Sometimes you press the “start” button and find yourself thinking: “What the hell is happening here?” – and that is exactly the fun of it.
Simply because some games manage to be so nonsensical, whether in story or gameplay (or both), that it feels like they came straight out of a bad trip or a fever dream.
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They do not make any sense at first sight, but that is where the magic is hiding: behind all the bizarreness and seemingly weird creative choices, there is a unique logic that transforms the absurd into something brilliant, actually.
In this article, I have put together some of these experiences that have not followed classic formulas and dared to do things differently, ultimately becoming a must-play.
Edible Insects
Have you ever imagined what it would be like if we lived in a world where bugs and snacks somehow merged together? Yeah, me neither, but apparently someone at the Young Horses studio did becauseBugsnaxexists and got that crazy idea out of the paper.
It is an adventure game that follows a journalist who needs to travel to a mysterious island called Snaktooth (puns are a thing around here) to investigate these half-bug, half-snack creatures and the disappearance of a known explorer.
Nothing really makes sense from beginning to end, as you might have guessed by now, and that is the main charm of this quirky experience.
Oh, and do not let its colorful, cute graphics fool you. There are many dark surprises throughout its story.
9Untitled Goose Game
Untitled Goose Game
What if we were two geese wreaking havoc and chaos in a small, peaceful village? That is your goal (and your friends, too, since it has a co-op option) inUntitled Goose Game, a very charismaticindie game.
With a lot of focus on stealth and puzzle-solving, you basically need to follow a “to-do list” with a lot of weird objectives, such as stealing items and tricking humans, to progress. In other words, simply cause mayhem and everything will be okay!
But not much makes sense, does it? Like, where did the “to-do list” come from? Why does the mischievous goose want to steal so many golden bells? And where did the second goose come from?
Well, the game doesn’t even try to make sense, so I think we are missing the point by asking all of that.
8I Am Bread
Getting Toasted
I Am Bread
Imagine that you are a simple slice of bread that needs to find a way to become a lovely, delicious toast – and you getI Am Bread.
In order to do that, you need to face a lot of wall climbing and parkour tricks, with an insanely and unnecessarily hard gameplay, to find any item to get toasted, such as a regular toaster, or even a hairdryer (because why not?).
If this idea does not sound crazy and absurd enough to you just yet, let me tell you about the rest of the story: you end up driving the owner of the house insane.
7Hatoful Boyfriend
Dating… Pigeons?
Hatoful Boyfriend
When you first hear aboutHatoful Boyfriend’s premise and story, you immediately think that you probably misheard something, but no, you heard it right.
It really isa dating simulatorin which the human protagonist attends a school for intelligent pigeons – called St. PigeoNation Institute, by the way – and seeks romance with one of them.
Sounds like an extremely bizarre experience, and it is, especially in the first half of the game, which truly embraces the idea of being a parody of dating sims.
What makes it special (and it will all make sense, I promise), though, is the “true ending” of the story, unlocked by finishing all the routes and making every second worth it.
Die, Revive, Understand… Or Not
I like to describeReturnalas a pulsing, living puzzle, since it follows a melancholic story about a space explorer who crashed into a strange planet with temporal instability called Atropos.
In this place, she is trapped in a weird time loop that forces her to face a bunch of dangerous and horrifying enemies, and if she dies, she is reborn and starts again incessantly.
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Alongside that, all plots are non-linear and quite confusing, but completely on purpose because it uses this narrative frustration as a tool: just like Selene, the player desperately tries to find meaning in scenarios, logbooks, puzzles, and creatures.
Ultimately, we find out that this chaotic situation reflects the protagonist’s internal chaos. And maybe a bit of ours as well.
5Kingdom Hearts 3
Let It Go, My Friend
Kingdom Hearts 3
I must confess that I never thought it would be possible for me to watch Elsa singing “Let It Go” on my way to defeat Master Xehanort, but here we are.
The story ofKingdom Hearts 3(as well as the entire franchise, for that matter) is a marvelous mess with nonsense crossovers with characters from Disney and evenFinal Fantasy, which we have all learned to love (a lot).
Which other game is capable of letting us explore Andy’s room, dance with the characters from Tangled, and even get a few scares in Monsters, Inc., while presenting narrative arcs and soundtracks that can make a grown man cry?
Not to mention that if you don’t understand something of these masterpieces, there are always video explanations with the length of the movies waiting for you somewhere.
4Katamari Damacy
Just Roll Everything
Katamari Damacy
Katamari Damacyis a wonderful experience, where absolutely nothing makes sense, and you only know that you are rebuilding all the stars and planets in the universe by magically piling a bunch of items and trash into insanely big balls to create new celestial bodies.
And why? Because the protagonist’s father, the King of All Cosmos, accidentally destroyed everything with a powerful tennis serve.
Yes, it is as wonderful as it sounds. Pure poetry in the form of a game – and incredibly fun too!
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Conker’s Bad Fur Day
I love how ridiculously fun the premise ofConker’s Bad Fur Dayis, since it is a vulgar and quirky parody of theplatformer genre, with a hilarious sense of humor.
It basically follows some of the misadventures an alcoholic squirrel has to face while he is trying to get home to his girlfriend, after a night of heavy drinking.
Along the way, you will have to survive in a Colosseum with the help of a raptor, confront an opera-singing pile of poo (seriously), become a bat, fight a war against evil teddy bears, and even use a pee mechanic on his enemies.
Makes any kind of sense? NO! And that is why it is so, so fun, making it worth the crazy ride.
2Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
Gotta Love Kojima’s Crazy Mind
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
I think it is so funny how any scene inDeath Stranding 2: On the Beachcan be extremely confusing without context – which is exactly the feeling that Mr. Hideo Kojima wants to give us with the game’s complex trailers (and he succeeds, right?).
But when you finally put all the pieces of the story together, suddenly everything makes a lot of sense. Too much sense even, to the point where you think you may have gone a little crazy.
Jokes aside, let’s take the whales as an example. These animals are extremely important to the story’s main concepts, appearing in many places and sizes, even falling (literally) from the sky out of nowhere at some moments.
However, when you finally play, you realize that it is quite common for whales to strand on beaches in real life, so it makes sense to have them as a recurring element linked to the Beach (the “limbo” between life and death) and to the catastrophes caused by the Death Stranding.
Oh, and to the title as well, since “death stranding” can literally refer to a dead beached whale. No wonder this is one of the promotional art for the game. See how it all makes sense in the end?!
1Bloodborne
A Cosmic (And Confusing) Nightmare
Bloodborne
Fextralife Wiki
I know that some hardcoreBloodbornefans may disagree with me, but saying that collecting umbilical cords during the game and EATING THEM to transcend into a multidimensional being makes any sense is crazy.
And, you see, I have consumed a lot of Insight in my life.
All of FromSoftware’sSoulsborne titlesare known for having a very subjective, open-to-theories kind of story, where you need to pay attention to every detail, from items’ descriptions to scenario elements, to get the full picture.
Or, at least, try to! Because Hidetaka Miyazaki himself already said in a past interview that many developers of FromSoftwaredo not understand the overall plotof their games – then who are we to understand?
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