Hello!
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!
Dominions 5: strategic turn by turn game where you play a god and all the armies of his nations. Dozens of spells, you can equip your units with items you forged. Unique mechanism: your god, your prophet, your clerics and your temple can spread faith. No faith = game over. Some nations have specifics rules about faith, for exemple a Astec one has to sacrifice virgin, another (Ermor) has a faith which kill his population an turn it undead, another one inspired by lovecraft generate mad men…
Great game, can’t wait for dom6 to release. There’s a Steam page already and the changes already mentioned have me feeling things.
I pray for QoL changes for years. Hope this one is the good one.
Kinda surprised no one has mentioned Noita yet. Its a roguelike where every pixel is simulated, which lets you do cool things like burning the floor walls to light enemies on fire, then putting it out with some water (and also just makes it look really cool). Also even though its a roguelike the world is still completely, open so you can go back and forth from harder areas to the earlier ones, which i havent really seen before.
I love it so much; it’s wilfully tortuous and obtuse yet it’s those very qualities that make it what it is.
This one seems to make even hardcore gamers hate it with difficulty. Seems similar to rain world a bit? I own rain world but have barely played
Ya its super hard, but I think thats kinda the point. It has a similar feeling to rain world where you are just exploring some world where everything can and will kill you, instead of a more gamey world thats trying to actually be fair and let you win if that makes sense
Miegakure is probably something you’d be interested in. https://miegakure.com/
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.
Death Stranding - package delivery simulator, with occasional horror and action elements
Iron Lung - horror game where you’re in a submarine with no windows
It’s a side scroller where you can rewind time to fix your mistakes and if you can’t progress further, just let yourself die and respawn alongside all of the past versions of you to help yourself get further.
I highly recommend Inkulinati. It’s still in Early Access, but I’ve enjoyed many hours of getting my ass kicked by a farting donkey and a Yoda wanna-be.
might not be what you are looking for but i strongly recommend project zomboid for the best unique costumizable survival game. i think there is no other game like it
I’ve only played two of the games you mentioned, thanks for the list! Here are a few I thought were especially interesting and that I played somewhere recently:
- Nuts - you set up cameras to track movements of squirrels to find their hidden stash; gameplay is placing cameras and reviewing footage
- 140 - platformer stripped to its roots; the novelty is the simplicity; honorable mention Thoth (same idea, but twin stick shooter)
- Ys 1 - ARPG with bump combat, which I found very interesting
- Death Squared - MP (2 or 4) puzzle game where moving one unit can move set pieces, so coordination is needed
- Titan Souls - boss rush, but with 1HP for you and the boss
- Gorogoa - abstract puzzle game
- Donut County - you’re a hole
- Fez - 2D puzzle platformer where the gimmick is it’s actually 3D, but you can only see one 2D surface at a time (rotate worpd mechanic)
And some you’re probably aware of:
- Superhot
- Doki Doki Literature Club
- Oxenfree
- Portal/Portal 2
- Undertale
Thanks again for the list! I’m excited to see what others post too!
Edit: I just wanted to say thanks for the post! I found a ton of great games to try out, and I hope you got the same out of it. :)
I absolutely recommend TUNIC. It’s sort of a combination of a legend of zelda/dark souls gameplay and a really interesting puzzle element. Basically, you are playing this game without the guide or any tutorial, and as you play you pick up pages of the game guide which teach you how to play, but it’s written in a language you can’t read, so you have to piece together the mechanics based on the pictures. The game is absolutely full to bursting with secrets, including a final puzzle that blew my mind when I figured it out. I played it with invincibility on so that I could focus on the puzzle element and not worry about combat so much.
It’s one of those games that you can only play once because you learn so many secrets through playing it, but it’s a truly magical experience.
You might like the demo for a game I’m making. It’s free, on Steam and is a standalone game (not just a slice of the main game), where the little demo character dies if you quit. So he does everything in his power to convince you not to.
I’ve yet to hear of someone who didnt enjoy the experience.
Have you tried the “haunted ps1 demo discs”? Horror seems to be the genre that always tries something unique in gaming. Things like Iron Lung always amaze me.
Hyper Demon - the camera is almost 360 degrees and in the trailers the gameplay seems unintelligible, until you play it for a bit
Give Up the Ghost - https://gate.itch.io/ghost
I’ve wanted to go back and beat this puzzle game, because it’s quite excellent.
There’s some proper rot13 hints in the comments by the creator.If you want a list of wild games I can recommend Warp Door - https://warpdoor.com/
I try to stay away from there.0_Abyssal_somewhere is pretty short and transmits an interesting sensation of strangeness and curiosity to me. More reminiscent of modern art than comercial videogames for sure. You can also play It for free if you want without pirating It.
