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@Yoda
Was it you that shared a game a year or so back that was a puzzle type, minimal graphics, washed out colors and artsy. It looks like you unlock elevators to reach new platforms to create structural patterns or something. I can't remember the name. Maybe something ...melody?
Well, there's one where you guide a stick man across street signs and stuff like that, called The Pedestrian.

Also could've been Gorogoa, which is very painterly. No elevators but there's movement and tiles and stuff so that might be what you're thinking of. Or Creaks. Very hand-drawn look there, too, and it does have the occasional low-tech elevator.

I would 100% recommend Gorogoa and Creaks.



A system of cells interlinked
I still recall my first playthrough on Journey, and how I met up with another player towards the end of the game. The the allegory of the game sort of reaches a peak at that point, and to be sharing the struggle with another person was memorable, hitting me right in the feels.

Agree on this game being a go-to in the whole "games can be art" argument...
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“It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance.” ― Thomas Sowell



(or anything by amanita design, actually)
Pretty much, yeah. Machinarium remains one of my all-time favorite gaming experiences, though half of that had to do with the circumstances in which it was played.

I will say that they have a clear split in their games between the genuine puzzlers and the ones that are quite easy and more just pleasantly amusing to click through. I play them all because I enjoy their work and want to support it, but the genuine puzzlers are their best efforts, and it's quite plausible someone might enjoy one half of their catalog and not the other.



Yeah, if you search "Manifold" in this thread you'll find me going into more detail, but short version: very pretty, good puzzler, not Witness level but requires genuine thinking, fun/cool mechanics. Does not overstay its welcome. Strong recommend.



"How tall is King Kong ?"
but the genuine puzzlers are their best efforts, and it's quite plausible someone might enjoy one half of their catalog and not the other.
Maybe. I don't know. For me, they're more of a mental place. I enjoy their artistic style, be it puzzling puzzles or contemplative click-a-thon. I've played their Osada "game" (or interactive thingy) so many times. It's more about the journey than the challenge.

Unrelatedly, because you people were praising Gorogoa, I just wanted to mention Framed. More basic, but also a beautiful little 'meta' play on image framing, in its own way.

And I'm waiting for the next discount on Superliminal, which 'meta' play on 3D vision also seems amusing.



Maybe. I don't know. For me, they're more of a mental place. I enjoy their artistic style, be it puzzling puzzles or contemplative click-a-thon. I've played their Osada "game" (or interactive thingy) so many times. It's more about the journey than the challenge.
Right, that's basically the mindset in question: if that's how you approach their games (or games in general), then they're all great. If you're a puzzle fiend, then it might be annoying and confusing to go through their games and find maybe half of them scratch that itch and the other half doesn't even really try to. Chuchel, in particular, I recall as not being challenging at all, even less so than the Samorost games, which are pretty easy but occasionally do require you to stop and think a bit.

One thing that makes them all enjoyable for me (even as someone who at least prefers the more puzzle-centric ones) is their tremendous use of music. It's always lovely, and the way you end up "creating" a song bit by bit in most of their games at some point is always a delight.

And I'm waiting for the next discount on Superliminal, which 'meta' play on 3D vision also seems amusing.
It is, really good game. The mechanic is brilliant and used to great effect, and it's the first game I can think of that sort of aped the humor style of Portal without feeling too derivative of it. There've been many tone imitators of those games and this is the only one I felt was worthwhile in its own right, taking inspiration from it but making its own thing.

It's genuinely funny, and it's another example of the "doesn't overstay its welcome" thing I mentioned earlier.



That elusive hide-and-seek cow is at it again
Yeah, if you search "Manifold" in this thread you'll find me going into more detail, but short version: very pretty, good puzzler, not Witness level but requires genuine thinking, fun/cool mechanics. Does not overstay its welcome. Strong recommend.
ok good. so I didn't just imagine it. I thought SOMEONE had posted that clip, but couldn't remember the title or the poster who might have. I thought it might have been you, but wasn't confident. I'll search the older post tonight. I may also order it later. cool.
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"How tall is King Kong ?"
The mechanic is brilliant and used to great effect, and it's the first game I can think of that sort of aped the humor style of Portal without feeling too derivative of it. There've been many tone imitators of those games and this is the only one I felt was worthwhile in its own right, taking inspiration from it but making its own thing.
Yeah, I had first instantly dismissed it on these grounds, based on the screenshots, then I accidentally saw a few seconds of gameplay and revised my judgement.

Till then, the only Portal rip-off I enjoyed was Magrunner (despite its weird, counter-intuitive choice of making same charges attract and opposite charges repel each other). I think I liked it because it went the opposite route than Portal. All dark and lovecraftian instead of humorous and whimsical. So it didn't entirely feel like "hey look I can do portal too".

That being said, videogame rip-offs are often the emergence of a genre. We wouldn't have half of today's games if "doom-likes" had been dismissed as such. But I still have that reflex. Many current games I won't play just because I'm uneasy with how blatantly "inspired" by FTL they seem. But in a way I'm wrong. FTL has a great gameplay, and it should flourish in other games.



The Adventure Starts Here!
Yeah, I had first instantly dismissed it on these grounds, based on the screenshots, then I accidentally saw a few seconds of gameplay and revised my judgement.

Till then, the only Portal rip-off I enjoyed was Magrunner (despite its weird, counter-intuitive choice of making same charges attract and opposite charges repel each other). I think I liked it because it went the opposite route than Portal. All dark and lovecraftian instead of humorous and whimsical. So it didn't entirely feel like "hey look I can do portal too".

That being said, videogame rip-offs are often the emergence of a genre. We wouldn't have half of today's games if "doom-likes" had been dismissed as such. But I still have that reflex. Many current games I won't play just because I'm uneasy with how blatantly "inspired" by FTL they seem. But in a way I'm wrong. FTL has a great gameplay, and it should flourish in other games.
And if adventure and puzzle games hadn't ripped of the Myst universe, I'd have stopped playing computer games twenty years ago.



That elusive hide-and-seek cow is at it again
Huh... I was totally wrong! I had another player in my level last night!!! It was so adorable lol. I love that we have no avatars, no user names, and no way to communicate except for that audio/light blip thingy. We spent a few minutes following his/her lead to float up to a higher platform that appears as though we were not designed to reach, each blinking our blinky thing to recharge the other's float scarf thingy. it was so PEACEFUL!!! Eventually I abandoned the player though. They were adamant that they could reach it. I, instead, found another icon and increased my scarf length and moved on deeper into that level. Eventually, the other player caught up and we finished the stage together. It was surreal.

I recorded another video of that but haven't uploaded yet. It's all pretty clumsy stuff really, but the game is so fluid it still looks and feels great. Maybe this evening....



That elusive hide-and-seek cow is at it again
Reading this stuff, I need to do another quick run through Journey!

I'm really glad you posted the original reference. I may have never looked again.



A system of cells interlinked
I'm really glad you posted the original reference. I may have never looked again.
I find it really relaxing to play. Glad you are enjoying it!



The Adventure Starts Here!
(sigh) Meanwhile, over here... the person who never plays FPS games, and who typically would be first in line for a game like this, still doesn't seem to "get" it. Played some more last night (another 19 minutes, for a total of 35 so far), had a scarf with three lengths to it, but still can't figure out whether to right-click or left-click the mouse to do anything. Both seem to shoot me up into the air. And one of them undoes the lights on the scarf so I have to go back and re-light the scarf. I had some sort of out-of-body experience with lots of light in some temple-looking thing, sat through some sort of 2D board representing... what? where I've just been and what I've just done? I dunno.

Somehow it just feels so... random and pointless. Meh. I can't even guess what I'm doing wrong that's keeping me from having some sort of connection with this game. Time to go back to the Darkside Detective.



I'd have to watch to see, but I promise it's simple.

Experiment a bit, I suppose. Click and hold to glide, stuff like that.

The "what do I do?" thing should be answered by the environment. You look around, and in the distance you see a peak, with light on it.