Have you ever picked up a random game bought from the local game shop or downloaded from a random abandonware blog and be confronted with some of the craziest shit you've ever seen? I have. More than once. In fact, I actively go seeking for them. Some of the strangest games I've ever played fall into the point-and-click adventure category so for your entertainment I've collated 10 of them and arbitrarily rated them from worst to best.
Out of the 10, there are 4 games newly escaped from the Chamber. Placed somewhere on list is Bad Milk (2000 Dreaming Media), DEVO Presents Adventures of the Smart Patrol (1996 Inscape), Who's Fat Lou? (1996 Mediola SRL), and the English translation of Eastern Mind II: Middle Heaven Chu-Teng (1995 Sony Music Entertainment (Japan), Osamu Sato & OutSide Directors Company) . There's also a fair few updates too so check them out after the jump and stay tuned for the rather lengthy video coming very soon...
WATCH THE VIDEO!
My criteria for the placement of any of these oddities is not necessarily based on their quality, but their strangeness (and a little personal bias). As always with this site, no game that is currently sold on GOG, Steam or other platforms are eligible and only one game per franchise (if you can call them franchises). It just so happened that all of them came out during the height of the CD-ROM era (the mid-90s to early-2000s). It wasn't planned that way, but I only just noticed it when writing this intro. There were a lot of strange experiments conducted by many developers involving this new-at-the-time medium, so it makes sense. I'm sure there are many I haven't played too, so they're not here either. Feel free to comment on any I've missed. Not all of these are masterpieces, but I can guarantee they are all strange. That in itself is worth a playthrough in my eyes.
Click on the images below to head on over to the game page.
NUMBER 10
NUMBER 9
NUMBER 8
 |
 |
1996 Inscape
Windows 3.1
Adventure-Myst Clone-Music-Science-Fction-Weird
NUMBER 7
 |
 |
1995 Inscape
Windows 3.1
Adventure-Myst Clone-Music-Horror-Weird
NUMBER 6
NUMBER 5
NUMBER 4
 |
 |
1993-1994 Synergy Interactive Corp
Windows 3.1
Edutainment-Adventure-Fantasy-Art-Weird
NUMBER 3
 |
 |
1994 Markowski-Robertson
Windows 3.1
Edutainment-Adventure-Fantasy-Art-Weird
NUMBER 2
 |
 |
1994 Sierra On-Line
ScummVM
Adventure-Point & Click-Fantasy-Comedy-Weird
NUMBER 1
 |
 |
1995 Sony Music Entertainment (Japan), Osamu Sato & OutSide Directors Company
Windows 3.1
Adventure-Myst Clone-Fantasy-Weird
HONORABLE MENTIONS
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Like this? Try These...
I only know half of these games, but they all look like so much fun! ( :
ReplyDeleteThankyou for releasing them into the Chamber, Biff.
I'm going to have a lovely few days, working through these games.
Enjoy! Stay tuned for the video which will be live soon.
DeleteSomething strange goin on here.
ReplyDeleteGreat list. As weird as early to mid '90s gaming was, adventure games took the weirdness to a whole other dimension. And if further evidence were required, consider that this list doesn't even touch on the Cryo oeuvre!
ReplyDelete(Hello Sir. Firstly I wish to say thank you for the excellent weird game recommendations, secondly I wish to apologize for the following wall of text, I've tried writing to your outlook email and it would not send. Do delete my lengthy message after you've read it so as to not clog up your comment section with it. Thank you)
ReplyDeleteHello Mr. Biffman.
I have stumbled upon your blog by accident whilst going on a trip down memory lane indulging in a bit of nostalgia. I confess I am not the most tech-savvy person, even so, the fact that you can 'bring back to life' games that otherwise would have been lost to time and oblivion is amazing in its own right. Alongside your efforts to make such games accessible and easily operable on present-day systems, your detailed reviews cement your sincere affection and admiration for the gaming medium. May your love for games never perish!
I am very glad to have come across your chamber of treasures and will continue to explore it as well as the pages you have linked.
I realize that you are a busy person, current events not making things any easier, and that you have a presumably lengthy request list already and that is top priority, so I shall merely ask, only when you find the time and it is not troublesome to you, to work your magic on this little game https://www.load.to/g6TEH6rYj4/Alice_In_Chains_The_Journey_PC.7z . (I apologize in advance for any ads or popups the site might have, I couldn't find a temporary upload site without any. At least this one keeps the file for 28 days. My apologies.)
It's a 1.5 hour long point-and-click exploration type game loosely based on the music video "Grind" by Alice in Chains. "The basic premise is the devil is not really the power behind music, but that he's been conspiring to destroy it. He realizes it's the thing that makes humanity great and unites us all". Your reviews under the Music tag also gave me hope that this one wouldn't be out of place in your chamber.
Whenever it may be suitable for you, so as to avoid becoming overburdened or burned out, if you would add this to your request list (and maybe Ocean Trader 1995 or Fire Fight 1996, whichever will ever become functional to run in fullscreen with full music) for whenever it is convenient to you, it would be nice to be able to play again and relive the experience.
Thank you very much for your time! Have a nice day!
Thanks! It's not everyday I get a recommendation I've not heard of, but Alice in Chains The Journey completely passed me by. No promises, but I'll have a crack at it the next time I do a music-themed post.
DeleteExcellent article Thank you,
ReplyDelete>>>>>10 Games with BEST Graphics for Android and iOS.