# Can anyone recommend a video game that requires taking notes? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [August 12, 2015, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-recommend-a-video-game-that-requires-taking-notes/727675 "2015-08-12T17:55:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-recommend-a-video-game-that-requires-taking-notes/727675/1 "2015-08-12T17:55:49Z")
Or at least strongly recommends it. Not all adventure games require it. I never had to take notes in a Monkey Island game, for example. Games I have played where taking notes was essential and fun. Myst and all its sequels Dark Fall 1, 2, and 3. Vanishing of Ethan Carter RHEM and its sequels, though I never finished them as they were way too hard. 🙂 Fez(kind of) Longest Journey and its sequels Her Story - not essential but kind of fun to take notes on I know Obduction is coming and The Witness is also on its way eventually. They are on my “must play” list. Can anyone recommend some fun, in depth games where note-taking is helpful? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-recommend-a-video-game-that-requires-taking-notes/727675/2 "2015-08-12T18:13:21Z")
The Secret World. It is an MMO, so there’s a significant amount of combat grind, but there’s a lot of puzzle-solving and evasion/infiltration type missions. The game doesn’t often hold your hand; you are expected to be able to remember clues, codes, and sequential actions; interpret beeps into Morse code dots and dashes, recognize symbols, and in at least one case, match up a picture of part of an archway with a specific spot in game-world architecture. The theme is weird horror; you are an agent of one of three world-spanning conspiracies. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-recommend-a-video-game-that-requires-taking-notes/727675/3 "2015-08-12T18:16:44Z")
Cool, but I’d prefer a non-MMO game. Just a game my wife and I can talk about while we can play with no other online people. ---
**Author:** ![Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrogance_ex_machina/32/192_2.png) [@Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrogance_Ex_Machina)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-recommend-a-video-game-that-requires-taking-notes/727675/4 "2015-08-12T19:30:49Z")
Maybe Legend of Grimrock I and II? I can’t remember how essential taking notes is but they both have all sorts of puzzles to think/talk through and especially the second one has some puzzles that require doing things in other locations. Great games as well, assuming you like the genre. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-recommend-a-video-game-that-requires-taking-notes/727675/5 "2015-08-12T19:46:38Z")
When it comes to old adventure games, Loom and Zak McCracken and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade all definitely require some note taking. Loom quite literally. Most IF games really need notes plus a hand-drawn map. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-recommend-a-video-game-that-requires-taking-notes/727675/6 "2015-08-12T19:58:25Z")
Almost all the old school Sierra games required note taking and sometimes map drawing skills. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-recommend-a-video-game-that-requires-taking-notes/727675/7 "2015-08-12T20:09:33Z")
If you’re up to a real old-school challenge, Ultima IV might be right up your alley. It’s available free these days and requires a lot of detective work, note-taking, and trial and error if you’re not using a walkthrough. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-recommend-a-video-game-that-requires-taking-notes/727675/8 "2015-08-12T20:24:53Z")
Since we’re going old-school: Phantasy Star 1 (the old Genesis version) really can’t be completed without drawing out maps of the dungeons. You navigate them in a first-person view and you will get lost. Star Control II features dozens of races, hundreds of planets and lots of vague clues that you’ll have to piece together. Notes are a must. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-recommend-a-video-game-that-requires-taking-notes/727675/9 "2015-08-12T20:54:57Z")
I’ve played a lot of those old school games. I mean, doesn’t anyone make games like Riven anymore? I scoured that land looking for clues. I just played an escape the room game called Vision from a developer named neutral. I’m not a huge fan of those games. I’m aware there is a new one, but it is almost too simplistic. ---
**Author:** ![ReticulatingSplines](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@ReticulatingSplines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ReticulatingSplines)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-recommend-a-video-game-that-requires-taking-notes/727675/10 "2015-08-12T21:19:42Z")
Zork Nemesis ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-recommend-a-video-game-that-requires-taking-notes/727675/11 "2015-08-12T21:56:59Z")
> [@ReticulatingSplines](#): > > Zork Nemesis Great game, and its sequel(Inquisitor) is quite the game as well. Speaking of Zork, are there any great modern text-adventures that require notes? I’d accept them, too. Thanks for suggestions, folks; I appreciate them. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-recommend-a-video-game-that-requires-taking-notes/727675/12 "2015-08-12T22:38:50Z")
Pillars of Eternity doesn’t _require_ notes, exactly - I haven’t been taking them and have just been leaning on the in-game diary system - but I have a feeling that I would be rewarded if I did take notes. ---
**Author:** ![neofishboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/neofishboy/32/444_2.png) [@neofishboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neofishboy)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-recommend-a-video-game-that-requires-taking-notes/727675/13 "2015-08-12T22:51:00Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I just played an escape the room game called Vision from a developer named neutral. I’m not a huge fan of those games. I’m aware there is a new one, but it is almost too simplistic. The new one is called “Elements” and it’s much more involved than “Vision” (I started a thread about it [here)](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=757776). If you’re really not a fan of the genre it still might not appeal to you, but I think it’s very possibly the best of its kind. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-recommend-a-video-game-that-requires-taking-notes/727675/14 "2015-08-12T23:06:43Z")
Then again, Vision is probably the second-best of its kind, so if that doesn’t appeal to you, then that whole genre probably isn’t for you. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-recommend-a-video-game-that-requires-taking-notes/727675/15 "2015-08-12T23:43:33Z")
Really, any RPG can lead to copious amounts of notes as you compare stats on different items. In Guild Wars I had a notebook full of stuff like builds and recipes. In Guild Wars 2 I have made some notes but a guy in my guild has produced many spreadsheets for things that are useful in the game.