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[Bree]

I absolutely love weird games. The industry gets so much crap for making the same thing again and again, it's absolutely wonderful to find something out of the ordinary. I figured I'd start making a list of all of the weird games I have owned at one point or another. Any game with an asterik means I still have a copy of it. Feel free to add your own!

* Amplitude (PS2)- Rhythm game by the original creators of Guitar Hero.

* Chulip (PS2)- Romantically-inclined RPG. You level up by kissing, i order to gain enough experience to kiss the girl of your dreams.

* UmJammer Lammy (PS1)- Spiritual successor to Parappa the Rapper, but with a goat girl playing guitar.

* Oddworld- Abe's ExOddus (PS1)- Difficult sidescrolling action/platformer staring none other than Abe the Mudokon himself.

* Gitaroo Man (PS2)- Tripped-out music game with awesomely kooky art style and guitar battles against a man in a bee suit.

* Psychonauts (PS2)- Platformer set in a summer camp for psychic kids, created by Tim Schafer, he of the upcoming Brutal Legend and the astounding Grim Fandango. Speaking of which...

*Grim Fandango (PC)- One of the best adventure games ever made. No contest.

Drill Dozer (GBA)- Action game starring a little girl with a big drill machine. She makes a cameo appearance in Brawl, as an assist trophy.

Ribbit King (GC)- Golf game that uses Rube Goldberg-style traps and frogs for golf balls.

*Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat (GC)- Platformer utilizing the DK Bongos. How good is it? The team who made this went on to make a little game called Super Mario Galaxy.

Stuntman (GBA)- Yes, you read that right. A full 3D Stuntman on the Gameboy friggin' Advance, this thing was a technological marvel, and still is today.

*Lifeline (PS2)- Voice-activated adventure game. A bit buggy, but when it works, it really works.

Disaster Report (PS2)- Adventure game set during an earthquake. Pretty slow-paced for the majority of the game, but has some genuine 'holy shit' moments (having a building nearly crush you is always a good one).

That's about all I can think of at the moment. Like I said, feel free to add your own list, or better yet, go out and try some of these games. They aren't all AAA games, but I guarantee you'll never have played anything like them before.

[cyber95]

Man, I love love love UmJammer Lammy. Bought it off of eBay recently because I loved it when I rented it a long time ago. I somehow improved in the game since then, even though I hadn't played it during those.... a lot of years.

Psychonauts is bitchin' always. I can't wait for Timmy's next game.

I've wanted to try the Oddworld games. They look fun.

I need to get my hands on Gitaroo Man, and you know what? Most other PS2 games on there, since I recently bought one (a PS2).

[Derek]

First game that came to mind for me was Clayfighter, for the SNES.  It's just a Street Fighter II clone at heart, but man, did it look and sound weird.  For some reason I was really excited about getting this game when I was younger!

I heard they made a sequel, too.  I kind of want to play it now.

Uniracers was probably the only unicycle game in existence (until Matt and Steve make one!).  I only rented it, though.  It was fun!

[Alex May]

Chibi Robo is weird: you play a tiny robot and have to nurse a dysfunctional family back to well-bring by tidying the house for them and solving all their problems. All the toys in the house are also alive and have their own problems to be solved. Not many games that involve tidying as a core mechanic and have implemented this well, plus the viewpoint of being tiny makes the game really interesting from a platforming/exploration perspective as well as marrying really well with the helping theme. The characters and graphics also lend it a very unique quality, partly because we don't get many Skip games over here.


Also Stretch Panic is weird: You control a girl and her demon-posessed scarf and must pinch, stretch, and release the skin of enemies in order to ping them off into the distance. Some of the first enemies you meet are women with boobies so big they're pretty much all you can see of them, and are the only possible target for your attacks.

[Xion]

Never played it but Mr. Mosquito looked pretty damn weird to me.

[Lucaz]

When I hear weird games, the first I think of is Legend of Djel, a weird, crazy and unplayable french game from the early 90s. And some other by the same developers, Cocktail.

I Have no Mouth and I Must Scream: common in gameplay and such, but has a depth and style uncommon to games.

Fool's Errand: a puzzle game, where you solve multiple puzzles, with each one giving you a piece of a map, and uncovering a part of the story.

Later I'll get to remember some other game, but now I'm blank.

[ChevyRay]

LocoRoco was good fun.

Gitaroo man ROCKS! Haha, some of the "fights" in that were just great.

Has anybody actually played and paid attention to Earthbound, SNES? That game is STRANGE. While it's basically just an RPG, some of the enemies, conversations, and plot elements are just way out there!

[Baba Brainchild]

Naaa nana na na na na nananana Katamari Damacyyyyy...

[jstckr]

needs a mention here, as does

and its much better sister Rhythm Tengoku. Also: Vib Ribbon. Not to forget Kuma Uta, a karaoke game featuring a singing bear. You write the lyrics.


Yeah, I'm a friend of games combining music and interaction.

[ChevyRay]

FLCL should be a game...

[Pacian]

Mega Drive game.

[increpare]

Padodius?

Or...and I didn't know this existed until right now, ubt sexy Parodius?



fat man tongue looks awesome.

[dmoonfire]

Fool's Errand: a puzzle game, where you solve multiple puzzles, with each one giving you a piece of a map, and uncovering a part of the story.

I *love* Fool's Errand. He's been working on a sequel since forever and also has "3 in Three" which is a great game.

[Bree]

Ooh, another weird game I used to own:

Mister Mosquito (PS2)- Basically a mosquito 'simulator'; you fly around as the title character, trying to suck the blood of a hapless family while avoiding detection. The sense of scale is excellent, as the maps are appropriately scaled, and thus, ginormous. Plus, there's an extra game hidden in Mister Mosquito, which deserves its own blurb.

Reckless Cycles (PS2)- A 2-player minigame, in which you control an old man on a bicycle, and use your turbo power (?) to knock your opponent off of the top of a giant stone tower. Great fun for everyone.

* Dr. Muto (PS2)- Action-platformer starring a mad scientist trying to rebuild his home planet after it's destroyed by one of his experiments. The good doctor can collect DNA and various bits of junk from the levels to create new gadgets or mutations. The mutations range from the teensy Muto Mouse to the hulking gorilla Muto, allowing for a greater variety of gameplay.

Now, let me list some of the weird games I've heard about, but haven't played yet:

CIMA: The Enemy (GBA)- Strategy/RPG hybrid using ordinary townsfolk and their skills to survive.

Riviera: The Promised Land (GBA)- Another super-rare Atlus game that became a cult hit.

Jet Grind Radio (DC)- The Dreamcast had so many weird games, it's a damn shame. I've played JSRF on the Xbox, but I've never gotten my hands on the original.

The Neverhood (PC)- Kooky claymation adventure game. Do want!

Tail of the Sun (PS1)- Laidback caveman 'life simulator'. The major goal is to create a tower of mammoth bones (by killing the poor beasts) to reach the titular Tail of the Sun.

Ape Escape 2 (PS2)- Or 3, I don't really care. I just want to use my analog sticks to swing a net and bag some goshdarned monkeys!

Panzer Dragoon Saga (Saturn)- And they say Mario was a weird choice for an RPG. This is one of the few games that I would actually consider pirating.

Giftpia (GC)- A 'social RPG' that was never released in the US. I believe the same team making this is currently working on Captain Rainbow.

Doshin the Giant (GC)- Another game that never made it to the US, but apparently got a PAL release. Sort of a Black and White Jr., where you play as a big yellow giant that can be either nice or mean to the teensy villagers on a tropical island.

Herdy Gerdy (PS2)- Action puzzler with a heavy emphasis on... herding. You're given a set of animals, all of which act in different ways toward each other, and must try and get them all to their destination safely.

Graffiti Kingdom (PS2)- Made by the same people who did Magic Pengel (another game I wouldn't mind getting my hands on). A fairly standard action-platformer, until you realize that you can make your own creature and have it do whatever you want. It's almost like a predecessor to Spore, in that sense. If you google the game, I'm certain you can find some of the more elaborate creations that have popped up over the years.

Drawn to Life (DS)- Platformer that literally depends on your creativity to survive. You start by drawing your character, then by drawing more and more of the scenery around you.

Dragon Quest: Rocket Slime (DS)- Starring everyone's favorite helpless blue blob from the RPG series. You can fight with giant slime mechs. Even in multiplayer.

The World Ends With You (DS)- Just take a look at some of those screenshots. I love Tetsuya Nomura's designs.

And pretty much anything by Suda51- The man is a mad genius. I'll just list a couple of his games:

Killer7 (GC)- Trippy rail shoot-'em up thingy
Flower, Sun, and Rain (PS1, DS remake coming soon)- Trippy Groundhog Day adventure game thingy
No More Heroes (Wii)- Trippy combat/GTA-ish thingy
Michigan (PS2)- Trippy news reporter survival horror thingy
Contact (DS)- Trippy Action/RPG thingy


There's probably more that I'm forgetting, but that should be it for now.

[Cymon]

Neverhood - a fully claymation adventure from the creator of Earthworm Jim. Gotta love the soundtrack. (Dang it, posted while I was typing.)

Moonbase Commander - tethered strategic goodness.

And then some generic votes for already mentioned games:
Katamari Damacy - Mainstream wierdness
Earthbound
Mr. Mosquito
Chibi Robo
Grim Fandango - Just awesome.

[Bree]

Grim Fandango - Just awesome.

Quoted for motherfuckin' truth.

[kyn]

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty

I know the game probably doesn't fit well in here, but I just have to mention it for the arsenal gear part.
Man, that part is just weird, weird and awesome, it's just the best gaming experience I ever had, so far. It really starts getting nonsensical, you don't know what to do, or what the hell is going on, and the colonel is just speaking freaky to you through the codec. I was playing the game for two days straight and was finishing it later in the night time, and that just really started messing with my head, it's like I was going down an endless spiral, getting sucked by the game itself, completely oblivious by the reality around me, and just focused on the game. And as they started to explain what the hell is going on in that long codec conversation, you just get even more confused.
I even heard stories of this guy who was playing the game sleep deprived for 3 or 4 days, and when the colonel tells you to shut down the gaming console (select the text to read, we really need [spoiler][/spoiler] tags in this forum) the guy completely freaks out, and actually believes he was imagining things and that the console was in fact speaking to him, so he just shuts down the console and goes scared straight to bed.

And that's how messed up that game really is. Also my all time favorite game.

[muku]

Moonbase Commander - tethered strategic goodness.

Hey yeah, that game is huge fun in a LAN match. Really challenges the bonds of friendship though


Trust & Betrayal: The Legacy of Siboot by Chris Crawford
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trust_&_Betrayal:_The_Legacy_of_Siboot
Perhaps the game with the most esoteric game mechanics I can think of. It's basically a social simulator where you are one of a group of acolytes which compete for a position called Shepherdship. At day, you wander around and talk to the others via a unique simple language interface where you construct sentences by clicking on icons. The freedom of interaction is amazing, you can build trust and even friendship with other characters, while others will resent you; you can threaten, lie, backstab and betray the others, or you can choose to play honestly.
At night, you compete in "mind combat" which is basically a rock/paper/scissors game, but it's crucial to use the information you gathered during the day in order to win.
It's a fascinating game, I recommend trying it if you're into exotic game mechanics.

[William Broom]

Gregory Horror Show is one that immediately springs to mind. I haven't played it but apparently it's about spying on creepy residents of a hotel so you can steal their items and avoid having them drive you insane.

[Bree]

I saw a video of that- the lizard girl with the needle fetish scares me to no end.