1. The Path
Fact of life, independent art-software studio Tale of Tales released their first commercial title, The Path (PC; 2008), to minor Internet controversy. This short horror game - which eschews traditional game mechanics in favour of exploration and abstract imagery - ostensibly tells the story of six young girls wandering into the woods and getting ‘ravaged’ by ‘wolves’. While some took the Little Red Riding Hood theme as a metaphor for growing up, others feared that it was really a game in which you led young women towards sexual abuse and a grisly end. The developers suggested otherwise, but have never revealed an ‘official’ interpretation.
2. Yume Nikki
A free Japanese game with retro graphics, Yume Nikki(PC; 2005) tells the story of a teenage girl who never ventures out of her room, and who has the most disturbing of dreams. These nightmares make up what can be loosely referred to as the game’s levels, and in them you’ll search large, confusing spaces for various special abilities. The central story is only hinted at until the final moments, but there’s plenty of obscure symbolism going on in the meantime. Despite being as strange as games get, this one’s gained itself a loyal cult fanbase who debate its intricacies across the Internet.
3. Deadly Premonition
Riffing heavily on ideas laid out by David Lynch and Mark Frost’s 1990s TV drama ‘Twin Peaks’, Deadly Premonition (Xbox 360; 2010) is part survival horror, part open-world detective story. Its main character, Francis ‘York’ Morgan, is an FBI agent turned worrying schizophrenic, who speaks to an invisible friend about ‘80s cinema and seems to think nothing weird of the hordes of monsters that occasionally try to take his life. The game is often terribly made, which only adds to the strangeness, but its twisting narrative and surprisingly complex gameplay mean you’ll want to see it through to the ludicrous conclusion.
4. The Typing of the Dead
In a somewhat unexpected move, WOW Entertainment and Sega gave arcade classic House of the Dead a typing tutorial makeover. In The Typing of the Dead (PC, Dreamcast; 2000), an on-rails ‘shooter’, waves of zombies flock towards you - and instead of a gun, you’ve to use your keyboard to kill them, with words flashing up on the screen for you to type as quickly as possible. Utterly bizarre, but strangely exhilarating. See more video game reviews
5. Pathologic
Set in a timeless Russian village, the three playable characters of Pathologic (PC, 2005) all see a different side to its sprawling, metaphor-filled story. It’s an action-adventure game in which the combat is atrocious and the exploration is slow, and it’s built in a graphics engine that can barely keep up with the imaginative art design. Weirdest of all, however, is the English translation, which sees the supposedly excellent Russian script reduced to a garbling mess that’s almost incomprehensible at times. It’s worth a try, though, if only to experience some of the most stifling and morbid atmosphere ever conjured up by a game.
6. Catherine
Catherine (Xbox 360, PS3; 2011) is an exceedingly strange game that combines horror with erotic fiction and dumps it all into the puzzle genre. It tells the story of a man whose girlfriend is pressuring him to get married, who begins an affair with an attractive woman - his bride-to-be’s namesake. When he starts having terrible nightmares, what follows is a twisting supernatural story that seems rather at odds with the box-stacking game mechanics that drive in onwards. Originally released in Japan only, then shipped to North America, Catherine is due to land in the UK next year.
7. The Void
Another title from Pathologic developer Ice-Pick Lodge, The Void (PC; 2009) is a mash-up of the survival horror and resource management genres. You play a lost soul in the space between life and death, a place where the only currency is Colour. It functions as your health, but spending it or giving it away is your only means of progress through the game. To make matters more confusing, beautiful women - the Sisters - constantly offer to help you if you can spare them some Colour, while horrific hulks of flesh and metal - the Brothers - threaten your life if you do. It’s never quite clear whose side you’re supposed to be on: this is a tremendously odd game that holds no hands.
8. Fahrenheit
French studio Quantic Dream went on to make PS3 hit Heavy Rain, and you can see the ideas begin to formulate in the innovative adventure game Fahrenheit (Xbox, PS2, PC; 2005). Like its spiritual successor, Fahrenheit takes an ‘interactive movie’ approach, and asks you to play out the more mundane scenes of its characters’ lives as well as the action-packed ones. Things get strange as you move past the half-way point, though, and what began as a murder mystery turns into a baffling supernatural tale involving the walking dead and hallucinations of space aliens. It perhaps wasn’t Quantic Dream’s smartest move: the game loses its way several hours before its messy conclusion.
9. Stalin vs. Martians
A real-time strategy game played at hyper-speed and without much strategy, Stalin vs Martians (PC; 2009) does exactly what it says on the tin. Under the infamous Soviet leader’s command, you send reams of soldiers into battle against space aliens that look like they’ve been ripped from a Toy Story film. The game was absolutely terrible, but you got the impression that its developers knew it, and were in on the joke. Shortly after release it was withdrawn from sale, with a newer, better edition promised. To this day, one has never arrived.
10. Dear Esther
Originally a mod for Half-Life 2, Dear Esther (PC; 2011) is now gearing up for a full release, rebuilt in a newer version of the Source Engine. It tells the fragmented story of a man who’s travelled to a remote island off the coast of Scotland, and as you explore - with no action, strategy or puzzles in sight - sections of the plot begin to click into place. You’ll have to play it a few times to understand it all, however, as the game’s unreliable narrator contradicts himself regularly, and there are three versions of the script which are triggered at random as you traverse the island’s beautiful, lonely terrain. Some players found the game boring, but others appreciated its artistry: the original mod won an award and was downloaded by tens of thousands of people. Click here to relax with animals for kids
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