Siren
- Looming
- Lose/Lose
- Loved
- LSD: Dream Emulator
- Maggie's Apartment
- Mica: Apoptosis
- Middens
- Miserere
- Moirai
- Mondo Medicals
- The Mooseman
- Mosaic
- Mother
- Neftelia
- Neverending Nightmares
- The Novelist
- OFF
- Ōkami
- OMORI
- Ori and the Blind Forest
- Outer Wilds
- Papo & Yo
- Papers, Please
- Paracentric
- Paranoiascape
- Passage
- The Path
- Pathologic
- Photopia
- Picayune Dreams
- Proteus
- Psychosomnium
- Rez
- Quadrilateral Cowboy
- Rule of Rose
- The Sea Will Claim Everything
- Secrets of Rætikon
- Seiklus
- 7Days (2013)
- Seven Simple Wonders
- Shade
- Shelter
- She Dreams Elsewhere
- Sheepy: A Short Adventure
- Six Rules
- Sky: Children of the Light
- Space Funeral
- Spec Ops: The Line
- Spirit of the North
- Sumire
- Super Columbine Massacre RPG!
- Superliminal
- Tail of the Sun
- The Beginner's Guide
- The Stanley Parable
- Team ICO Series
- The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
- This War of Mine
- Thomas Was Alone
- Time Fcuk
- Today I Die
- To the Moon
- TOWER of HANOI
- Trauma
- Transistor
- Turgor
- Type & Hope!!
- UIN
- Undertale
- Unravel
- The Unfinished Swan
- Valiant Hearts
- Vib-Ribbon
- Walking on a Star Unknown
- Water
- What Remains of Edith Finch
- Where the Water Tastes Like Wine
- Which
- The Witness
- Yume Nikki
- Zero Escape