LSD: The Dream Emulator
Sony Playstation (Japan Only)
1998
This is my holy grail game right now. I've got a copy of it now and have been looking for it off and on for the last few years. You essentially navigate a dream environment and all sorts of bizarre things happen to you. There's virtually no real interaction.
Panic! (aka Switch!)
Sega CD/Mega CD (US/JPN), Playstation 2 (Japan Only)
1994
One of my most treasured games. You simply navigate through strange and stranger rooms by pressing random buttons located on each screen. Some will advance you through the stages, most will do very odd things. No real game here, but this is an experience not to be missed. If nothing else to just be shocked that is was ported over here in the first place.
The Rub Rabbits!/Where Do Babies Come From?
Nintendo DS (US/JPN)
2006
The game is pretty much just a collection of odd mini-games but its the whole package that really makes this game something special. The first game, Feel the Magic XX/XY delivered an excellent experience but the sequel brought everything over the top. There's a great deconstruction on love and life to be found in the little flash cart.
Katamari Damacy
Sony Playstation 2 (US/JPN)
2004
What more can be said? It's cliche but man is it still great.
Killer 7
Nintendo GameCube/Sony Playstation 2 (US/JPN)
2005
Suda 51's master work. Undeniably odd and undeniably awesome even if the actual gameplay is suspect.
Doshin the Giant 2
Nintendo 64DD (Japan Only)
2000
Video needs to say it all
Tingle’s Rosy Rupeeland
Nintendo DS (JPN/EUR)
2006/2007
I’ve never played this game either but just looking at some of the screenshots has to throw it up on any self-respecting weird game list due to just the protagonist. Arguably the weirdest character Nintendo has ever cranked out.
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Atari 2600 (US)
1982
Though the game itself doesn’t really measure up on the “weird” front, playing it as a 5 year old kid, you sure are left dumbfounded by what the hell is going on. Even playing it now, it’s impossible not to notice how strange a VCS take on the definitive adventure movie is. Dots and lines flying around, black squigglies running after you, and strange blobs of land litter the landscape. While other VCS games are just as headscratchingly strange (Riddle of the Sphinx, Swordquest) without any context, I feel that Indy did it first, and best
Electroplankton
Nintendo DS (US/JPN)
2006
I was so sure this wasn’t going to see a release over here, I went ahead and imported it. I was wrong. Not really a game so much as an experiment in sound and visuals. It found an extremely small audience on this side of the Atlantic and commands respectable prices on eBay as a result. Totally unique on the DS and well worth experiencing.
flOw
Playstation 3 (US) (Download Only)
2007
Its been called an interactive screensaver. Its been called genius. Its been called boring as hell. To me, flOw sums up what can be exciting about games these days. Beautiful, unorthodox, and haunting experiences that can transcend genre and classification. They don't have to be complex or deep to be compelling. Breaking games down to their essentials and opening doors to new types of "play" are going to help evolve the next lines of exciting games that will directly correlate to the next swash of mega titles. That Game Company is on the front lines (along with Grasshopper Manufacture and Q? and many individuals like Keita Takahashi, Fumito Ueda, and Tatsuya Kando) of pushing game design forward. And this is very, very exciting.
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