Why We Need Weird Games

[@ArchitectofGames]

If you want some cool takes for cool kids follow me here! twitter.com/Thefearalcarrot Or if you want some hot takes for hot people, support me here: www.patreon.com/ArchitectofGames

[@AnthonyArmour]

Have you ever played one life? That game is really a trip

[@harbivore451]

Has anyone heard of creeper world 3? Just for the name alone its odd. i think its a great little RTS like game.

[@randomsnow6510]

I think you should do a video on afps and why they aren't popular. It could be interesting.

[@jeremyron8793]

DayZ mod and Yume Nikki aren't "Weird Games". They're irrelevant to your point. Both are of popular genres. Yume Nikki is of a super popular genre in Japan, RPG maker horror games.

[@RoverStorm]

+1 for Baba is You because I didn't solve a single puzzle you showed by the method you said you used.

[@tuatarian6591]

Oh wow that's really awesome. That made me want to buy it even more lol

[@oricalu448]

Same

[@stevethepocket]

I wonder if it has the same potential problem _Trine_ had, where there's sometimes a much less clever way to cheese a puzzle and leaves you wondering "Was I _supposed_ to do that?"

[@fieldrequired283]

@@lued123 Fucking around with the rules and beating the level in an unanticipated way is all in good fun in Baba Is You. The only real problem is if the level was trying to teach you something you didn't learn because you were thinking _too_ for outside the box, and then you get stuck on a later puzzle because of it.

[@alexscriabin]

@fireballdick No, less hard means easier, not easy. It's bad to condescend, it's worse to condescend while being just playing wrong.

[@hobihope2981]

Katamari Damacy ReRoll is my fave game on the switch. The console layout works so well with the play style! The only thing is that its SO hard to recommend to other people! "Oh whats it about?" "You roll a sticky ball around and pick up stuff all around the world!" "Umm... okay." "Its oddly relaxing and not too difficult! I mean once you get used to the weird controls..." "Oh... weird controls?" "Dont worry, once you get the hang of it, its totally fun!!" "Huh yeah.... well I'm gonna go play Animal Crossing, you have fun with your sticky ball thing!" If Katamari could get a weirdly big cult following like Undertale, maybe one day I can finally convince my friends & play multiplayer ( °̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥ ◡͐°̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥)

[@takatamiyagawa5688]

1:49 Ape Escape's mini-games used the 2 analog sticks quite creatively. The skiing mini-game has the two sticks represent the two skis, and the boxing mini-game has the two sticks represent the boxer's fists.

[@1fareast14]

I won't buy a laptop without a pointing stick/nipple mouse because of one game: Hammerfight. You control a gyrocopter with physics-based melee weapons. It may be a buggy mess, but it has the most viscerally satisfying combat I've ever played.

[@nathanadamson3143]

9:13. Consider your words marked

[@quillion3rdoption]

I think Nintendo's two newest big IPs are the closest we have to weird games with a bigger budget. Splatoon is a TPS where you shoot the terrain in addition to enemies, and ARMS is a fighting game without special moves and instead has stretchy customizable arms. I think this shows that even big-name companies need to do their part in breaking down genre conventions.

[@gamedesignwithmichael]

Nintendo runs this funny duality between only making rehashes of their most popular properties like the 689th Mario game but also coming up with some really innovative stuff like the games you mentioned, their console gimmicks like the wii and even things like Nintendo Labo

[@quillion3rdoption]

@@gamedesignwithmichael It's a good duality. Keeps "what people want" alive while committing to bringing new experiences to the table, whether they will become lasting franchises (like Splatoon will, clearly) or not (like probably ARMS).

[@phancoom1087]

hearing lisa, undertale and oneshot uttered in the same sentence triggered a primal awakening in me

[@byronmantoan2345]

I got you homie, now hear me out. *simulator simulator* boom! its gonna sell itself.

[@TonsOfHunStudios]

I'd buy it

[@Sunshine-uu1lb]

That inspired me to make Simulator x3

[@Keepit10011]

I like it.

[@somerandomidioticnerd9769]

I must know, how exactly would this work?

[@OwGash]

youtube simulator comes clsoe to that

[@emmettraymond8058]

TWO of these genres? :P

[@ArchitectofGames]

;)

[@lunaw2174]

@@ArchitectofGames You're just trying to fuel the fires of hatred in the comments aren't you?

[@thelurkingpanda3605]

?

[@insaincaldo]

We didn't start the..

[@manamongmen3381]

I think it's dark souls or battle royal. This man likes his cards too much for that to be it.

[@stevenneiman9789]

If you ever want a real mindbending experience, watch the first Matrix movie and every time you feel yourself cringing, remind yourself that nothing in it was cliche when it came out.

[@Nanoqtran]

Player/users do not know what they want. We can say we want X but in reality we want Y. This is why we need weird games because as the mainstream moves towards fulfilling X there is a lack of any Y in the industry. The weird game makers are the ones that make games that draw in Y concepts. What happens eventually is that the concepts of Y gain traction and are eventually added into our list of X. At the end of the day weird games are what help us define what we truly want in a video game We need someone to tell us "have you ever tried this?" because at the end of the day we didn't even know we wanted it.

[@satibel]

something I didn't know I wanted but love is slime morimori (aka rocket slime), it's a game where you control a slime that can move and hit stuff by stretching and using itself as a rubber band, and most items including enemies can be caught in the air and transported to wagons that go back to the town. And those items are used as ammunition for tank battles where you collect them from the reserve and throw them at the other tank.

[@Nanoqtran]

@@satibel if you were able to find the core concepts that reside in the game I'm sure there is another game that is similar that you would also love. The hard part is also identifying WHY you liked it. There was a specific core concept that kept you interested that most likely wasn't identified by developers that tried to copy the concept.

[@satibel]

@@Nanoqtran well, I haven't found a similar game, with the same exploration into using the stuff in a different context. I guess stuff like factorio, minecraft and space engineers have the same idea, but not close enough. I want something like a mario where you collect power ups and coins to upgrade a mecha to fight bowser. There are a few other games like dark cloud and dragon quest builders, but still not really close enough.

[@satibel]

Thinking about it, the closest thing is the witcher with gwent. Though it doesn't have the same retro charm.

[@dariominiello9934]

"you think you, do but you don't"

[@DarklingReborn]

9:14 *Teamfight Tactics intesifies*

[@gimmevideobish]

A bit late, but you should check out the old Extra Creditz series "Games you might not have tried." The tag line is "We don't promise that these games are good, just that they're interesting"

[@madscientistshusta]

The best "wierd game" I ever played was noita. If you haven't played noita,or you tried it and thought the perma death was unwieldy or you didn't understand how the wand building mechanic worked I implore you to retry it now that it has an optional class system and I also implore all to install the "craft wands anywhere mod" and you will LOVE the game!

[@Deioth]

"Dingle the bell" is a criminally underused phrase

[@bigmilk13_]

I couldn't stop making the comparison to Divergent Minds. The most prolific way of learning about our own brains is to study ones that *appear* to be weird/broken. Similarly, these weird/divergent games show us what we take for granted whilst unlocking possibilities that would not exist otherwise. Weird games are the birthplaces of future gaming trends, which is why we should support the good small indie games whenever possible, you never know what it might grow into

[@foodflare9870]

Fun Fact: DotA and Auto chess were both warcraft3 maps long before they were separate. And the wc3 map for DotA was based on a starcraft map. Not sure myself if auto chess existed at the time of starcraft maps. Actually, I'm surprised more of the wc3 maps haven't spawned their own genres yet, there were tons of players for many types of the maps that don't really have an equivalent in standalone games. I think Tower defenses loosely have a genre, but maze tower defenses don't really, and I've only seen 1v1 vs tower defenses, but the team and 8 player free for all ones were really fun to play as well. Then there were the "maze" games that I'd just call cooperative/racing obstacle courses without jumping. And while bullet hells exist, there's very few that don't let you fight back akin to 99 rounds.

[@hearmerant]

You were right about AutoChess.

[@angelmarques3124]

6:44 ONESHOT!

[@Dethneko]

Autochess sounds like the logical evolution of battle chess. I'm surprised it took this long.

[@faceshed]

Actually forgetting Minecraft was a oversight. When that game started as a clone of Inframiner it was without question a majorly weird game and it's transition to mainstream was almost as much due to updates as it was a shift of opinions. Anyway checking out gamejam games and other time limit game destine is something I recommend to a lot of people. It's not for everyone, but I think trying these bazaar experimental prototypes help us understand something about what we like even on the times that we don't enjoy them.

[@TonsOfHunStudios]

Definitely! Game jams are a great opportunity to see some new ideas!

[@NathanTowles]

“Dingle the bell if it pleases you, it certainly pleases us” Ok.

[@areze666]

whats the game at 0:14?

[@past874]

Huh, so all those weird ideas you get in the shower aren't bad ideas after all.

[@Lrozzie]

I guess it has all to do with the execution

[@cheesecakelasagna]

@@Lrozzie If only I can code good... or am not inherently lazy.

[@piemaniac9410]

@@cheesecakelasagna or if you could be a great coder who is inherently lazy, weird bui effective shortcuts in code can lead to some pretty entertaining results

[@CynicSnacks]

I fucken love Katamari

[@macattack7949]

A few thoughts: 1) I always personally thought that Battle Royale was just polished version of Minecraft's Survival games. I'd never tied it to DayZ before... 2) A line from the book "Make Art Make Money: Lessons from Jim Henson on Fueling Your Creative Career" (not really a short and snappy title I'll admit) that really stuck with me was that "The businessman wants to get the greatest returns for the least effort. The artist wants to use every resource at their disposal to create the greatest piece of work they ever have before. It's because of these contrasting values that the two tend to clash, however; you need both to succeed. The artist who spends everything will go broke. The businessman who never innovates will grow stagnate. It is the two in balance that drives you forward... to earn the funds to create the art that will keep you going." Great vid as per usual

[@ArchitectofGames]

In the original draft of this video I actually talked about the survival games instead of Day Z! I think you're right that there's totally some influence there, particularly in fortnite. I ultimately picked Day Z because it came first and more obviously influenced PUBG which is/was the real popularizer for battle royales.

[@macattack7949]

@@ArchitectofGames makes sense. It was a genre I never really got on the bandwagon for so there are a lot of details from it I'm missing. I can definitely see the connection though after you pointed it out

[@unfetteredparacosmian]

Of course Minecraft itself was, at one point, a weird game as well.

[@macattack7949]

@@unfetteredparacosmian true that

[@PiKayDaps]

Holy crap some Baba is you puzzles can be trippy, even the world map ends kinda meta

[@supahvaporeon]

Ninja Breadman? Dear god dont open those wounds again...

[@Maouww]

Dude! Katamari Damacy is exactly what you said: Weirdly intuitive - and so addictive. It itches a weird spot that other games can't seem to scratch for me.

[@hobihope2981]

YES its so strangely addicting! I seriously wish there was another game to fill this 25m-katamari-sized hole in my heart :(

[@Random-yg1fi]

I remember seeing one complaint for a game because the mechanics didn’t make logical sense. Like what? It doesn’t matter if it doesn’t make sense in a real life context so long as it makes sense in the games context or is explained properly. Not every game has to be “realism the game”

[@claytonharting9899]

Have you played Wandersong? I think that it fits the category of "weird game", and it's absolutely incredible. I think you would really enjoy it, and I honestly hope that more games take after it.

[@ArchitectofGames]

I've played and beaten it! Wandersong is fantastic!

[@SpiritofLibegon]

Nice collection. Here's my recommendations: Snake pass, a platformer where instead of jumping around you'll have to climb things as a snake. It's so different from anything else that you will need some time to learn how to play, but the game is a pretty good teacher. Off, an RPG made with RPG maker. It doesn't shine by its mechanics but rather by its weird and surrealist atmosphere. Also it's free, try it. Ambition of the slimes, a weird strategy game where you use weak slimes which can't beat the ennemy because they're too weak but can instead possess ennemies. The goal is to who to take over and how to approch them without getting killed. The steamworld series, Dig and Heist are very different games (a metroidvania-like where you dig your own path and a turn-based strategy game where you aim instead of relying on probability) and Quest it's on its way. They all are very good with adding mechanics that completely change the games from theirs genre roots. Noitu Love Devolution, a beat em up with mouse based control scheme on the pc and touch control on the switch. It's crazy and shine by the pure aggressivity of the gameplay which works wonder with its unusual control scheme.

[@ArvensisAndromeda]

This is why I play whatever the hell I feel like playing super super late. I don't really like being on top of the gaming scene and the only one I'm excited for right now is Silk Song. That one will not disappoint :)

[@addammadd]

I wonder if folks remember just how many mods the original half-life spawned that weren’t counterstrike. There was a dope one named “Ricochet” that was basically like the Tron disc game. Super bizarre, but really fun physics.

[@subprogram32]

OFF remains to this day one of my fave Weird Games out there, and was deffo one of the spearheads of the RPGMaker surge of games if I remember right. The actual gameplay of it wasn't anything super special, but the world and audiovisual design? That sticks in the brain for a long while.

[@ArchitectofGames]

OFF is so good, it's a wonder more people haven't played it!

[@subprogram32]

Specially cos it's free!

[@Keyshooter]

@@subprogram32 yes!!! Is a solid game with a lot of weird possibilities, I really love how everything turns around the weird design it already has

[@kouron]

Thanks for reminding me, time to listen to Pepper Steak.

[@AexisRai]

OFF is also, in a certain way, a known influence on OneShot.

[@Bloomio95]

I want the initial horror of dayZ back. I can´t imagine it´s so hard to finally give us good zombies that actually add to the game and not be completely ignored in mid to late game

[@SchmuckMartin]

The music alone in katamari is worth it.

[@aliasbam2750]

Katamari 2p is fucking amazing. I suggest anyone add it to their party playlist if they haven't yet

[@karmapolice247]

I sent a game to my friends, which was a mix between jumpking and tetris, I haven't heard from them since.

[@Fomortiis100]

I wouldn't call Katamari's controls clunky or imprecise. They're effectively a more realized version of tank controls, where each of the two analog sticks match almost precisely with the treads of a tank. Even as a kid I found them quite intuitive easy to get accustomed to.

[@sahibnijjar3098]

Auto Chess led to TFT in league of legends. Idk of how many more versions exists. Good video

[@davecullins1606]

Probably works like that in other industries as well: It's those creative small individuals that eventually create the next big thing that's going to re-invent the industry.

[@graham1034]

Indie games and mods are definitely the main vehicles for pushing game development innovation. Large companies just aren't willing to take those kinds of risks and engender a culture of polishing rather than inventing. This goes far beyond games too. This is why I really hope that at least some games keep allowing modding. It has become less and less common over time and I can see why there aren't many incentives for companies to allow it.

[@Redskull1411]

i am a guy that i love EXPERIMENTAL and WEIRD shit...They are really good brain and taste trainers...I mean, the way you TRY to make sense if what make this genre FUN...Even if the experiment FAIL...

[@andrianhiew7180]

Autochess didn't become a huge hit, it tried, but ultimately it failed to be a multinational hit. It's now reduced to a separate game mod where I think it's best for its genre. Since it's actually more time consuming than I thought

[@Sam-yp1zi]

look at Deep Rock Galactic, it's a dirty sci-fi mining co-op wave shooter with dwarves and it works so well because of the personality built by its strangeness

[@Xune2000]

1:43 The N64 controller only had one analogue stick. In Mario 64 Mario's movement was controlled by the stick, the camera was controlled by the 4 yellow C-buttons.

[@gulfgiggleanimations4472]

The Adventures of Cookie and Cream is one of those games to me. It's a co-op platformer that uses a twin stick setup for each player, meaning that you can play it with one controller with a friend, but that also makes it so you're able to play it alone, controlling both player characters at the same time. It's something that I've wanted to see from other multiplayer games, it wouldn't be that hard to imagine simultaneously playing as Mario and Luigi in New Super Mario Bros with a twin stick setup with the L R ZL and ZR set to run and jump.

[@josephperrelli8308]

This is not just a problem in the game industry but across all businesses in general. Look at the history of Steve Jobs and Apple. He built the company on innovative products people did not know they wanted and was eventually ousted by investors because they wanted to follow trends rather than set them. He then went on to start Pixar once again to massive success and eventually those same investors begged him to come back as Apple was tanking without him and has continued to after his death.

[@masterboa6321]

after hearing Adam's King of the Universe impression, his normal voice sounds exactly like Minecraft youtuber Mumbo Jumbo to me.

[@I_Am_Kas]

Me and a friend have a discord dedicated to small, cheap and fun games. We do a lot of indie games and try to show people random games.

[@snateraar]

Got an invite?

[@LuanaSouza-fw1iz]

You put every game on the description. I Luv U

[@thoughtpolease7183]

Narbacular Drop was a relatively weird puzzle game where you control a princess without knees through dungeons using an interesting mechanic of connected doors. Valve then used their concept to develop Portal

[@Bob-yp3fk]

5:10 - Dayz was originally a mod for ARMA 2 not 3

[@tobalt1]

Sank u

[@FactoryofRedstone]

Oh and Battle Royale was an ARMA mod too.

[@magicmurloc]

@@FactoryofRedstone Battle royale wasn't originally a game. The genre came before any game about it.

[@FactoryofRedstone]

@@magicmurloc It was first a movie and the first time the name appeared in a gaming context, it was a mod for arma 3. From this mod the name of the genre originated.

[@magicmurloc]

@@FactoryofRedstone The genre originated from the movie, was what I was pointing to. The movie is responsible for the genre in all the different categories that use it, be it movies, animes, or games.

[@spiddermen5]

"you may nicky"

[@AdamWestish]

thank u for these vids. will support your patreon asap.

[@CoffeePotato]

Tell that to Square Enix. They own the rights to Ogre Battle, essentially an awesome strategy series that was weird as hell. Basically it's like someone looked at Game of Thrones and thought "yeah, but what if faeries and pumpkin heads could be support artillery against the dragons, and mermaids fighting angels could happen? What if golems were pets, and a squad of 3 knights, a witch, and a priest was a thing?"... ....and all of the games were awesome. Hell, I never even got to try two of then until last year, and I was really surprised by the depth. Every one is even more reactive than most RPGs, let alone srpgs. Sure, the JRPG way is to forgive the witch that was just experimenting on everyone, but you notice pretty quick that the locals are pissed. It's a shame that they all did well, and then it just got left behind.

[@zoidsfan12]

Something I have gone by for a while is the notion that niche titles will speak much more than mass appealing products. When someone is not attempting to appeal to everyone they can do truly groundbreaking things, some of my favorite games have the smallest playerbases, but dedicated playerbases due to the love they can feel was out into the game.

[@danielsettle3942]

Does Catharine count it is such a weird game but so committed to its idea

[@argentpuck]

I was going to have an aneurysm if you considered Undertale to be a weird game. I'm glad you didn't make that error.

[@efilwv1635]

What about a first person shooter where you play as a gun that shoots people at bullets? Or a side scroller where spikes and fire serve as platforms, and stepping on the ground or other so called “safe spots” will kill you? What about a walking simulator where every step you take, a decade passes (time moves with your feet). Let’s say you take a step and see a small green thing growing out of the ground…better step in a different direction because it would be a full grown tree if you step towards it.

[@cheesecakelasagna]

Ya'll should check out Google Play Store more! It may currently have the reputation of being laden with micro-transactions but just dig deeper and you'll find loads of bizarre games (usually even made by only one person!), some are even so indie they're free! On the top of my head, I suggest the works of Daigo Studios. Will add more if I remember.

[@guilhermecampos8313]

This ending was genius!

[@ytrepronxa2401]

How about a weird games subreddit where we could share weird games we’ve found and also discuss weird games?

[@rosentrantz0]

No spoilers needed, but I'd like to make a little poll. Who has beaten the level entitled "Bottle Neck" in Baba is You? I might continue the game if I know someone completed that level.

[@smothmoongazer]

even if just for a second, any mention of oneshot deserves a sub from me

[@sophiejones7727]

so you mentioned that autochess was a mod for DoTA 2, but forgot to mention that DoTA started it's life as a mod (for Warcraft III). It's DoTA, not Dota or DOTA, because it's an abbreviation for "Defense of The Ancients". The Ancients were a Warcraft III unit (treants, basically). The original DoTA was also a "weird game"(at the time) that created the MOBA genre out of nothing. The fact that a mod for DoTA is now going to spawn a new game genre is legitimately hilarious (and I think shows just how good the foundations laid by the Warcraft games really were).

[@NoeLPZC]

There's an awesome "weird game" from several years back called Toribash I encourage everyone to check out. It's an online 1v1 fighter where you control all of your joints individually, but instead of it being a real-time mess like QWOP the game pauses every fraction of a second (15-30 frames) for you to input your commands for the next "round". It's a cool stop-start mechanic that lets you fight very strategically without requiring split-second reflexes. EDIT: Oh, and apparently it's free on Steam now so no one has an excuse not to check it out.

[@ArchitectofGames]

Toribash rules! I used to love that game! there really is no better way to describe it than QWOP but a fighting game

[@robinbernardinis]

Hear me out, the two good genres are Dark and Souls.

[@AxolinaAxolotl]

ever heard of juice world? It’s a game where you play as a little weird pink thing with orange dots that has arms as arms and arms as legs. You fart to -fly- jump and you attack things to collect juice. Juice is love, Juice is life.

[@DkKombo]

Devil may cry was a weird game. Now it's finally Mainstream. But I miss the creepy and haunting atmosphere. I hope people make a mix of that in today's world.

[@plinkage]

i think story is way underrated in games. i mean any game can have a great story. and any story could become a game. but to make a game where you get absolutely enthralled in the story without mechanics getting in the way is extremely hard to get the right mix of. i personally really enjoyed hellblade for the combat, but mostly for the story because i simply kept wanting to know more. havnt found a game quite that tantalizing since.

[@darkigg]

If so, then can any of you give me a senseless idea for a videogame?

[@seriousOmajan]

There are two weird games that I absolutely adore: Please, Don't Touch Anything and Viscera Cleanup Detail you should try those too. BTW IMO Grow Home is better.

[@TonsOfHunStudios]

Viscera is a lot of fun. It's sort of relaxing in this weird, tedious way haha

[@Peizur]

Damn, I'm watching this in July and you absolutely called auto-chess becoming huge lol

[@bobmcbob8044]

You hit the mark on autochess, that's for sure.

[@darkshadowsx5949]

i agree we need more weird games to bring new game mechanics to light. battle royal games are just awful. they have bare bones game mechanics that have you constantly doing the same thing over and over. i use to play Cod and battlefield games a lot. but now its only enjoyable on rare occasions and not your go to game for years on end.

[@MindinViolet]

Multiplayer FPS games are just the same thing over and over and over. I realised years ago that they are just a waste of time.

[@tyynymyy7770]

I think we need weird games, but also weirdness in games - if that makes any sense. I get the most joy out of products that surprise me one way or another, especially when it comes to enemy, level design and even non-playable characters. When you play games like Silent Hill 2, Dark Souls, Samorost or SotN for the first time you don't know at all what to expect and they feel really other-worldly. The sense of mystery and strangeness sparks irresistible curiosity that draws you into the world.

[@ZekeRaiden]

Your video makes a very good point we need to keep in mind, but it also risks making a stronger claim than we really want to. Gaming depends on "weird games" (I would call them "anti-conventional games"), but anti-conventional games are not automatically positive-creative games. That is, defying convention is not a silver bullet for producing good, creative work. I have often said, when helping others write, that the rules of writing only exist to create better writing, and thus implicitly they include the rule "break any rule if breaking it would make better writing." But that's a conditional, if X then Y. We need to embrace people doing creative things, but we also need to understand that, unfortunately, a lot of creative things are also not very good--creativity does not guarantee quality or potential, and being unconventional doesn't even (strictly) guarantee creativity. A "creative" wheel is probably going to be a worse wheel, because wheels have the properties they have in part to make them very good at what they do, but (as you noted with Grow Up) sometimes it's good to be reminded why wheels are designed the way they are. TL;DR: You're quite right, but let's not overstate the case--embrace challenging convention sometimes, because it *will eventually* produce good things, but never *expect* challenging convention to *guarantee* good things.

[@jonaswolthaus1901]

yes, statistically, creative out-of-the-box things in general won't make it in the world. But it still is important that we keep creating those weird games, because weird art has changed art too (think of the Dada-movement). We can't really say weird games on themselves are destined to be succesful, but they really are needed for our games to progress and make the mainstream games better.

[@ultimateprogamer5843]

I see that you used a clip from A Hat In Time in my opinion the game takes some aspects from Mario but it has a very different level design and the movement feels different then most 3D Mario games. The game does not copy Mario movement very heavily and maneuvers differently so they have similarities but they play differently.

[@SomeGuy-hh7te]

As someone who almost exclusively plays indie games, this is why. They are fresh, more interesting, usually contain a lot of new concepts/mechanics, and there are a lot of them for low prices. Sure, there are loads more terrible indie games than there are good ones, but learning how to weed out the bad ones just makes you a more responsible consumer. You learn how to judge games, what their gameplay loops will be like, what kinds of elements you are looking for, and how trustworthy/competent the developers are. This is why many people enjoy AAA games; They are safe. You know exactly what you are getting without having to worry about anything. However, this breeds two problems. The first problem is that almost all of them are rehashed ideas, stale gameplay gimmicks, and sometimes carbon-copies of other games. Big game studios don't want to take risks. They don't want to push the envelope, they just want to make money and they know how to make it. This leads directly into the second problem, which is that AAA games breed terrible consumers. People complain all the time about games, whilst simultaneously pre-ordering the sequel. Completely inexcusable bugs and glitches, day one patches, pre-releases, """beta""" tests, misleading graphics, all get swept under the rug because people keep giving money to the AAA companies that do this. When indie-devs do this, they hear about it. Their finances are on the line. Loads of bad reviews means that their game never gets played after a few weeks. Look at No Man's Sky, and the stigma Hello Games had for a while. If they were a massive game company, they could have taken their money and pushed out another game just like NMS, just as overhyped, with just as many day 1 purchases because they could afford it.

[@neutraldalek4222]

The need to shake things up is something Nintendo has been great with. They force themselves to do something new with every game they make (outside of the New Super Mario Bros series).

[@daminalspal]

Auto chess reminds me of Tactics Arena Online but nothing will ever come close to hoe good that game was.

[@tokito957]

I love abstract games that bend reality in the game but there are very very few of these games

[@happycamperds9917]

8:34 Subtle metaphors.

[@williamsmith6921]

you know grow up has a game before it called grow home. it is the same concept overall with some different mechanics

[@karmapolice247]

I'm trying to make a weird platformer game. So the rule for making this game is , whenever someone complains that it's hard, i make it harder.

[@erkkiojell5248]

1:43 Nintendo 64 controllers only have one analogue stick

[@Angels-3xist]

High quality weirdness is better than the best quality normality.

[@thatyoutubechannel9953]

The King of All Cosmos always had such a whimsical yet booming and ominous voice in my head; his dialogue did such a good job conveying the idea that there was something less fun boiling just below the surface without being overly-serious

[@alchemlemnis]

Im actually making a weird game. It's called The Hedge. It's a new genre, Vanilla Horror. Vanilla Horror is a type of game that is supposed to have this slightly uncanny, disturbing and traumatizing feeling, yet the game is simple and calm looking with no neon colors, just colors like Vanilla, YET the backstory is horrifying. In The Hedge, you wake up as a cow, in a field, there are few other cows around you. Pretty normal, right? You start walking, and walking and walking. You don't get tired. Music makes you feel more and more uncomfy as you get closer to a glowing, vanilla yellow light. You pass through it and you get a text on the screen, "Do you remember, Matthew? Where are you?". Then the screen fades to white. You wake up as a small boy, probably around 10. You're on some type of enclosure in the roof of a massive slaughterhouse. It's pointing to the ocean, but, the ocean is acid. Vanilla yellow acid. Your enclosure has a balcony. In the rusted metal fence of the balcony, there's a sign that says "The water is not water. The slaughterhouse is using you. The water is acid. Turns you into a farm animal. But deep down, you are still human. And humans still live here, what degenerates." If you press ANY button, Matthew jumps off the balcony into the acid ocean. A worker screams "One's got into it early! Reel em up!" and they get you out of there. You've turned into a cow. No longer human. The same worker says "Well, send it to the slaughterhouse then." Screen fades to white. You hear a voice, "Wake up, Matthew. Companies, oh they. Animals have run out, Earth has 20 billion humans, you can't even remember the year, dear! What is it, like, 2955? Anyways, big companies have women as slaves, and make them give birth to a child every week. WEEK, DEAR! Then, they implant hormones into their children so they grow faster. Any child with an imperfection is grinded and turned into hot dogs. You were lucky... When the children grow up into adults, they get dipped in the acid and turned into an animal and sent to kill. The people don't know this. They just think animals are in the farms. Then they buy the meat products. They eat it, they don't realize it's actually a human. Only a pig in appearance and taste, meat is 100% human. *How do you feel now, you?".* That's when it hits. You are supposed to get a rush of terror, horror, disturbance, trauma and uncannyness mixed. Next cutscene. You see a family eating YOUR meat. You see the package in the trash bin, named "Mat Cow Steak 100% Organic". End of game. Based on a fever dream I had

[@sebbes333]

*8:09** What RTS(?) game is that?*

[@Lumberjack_king]

6:45 omori also takes inspiration from it

[@dictionaryofwords1108]

8:40 is that a Seinfeld Doom map? Can you kill Newman? So many questions about that one

[@ArchitectofGames]

Yes and yes

[@dictionaryofwords1108]

@@ArchitectofGames How can I play this genius?

[@amhyreally]

Like always, great essay.

[@harbivore451]

Has anyone heard of creeper world 3? Just for the name alone its odd. i think its a great little RTS like game.

[@KrutzWalanda]

I've sunk a ton of hours into that weird little game. He's in the process of making a fourth one now; there are a bunch of dev log videos up on his channel.

[@vincentgaliano]

The video game called Everything has definitely its place here...

[@SneakySnorunt]

Kind of off topic, but I wanted to say that I've noticed I've been writing much better essays for my courses since I started watching your videos Adam. Your writing is so good that when I write I automatically make sure it's something that I could hear you saying in one of your videos in terms of sentence structure and overall coherence. So thank you for indirectly teaching me how to be a better writer. Another great video as usual! Definitely wasn't expecting this topic, looked like a difficult one to put together.

[@ArchitectofGames]

It was! I expected this to be a really quick video but it ended up taking a little while. Also, really interesting to see you've started to write the way I do! still not sure if that's a good thing or not.

[@satibel]

a writing suggestion: make a quick draft, and break it into chapters, break chapters in paragraphs, and paragraphs in phrases, for each block try to change it, and reorganize them (i.e. change the words, write another phrase with the same meaning, and see if switching 2 paragraphs reads better) and because I'm a lazy fuck, I ain't doing none of that and this comment reads like ass.

[@loremipsum2408]

Legendary, awesome man

[@jonathangerrits7697]

dont have the pressure off fina... ...cough cough DEATH STRANDING!!!!!!! I think weirdness is important because it makes your game unique. but depth is also important because it makes your game immersive