Best Documentary Games on Steam

Steam currently has 166 Documentary games available to download and play. Explore our list of the best picks ranked by Player Score. Our Player Score rankings are calculated directly from reviews left on the Steam store and will be updated in real-time as more players leave their feedback. Documentary game rankings were last updated on 11/19/2024.

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1. Free to Play

Free to Play is a feature-length documentary that follows three professional gamers from around the world as they compete for a million dollar prize in the first Dota 2 International Tournament.

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Free to Play holds the #1 spot for "best Documentary game on Steam" with a Player Score of 92. Its score was calculated by analyzing a total of 11,022 reviews on Steam. This breaks down to a total of 10,481 positive reviews and 541 negative reviews — making it "Overwhelmingly Positive" on Steam.

It is completely free to play and can be played and ran on Windows, Mac, and Linux systems. At the moment, there is no confirmed information regarding Steam Deck support for this game.

Release Date 3/19/2014
Developer Valve
Publisher Valve
Steam App Id 245550

2. Half-Life: Alyx - Final Hours

THE FINAL HOURS OF HALF-LIFE: ALYX is an interactive storybook, written by Geoff Keighley, that takes fans inside Valve Software to chronicle the company’s past decade of game development, including the return of Half-Life.

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Half-Life: Alyx - Final Hours has achieved a Player Score of 89, placing it in the #2 spot for the best Documentary games. Its score was calculated by analyzing a total of 860 reviews on Steam. This breaks down to a total of 819 positive reviews and 41 negative reviews — making it "Overwhelmingly Positive" on Steam.

It is priced at $7.99 to play and can be played and ran on both Windows and Mac systems. At the moment, it is not possible to play or run Half-Life: Alyx - Final Hours on the Steam Deck.

Steam Price $7.99
Release Date 7/9/2020
Developer Geoff Keighley
Publisher Geoff Keighley
Steam App Id 1361700

3. Indie Game: The Movie

The emotional journey of four developers as they sacrifice money, health and sanity to realize their lifelong dreams of sharing their games with the world.

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Indie Game: The Movie has achieved a Player Score of 88, placing it in the #3 spot for the best Documentary games. Its score was calculated by analyzing a total of 1,838 reviews on Steam. This breaks down to a total of 1,698 positive reviews and 140 negative reviews — making it "Very Positive" on Steam.

It is priced at $9.99 to play and can be played and ran on both Windows and Mac systems. At the moment, there is no confirmed information regarding Steam Deck support for this game.

Steam Price $9.99
Release Date 6/12/2012
Developer Blinkworks Media
Publisher BlinkWorks Media
Steam App Id 207080

4. The Book of Distance

In 1935, Yonezo Okita left his home in Japan and began a new life in Canada. Then war and state-sanctioned racism changed everything—he became the enemy. His grandson leads us on an interactive virtual pilgrimage through an emotional geography of immigration and family to recover what was lost.

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The Book of Distance has achieved a Player Score of 88, placing it in the #4 spot for the best Documentary games. Its score was calculated by analyzing a total of 172 reviews on Steam. This breaks down to a total of 168 positive reviews and 4 negative reviews — making it "Very Positive" on Steam.

It is completely free to play and can be played and ran on Windows systems. At the moment, it is not possible to play or run The Book of Distance on the Steam Deck.

Release Date 10/8/2020
Developer National Film Board of Canada
Publishers
Steam App Id 1245640

5. The Making of Karateka

Play the history. Go behind the scenes of Jordan Mechner's landmark game Karateka in this interactive documentary from Digital Eclipse, with archival materials, video features, and more. Experience pixel-perfect versions of this legendary game, with all-new features.

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The Making of Karateka has achieved a Player Score of 86, placing it in the #5 spot for the best Documentary games. Its score was calculated by analyzing a total of 94 reviews on Steam. This breaks down to a total of 92 positive reviews and 2 negative reviews — making it "Very Positive" on Steam.

It is priced at $19.99 to play and can be played and ran on Windows systems. At the moment, it is possible to play The Making of Karateka on the Steam Deck (though some functionality may be limited).

Steam Price $19.99
Release Date 8/29/2023
Franchise Digital Eclipse
Developer Digital Eclipse
Publisher Digital Eclipse
Steam App Id 1163060

6. How To Cope With Boredom and Loneliness

Harold Fletcher has been grounded to his bedroom for over 30 years. Join award-winning journalist Nigel Wimble as he discovers how one man has coped with the boredom and loneliness in this one of a kind, FREE, documentary film simulator!

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How To Cope With Boredom and Loneliness has achieved a Player Score of 86, placing it in the #6 spot for the best Documentary games. Its score was calculated by analyzing a total of 576 reviews on Steam. This breaks down to a total of 529 positive reviews and 47 negative reviews — making it "Very Positive" on Steam.

It is completely free to play and can be played and ran on both Windows and Linux systems. At the moment, there is no confirmed information regarding Steam Deck support for this game.

Release Date 4/2/2018
Developer Point Bleep Studios
Publisher Baffled Crab
Steam App Id 797390

7. That Dragon, Cancer

An immersive, narrative videogame that retells Joel Green’s 4-year fight against cancer through about two hours of poetic, imaginative gameplay that explores themes of faith, hope and love.

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That Dragon, Cancer has achieved a Player Score of 85, placing it in the #7 spot for the best Documentary games. Its score was calculated by analyzing a total of 1,441 reviews on Steam. This breaks down to a total of 1,296 positive reviews and 145 negative reviews — making it "Very Positive" on Steam.

It is priced at $9.99 to play and can be played and ran on Windows, Mac, and Linux systems. Valve has also verified it as playable on the Steam Deck and will run well.

Steam Price $9.99
Release Date 1/11/2016
Developer Numinous Games
Publisher Numinous Games
Steam App Id 419460

8. The Mind of Marlo

Uniquely presented as an hour long documentary film, The Mind of Marlo is a narrative driven adventure game focusing on love, loss and silly heads. Laugh and cry with Marlo as he gets to the bottom of his life changing condition, known as Spontaneous Silly Head Syndrome.

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The Mind of Marlo has achieved a Player Score of 85, placing it in the #8 spot for the best Documentary games. Its score was calculated by analyzing a total of 241 reviews on Steam. This breaks down to a total of 226 positive reviews and 15 negative reviews — making it "Very Positive" on Steam.

It is completely free to play and can be played and ran on both Windows and Linux systems. At the moment, it is possible to play The Mind of Marlo on the Steam Deck (though some functionality may be limited).

Release Date 10/19/2017
Developer Point Bleep Studios
Publisher Baffled Crab
Steam App Id 722870

9. Guildford Castle VR

Guildford Castle is a free roaming, narrative VR experience with light interactivity.

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Guildford Castle VR has achieved a Player Score of 85, placing it in the #9 spot for the best Documentary games. Its score was calculated by analyzing a total of 89 reviews on Steam. This breaks down to a total of 86 positive reviews and 3 negative reviews — making it "Very Positive" on Steam.

It is completely free to play and can be played and ran on Windows systems. At the moment, there is no confirmed information regarding Steam Deck support for this game.

Release Date 3/24/2022
Developer Historic VR
Publisher Historic VR
Steam App Id 1862880

10. Brukel

A first-person exploration game based on the actual memories of a 92-year-old grandmother, told to players in her own voice. Take pictures of what remains of her abandoned childhood home to uncover the dark, traumatic events that she had to fight through as a teenage girl.

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Brukel has achieved a Player Score of 81, placing it in the #10 spot for the best Documentary games. Its score was calculated by analyzing a total of 225 reviews on Steam. This breaks down to a total of 200 positive reviews and 25 negative reviews — making it "Very Positive" on Steam.

It is priced at $4.99 to play and can be played and ran on Windows systems. At the moment, there is no confirmed information regarding Steam Deck support for this game.

Steam Price $4.99
Release Date 11/3/2019
Developer Bob De Schutter
Publisher Lifelong Games
Steam App Id 1073900

More Documentary Games

Explore even more rankings for the 39 best Documentary games available on Steam.

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Soures & References

Steambase has best-in-class data powered directly by Steam, our data partners, and in-house experts. Reviews and rankings are enriched, analyzed, and updated in real-time to ensure we surface the most up-to-date insights. Learn more about the Steambase approach to data collection and our review methodology.

  • Valve Corporation. (2024, November 19). Steam Store. Steam Store.
  • Valve Corporation. (2024, November 19). Free to Play on Steam. Steam Store.
  • Valve Corporation. (2024, November 2). Half-Life: Alyx - Final Hours on Steam. Steam Store.
  • Valve Corporation. (2024, November 21). Indie Game: The Movie on Steam. Steam Store.
  • Valve Corporation. (2024, October 2). The Book of Distance on Steam. Steam Store.
  • Valve Corporation. (2024, November 1). The Making of Karateka on Steam. Steam Store.
  • Valve Corporation. (2024, September 5). How To Cope With Boredom and Loneliness on Steam. Steam Store.
  • Valve Corporation. (2024, November 19). That Dragon, Cancer on Steam. Steam Store.
  • Valve Corporation. (2024, July 29). The Mind of Marlo on Steam. Steam Store.
  • Valve Corporation. (2024, November 20). Guildford Castle VR on Steam. Steam Store.
  • Valve Corporation. (2024, November 9). Brukel on Steam. Steam Store.

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