Summary
There is no doubt thatDavid Lynchhas had a profound impact on video games. In the wake of his death in January 2025, game developers were among the many who paid homage to him and cited him as inspiration for their work.
Less surreal games he has influenced infamously include his improbableimpact on theLegend of Zeldaseries. But where the inspiration of Lynch truly shines is in the more “Lynchian” games:games that are surreal, disorienting, and at times uncomfortable. Surreal games are those that have a dream-like quality, blurring fantasy and reality. Here are some of the best video games that are inspired by the works of David Lynch.
Deadly Premonitionis a peculiar game that was originally even more likeTwin Peaks,before community feedback caused the developers to change things a bit. It features Francis York Morgan, a distorted facsimile of Dale Cooper. Francis is huntinga serial killerknown as the Raincoat Killer in the sleepy town of Greenvale.
It all hinges around some mysterious red seeds and the detective’s personal trauma. The soundtrack is strange and wonderful, the dialogue is slow and awkward, not to mention the driving. But it has some janky charm for those that have the patience and sense of humor for a game that has become a cult classic.
Virginiais an eerie yet beautiful first-person narrative-driven game that focuses on the investigation of a child’s disappearance. As with manyTwin Peaksinspired games, it foregrounds the emotional journey and toll on FBI agents confronting the hidden depths of the human psyche.
The silence and stillness in Lynch’s work are some of his most powerful and uncomfortable moments.Virginiahas this in spades. Everything is told through actions, interactions, brilliant sound design, and beautifully executedenvironmental storytelling.
At first glance,Thimbleweed Parkis simply a loving homage to 90s point-and-click mystery games. But it becomes increasingly apparent that the fourth-wall-breaking moments are more than self-aware meta humor. At its core, it is a surreal game about games wrapped in a procedural murder mystery.
It follows two agents investigating a murder, and shifts perspectives to focus on the experiences of other people in the quiet little town of Thimbleweed Park. There are obvious references made toTwin Peaks,and a similar pastiche quality to Lynch’s work.
9Cube Escape Theatre
“My Memories Bring Me Back To The Lake”
The developers of theRusty Lake Cube Escapeseries of horror puzzle games have not only been inspired byTwin Peaksand the works of David Lynch, but the games have prominent references and Easter eggs throughout. TheRusty Lakegames are short, surreal, and interconnected escape room-style puzzle games.
Theatreshows its Lynchian influence in the most overt manner. The names are inspired byTwin Peakswith a murder victim named Laura, a man named Bob haunted by her death alone at a bar, and Dale Vandermeer, the detective investigating her death.
8Cube Escape: Paradox
“Have I Been Here Before?”
Horror mobile games' most troubled Dale Cooper clone, Dale Vandermeer, is back. This time, players get insight into his psyche and his intense guilt. It shows a splitting and duality that was a theme in Lynch’s work.Paradoxis split into two separate puzzle rooms that are similar but strangely different.
The puzzles are the samepoint-and-click farethat Rusty Lake specializes in, and while their art style has become more polished, it still retains that grim uncanniness of earlier games. LikeTwin Peaks,the game is inextricably tied to the lake and the death of Laura.
Who’s Lila?is a self-described Lynchian “reverse-detective adventure” with supernatural twists that change a player’s perception of the protagonist at multiple points during the game. The key mechanic that setsWho’s Lila?apart is the facial manipulation that is necessary for players to navigate social encounters.
There is certainly aTwin Peaks-style narrative to the game. But its examination of the inability of those that exist on the fringes of the human experience to imitate appropriate emotions is reminiscent of films likeMulholland DriveandEraserhead. Players never quite get the answers to their questions, and really, that’s the most Lynchian thing of all.
TheRemedy “connected universe”is littered with Lynchian elements, from overt allusions toTwin Peaks, to the studio’s preoccupation with surrealist and esoteric narratives. The idea that there are different planes of existence and layers of reality that cannot always be perceived is a huge part of what makesControlsuch a Lynchian experience.
In practice, Control has a lot in common withFire Walk With MeandThe Return,which opens the door to the strangeness beyondTwin Peaks. Both Lynch and Remedy take the procedural elements of agencies like the FBI and apply them to a transdimensional supernatural context.
Sam Lake has made it clear that Lynch’sTwin Peaksheavily inspiredAlan Wake. Even if he hadn’t acknowledged it, the Lynchian roots of the game are obvious. From the moment the player steps off the ferry and into Bright Falls, it is clear that the town is modeled on Twin Peaks. The isolated Washington logging town, the diner, and even the double-barreled name evoke the 1990s television series.
Alan is no Dale Cooper, but he is the same magnet for darkness and the supernatural as the cheery and earnestFBI agent. Both protagonists experience a splitting of identity, with doppelgängers being introduced. And Remedy’s Dark Place and Lynch’s Black Lodge have a lot in common.
If the original Alan Wake isTwin Peaksseries one and two, thenAlan Wake 2isFire Walk with MeandTwin Peaks: The Return. They are such different experiences. Remedy’s original video game and the 1990s Twin Peaks series aresurreal noir heading towardsthe transcendental supernatural.
But their long-awaited sequels are fully immersed in the surrealist supernatural, in which what is real and what is not are barely distinguishable. Audiences get to view the same faces and locations, but through a new lens that is sometimes bleaker and sometimes more ethereal.Alan Wake 2is Remedy at their genre-breaking finest, and the debt the series owes to Lynch is evident throughout.
Games inspired byTwin Peaksare common, but those directly inspired by Lynch’s nightmarish psychosexualtime loop filmLost Highwayare less so. Masahiro Ito has explicitly stated thatSilent Hill 2was inspired by Lynch’s filmLost Highway, which is about spousal murder and the psychological effects of guilt.
Both James and Frank dissociate from themselves to live with the horrible reality of their lives, and they both imagine monstrous awful things. The similarities betweenSilent Hill 2andLost Highwayshine through in the game’s remake, as James' more expressive face and voice convey more nuanced and conflicted emotional responses.
