# Weirdest Game You've Ever Played

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-game-youve-ever-played/486089>\
**Category:** The Game Room\
**Created:** [February 16, 2009, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-game-youve-ever-played/486089 "2009-02-16T14:05:46Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![AllWalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/db5fbb/32.png) [@AllWalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AllWalker)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-game-youve-ever-played/486089/21 "2009-02-17T09:44:54Z")

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> [@GameHat](#):
>
> easily:
> 
> [The Majesty of Colors](http://www.kongregate.com/games/GregoryWeir/the-majesty-of-colors/?referrer=Jayisgames)
> 
> Flash game. SFW.
> 
> Cthulu meets Atari 2600. But strangely peaceful and beautiful.

Ph’nglui mglw’nafh C’thulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn… balloons?

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**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-game-youve-ever-played/486089/22 "2009-02-17T19:14:02Z")

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Mindscape (click on “games”) [http://www.mindistortion.tv/](http://www.mindistortion.tv/)

On the first level you collect candy and try to find the bunny. The following levels get weirder. In most places on all levels the gravity is local, so you can walk up walls and ceilings and so forth. The view rotates as necessary so you always appear upright.

A very short but strange game. [The Truth is What you Believe | ORGANIC FLASH](http://www.thetruthiswhatyoubelieve.com/painting/)

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**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-game-youve-ever-played/486089/23 "2009-02-17T19:16:08Z")

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Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you:

[Snifty Snakes](http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/15819)

(And yes, I own it. 🙂 )

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**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-game-youve-ever-played/486089/24 "2009-02-17T19:53:17Z")

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Weird but good…

Grim Fandango.

Psychonauts.

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**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-game-youve-ever-played/486089/25 "2009-02-17T20:22:51Z")

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What was that Gamecube game that screwed with your mind by making you think the console reset, or that things weren’t in your inventory that actually were, and other totally fucked up things?

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**Author:** ![gang\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f07891/32.png) [@gang\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gang_green)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-game-youve-ever-played/486089/26 "2009-02-17T20:30:28Z")

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[Incredible Crisis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incredible_Crisis). It’s the only game I know where you get points for touching a woman in the right places.

“Lower. Ooo. Lower. Yes! Yes!”

Now I’m wanting to get [Nobi Nobi Boy](http://www.gamersyde.com/news_5431_en.html).

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**Author:** ![xnylder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/bbce88/32.png) [@xnylder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xnylder)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-game-youve-ever-played/486089/27 "2009-02-17T20:58:08Z")

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> [@Munch](#):
>
> What was that Gamecube game that screwed with your mind by making you think the console reset, or that things weren’t in your inventory that actually were, and other totally fucked up things?

[Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_darkness)

Hard drive not detected. Your computer will reboot in 3… 2… 1…

Great fun, that game.

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**Author:** ![dotchan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@dotchan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dotchan)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-game-youve-ever-played/486089/28 "2009-02-17T22:06:37Z")

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Weirdest game I ever played: _ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron_ ([ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ToeJam_%26_Earl_in_Panic_on_Funkotron)), with honorable mention going to _Katamari Damacy_ ([Katamari Damacy - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katamari_damacy)).

Weirdest game I ever saw someone else play: _Chu-Lip_ ([Chulip - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chulip)).

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**Author:** ![Tool\_of\_the\_Conspiracy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@Tool\_of\_the\_Conspiracy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tool_of_the_Conspiracy)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-game-youve-ever-played/486089/29 "2009-02-17T22:11:47Z")

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> [@Just\_Some\_Guy](#):
>
> And on weird premises they don’t get any weirder than Devil Bunny Needs a Ham.

This was the first game I thought of when I saw the thread. Many Cheapass Games have weird premises. There’s a sequel called Devil Bunny Hates the Earth, where you’re a taffy-making machine in Devil Bunny’s factory, and the goal is to attract enough squirrels to stop yourself.  
The Cheapass Game we play most is Unexploded Cow. The premise is that you’ve had the brilliant insight that you can simultaneously solve the problems of mad cows in England and unexploded bombs in France, for profit!

In the computer game category, my choice is Smashing Pumpkins into Small Piles of Putrid Debris. (Computer gamers may recognize the abbreviation, spispopd.) It was a top-down shoot-everything game. It seemed to be made largely from inside jokes. When a power-up was activated, it played strange, low-quality voice clips, such as “I’m cool-cat bad!”

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**Author:** ![AllWalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/db5fbb/32.png) [@AllWalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AllWalker)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-game-youve-ever-played/486089/30 "2009-02-18T01:28:36Z")

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> [@xnylder](#):
>
> [Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_darkness)
> 
> Hard drive not detected. Your computer will reboot in 3… 2… 1…
> 
> Great fun, that game.

Hell yeah. That game loses a _lot_ on replay, as you learn what is real and what is not, but I still bust it out every now and then.

Sometimes just to watch the cutscenes.

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**Author:** ![Apocalypso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Apocalypso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apocalypso)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-game-youve-ever-played/486089/31 "2009-02-18T01:34:41Z")

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Old: **Master of the Lamps**. A Commodore 64 game that involved a hookah smoking genie, musical notes that kill you unless you hit the corresponding color gong, and a magic carpet sequence. Yep, they were all on drugs back then.

More recent: **Sanitarium**. PC game (early 2000’s?). Pick up stuff and talk to people to try to unravel the mystery of the levels and advance. I don’t think I finished it, but I still have it, and want to give it another go. I don’t even want to attempt to describe it, so I’ll just say it’s the most wonderfully bizarre game I’ve ever played. IIRC, the bits I played were set in a Sanitarium, a small town, and a strange circus of some sort.

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**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-game-youve-ever-played/486089/32 "2009-02-18T01:37:13Z")

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Mornington Crescent.

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**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-game-youve-ever-played/486089/33 "2009-02-18T01:42:39Z")

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> [@Apocalypso](#):
>
> More recent: **Sanitarium**. PC game (early 2000’s?). Pick up stuff and talk to people to try to unravel the mystery of the levels and advance. I don’t think I finished it, but I still have it, and want to give it another go. I don’t even want to attempt to describe it, so I’ll just say it’s the most wonderfully bizarre game I’ve ever played. IIRC, the bits I played were set in a Sanitarium, a small town, and a strange circus of some sort.

I have that one! I got stopped at fighting the evil crows and scarecrow in the pumpkin patch - could never get past that part. ☹

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![erleichda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4da419/32.png) [@erleichda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erleichda)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-game-youve-ever-played/486089/34 "2009-02-18T06:56:17Z")

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> [@rowrrbazzle](#):
>
> Mindscape (click on “games”) [http://www.mindistortion.tv/](http://www.mindistortion.tv/)
> 
> On the first level you collect candy and try to find the bunny. The following levels get weirder. In most places on all levels the gravity is local, so you can walk up walls and ceilings and so forth. The view rotates as necessary so you always appear upright.
> 
> \*\*A very short but strange game. [The Truth is What you Believe | ORGANIC FLASH](http://www.thetruthiswhatyoubelieve.com/painting/)

\*\*

WTF was that? Was I supposed to do something to something? What do I do with this match?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![erleichda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4da419/32.png) [@erleichda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erleichda)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-game-youve-ever-played/486089/35 "2009-02-18T06:59:06Z")

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Does the creepy music ever stop?

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**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-game-youve-ever-played/486089/36 "2009-02-18T07:03:51Z")

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There’s also the on-line game where you have to cure the stuffed animals of their psychiatric problems - I really love that game. But I forget the name of it right now…

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**Author:** ![Precambrianmollusc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/precambrianmollusc/32/63_2.png) [@Precambrianmollusc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Precambrianmollusc)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-game-youve-ever-played/486089/37 "2009-02-18T07:50:40Z")

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> [@Jack\_Batty](#):
>
> I don’t know if this counts, but some buddies and I used to pull this at parties back in the day. We stole this from _Bang the Drum Slowly_, a movie starring Robert DiNiro as baseball player with a terminal illness … but I digress.
> 
> The name of the game is TEGWAR, which stands for The Exciting Game Without Any Rules. What you do is you get a few people who know about TEGWAR and you sit down at the table and just start making shit up.
> 
> “Three cards for you, one for me, and ooops, that’s a four of spades, that’s a bauer. That means you have to be the left Queen-Guard for two rounds, unless of course you’d prefer to sacrifice a pawn card … then you’ll just have to deal with the fact that your all your kings will only be worth 32 points on even rounds. Your turn to draw two, provided you’ve discarded at least one of your fitzbinders already.”
> 
> You ask people to sit in and play, but you aren’t allowed to tell them how to play … only that one has to learn as one goes. The beauty of it is twofold … one, obviously, the people who try to make sense of the rules will be eternally baffled until … two, they get it and become “in on it” at which point it’s time to rope in another of the uninitiated.
> 
> It can be really fun.

Sounds remarkably similar to Mornington Crescent, which is a fairly odd game in itself.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-game-youve-ever-played/486089/38 "2009-02-18T11:34:31Z")

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> [@Isamu](#):
>
> There’s also the on-line game where you have to cure the stuffed animals of their psychiatric problems - I really love that game. But I forget the name of it right now…

[Paraplüsch](http://www.parapluesch.de/)!

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-game-youve-ever-played/486089/39 "2009-02-18T11:59:42Z")

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> [@Jack\_Batty](#):
>
> The name of the game is TEGWAR, which stands for The Exciting Game Without Any Rules. What you do is you get a few people who know about TEGWAR and you sit down at the table and just start making shit up.
> 
> “Three cards for you, one for me, and ooops, that’s a four of spades, that’s a bauer. That means you have to be the left Queen-Guard for two rounds, unless of course you’d prefer to sacrifice a pawn card … then you’ll just have to deal with the fact that your all your kings will only be worth 32 points on even rounds. Your turn to draw two, provided you’ve discarded at least one of your fitzbinders already.”
> 
> You ask people to sit in and play, but you aren’t allowed to tell them how to play … only that one has to learn as one goes. The beauty of it is twofold … one, obviously, the people who try to make sense of the rules will be eternally baffled until … two, they get it and become “in on it” at which point it’s time to rope in another of the uninitiated.
> 
> It can be really fun.

It also sounds suspiciously similar to

> [@Mangetout](#):
>
> Mornington Crescent.

😉

Incidentally, **Mangetout** , the International Morning Crescent Society’s latest edition of _Commentaries_ is due out shortly… I’m reliably informed it contains an account of the highlights of the sensational 1928 Pan-Colonial Invitational Match at Dar-Es-Salaam, which should be of great interest to all of the Mornington Crescent students and historians on the boards 😃

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Dinaroozie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Dinaroozie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinaroozie)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-game-youve-ever-played/486089/40 "2009-02-18T12:20:43Z")

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[Frog Hunt](http://www.freelunchdesign.com/games.php?id=11), an experimental game with the apparent goal of examining the often-unspoken laws of fair game design by removing them and seeing what happens. Not exactly the most playable game out there, but… interesting, in a way.

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