Cyberpunk 2077
Horizon Zero Dawn
Bioshock
Death Stranding
Prey
Deus Ex Human Revolution
Metal Gear Solid V
Bastion
Dishonored
Witcher 3
Baldur’s Gate 3
Divinity: Original Sin 2
Ghost of Tsushima
Persona 5

Those are the ones in my Steam library, and that I have played, that I think would qualify.

It depends on the interests and tastes of the person, and/or what aspect I were trying to show.

I don’t think Chess is on par with literature, and some game-skeptics wouldn’t tend to think any game is very worthwhile, though for people who think Chess is worthwhile, then, oh:

Archon / Archon II (chess-like, but with more complexity, and also real-time combat between units that meet).

Space Empires IV Gold, Dominions V, War In Russia, Tigers on the Prowl, Combat Mission, Point of Attack 2 (i.e. any good war or strategy game, which is thousands of times more complex than Chess, and IMO more interesting, some of which can actually teach real-world combat tactics, etc.)

To show what interactive story-like gameplay can be like:

Space Station 13 and Space Station 14 and Among Us (which apparently stole their idea and had more popular success)

EVE Online

Arma 3

DCS (some videos of interesting cooperative multiplayer games)

Dwarf Fortress (read the forums full of years of stories of the shenanigans . . . O M G)

Interesting creative games:

Noita

Heat Signature

Shelter 2

Terraria

The King’s Bird

Starbound

Minecraft

Gris

The Longing

Subnautica

Antichamber

Manifold Garden

Untitled Goose Game

Nebulous: Fleet Command

Wolf Quest

Rimworld

Uncharted is visually stunning. There are a lot.

1. “The last of us.” It’s an epic story and if you like the series, you will be enthralled with the game. This is my linear- cut scene type recommendation. The last of us part 2 is just as engaging.

2. I have two platformer recommendations: “Braid” and “Super Meat Boy.” Braid has some deep meanings that will not be apparent. It’s brilliant. Super meat boy is just fun.

3. “Minecraft” is a sandbox game you simply have to experience to understand. It’s very relaxing. Build that cabin, kick back and chill. Just get it done before dark.

4. Open-world games are simply amazing these days. It’s hard not to recommend “Elden Ring”, if you can get past the difficulty, you will find extensive lore and stories all over the expansive map to explore. George R.R. Martin put the world-building together for this.

5. Quirky sim games are fun, I’d recommend “Catherine” here. There are some odd dreamtime puzzles too.

6. Choose your adventure movie type games are a bit of a niche, I recommend “The Quarry” “Heavy rain” is also an honorable mention.

As a bonus you need to check out “Journey” I won’t describe it. you have to do that yourself.

Journey is a game that can affect you in a similar way to traditional works of art. It is a slow, absorbing dreamy sort of game like a meditation.

I forgot to mention Gran Turismo. While not exactly art, the recent version is a straight-up bonafide racing simulator. My BIL who is a racing enthusiast has an extensive sim setup that uses Gran Turismo as the engine. It’s completely nuts.

Sky: Children of the Light is visually stunning with beautiful music.

https://sky-children-of-the-light.fandom.com/wiki/Sky:_Children_of_the_Light

BATTLEZONE

These are my picks, for what it’s worth (focused on games that may be compelling to non-gamers):

Journey
The Unfinished Swan
The Witness
Subnautica
Deliver Us The Moon
The Magic Circle
The Last of Us
Bioshock
Mass Effect

Assassin’s creed, all games in the series.

Fortune magazine has an interesting article about how Elon Musk plays video games.

In the article Musk talks about the enjoyment of such activities, literally proclaiming that the “art,” was part of the experience.

It’s a quick read. It may aid your cause @gorillapaws .
I realized that this likely stemmed from a thread in Social. However. I thought I might add this on this thread as potentially more relevant to the question.
I hope I didn’t go too far off subject @gorillapaws . Obviously you can flag this if you want.

Just to offer a often forgotten title, I have to mention the game ”Riven”. It was on Dreamcast and probably PC. It’s not a fast paced game AT ALL, and is more of a extreme puzzle. But due to the slow game play it was able to put lots of focus into graphics. There are fantastic landscapes, massive machines, and otherworldly creatures that constantly had many players just stop and stare sometimes…

☆Video games would not be possible, without many mediums and styles of art.

What album would you buy someone who doesn’t understand that rap can be art?

What cruise would you take someone on who doesn’t understand that cruises can be enjoyable?

What gun would you buy for someone who doesn’t understand firearms can be handled safely?

Questions like this are well intentioned but it just might be possible a person, for whatever reason, doesn’t share the same values or is just not interested.

Games are so advanced compared to the past you can’t make comparisons like this anymore. That’s like comparing a ride on a pontoon in the lake to a full-service cruise or someone beating a rhythm on a hollow log with sticks to a classical orchestra.

Here is a current Boss Fight

My favorite boss fight
My favorite level

I think this scene is one of the most incredibly well written and voice acted ever in a video game. I’ve seen it many times now and I still get chills.

I hate that the the last of us 2 got so much ant-woke backlash, not deserved in any way. That game is one of the greatest in recent years.