Which games blow your mind, but only if you know nothing about them in advance?

Best examples I can think of are:

  • Outer Wilds
  • Doki Doki Literature Club
  • The Stanley Parable

What are yours?

(please no spoilers)

    • LuckyPierre@lemm.eeEnglish
      1·
      22 days ago

      I tried it a few years ago and gave up after an hour of not knowing what to do. But I had this week off and tried it again, it I’m really enjoying it this time. It’s not like anything else, and once that initial bump is passed its learning curve is really quite good.

      • Captain Aggravated@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        1·
        22 days ago

        It is one of my all-time favorite games. I have unfortunately played it to death; I’ve run out of stupid challenge runs. The game has a story and uniquely for survival games it has an ending, there’s a Win The Game button. But the game is as much about the story you’re going to create; the way you choose to go about things, the order you decide to explore in, the happenstances of your adventure are maybe more important than what the wiki says the story is. Savor that.

        I will offer this hint. I don’t think it’s a spoiler; I think there is a strong possibility this hint will prevent you from alt-tabbing out to look up the wiki and accidentally encounter a spoiler. But I will tag it as a spoiler anyway.

        spoiler

        If you find yourself without an immediate goal, you’re milling about the ocean thinking “well now what?” Go deeper.

    • Lenny@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      22 days ago

      Absolutely this. I am jealous each time I recommend it to someone who hasn’t played it yet.

      • SidewaysHighways@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        22 days ago

        I’m glad there was a thread about Subnautica in here.

        absolutely stunning, especially if one has any kind of decent audio system

  • PM_Your_Nudes_Please@lemmy.worldEnglish
    3·
    22 days ago

    Surprised I haven’t seen Undertale yet. The online fanbase is hilariously toxic, (seriously, don’t go looking for any extra details about the game after you finish it) but it’s a solid game that should be experienced 100% blind. All I’ll say is that it’s a game that is written to subvert expectations; If you go into it expecting to play it like a traditional RPG, you’ll be in for a big surprise.

  • darreninthenet@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
    2·
    22 days ago

    Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons

    An astonishingly good story line that can only be really appreciated blind.

    For those of you who remember TotalBiscuit, he rated this as one of his favourite games.

    • tigeruppercut@lemmy.zipEnglish
      0·
      22 days ago

      Maybe literally the only game that’s ever done storytelling through gameplay mechanics-- really cool concept

          • prole@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
            2·
            21 days ago

            Honestly… I would say that the game fits with the theme of the original post, and explaining it would ruin the magic.

            I will say that not only do the mechanics change based on the story, but there is an entire asynchronous online system where users help other users (that they will never see or meet in game) to construct be infrastructure to make travel for others (they will never see or meet) easier.

            Then those mechanics feed back into the actual story. It’s kind of wild.

            I know it’s a divisive game, but I will say it’s a masterpiece imo. Even if only for those mechanics.

            And yes, the controls change based on how the load you’re carrying is balanced. I believe the definitive way to play is the Definitive Edition on PS5 with the DualSense controller since the adaptive triggers become harder to press as your load increases.

  • SchrodingersPat@lemmy.mlEnglish
    2·
    18 days ago

    Sorry if these have been said already. Note I suck at gaming and couldn’t finish either but I enjoyed my time with them:

    Animal Well and Lorelei and the Laser Eyes

      • Buddahriffic@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        21 days ago

        A moment? I had a few during my first playthrough. PD, RL, W, T, DL. And many moments of forgetting to keep an eye on that oxygen meter lol.

  • Blackmist@feddit.ukEnglish
    1·
    22 days ago

    The real answer will always be Outer Wilds.

    But also…

    Fez. It definitely inspired Animal Well and Tunic.

  • starman2112@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    1·
    23 days ago

    You should go into Nier: Automata thinking it’s a game about a hot chick fighting a bunch of robots. The only spoiler you should know is that the end isn’t the end, and you need to play it again.

    You should go into Spec Ops: the Line thinking it’s a game about a cool special forces team fighting a bunch of terrorists or something. The only spoiler you should know is that it’s supposed to feel like a generic third person shooter.

    • SaharaMaleikuhm@feddit.orgEnglish
      1·
      23 days ago

      Haha I stopped playing Nier Automata after finishing it once. Yeah, yeah I heard it’s not the end, but the gameplay really isn’t good enough to go through it again. Right now I’d give it a 7/10, but if you force me to do it all again I am going down to 3/10. I think it feels incredibly cheap to do this gimmick.

    • 2ugly2live@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      23 days ago

      I love Nier! I’m thought the second play through would be a slog, but they kept it really interesting imo. And starting it up for a third time was wild. Even starting that game is part of the game mechanic, it’s so neat!

      • PM_Your_Nudes_Please@lemmy.worldEnglish
        0·
        22 days ago

        I would have to disagree about the second playthrough; I found it to be a very large slog. The third and subsequent playthroughs were amazing though.

    • cows_are_underrated@feddit.orgEnglish
      1·
      23 days ago

      The warframe lore is pretty complex, but its also great. Especially the way the game tells you the story. Can only recommend going into it blind.

      • OlPatchy2Eyes@slrpnk.netEnglish
        1·
        23 days ago

        I think they’re all games that seriously benefit from not knowing the lore or mechanics beforehand… you didn’t even contribute aside from being snide to me so how about you explain what I did wrong?

    • BenLeMan@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      22 days ago

      Yes! Return of the Obra Dinn 100%. You can still watch other people play it on YouTube later and have a blast seeing them figure things out. And read Lucas Pope’s excellent devblog later as well.

      • SchrodingersPat@lemmy.mlEnglish
        1·
        18 days ago

        I am super intimidated Return of the Obra Dinn. But it looks so cool, and I feel like it uses a lot of lateral thinking and makes you smarter for playing it.

        • BenLeMan@lemmy.worldEnglish
          2·
          18 days ago

          No need to be intimidated. Just pick it up in a sale. Definitely a brain teaser but there are spoiler reduced guides out there in case you get stuck. But you should be able to finish the game even without guidance.

    • Mossy Feathers (She/They)@pawb.socialEnglish
      1·
      24 days ago

      I disagree with FEAR simply because I’d say to play it on the hardest difficulty and go balls to the wall because the AI will fuck you over if it gets the chance; and the longer you take to clear a room, the more time the AI has to organize and execute a plan. If it weren’t for the fact that I’ve seen plenty of people get stuck on FEAR because they tried to play it like a cover shooter, I’d fully agree with you.