I'm looking for games that aren't exactly what they seem. Perhaps they come across as simple or romantic or anything really, the point is that things take a turn for the worse (or perhaps the better) and everything begins to change. Either that or a game that has a much larger meaning behind its words. Like The Game Formerly Known as Hidden Nazi Mode if the full program was ever brought into effect.
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9:05, by Adam Cadre 10 votes "Well, someone was gonna bring this up" [+]"Well, someone was gonna bring this up: A classic, both in the "thing are not quite what they seem" genre and just IF in general." () --Molly... "Classic example" [+]"Classic example: This would have to be the classic example of "More than it appears to be..."" --BrettW... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Karl Ove Hufthammer... "The entire game..." [+]"The entire game is one big punchline." ( - Full review) --Jim Kaplan... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --DJ... (No comment) [+](No comment) --PrincessKitten... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Sobol... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --illuki... (No comment) [+](No comment) --CJ ... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --aluminumoxynitride... Vote for this game | |
Endless, Nameless, by Adam Cadre 8 votes (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Floating Info... (No comment) [+](No comment) --jflower... "My personal..." [+]"My personal favorite example of this. Relive the days of ye olde BBS adventures." --Pinstripe... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Sobol... (No comment) [+](No comment) ( - Full review) --Trif... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Laney Berry... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Denk... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Kinetic Mouse Car... Vote for this game | |
Shade, by Andrew Plotkin 8 votes (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Sam Kabo Ashwell... "The mind-screw..." [+]"The mind-screw genre in IF form." ( - Full review) --Jim Kaplan... (No comment) [+](No comment) --verityvirtue... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --DJ... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Sobol... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --illuki... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Vulturous... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --aluminumoxynitride... Vote for this game | |
Make It Good, by Jon Ingold 7 votes "Starts off as a mystery in the Infocom tradition." [+]"Starts off as a mystery in the Infocom tradition.: At some point, the player realizes that it isn't a whodunit, and that arresting the murderer is the last thing the detective wants to do. The descriptions stay the same, but their meaning changes entirely." --baf... "You're a..." [+]"You're a detective at a murder scene. You are there to find out whodunit - or so it seems. It's plot twist after plot twist and it messes with your already fuzzy mind..." --DustyCypress... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Pinstripe... (No comment) [+](No comment) --PrincessKitten... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Sobol... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Aerobe... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --aluminumoxynitride... Vote for this game | |
De Baron, by Victor Gijsbers 5 votes "The moment when the player enters the baron's chamber and what follows..." [+]"The moment when the player enters the baron's chamber and what follows..." () --verityvirtue... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Emily Short... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Sobol... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Felix Pleșoianu... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Karl Ove Hufthammer... Vote for this game | |
Save the Date, by Chris Cornell 4 votes (No comment) [+](No comment) --sushabye... (No comment) [+](No comment) ( - Full review) --E.K.... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Pinstripe... (No comment) [+](No comment) --IFforL2... Vote for this game | |
Little Blue Men, by Michael S. Gentry 4 votes "Initially looks..." [+]"Initially looks like a slice-of-life of boring office work. It's even possible to get a seemingly winning ending without discovering the deeper content of the game." --Christina Nordlander... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Sobol... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --gildedSnail... (No comment) [+](No comment) --aluminumoxynitride... Vote for this game | |
Spider and Web, by Andrew Plotkin 3 votes (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Sobol... "So famous in the..." [+]"So famous in the IF world for its mindscrewy meaty espionage content that most of us might not even remember that it starts out as apparently the story of an anodyne holiday abroad." --Christina Nordlander... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Aerobe... Vote for this game | |
1981, by Anonymous 3 votes (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Emily Short... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Agnishom... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Christina Nordlander... Vote for this game | |
The Ascot, by Duncan Bowsman 3 votes (No comment) [+](No comment) --DB... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --DJ... "Best to find out..." [+]"Best to find out why. You may need to replay to find out." ( - Full review) --Andrew Schultz... Vote for this game | |
Fail-Safe, by Jon Ingold 3 votes "A sci-fi disaster with a twist" [+]"A sci-fi disaster with a twist: Should probably be played with as little intel as possible, although supplementary material (e.g., the Club Floyd playthrough) might be needed to grok everything." () --Molly... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --DJ... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Sobol... Vote for this game | |
Ryan Veeder's Authentic Fly Fishing, by Ryan Veeder 3 votes (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Denk... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --IFforL2... (No comment) [+](No comment) --aluminumoxynitride... Vote for this game | |
Lock & Key, by Adam Cadre 3 votes "This isn't..." [+]"This isn't quite a spoiler, but the game starts out with a fairly conventional setting before moving to the part-graphical puzzle for which it's known." () --Emily Short... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --DJ... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Sobol... Vote for this game | |
Degeneracy, by Leonard Richardson 3 votes (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Sam Kabo Ashwell... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --DJ... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Sobol... Vote for this game | |
Myriad, by Porpentine 2 votes (No comment) [+](No comment) --Porpentine... "Starts out as a..." [+]"Starts out as a generic "wake up late and have to rush to college" story, but soon goes in different directions." () --Christina Nordlander... Vote for this game | |
KING OF BEES IN FANTASY LAND, by Brendan Patrick Hennessy 2 votes (No comment) [+](No comment) () --IFforL2... "The crude,..." [+]"The crude, primary-coloured 1980s retro aesthetic is not the only thing you'll see in this game" () --Christina Nordlander... Vote for this game | |
LASH -- Local Asynchronous Satellite Hookup, by Paul O'Brian 2 votes (No comment) [+](No comment) --Paul O'Brian... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Felix Pleșoianu... Vote for this game | |
Sunset Over Savannah, by Ivan Cockrum 2 votes "A journey into the imagination during the last night of summer vacation" [+]"A journey into the imagination during the last night of summer vacation: It seems like an interactive landscape, between the vivid room descriptions and the introduction that leaves you knowing you need to break away from your mundane comfortable job. Poking around under the pavilion and behind it will suddenly take you on some interesting adventures." --mjhayes... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Karl Ove Hufthammer... Vote for this game | |
Bliss, by Cameron Wilkin 2 votes "Classic example" [+]"Classic example: a bog-standard fantasy world that covers something else." --Christina Nordlander... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Emily Short... Vote for this game | |
ULTRA BUSINESS TYCOON III, by Porpentine 2 votes "Purports to be an..." [+]"Purports to be an edutainment business simulator from the 90s, but there are quite a few more layers there." ( - Full review) --Christina Nordlander... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --chux... Vote for this game | |
Dead Like Ants, by C.E.J. Pacian 2 votes "You are a worker..." [+]"You are a worker ant on a quest, but the nature of your task is hidden from you at the start." --Christina Nordlander... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Sobol... Vote for this game | |
The Act of Misdirection, by Callico Harrison 1 vote "Quick turn of events" [+]"Quick turn of events: I don't want to give away any spoilers." --Ant-Fan... Vote for this game | |
Funicular Simulator 2021, by Mary Goodden and Tom Leather 1 vote (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Tabitha... Vote for this game | |
The Wand, by Arthur DiBianca 1 vote (No comment) [+](No comment) ( - Full review) --Denk... Vote for this game | |
Guess the Verb!, by Leonard Richardson 1 vote "There's a..." [+]"There's a very slight chance that you'll guess all the verbs right, which means you'll breeze through the game without encountering most of the gameplay" () --Christina Nordlander... Vote for this game | |
The Dreamhold, by Andrew Plotkin 1 vote "Sort of?" [+]"Sort of?: At the outset you are simply exploring a wizard's castle, but you gradually realise that you have a closer connection to the things around you than you originally thought." --Christina Nordlander... Vote for this game | |
Mammal, by Joey Jones 1 vote (No comment) [+](No comment) ( - Full review) --Sam Kabo Ashwell... Vote for this game | |
The Baker of Shireton, by Hanon Ondricek 1 vote (No comment) [+](No comment) --CMG... Vote for this game | |
Moon-Shaped, by Jason Ermer 1 vote "Not as simple as it looks" [+]"Not as simple as it looks: This starts out looking like a generic telling of a standard fairy tale, but branches off into something much more original and substantial." () --DJ... Vote for this game | |
The Treachery of Zorag, by Derek C. Jeter 1 vote (No comment) [+](No comment) ( - Full review) --Denk... Vote for this game | |
Keepsake, by Savaric 1 vote "It initially..." [+]"It initially seems as if the game will focus on trying to get away after committing a crime, but that is not exactly what is going on. Difficult to clarify without spoiling the entire gimmick." ( - Full review) --Christina Nordlander... Vote for this game | |
Cannery Vale, by Hanon Ondricek (as Keanhid Connor) 1 vote (No comment) [+](No comment) ( - Full review) --MathBrush... Vote for this game | |
Quit Your Job Simulator 2014, by Caelyn Sandel (as Colin Sandel) 1 vote "A horror game..." [+]"A horror game masquerading as a "my sucky job" game" --Christina Nordlander... Vote for this game | |
Trapped in Time, by Simon Christiansen 1 vote "Seems like just another CYOA at first." [+]"Seems like just another CYOA at first." () --IFforL2... Vote for this game | |
Knight Orc, by Pete Austin 1 vote "The orcs are not what they seem." [+]"The orcs are not what they seem.: Halfway through, there's a complete genre shift as you find out what your generic fantasy realm really is." --baf... Vote for this game | |
DICK MCBUTTS GETS KICKED IN THE NUTS, by Damon L. Wakes (as "Hubert Janus") 1 vote (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Sobol... Vote for this game | |
The Endling Archive, by Kazuki Mishima 1 vote "Doesn't look like much at first, but... " [+]"Doesn't look like much at first, but... " ( - Full review) --verityvirtue... Vote for this game | |
Turandot, by Victor Gijsbers 1 vote (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Pinstripe... Vote for this game | |
Poll created on January 14, 2012