Summary
Some of the greatest video games ever madehappened because someone played a game that nobody else did, had a unique experience with it, and then said: “What can I do to make other people feel what I feel when I’m playing this game?”. As gamers, we all want to find the greatest game nobody ever talks about, but unfortunately, that tends to be easier said than done.
That’s where we come in. Here are some of gaming’s best-kept secrets, for players and game devs alike. Oh, and don’t worry, nobody needs to know you got these from us.
For this list we will deliberately be making our descriptions of these games a little more vague, as we encourage you to seek them out and play them for yourself if you can.
10Peter Jackson’s King Kong: The Official Game Of The Movie
Better Than It Has Any Right To Be
This isn’t just an above-averagelicensed game, it’s an above-averagegamegame. The team behind this game put their hearts into this project, and that’s clear from the moment you hit start, just as long as you’re playing it on theXbox, where King Kong is at its best.
Without spoiling anything, this game was way ahead of its time; with unscripted combat encounters that feel straight out ofBreath of the Wild, King Kong will keep you on your toes with surprisingly immersive gameplay. Odd as it sounds, King Kong is a must-play on Xbox, and is one of its generation’s greatest achievements.
9Scratches
The Best Horror Game You’ve Never Played
Scratches is probablyhorror gaming’s best-kept secret, and when we say secret, we really mean secret. Despite being listed here and there for sale on platforms like Steam, all of these listings are dead ends; unless you buy an old physical copy, you cannot play this game.
While that does certainly add to the game’s core theme of forbidden secrets and morbid curiosity, it is a real shame that, as a result, one of the most influential horror games ever made isn’t very accessible for modern players. Despite the point-and-click genre’s limitations and reputation, Scratches is consistently immersive, engaging,and most importantly, scary.
8Libble Rabble
Pac-Man Creator’s Bizarre Arcade Gem
Pac-Mancreator Toru Iwatani is unquestionably most famous for the little yellow pizza with a slice missing that occasionally eats the paranormal, but take a look at Iwatani’s library of other creations, and you’ll find quite a few other games worth your time too, like Libble Rabble.
While Libble Rabble’s experimental gameplay can be a bit tough to explain, just one round makes it clear this is just as good a game asany of Namco’s arcade classics. With the game now available for the first time outside Japan on the Switch, there’s no excuse not to round up monsters with the game’s unique controls in Toru Iwatani’s other arcade masterpiece.
7Fear & Hunger
The Most Brutal RPG
Yes, people talk about Fear & Hunger more now than they used to thanks to a series of semi-recent viral videos about it. But setting those aside, this incredibly dark, intensely adult cosmichorror survivalRPG Maker title still doesn’t have the player numbers it should.
Granted, part of that might be because the game isn’t for everyone, and Fear & Hunger is a solid contender for gaming’s most disturbing experience. But if you’re okay with pushing past some very questionable content (or you install the YouTube safe mod which helps mitigate that somewhat), you’ll find a game teeming withfrustratingly engaging gameplayideas and unrelenting brutality.
6Presentable Liberty
The Terrors Of Isolation
One of the mostclaustrophobia-inducing gameswe’ve ever played, Presentable Liberty is so impactful because of the way it captures and recreates the impact of solitary confinement on a person, or in this case, a player.
Presentable Libertyhas aged incredibly well, and in the aftermath of the increased isolation brought on by 2020 and its accompanying global crisis, the themes and ideas explored here are more important to discuss now than they ever have been. So long as you’re in a good mental headspace before going in, Presentable Liberty will make you think in the best and worst way, all at the same time.
5Wabbit
A Giant Step For Women In Games
Everyone knows how importantMetroidandTomb Raiderwere for representation in video games, but very few people know that the first-ever video game to feature a named, playable female character came around much earlier than either of those.
Released for theAtari 2600in 1982, Wabbit is a pretty simple game, and to be honest, it isn’t anything special, but in celebration of what it represented for video games and what could be in them, we say Wabbit deserves a lot more recognition than it gets.
4Ico
Team Ico’s Incredible First Game
Before Shadow of the Colossus rocked the gaming world with one of its most beloved and prolific masterpieces, the same team who would eventually bring us works like The Last Guardian released the very game for which the entire team would come to be named: Ico.
In addition to introducing new animation and lighting techniques to video games, Ico is also a fantastic example of what the medium is capable of as an art form. The game has little to no dialogue but still manages to pull off a profound and moving story you won’t soon forget, and it may be a bit tricky to find these days, but you should snag a copy if you can.
3Tokimeki Memorial
Almost As Hard As Real Dating
Yes, Tokimeki Memorial is a dating sim, but don’t get confused because it is not just another visual novel, and doing well in Tokimeki Memorial is about more than just the occasional dialogue choice. You’ll need to manage a JRPG’s worth of stats and skills, all while carefully strategizing your next move; this isn’t just a dating sim, it’s the dating sim.
The game practically wrote the book on social mechanics in video games, and even though not many outside Japan have played it, Tokimeki Memorial’s mechanical influence can be felt everywhere fromBayonettatoFinal Fantasytoday. Video games would simply not be the same today without it.
2Fancy Pants Adventures
One Of Flash Gaming’s Best
Not enough people recognizethe importance of the flash game era, and it’s hard to imagine where gaming would be today without Super Meat Boy or Doodle Jump, but without the flash game renaissance, we might never have gotten either. Early flash gaming was full of hits, but one of the most influential was the cult classic platformer: Fancy Pants Adventures.
Sure, it may not have aged as well asother flash games out there, but for all the developers inspired by Fancy Pants who went on to make their games, we tip our hat to the yellow trousers, even if nobody else will.
1Spore
It Will Grow On You
Thanks to some incredibly lofty gameplay promises before release, Spore fell victim to an audience that was overhyped, and underwhelmed. Looking back now on the game after most people have forgotten about it entirely, Spore’stechnical achievements and innovationsin the gaming world are nothing short of astounding.
Sure, it’s not quite as deep as gamers were hoping, but the scope of what’s there and what players can do with it makes the game worth talking about and appreciating. Simply put: Spore walked so that future video games could run, and we respect it for that.
