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| games [2025/04/01 17:52] – brad | games [2026/07/23 14:01] (current) – brad |
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| {{topic>games?recommended +interactive_fiction &nodate&nouser}} | {{topic>games?recommended +interactive_fiction &nodate&nouser}} |
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| Interactive stories: | Interactive stories that earn their runtime: |
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| * Graham Walmsley's [[The Thirty Nine Steps]] (~2 hours) adapts the Buchan spy thriller into a well-paced story world. | * Graham Walmsley's [[:games:The Thirty Nine Steps]] (~2 hours) adapts the Buchan spy thriller into a well-paced story world. |
| * Jim Nelson's [[According to Cain]] (~3 hours) is thematically ambitious and features wonderful, moody writing. | * Jim Nelson's [[:games:According to Cain]] (~3 hours) is thematically ambitious and features wonderful, moody writing. |
| * Drew Cook's [[Repeat the Ending]] (~6 hours) at first blush hews to conventional adventure game tropes, but then thoroughly subverts them with a chorus of paratextual voices and interactions whose meaning is realized by the ending. | * Drew Cook's [[:games:Repeat the Ending]] (~6 hours) at first blush hews to conventional adventure game tropes, but then thoroughly subverts them with a chorus of paratextual voices and interactions whose meaning is realized by the ending. |
| * Obsidian's [[Pentiment]] (~15 hours) is a work of thematic and artistic ambition, scope, and historicity. Mostly linear with both immediate branching and long-term global variables influencing the ending. | * [[:games:Steve Jackson's Sorcery!]] (~8 hours) packs a surprising degree of freedom into a CYOA format and even manages to play with the box in the end. Lovingly executed and playable on-the-go. Make sure to play all four parts. |
| * ZA/UM's [[Disco Elysium]] (~25 hours) uses choices to explore where we find hope in a world of despair. It lets the player prioritize aspects of the protagonist's personality, and allows quite a bit of nonlinear exploration within a linear overall plot. | * Obsidian's [[:games:Pentiment]] (~15 hours) is a work of thematic and artistic ambition, scope, and historicity. Mostly linear with both immediate branching and long-term global variables influencing the ending. |
| | * ZA/UM's [[:games:Disco Elysium]] (~25 hours) uses choices to explore where we find hope in a world of despair. It lets the player prioritize aspects of the protagonist's personality, and allows quite a bit of nonlinear exploration within a linear overall plot. |
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| === Recommended videogames === | === Recommended videogames === |
| My attempt to curate a list of all of the games I've ever played. Here are some notable categories: | My attempt to curate a list of all of the games I've ever played. Here are some notable categories: |
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| {{count>played videogame board cards dice pen-and-paper "interactive fiction" no-prep sport}} | By medium: |
| | {{count>played videogame board cards dice pen-and-paper "interactive fiction" sport}} |
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| | Other properties: |
| | {{count>no-prep nonviolent thinky "does one thing well" "time loop"}} |
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| | By specific pleasures: |
| | {{count>"the delight of learning to read the world" "the delight of discovering a surprising new space" "the delight of directing randomness" "the delight of a drip feed of new information" "the delight of finding the edges of a mechanic" "the delight of a good twist"}} |
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| | By platform: |
| {{count>"played on cabinet" "played on Apple II" "played on PC" "played on Android" "played on iOS" "played on TI-83" "played on TurboGrafx-16" "played on Genesis" "played on 32X" "played on Dreamcast" "played on NES" "played on SNES" "played on N64" "played on GCN" "played on Wii" "played on Switch" "played on PS1" "played on PS2" "played on PS3" "played on PS4" "played on Game Boy" "played on GBC" "played on GBA" "played on PSP"}} | {{count>"played on cabinet" "played on Apple II" "played on PC" "played on Android" "played on iOS" "played on TI-83" "played on TurboGrafx-16" "played on Genesis" "played on 32X" "played on Dreamcast" "played on NES" "played on SNES" "played on N64" "played on GCN" "played on Wii" "played on Switch" "played on PS1" "played on PS2" "played on PS3" "played on PS4" "played on Game Boy" "played on GBC" "played on GBA" "played on PSP"}} |
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| * [[games:Beacon Pines]] (~5 hours) | * [[games:Beacon Pines]] (~5 hours) |
| * [[games:Norco]] - [[https://www.polygon.com/reviews/23025400/norco-review-point-and-click-adventure-windows-pc-mac-ending|because]]. WOFF found this underwhelming, but it got lots of other positive press and seems up my alley. (~5 hours) | * [[games:Norco]] - [[https://www.polygon.com/reviews/23025400/norco-review-point-and-click-adventure-windows-pc-mac-ending|because]]. WOFF found this underwhelming, but it got lots of other positive press and seems up my alley. (~5 hours) |
| * [[games:The Case of the Golden Idol]] ([[https://store.steampowered.com/app/1677770/The_Case_of_the_Golden_Idol|Steam]]) compared to Obra Dinn (~5 hours) | |
| * [[games:Kentucky Route Zero]] (owned, ~10 hours) | * [[games:Kentucky Route Zero]] (owned, ~10 hours) |
| * [[games:SOMA]] (Jeff recommended) (~10 hours) | * [[games:SOMA]] (Jeff recommended) (~10 hours) |
| * [[games:Metroid Dread]] (~10 hours) | * [[games:Metroid Dread]] (~10 hours) |
| * [[games:Hi-Fi Rush]] (owned, ~11 hours) | |
| * [[games:Heaven's Vault]] (uniquely for me) (owned, ~15 hours) | * [[games:Heaven's Vault]] (uniquely for me) (owned, ~15 hours) |
| * [[games:Nobody Saves The World]] (~15 hours) | * [[games:Nobody Saves The World]] (~15 hours) |