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!
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.
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.
Great list, I can second Obra Dinn and Antichamber, so I'll have to try out the rest