One of the things I really enjoy is unique, interesting or out-of-the box game design. It doesn’t have to be AAA game, it doesn’t have to be a perfect game, it can be pretty rough - but if it has a mechanic or design element that is somehow unique or original, I’m instantly in love with the game.
The problem is that such games do not usually get a lot of exposure, since it is after all a niche. And that is really a shame - in the past few years the most fun had with video-games was playing such smaller and shorter indie games with something unique or pretty clever, where I can obsess over the design and more importantly - get inspired. That leads me to my question - are there any communites or blogs or content curators that are about this kind of smaller, maybe unpolished, but original games? Or what games would you recommend that would fit into this description? I don’t mind if it’s a 5 minute experience. It’s ok if it’s more interactive art than a game.
To better illustrate what I’m looking for, I’d compare it to modern art - the kind where you get a single colored square on a canvas. I never got it, and it always felt just weird - until I had to start doing flyer design and started researching and reading about composition, space and all that stuff. And now I see there’s so much going on even on a picture with a single line, that it’s really interesting to think about why the square is where it is, and what kind of composition rules was he working with.
And I think it’s the same for game design - sometimes you see a clever mechanic or design on otherwise really ugly and unpolished game, and it still gets you inspired and thinking.
I understand that my question is a little bit vague, so I’ll give you a list of some games I consider unique, some of them are well known, some of them not-so-much:
Immortality - you probably know about this one, but a game where the plot twist is discovering a hidden game mechanic, you could’ve done all the time? And the fact that you watch three movies at once in random scene order is also a really good experience.
Against the Storm - I really like how they solved the issue with management sims - that they tend to get boring once you set everything up, by making it a roguelike.
Different Strokes - an online persistent collaborative museum of art, where you can either leave a new painting, or edit someone’s else. Each painting can be edited only once, so there are always two authors of a single piece.
Sayonara Wild Hearts - I really like the idea of making what’s basically an interactive music album. While the game design isn’t anyting that interresting, the focus on music is cool - there should be more music albums with video-games instead of video-clips.
Project Forlorn - Again, not really a game - this time I think there’s no actuall gameplay, but it’s the best interactive music album presentation I’ve ever seen. And again - I like the idea of exploring music and games together.
Playdate - Not exactly a single game, but rather a console - but the idea behind giving you a game per day (which is I think how it started, they may all be available now looking at it) sounds amazing - which I’d also consider a game design (or rather, experience design?).
Baba is You - Another probably well known game, but the puzzle mechanic is just mindblowing.
Before Your eyes - In this game, the main mechanic is that you go through the memories of someone who has just passed away, but the time advances every time you blink - physically blink, because the game can use your camera. That is such a clever idea, that it definitely fits onto this list.
Nerve Damage - This is my favourite recent discovery. The game is trying so hard to be uncomfortable to play, with it’s main design build around just being unplayable. But it somehow works and once you get into the flow, it’s such an unique experience.
So, does anyone has some recommendations about where to look for more experimental games? A curated list, blog would be awesome - since clicking through pages of games on itch.io is pretty hit and miss. Also, feel free to share some of your favourite unique design or experimental experiences and games!
and if you want to play a completely different game in every way by the same developer, the beginner’s guide is a short story game I would consider a work of art. It definitely is unusual as far as games go and it makes you feel things. It is best played completely blind on information.
Heaven’s Vault: Language translation point and click adventure game.
Project Hospital: A great hospital sim. You can even diagnose the patients yourself!
Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin: A japanese RPG/brawler with a (very detailed) rice farming simulator as the way to gain XP to level up.
Warsim: The Realm of Aslona: A text based kingdom manager / adventure game. Full of quirky details and humor.
THE LONGING: A very very slow paced point and click adventure game about waiting… for 400 days… in real time. Why not read some books while you wait, or come out of your little hole and explore the caverns outside?
Cultist Simulator: Run your very own lovecraftian cult, the card game!
Windward: A pirate sandbox akin to Sid Meier’s Pirates! Tried it on a whim when I got it in a bundle and got stuck playing it for 15 hours. Worth a try.
Shadows of Doubt: A procedurally generated detective simulator (in early access at the moment).
Ruinarch: A big bad simulator sandbox. You are the big bad. See that village over there? Make their lives miserable!
Ghost of a Tale: You are a mouse bard in a fantasy world of anthropomorphic animal people. You are imprisoned in the castle dungeons and need to escape.
Heat Signature: A space bounty hunter sandbox. Hijack a ship, kill your target, collect the package, throw yourself out the airlock, and pick yourself up by remote controlling your ship.
Intergalactic Fishing: You like fishing? Do you want to fish an unlimited amount of different fish in an unlimited amount of different lakes all over the galaxy? Look no further.
The Last Federation: You are the last surviving individual of a powerful species in a star system full of different species at different levels of technology. Your mission: unite the star system to save its people from annihilation. Will you be able to unite all of them, or will some species be eradicated for the greater good?
Songs of Syx: A fantasy city builder of grand proportions. Build your kingdom’s capital and fill it with hundreds or even thousands of individual people.
5D Chess with Multiverse Time travel: Are you good at chess? Well, everyone is on a level playing field when you introduce time travel and the multiverse.
So many good ones in this list, cultist simulator will make you see the world through its game system afterwards, ghost of a tale is Soo damn cute and well done.
Expanding on 5d chess I’d recommend 4D toys, a sandbox that will open your mind to the 4th dimension
Thank you! That is an amazing list, most of the games you are recommending I haven’t heard about, and it sounds awesome. I will add it to my backlog for sure!
Glad you liked it! Here is a bonus item I did not remember for my list:
Wilmot’s Warehouse
You are Wilmot, the (only) warehouse employee. You are tasked with storing items delivered to you, and retrieving items that people request from you. What are all these items and how do you organize them?
Who knows! Figure it out!
I’ve been using the save button for that function quite a lot. So when you go to your history you can look at saves. Rather than comments. It helps differentiate between conversations I’ve had and things I want to return to
At least in Voyager app it’s very intuitive. The save buttons right there on every post
I did play it for a while, but as you’ve said - I’ve eventually given up. I did see a few talks/videos about the game, and I really like what they are doing! Which is enough for me to enjoy the game, since I can appreciate a good design in theory. I had exactly the same experience with Pathologic - I’m just not patient enough to finish it, but I really love reading about it’s design and what they are trying to accomplish with it, even though it’s not for me.
yeah, I’ve never heard of anyone that didn’t give up on rain world once.
I personally gave up on it until I found out about a coop mod that you can use to play with a friend, and I played it with my friend (who also gave up on it once) until I got past that 20h that makes the game really fun.
Not sure about experimental but different game mechanic:
Radio Commander - a RTS that you totally control via the radio, you don’t see anything, you must interact with your deployed units.
Hell Let Loose - Not niche, but very unique in its 50 person radio system, where you must communicate and coordinate with other players. Think of it less as a FPS, and more as a management training simulator.
Majesty - A old game, but you don’t actually control units, you set goals and bounties and the units have their own agency and will accomplish things in their own good time.
The forgotten city - A very cerebral approach to time loops by a indie studio.
Thank you, those sound interresting. I have already played The Forgotten City, and it was an amazing experience. Hell Let Loose I never got into, I did try to play it for a while but eventually have up - unfortunately, that’s the kind of game I don’t have friends or dedication for. I imagine it’s similiar to Eve Online, which I did play for a few years and had an amazing time and community in, but it’s one of those games where you really have to invest a lot of time and make the game for other players, because being just a linemember isn’t that interesting. But once you get into higher positions, be it squad leader/fleet commander, that’s where the game really shines. But I’m not assertive or brave enough for that.
But I really fondly remember the experience of being a covops/stealth bomber fleet member in larger Eve Online alliance, and training for a fleet commander. Nothing will ever come close to it, but I’m just not made for leading people. And without it, the experience is not as unique or interresting, since it basically boils down to “simon says”.
Radio Commander and Majesty sounds like fun, I will have to try it.
There’s a game called Journey which is… mystically beautiful? It’s mystical because it’s basically just a walking sim with a few puzzles to solve in between, but yet it really draws out the emotions. I’ve played many games like this but nothing trumps Journey yet.
It’s mostly single player but if you play it online, once in a while you’ll come across a fellow traveler from another instance whom you can share the journey with for a while, or not.
Journey was one of the first games that made me fall in love with unique game design.
spoiler about a game mechanic that makes it so good
The way how they sneaked in non-consentual multiplayer (which I actually didn’t even realize is a MP until I’ve read about it somwhere, I though it’s an AI) is amazing and made the experience so much better. It was a really emotional experience thanks to that, and the fact that I will never have a chance to meet the other player who made my experience so interesting only adds to it weight. I still think about it sometimes.
On the surface it’s a Link To The Past inspired Zelda clone, with hints of Dark Souls, cutesy graphics, and a KILLER soundtrack. And while that might sound appealing, it’s really just the surface. This game does something so unique that I can’t imagine how it could be done again in any other game.
So I would also recommend Antichamber, Manifold Garden, and Unfinished Swan. I would also add the following:
What Remains of Edith Finch - while technically a walking simulator it really does provoke a child like sense of exploration while providing a very adult storyline.
Thomas was Alone - this is a platformer at heart but the minimalist design, innovative mechanics, and great storytelling make this game a must play.
The Spectrum Retreat - this is technically a Portal clone but the puzzle mechanic is based on color and manipulation of environment. The story is bleak but compelling. And as the story progresses your view of the hotel changes adding to the tension.
The Bridge - not going to lie this puzzle game gets brutal but the mechanics are like nothing I’ve ever played before or since. You navigate through Escher-like environments. If you can get it cheap and don’t mind using a help guide I’d say go for it.
Honorable mention/good time wasters:
Hexalogic - number puzzler and great zen experience. I’ve not found another game like it and I wanted more when I finished it.
Inbento - a cute puzzle slider game where the board is a bento box. The game introduces more mechanics as it progresses and it gets hard.
The Witness is one of those games I more enjoy reading about than playing. I really love the theory that the game was designed with the goal of just abusing the popularity of the devleoper, and trying to make a game as annoying and time-wasting to play as possible, just to see if the audience would still accept and praise it, because it’s from someone who’s a popular and known game designer. Which is what has happened - the game was really well received. And it’s also true that some mechanics aren’t making any sense and are in direct contrast with the main description of the game on Steam:
The Witness is a single-player game in an open world with dozens of locations to explore and over 500 puzzles. This game respects you as an intelligent player and it treats your time as precious.There’s no filler; each of those puzzles brings its own new idea into the mix. So, this is a game full of ideas.
This is blatantly false. There are puzzles that requires you to wait for an hour. Slow moving lifts and contraptions. The whole first part of the game is just the same mobile-game style puzzles, with minor twists in between. And that’s why I love the game from the game design perspective - because if it’s true that it was indeed made to mess with players, it was a success and I really respect that the developer did that.
Also, it has inspired someone to make The Looker, and parody games are my most favorite genre.
I had no idea The Witness was made by an acclaimed developer; I played it because I saw a Youtube video titled “The Witness—A Great Game You Shouldn’t Play” from a Youtuber I liked, and decided that despite his warning I needed to play the game before watching the video. Since I never ended up finishing it, I also never got around to watching the video, lol.
I really liked it because “solve these puzzles without being told what the rules are or what counts as part of a puzzle” is like my favorite genre of puzzle game.
I needed to play the game before watching the video
I recommend watching the video anyway - the theory about the game being made just to mess with players is actually from that video. Also - even if you didn’t manage to finish The Witness, I highly recommend playing The Looker. It’s free, it’s short (i think you can finish it in an hour or so), it has the best ending and if you’ve played The Witness, you will definitely appreciate the game. It has one of the best endings I’ve ever saw in a video game.
The developer is Jonathan Blow. You might want to give Braid a look - it’s still a pretty devious puzzle game, but it’s not as free-form as The Witness.
I honestly wasn’t super found off the witness either. Not a big puzzle game fan but I was recommended to play it and I stuck with it long enough to get the achievements. The Looker however made the witness 100% worth playing for me. Absolutely hilarious.
I just want to bat for The Unfinished Swan again. It was pretty popular when it released on PS, but the first mechanic instantly pulled me into the game. The screen and scenery is all completely white, no shading, no nothing. You can’t see where the floor ends and a wall begins. You throw what looks like black ink around to be able to navigate the environment. I don’t find the rest off the game as interesting but I was super invested after the opening
I never knew that the creator meant to torture the players of this game. It completely makes sense in retrospect. I absolutely hated this game and couldn’t finish it. It consistently gave me virtual vomit/migraines to the point that I rage quit and uninstalled it. Now I feel a little better knowing the game was a troll.
Ooh, thanks for mentioning that. Someone was recommending the Viewfinder, and I thought that I’ve already played it - but I actually mistook it for Superliminal!
Inscryption is an inky black card-based odyssey that blends the deckbuilding roguelike, escape-room style puzzles, and psychological horror into a blood-laced smoothie. Darker still are the secrets inscrybed upon the cards…
Also THE HEX, the previous game from the same Dev. SOOOO GOOD. Don’t let the graphics turn you off, they make sense just a half hour into the game. It’s brilliant.
You’ve come to the right place, I also fancy artsy games and unique experiences.
Return of the Obra Dinn is a great mystery game about figuring out who died and why. You use your watch to go back in time and explore the moment of death of everyone, trying to piece together what happened.
Viewfinder is a new puzzle game where you take pictures of your surrounding and place them in front of you, turning them back into 3D-space
Antichamber might be my favorite abstract puzzle game ever. It’s hard to explain and can be a little obtuse (you get lost easily), but basically you explore a lot of world-shifting environments and try to figure out what is needed. Eventually you get a gun that manipulates cubes and stuff. Really, just play it.
Manifold Garden is a close second after Antichamber. You explore infinitely repeating worlds and shift gravity to solve puzzles. It’s not a hard game and you can finish it in a few hours, but it’s a great experience.
Journey is probably a game you’ve come across before. I loved this game to death when I first played it on PS3, I’d recommend giving it a shot. It’s also quite short, only about 3 hours long.
Hypnospace Outlaw is a game where you play on a fake late 90’s operating system acting as a web moderator. I can’t understate how cool this game is, and the seemingly innocent story gets more interesting as you play along.
There’s probably more out there, but these are on the top of my head.
Thank you, there are some games I haven’t heard about. Hypnospace Outlaw and Antichamber sounds cool, the rest I’ve already heard about or have on my backlog, but thanks for reminding me that I should finally play them.
I’ve played Return of the Obra Dinn, it’s exactly along the lines of what I’m looking for. Have you heard about The Case of the Golden Idol? It’s similar to Return of the Obra Dinn, in it being a detective game that nails the design and solves issues of that genre in a clever way. I’ve found it in a game awards I’ve recently stumbled upon - the Independent Games Festival, which looks like one of the few game awards that are worth following (the only other one I know about are the BAFTA awards).
Because in general, I’d say that most game awards are a joke. I mean, look at the “Most innovative gameplay” from the last few years of Steam Awards, and compare them to BAFTA or IGF. I may have a different outlook skewed by my interest in game design, but I just can’t get over Stray winning so many game design awards, especially in a year where games such as Immortality came out. I mean, there’s literally not a single unique mechanic in Stray. It’s a platformer where you don’t even have to jump manually -.-
I’ve seen it before but I haven’t played it. I might give it a shot.
most game awards are a joke
Steam game awards are a popularity contest, so don’t worry about it. It’s community-voted, not by critics, which means everyone just voted the game they knew.
I do realize that it’s a popularity contest, but I still find it kind of saddening. But it’s not an issue of only Steam Awards - IIRC, even awards that do have a panel of judges usually have the same problem - such as Game Awards. But you are right that it’s just made for a different audience, and you get the same issue with movies or books - experimental game design simply isn’t mainstream, and it’s not a target audience of such award shows. Which is OK.
I second Antichamber, cool mechanics and ambient and on the shortish side. I had it gifted by a friend that knows I like the kind of games you’re looking for.
Don’t know how well known it is, but Who’s Lila is a point and click adventure game when you progress by controlling the character’s facial expressions
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Hyper Demon - the camera is almost 360 degrees and in the trailers the gameplay seems unintelligible, until you play it for a bit
If you havent already, stanley parable is a nice one, it is a game about making choises.
and if you want to play a completely different game in every way by the same developer, the beginner’s guide is a short story game I would consider a work of art. It definitely is unusual as far as games go and it makes you feel things. It is best played completely blind on information.
So many good ones in this list, cultist simulator will make you see the world through its game system afterwards, ghost of a tale is Soo damn cute and well done. Expanding on 5d chess I’d recommend 4D toys, a sandbox that will open your mind to the 4th dimension
Thank you! That is an amazing list, most of the games you are recommending I haven’t heard about, and it sounds awesome. I will add it to my backlog for sure!
Glad you liked it! Here is a bonus item I did not remember for my list:
Wilmot’s Warehouse
You are Wilmot, the (only) warehouse employee. You are tasked with storing items delivered to you, and retrieving items that people request from you. What are all these items and how do you organize them?
Who knows! Figure it out!
+1 Heaven’s Vault. Gets you thinking in totally different ways.
I’ve on my way to work but I’m commenting so I can come back and give you a list and see what everyone else suggests.
I’ve been using the save button for that function quite a lot. So when you go to your history you can look at saves. Rather than comments. It helps differentiate between conversations I’ve had and things I want to return to
At least in Voyager app it’s very intuitive. The save buttons right there on every post
Rain World (I love it so much please take it away from me before I lose all of my free time):
I did play it for a while, but as you’ve said - I’ve eventually given up. I did see a few talks/videos about the game, and I really like what they are doing! Which is enough for me to enjoy the game, since I can appreciate a good design in theory. I had exactly the same experience with Pathologic - I’m just not patient enough to finish it, but I really love reading about it’s design and what they are trying to accomplish with it, even though it’s not for me.
yeah, I’ve never heard of anyone that didn’t give up on rain world once.
I personally gave up on it until I found out about a coop mod that you can use to play with a friend, and I played it with my friend (who also gave up on it once) until I got past that 20h that makes the game really fun.
Not sure about experimental but different game mechanic:
Radio Commander - a RTS that you totally control via the radio, you don’t see anything, you must interact with your deployed units.
Hell Let Loose - Not niche, but very unique in its 50 person radio system, where you must communicate and coordinate with other players. Think of it less as a FPS, and more as a management training simulator.
Majesty - A old game, but you don’t actually control units, you set goals and bounties and the units have their own agency and will accomplish things in their own good time.
The forgotten city - A very cerebral approach to time loops by a indie studio.
Osmos. Become the biggest. Ambient background music, trippy game play, mobile only, AFAIK.
I most certainly played it on PC.
Edit: yes, it’s on Steam https://store.steampowered.com/app/29180/Osmos/
Thank you, those sound interresting. I have already played The Forgotten City, and it was an amazing experience. Hell Let Loose I never got into, I did try to play it for a while but eventually have up - unfortunately, that’s the kind of game I don’t have friends or dedication for. I imagine it’s similiar to Eve Online, which I did play for a few years and had an amazing time and community in, but it’s one of those games where you really have to invest a lot of time and make the game for other players, because being just a linemember isn’t that interesting. But once you get into higher positions, be it squad leader/fleet commander, that’s where the game really shines. But I’m not assertive or brave enough for that.
But I really fondly remember the experience of being a covops/stealth bomber fleet member in larger Eve Online alliance, and training for a fleet commander. Nothing will ever come close to it, but I’m just not made for leading people. And without it, the experience is not as unique or interresting, since it basically boils down to “simon says”.
Radio Commander and Majesty sounds like fun, I will have to try it.
Your experience is exactly why hell let loose is great. Force yourself into management and you will develop new skills!
There’s a game called Journey which is… mystically beautiful? It’s mystical because it’s basically just a walking sim with a few puzzles to solve in between, but yet it really draws out the emotions. I’ve played many games like this but nothing trumps Journey yet.
It’s mostly single player but if you play it online, once in a while you’ll come across a fellow traveler from another instance whom you can share the journey with for a while, or not.
Journey was one of the first games that made me fall in love with unique game design.
spoiler about a game mechanic that makes it so good
The way how they sneaked in non-consentual multiplayer (which I actually didn’t even realize is a MP until I’ve read about it somwhere, I though it’s an AI) is amazing and made the experience so much better. It was a really emotional experience thanks to that, and the fact that I will never have a chance to meet the other player who made my experience so interesting only adds to it weight. I still think about it sometimes.
TUNIC https://youtu.be/Q5XpgTO7YN0
On the surface it’s a Link To The Past inspired Zelda clone, with hints of Dark Souls, cutesy graphics, and a KILLER soundtrack. And while that might sound appealing, it’s really just the surface. This game does something so unique that I can’t imagine how it could be done again in any other game.
So I would also recommend Antichamber, Manifold Garden, and Unfinished Swan. I would also add the following:
What Remains of Edith Finch - while technically a walking simulator it really does provoke a child like sense of exploration while providing a very adult storyline.
Thomas was Alone - this is a platformer at heart but the minimalist design, innovative mechanics, and great storytelling make this game a must play.
The Spectrum Retreat - this is technically a Portal clone but the puzzle mechanic is based on color and manipulation of environment. The story is bleak but compelling. And as the story progresses your view of the hotel changes adding to the tension.
The Bridge - not going to lie this puzzle game gets brutal but the mechanics are like nothing I’ve ever played before or since. You navigate through Escher-like environments. If you can get it cheap and don’t mind using a help guide I’d say go for it.
Honorable mention/good time wasters:
Hexalogic - number puzzler and great zen experience. I’ve not found another game like it and I wanted more when I finished it.
Inbento - a cute puzzle slider game where the board is a bento box. The game introduces more mechanics as it progresses and it gets hard.
You might like klocki, a puzzle game which isn’t hard but it feels good to play. I got it as part of a bundle and enjoyed my brief time with it.
The Unfinished Swan came instantly to my mind.
Some others that might intrest you but I’m not sure really qualify with the description:
Roto force - Quirky take on a bullet hell game
Yukos Island express - Metroidvania pinball
The Witness - Well known puzzle game that has you looking for 2D shapes in 3D areas, and other things
Quantum Break - Mixing TV between chapters, didn’t live up to it’s potential in my opinion
I surprisingly loved Yokos Island adventure. At first I was like what is this game, but it sucks you in.
Great weird game!
The Witness is one of those games I more enjoy reading about than playing. I really love the theory that the game was designed with the goal of just abusing the popularity of the devleoper, and trying to make a game as annoying and time-wasting to play as possible, just to see if the audience would still accept and praise it, because it’s from someone who’s a popular and known game designer. Which is what has happened - the game was really well received. And it’s also true that some mechanics aren’t making any sense and are in direct contrast with the main description of the game on Steam:
This is blatantly false. There are puzzles that requires you to wait for an hour. Slow moving lifts and contraptions. The whole first part of the game is just the same mobile-game style puzzles, with minor twists in between. And that’s why I love the game from the game design perspective - because if it’s true that it was indeed made to mess with players, it was a success and I really respect that the developer did that.
Also, it has inspired someone to make The Looker, and parody games are my most favorite genre.
I had no idea The Witness was made by an acclaimed developer; I played it because I saw a Youtube video titled “The Witness—A Great Game You Shouldn’t Play” from a Youtuber I liked, and decided that despite his warning I needed to play the game before watching the video. Since I never ended up finishing it, I also never got around to watching the video, lol.
I really liked it because “solve these puzzles without being told what the rules are or what counts as part of a puzzle” is like my favorite genre of puzzle game.
I recommend watching the video anyway - the theory about the game being made just to mess with players is actually from that video. Also - even if you didn’t manage to finish The Witness, I highly recommend playing The Looker. It’s free, it’s short (i think you can finish it in an hour or so), it has the best ending and if you’ve played The Witness, you will definitely appreciate the game. It has one of the best endings I’ve ever saw in a video game.
The developer is Jonathan Blow. You might want to give Braid a look - it’s still a pretty devious puzzle game, but it’s not as free-form as The Witness.
I honestly wasn’t super found off the witness either. Not a big puzzle game fan but I was recommended to play it and I stuck with it long enough to get the achievements. The Looker however made the witness 100% worth playing for me. Absolutely hilarious.
I just want to bat for The Unfinished Swan again. It was pretty popular when it released on PS, but the first mechanic instantly pulled me into the game. The screen and scenery is all completely white, no shading, no nothing. You can’t see where the floor ends and a wall begins. You throw what looks like black ink around to be able to navigate the environment. I don’t find the rest off the game as interesting but I was super invested after the opening
I never knew that the creator meant to torture the players of this game. It completely makes sense in retrospect. I absolutely hated this game and couldn’t finish it. It consistently gave me virtual vomit/migraines to the point that I rage quit and uninstalled it. Now I feel a little better knowing the game was a troll.
It’s a leading theory, but I don’t think it was ever officially confirmed.
SUPERHOT - a shooter in which time only moves when you move. It kind of plays like a puzzle game and is quite fun
Came here for this comment.
Superhot is an absolute incredible videogame and I’m kind of stunned we’ve not seen more in that style.
SUPERHOT is so much fun in VR! Definitely one of the best VR games I’ve played.
Superliminal is a fun puzzle game that plays with perspective to find out-of-the-box solutions.
Ooh, thanks for mentioning that. Someone was recommending the Viewfinder, and I thought that I’ve already played it - but I actually mistook it for Superliminal!
Inscryption, there’s a reason it’s such a highly rated game on steam.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1092790/Inscryption/
Also THE HEX, the previous game from the same Dev. SOOOO GOOD. Don’t let the graphics turn you off, they make sense just a half hour into the game. It’s brilliant.
You’ve come to the right place, I also fancy artsy games and unique experiences.
Return of the Obra Dinn is a great mystery game about figuring out who died and why. You use your watch to go back in time and explore the moment of death of everyone, trying to piece together what happened.
Viewfinder is a new puzzle game where you take pictures of your surrounding and place them in front of you, turning them back into 3D-space
Antichamber might be my favorite abstract puzzle game ever. It’s hard to explain and can be a little obtuse (you get lost easily), but basically you explore a lot of world-shifting environments and try to figure out what is needed. Eventually you get a gun that manipulates cubes and stuff. Really, just play it.
Manifold Garden is a close second after Antichamber. You explore infinitely repeating worlds and shift gravity to solve puzzles. It’s not a hard game and you can finish it in a few hours, but it’s a great experience.
Journey is probably a game you’ve come across before. I loved this game to death when I first played it on PS3, I’d recommend giving it a shot. It’s also quite short, only about 3 hours long.
Hypnospace Outlaw is a game where you play on a fake late 90’s operating system acting as a web moderator. I can’t understate how cool this game is, and the seemingly innocent story gets more interesting as you play along.
There’s probably more out there, but these are on the top of my head.
Great list, I can second Obra Dinn and Antichamber, so I’ll have to try out the rest
Thank you, there are some games I haven’t heard about. Hypnospace Outlaw and Antichamber sounds cool, the rest I’ve already heard about or have on my backlog, but thanks for reminding me that I should finally play them.
I’ve played Return of the Obra Dinn, it’s exactly along the lines of what I’m looking for. Have you heard about The Case of the Golden Idol? It’s similar to Return of the Obra Dinn, in it being a detective game that nails the design and solves issues of that genre in a clever way. I’ve found it in a game awards I’ve recently stumbled upon - the Independent Games Festival, which looks like one of the few game awards that are worth following (the only other one I know about are the BAFTA awards).
Because in general, I’d say that most game awards are a joke. I mean, look at the “Most innovative gameplay” from the last few years of Steam Awards, and compare them to BAFTA or IGF. I may have a different outlook skewed by my interest in game design, but I just can’t get over Stray winning so many game design awards, especially in a year where games such as Immortality came out. I mean, there’s literally not a single unique mechanic in Stray. It’s a platformer where you don’t even have to jump manually -.-
I’ve seen it before but I haven’t played it. I might give it a shot.
Steam game awards are a popularity contest, so don’t worry about it. It’s community-voted, not by critics, which means everyone just voted the game they knew.
I do realize that it’s a popularity contest, but I still find it kind of saddening. But it’s not an issue of only Steam Awards - IIRC, even awards that do have a panel of judges usually have the same problem - such as Game Awards. But you are right that it’s just made for a different audience, and you get the same issue with movies or books - experimental game design simply isn’t mainstream, and it’s not a target audience of such award shows. Which is OK.
I second Antichamber, cool mechanics and ambient and on the shortish side. I had it gifted by a friend that knows I like the kind of games you’re looking for.
Don’t know how well known it is, but Who’s Lila is a point and click adventure game when you progress by controlling the character’s facial expressions