Video games are meant to be entertaining and challenging, and that describes pretty much every game ever made. They’re fun things to do that you don’t often have to think too much about, but that’s not true of every game. With morality choices that lean heavily towards cruelty and dialogue options that push for unusual decisions, some games are downright mentally challenging affairs. Then there are the games that set out to mess with a player’s head, and these are the absolutely ingenious ones. They take something entertaining and trick a player in interesting ways, not to be cruel, but to demonstrate how brilliant they are.
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1) Metal Gear Solid (1998)
Metal Gear Solid is renowned for being one of the greatest games ever made. It received universal acclaim from critics and players, and is often cited for its exceptional stealth mechanics, cutscenes, and action-packed story. It also includes an interesting moment where the player is confronted by something unusual. When Psycho Mantis appears, the boss does something strange — he reads your memory card. If you enjoy playing a particular game, he’s going to mention it, which is trippy, to say the least, as it takes the player’s mind out of the game until they plug their controller into the player 2 slot. This turns him back into a normal boss instead of a supernatural stalker who knows the ins and outs of your video game library.
2) Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem (2002)
The survival horror genre loves messing with players’ heads, and in Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem, it does so in unusual ways. The game employs innovative mechanics to frustrate the player, leading them to think there’s something wrong with their television. It will randomly drop the volume on your TV, and it won’t let you save for no discernible reason. These are called “Sanity Effects,” a feature Nintendo patented. They arise in the second chapter and initially appear in-game. These change as time passes, breaking the fourth wall by simulating GameCube system errors and other unusual occurrences, which a player can mistake for a glitch or malfunction of their TV or console.
3) Batman: Arkham Asylum (2009)
For the most part, Batman: Arkham Asylum is a brilliant Batman game with all kinds of stealth and action-adventure mechanics. For most players, it’s one of the greatest games ever made — certainly one of the best games based on DC Comics. While the majority of Batman: Arkham Asylum is typical of the genre, it changes when you run into Scarecrow. He completely upends the narrative, resetting the game to the beginning, where Bats is imprisoned by Joker, who runs the asylum. The game doesn’t explain what’s happening, making the player unsure of what’s going on until the Scarecrow’s plot unfolds.
4) The Stanley Parable (2013)
There’s messing with a player’s head to screw with them, and then there’s The Stanley Parable, which does it because it’s fun. The narrative tale follows its titular silent protagonist, who takes various paths while a narrator details the game’s events. The player can take any path they want, and the game compensates by advancing the story. The Stanley Parable is essentially a game about playing games, and it’s executed brilliantly. It’s most entertaining when you don’t follow the narrator’s advice, and doing so elicits some interesting and often humorous responses. Still, no matter what you do, the game has a valid reaction for it, which almost makes it feel like you’re playing against a sentient AI.
5) There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension (2020)
There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension is a point-and-click puzzle game, but the moment you load it, it tries to keep you from playing. This is where it truly messes with your head because the game goes out of its way to make it difficult to begin. It explains that it’s unfinished and doesn’t “want” to be played. If you press a red “Play” button, you are transported to a fake Flying Squirrel OS, where you’re told not to do various things. It’s as genius as it is nonsensical, and figuring out how to play the game in the first place is part of playing the game, so there are layers upon layers in There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension, making it incredibly fun while it screws with your brain; that’s not a bug, it’s a feature.
Which game messed with your head the most? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
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