I’m requesting for recommendations for games that stand out from the rest in their genre, and not in the sense of being the best game in that niche but actually bringing something new and innovative to the table. I’ve not had much experience in gaming, but I have a few games to give you a hint on what I am talking about:
- Superhot: Time only moves when you do
- Viewfinder: Convert 2D pictures seamlessly into interactive 3D environments
- Superliminal: Change size of objects by working with perception
- Portal: Portals
- Scribblenauts: Summon objects by describing them in a notepad
I am not focused on the story, no. of hours of playtime, date of release or its popularity. It just needs to be playable and be enjoyable (and be available in PC).
-
Majora’s Mask: a 3-day timeloop where everything resets when you go back
-
Katamari: A giant ball gets rolled around and collects stuff forever
-
Baba Is You: Movable text is rules to the game
-
Untitled Goose Game: You have to piss people off the right way
-
Billie Bust Up[unreleased]: Musicals tell you upcoming platforming challenges
-
Celeste: every time you die you quickly reset on the same “page”/small tile of map
-
Splatoon: you shoot at the ground to go faster, hide, and/or win
-
Odama: real-time tactical wargame pinball
-
Golf Story: Golf-based fetch quests
-
Astral Chain: asynchronously control a companion in combat
-
Okami: paint skills on-screen in combat
-
Astro Bears: Snake but in 3D
-
Lovers In A Dangerous Spacetime: Up to 4 players pilot parts of a ship together
-
Pokemon Ranger: draw circles around monsters to catch them
-
Viva Pinata: breed pinatas to create new species
-
Spore: create and evolve a creature
Oh man, I just want to give a shout out to the Splatoon ink mechanic.
The game is a competitive arena shooter. That would be pretty uninteresting, but instead of competing for kills or holding objectives, the teams are competing to cover the largest surface area with ink or paint. That’s pretty neat. But there’s more.
Every player has a special “squid mode” they can use when standing on ink of their colour. When in squid mode players travel much faster, can travel up walls, and are extremely hard to spot, but can not attack or lay new ink.
This makes the laying ink in specific areas valuable, as it makes it faster to get from the spawn point to the front faster and easier. It also rewards holding contiguous trails of ink, or conversely, cutting off your opponent’s ink trails.
Majora’s Mask: a 3-day timeloop where everything resets when you go back
As far as time loop mechanics go, there are some other strong contenders for playing with the concept:
The Sexy Brutale - you are stuck in a short time loop in which people die, and you need to save them. Successfully saving someone grants you a special power that can be used to try to save others. You have to untangle who and how to save each one and exactly what’s going on. You keep the powers between loops, and also start each loop from the last clock you checked in at.
Deathloop - Arkane stealth shooter stuck in a one day loop. Several locations, different events in each location each day, goal is to arrange the right day so you can kill all your targets in one loop.
Death Come True - interactive film game. You wake up in a hotel room, and have to figure out what’s going on. Loop continues until you die, at which point you wake up in the hotel room again.
12 Minutes - You come back to your apartment, and unless you change the course of events (or on the first loop, do not touch the controls at all) you will die in less than 12 minutes. Then loop until you understand what’s going on.
Okami plays extremely well on Nintendo Switch with the ability to paint with your fingers on the touch screen
Katamari Damacy is a great example, built around a very simple but satifying mechanic snd good controls.
-
Hey, I might have a few for you!
-
Majesty (Majesty 2 is okay, but lacks the charm of the original, but YMMV) - you run a kingdom full of heroes. The catch? You don’t command the heroes. They have their own AI and goals and you have to offer incentives and place the necessary buildings appropriately to both enable and encourage them to do their jobs of saving the kingdom.
-
Ronin - a stealth/platformer. Combat is turn-based. No, combat is not mechanically separate from the stealth OR the platforming. Relatively short but very fascinating.
-
Pawnbarian - Roguelike, but movement and combat is done by chess rules.
-
Exanima. Combat is based entirely around physics/momentum and positioning. It’s hard to get the hang of, but is immensely satisfying once you get your “He’s starting to believe” Matrix moment and successfully block a few attacks in a row.
-
Crusader Kings 3. You know those map-painting Grand Strategy games, where the goal is to conquer other territories? One of those, but you’re running a noble dynasty whose fortunes rise and fall, even passing between the overlordship of different countries and kingdoms. A lot of personality. I guess it’s not as innovative as it once was, since it’s spawned imitators at this point. Hm.
-
Ring of Pain. It’s… hard to describe.
-
Phasmophobia. Multiplayer only. You hunt ghosts. Not like, ‘combat’ hunt ghosts, like ‘You need to find evidence of ghosts’ hunt ghosts. But the ghosts definitely hunt you back - in a much more malicious way.
-
Death Stranding. Walking simulator. No, not like ‘You don’t do anything but hold down the walk button’, like ‘You need to keep your balance while carrying things’ walking simulator. Immensely weird.
-
Star Trek: Bridge Crew. Multiplayer only (at least practically speaking). Each person plays a separate member of the titular bridge crew, and cooperation to achieve even simple tasks is key.
-
Gods Will Be Watching. A series of puzzle scenarios about calculated risk, failure, and learning the rules anew each time.
I strongly object to the characterization of Death Stranding as a walking simulator. Walking place to place is core to the experience for maybe one quarter of the game. Once you get to the largest area and continue unlocking new tools and features, you spend very little time walking. It also dismisses combat, which I felt was considerably more prevalent than I expected.
Cool picks though.
I feel like I spent a good portion of my time walking and finding ways across rough terrain even after all the fancy gear was unlocked. The motorcycle could get you maybe half the way, usually.
I mean, at least until the zip-lines. Those ruined the game. Honestly, the rebuildable roads were a bad inclusion as well. Sitting on top of a hill, looking down at the streams and terrain around you, figuring out the best route with your tools, was peak satisfaction in that game.
Yeah, that’s fair. The first time you go to any new site there is walking involved along with everything else, but I still think calling it a walking simulator is reductive, since it just one tool in an ever-expanding toolbox.
Maybe it’s better to call it a scifi delivery simulator (including factions of delivery addicts you have to fight because they keep trying to take your things).
I took their description of “walking sim” as facetious. Kinda like calling QWOP a walking sim.
To be fair, QWOP is a walking sim, it’s just that you’re really bad at it.
+1 for Majesty. The combination of fawning over your champions while also absolutely cursing those stupid useless fuckers was fun.
Majesty (Majesty 2 is okay, but lacks the charm of the original, but YMMV) - you run a kingdom full of heroes. The catch? You don’t command the heroes. They have their own AI and goals and you have to offer incentives and place the necessary buildings appropriately to both enable and encourage them to do their jobs of saving the kingdom.
I loved that you could build temples and get specialty priests for 5 different gods, but never more than two in one level, because some of the gods were opposed to others, including the one I never used because they were monotheists and I didn’t want to give up all other types of priests.
Also that every hero type had their own priorities and preferences and would do what they preferred barring a significant bounty on something else. Also that Rogues could fuck you over if a hero died and you wanted to use the resurrection spell on them because a rogue near where they died might just rob their grave.
Star Trek: Bridge Crew. Multiplayer only (at least practically speaking). Each person plays a separate member of the titular bridge crew, and cooperation to achieve even simple tasks is key.
Artemis Spaceship Bridge Simulator did it before that, in 2010. ST: Bridge Crew is more or less “Artemis but with Star Trek branding”. Artemis just released a remake/sequel-sort-of-thing a bit over a month ago (called Artemis Cosmos, though it’s had a…rocky…launch so far) that’s a complete rewrite from the ground up.
And when I say they did it first, I mean to the point that some of the reviews describe Artemis by likening it to being a member of the bridge crew on the Enterprise, because there wasn’t a game like that on the market.
Gods Will Be Watching. A series of puzzle scenarios about calculated risk, failure, and learning the rules anew each time.
Under known, under appreciated but fantastic.
-
Tunic is incredibly unique and I can’t say I’ve played anything like it. On the surface it’s a classic dungeon crawler zelda inspired thing, but once you play… Really any amount of it, you start to see past the veil and the real game is revealed to you. Even after completing the entire game and all achievements, there is technically more of the game available to be explored.
Outer Wilds (not to be confused with Obsidian’s Outer Worlds) will be an absolute bliss for anyone who enjoyed portal or superliminal. It may be the single greatest puzzle/exploration game ever made, with no exaggeration.
Return of the Obra Dinn was a game that I could not put down. I played it in one sitting beginning to end. I was enthralled and I felt like Sherlock fucking Holmes. It is a very unassuming game but by God, you will be gripped. It stands up there with Outer Wilds as being a game that absolutely propelled itsself up to one of the best of its genre (this one being Mystery/Puzzle)
Bump for Outer Wilds. Genuinely an amazing and unique game. I’ve never seen another “found knowledge” game mechanic like this.
@[email protected] @[email protected]
If you haven’t played either of the other two games I mentioned, I think you’ll thoroughly enjoy them. All 3 of the games are absolute masterclasses in how to hand the player knowledge that transforms their experience of the game, over and over again.
I’ve heard great things of outer wilds, just wishlisted it. I hadn’t heard of Obra Dinner but it’s Lucase Pope! The Papers, Please creator. Instant buy from me.
Thanks for the suggestions, my SO and I are stoked to delve into more mystery and confusion
If you remember me when you’re done with the game(s) I’d love to hear what you think! Have fun!
Thanks! Playing through Return of Obra Dinn now. Really enjoying it so far. What a cool concept and it’s so pretty!
Oh man, you weren’t kidding about getting right on that shit! Glad you’re enjoying!
Okay! I’m not sure anyone else will see this but Obra Dinn was fantastic.
Music was down and has been stuck in my head since. It’s a cool murder mystery with such amazing imagery/creepy depictions of sea monsters. I really enjoyed how subtle some of the hints were and we felt like geniuses when we got something right
So glad you enjoyed! Did you 100% everything/get the “true” ending?
The music is SO good! And yes, 100% agree on feeling like a genius when you connect the more subtle dots!
I so wholeheartedly agree with Tunic. It absolutely blew my mind to complete. I’d love to experience that again.
Fez: a 2D plateformer in which you can change the perspective to create ways to unreachable plateforms
Baba Is You: a puzzle game in which you move blocks with words written on them, combining them to create small phrases which become new rules of the game.
BABA IS WIN
Super Paper Mario for the Wii also has a mechanic like that. You’re in a 2D paper world (obviously) but you have the ability to temporarily turn 90°; walking through enemies and opening the possibility to i.e. pass some walls.
Impossible Creatures - an RTS where you slurp up DNA from local wildlife and use that to create weird hybrids of multiple animals, then produce those as units that you control to complete missions. Great concept but I think it ended up being a bit unbalanced.
Papers Please - pretty unique gameplay in that you had to literally read through paperwork and approve/reject people at a border crossing. Good social commentary.
Gosh Impossible Creatures was the coolest game as a kid. I wish we’d get a remaster.
Stanley Parable
You’re an office worker bee who one day realizes the office you work in is deserted except for a voice that narrates what you do and gets frustrated with you if you do something else. There really isn’t a point to it apart from discovering your word surroundings and trying to break the game apart.
Also, there’s a Steam achievement you get by not playing it for 10 years.
Also, there’s a Steam achievement you get by not playing it for 10 years.
Wasn’t that 4 or 5 years?
In the original, yes. The super deluxe version currently on steam made it 10
Ah, but that’s a different game technically
It also includes Stanley Parable 2-n.
Katamari Damacy - The objective is to roll a ball-like thing called a katamari, to roll up objects, and make the katamari bigger and bigger. You can roll up anything from paper clips and snacks in the house, to telephone poles and buildings in the town, to even living creatures such as people and animals. Once the katamari is complete, it will turn into a star that colors the night sky. Sounds weird, but it’s super fun, trust me. Plus, it’s soundtrack is kickass.
Great soundtrack too
Tunic and Outer Wilds
Both have a heavy focus on using knowledge as your core resource in the game, and obtaining new knowledge as a primary gameplay loop.
I can’t believe I typed out a whole recommendation about tunic and outer Wilds, and then scrolled down and saw your exact same recommendations. Lol. I guess excellent games are universal
I had a moment in Tunic where I realized what the references in the manual to the [HOLY CROSS] were talking about, but I don’t think my revelation was the typical.
I’d actually figured out the [HOLY CROSS] really early on, solved a bunch of puzzles using it, got some manual pages I probably wasn’t supposed to have yet, but didn’t know that the thing I was using was the [HOLY CROSS] because I lacked the context of a certain page that spells it out and based on some comments and videos elsewhere is the point where a lot of people first figure out how to use it.
It probably didn’t hurt that I was fresh off The Witness and my brain was subconsciously looking for tricks of perspective and environmental puzzles, which Tunic is absolutely full of.
I feel like Tunic leans too much on the LttP format to be called unique but it is a delight
Ah yes, LttP… Obviously, I know what this means, but for others who don’t maybe you could elaborate?
I think it’s a Link to the Past.
Factorio - its a logistics rts but the pollution mechanic is different. Instead of just gather resources to build things which build bigger things, you also make pollution as a side effect. This feeds the native monsters and also evolves them. Managing your pollution cloud is a strategy. That or build massive defensives for when they come to eat you.
Maybe Antichamber? It‘s a first-person puzzle game like Portal, but based on the idea of the „rooms“ changing as you go through them, so each room basically has its own mechanic to figure out
It’s Portal on acid, a great game. Also Manifold Garden by the same guy.
Faster than light - manage crew in a 2D strategy environment and jump around in space. Pretty unique gameplay which only recently got some clones.
Teardown - Work as criminal stealing stuff, but the clue is you can destroy everything and you need to create smart parkour to steal stuff right in time before the cops arrive. Also you can sandbox play it if you get bored.
Terra Nil - Bring back nature to a destroyed earth, with relaxing and calm mechanics. Highly recommend.
Others: FEZ, solve puzzles. Deep Rock Galactic, because dwarfs being this much dwarf is just dwarftastic. Rock and Stone!
Return of the Obra Dinn.
Was gone be one of my suggestions. This game is powerful good. It is a true mystery with you in the drivers seat in a way no other game can touch.
Wow. I’m super impressed with all the suggestions here. I’ll add a few of my own that haven’t been mentioned yet.
Her Story - you query a police archive database for video clips, eventually revealing the plot. Kind of a mash between a murder mystery book with the pages out of order and Google. If you like it, check out Immortality
What Remains of Edith Finch - all you can do is walk around a very unusual house. The narrative reveals itself as you do so. That narrative is fantastical and heartbreaking and also very sweet.
Crawl - multiplayer game - you are all trying to escape a monster and trap filled dungeon. One of you is alive and the rest are spirits who can possess the monsters and traps. Any time a spirit kills the living player, they become the living player. Unique boss fight at the end where multiple spirits control parts of a huge boss monster.
Some of the CW Warnings for What Remains of Edith Finch (spoilers obviously):
spoiler
Drowning, child death, divorce / arguing, pregnancy, child birth complications / death
Thanks for that! I actually had to put the game down for several months because my child had just been born and I couldn’t handle one of the scenes in the game. It was heavily telegraphed, so I had time to stop the game before anything upsetting happened. And when I went back to it months later it wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it might be. But yeah, it’s a game about the death of many family members, told through metaphor and fanatical imagery.
Death Stranding
I’ve never played such a unique big budget game. The core mechanic is terrain traversal to make deliveries, and the game continues to give you tools throughout it to accomplish that.
I loved the traversal mechanics in Death Stranding. Kind of made me realise that in all other games the characters are actually gliding and not walking.
I didn’t however like that the game gets a bit too actiony toward the end. And the MULEs and the terrorists stop being a threat when you get upgraded weapons, and the BTs once you have that golden handcuff thing.
I hope they address that in the sequel. The BTs should have been a lot scarier and the stealth a bit more refined.
Still an amazing game. I loved just doing the deliveries. There’s a meditative quality to it that I only previously saw in Shadow of the Colossus.
The BT’s were scary enough that I couldn’t keep playing, I got to a bit after the part where you get the exo legs.
Well, if you want to try again at some point, I can tell you they get progressively less scary as the game goes on because you’ll get a bunch of tools to deal with them. In the last third of the game even getting caught by one is nothing because you’ll have blood grenade launchers that can easily kill them. And for those who like the stealth way better, you’ll get a special tool to sever the BTs umbilical if you get near them (the game is very liberal in what it counts as near).
Cultist Simulator is pretty unique… not necessarily in a good way. It’s a storytelling/puzzle game with some great writing if you can power your way through the gameplay. The mechanics are deliberately very obtuse, with no tutorial, to emulate the fact that diving into the occult is confusing and dangerous. The end result is that the game is very unique and cool, but it’s absolutely not for everyone. TL;DR on the basic mechanics: you have a handful of verb boxes, such as Talk or Research, as well as various cards that you can slot into them. Each card has a variety of tags on it. Depending on which cards with which tags you put into the various verb boxes, you get different results.
Cultist Simulator somehow made me feel the same fanaticism as I assume a cultist would feel. It can be very addicting, chasing the endgame, driven by curiosity and desire for power. Not for everyone though.
