Are there any games out there?

[METALMAN]

In the last two years, I can only think of two games that I've bought that I've thoroughly enjoyed. But they were both great. One is Papers Please and the other is 80 Days. I like them because of the atmosphere, the characters and the story.

Are there any other games like this you could recommend for me? I don't really know where to begin to look - or what I'm even looking for. As you can probably tell from this very jumbled post.

I also like derivative open world games like LA Noire and GTA and Assassins Creed but I haven't really seen any of them for a while either. 

[Bobfoc]

You haven't seen an Assassin's Creed for a while? They release at least one every year.

Anyway, Her Story is a very interesting "game" that requires you to piece together evidence from a series of fictional live-action police interviews using a mid-90s computer database. Like Papers, Please, it sounds incredibly dull in theory, but it's actually quite engaging in practice.

I would also highly recommend Life Is Strange, an episodic, story-driven game in which key decisions are central to the plot. I've only just finished the fourth of five episodes, but I've found the storyline, and especially the characters, to be captivating in a way that few other games can pull off. It's based around the concept of time manipulation, though, and that might put you off if sci-fi elements aren't your thing.

There's also Undertale, a game I haven't personally played, but which is getting rave reviews, both from critics and people on here. It's an RPG with an art style reminiscent of the 16-bit era, but its main selling point is its subversion of the tropes commonly associated with the genre.

That should be some food for thought, or perhaps scorn, but I'm sure some other people can add a few gems to the list.

[LittleDaniel]

Thomas Was Alone is my favorite game to come out in the past few years.  Super fun platforming, but what really drives the game is the characters.  It's impressive, seeing as the characters are only different shapes, but the storytelling was so well done that I definitely shed a few tears.

[JasonM]

If atmosphere is something you're after, 'This War of Mine' might be a good bet for a playthrough. It's a survival game, based in part on the siege of Sarajevo in the Bosnian war. You need to manage food and supplies, and most importantly keep your characters living both mentally and physically.

It's not the hardest game ever, nor is it the longest game. But it's made extremely well, and it's very very harrowing.

[BuddyAwesome]

If you like the Assassin's Creed games, Syndicate is absolutely fantastic. 

[The Lusophone]

5 hours ago, BuddyAwesome said:

If you like the Assassin's Creed games, Syndicate is absolutely fantastic. 

If you like 30gb patches, Syndicate is where its at.

[METALMAN]

18 hours ago, Bobfoc said:

You haven't seen an Assassin's Creed for a while? They release at least one every year.

Sorry, I meant that I hadn't played one for a while.

And these all look very interesting, I'll try and have a shot at each of them. Thanks everyone.

[MDK]

Tetris is pretty good, you might like that

[Gazz]

Democracy 3.

You get to play as the government and enact policy that pisses off hippies.

[The Lusophone]

And it gets boring in the first 15 minutes.

[KevinStorm]

3 hours ago, Gazz said:

Democracy 3.

You get to play as a spreadsheet.

FTFY.

[METALMAN]

Yeah, I played that one. It reminded me of one of the games you'd get to play at school if you finished your work early.

But it's a nice idea. I do find it a bit weird how all the causal relationships in it are just taken for granted and will always have the desired effect no matter what. I mean, increasing science funding (for instance) isn't always going to improve GDP, but in Democracy 3 land it does. Decent little black box simulator though.

[KevinStorm]

The Banner Saga was a pretty cool little indie game.

[Skummy]

Octodad.