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Ask HN: Non-violent video games with great stories?

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Re: Ask HN: Non-violent video games with great stories?

#341

Post by cblum »

NikolaNovak wrote: post #153

Single player games fun to play around tv / switch controls : Firewatch - about 6 to 10 hours narrative walking exploring adventure with beautiful scenery. Teens and up probably. Outer wilds : astonishing space exploration game. So many mysteries and puzzles and wonders and connections to be made. Cannot recommend highly enough. Tale of two brothers. There's sadness in this game but handled very well. If you're ready…

Overcooked 2 has been a huge relationship builder for my wife and me.

If you put your heart in it, you learn to communicate effectively under pressure (especially when trying to conquer those 4th stars), tolerate/move-on from each other's mistakes, and control your temper around each other.

We've been recommending the game to every couple we know.

Re: Ask HN: Non-violent video games with great stories?

#343

Post by onlyrealcuzzo »

dagmx wrote: post #185

Flower and Journey by thatgamecompany are short but masterclasses in telling story. Limbo and Inside might also fit your definition. They're dark but non violent. Sackboy, Tearaway and Little big planet do have you defeat some baddies but they're also avoidable for the most part.

+1 for INSIDE - super dark, but extremely creative.

Re: Ask HN: Non-violent video games with great stories?

#344

Post by onlyrealcuzzo »

gordon_freeman wrote: post #55

A few years ago I played 'Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons' [0] and it was a great experience. The game design centers around pretty good storytelling and with a single player you co-op two brothers. [0] https://store.steampowered.com/app/225080/Brothers__A_Tale_o...

I thought the game was designed for two people to share a single controller??

Re: Ask HN: Non-violent video games with great stories?

#346

Post by loevborg »

uejfiweun wrote: post #337
mattbaker wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I loved it too. I actually don’t agree there’s a lack of story, but it’s certainly subtle. More “poem” than “novel” in a way.

I loved the Witness, but the story seemed straight up pretentious. I just stopped listening to the audio logs after a while because they were just too long and the VAs went too hard, it was distracting and had 0 to do with the gameplay.

The cassette tapes and clips in the movie theater were my favorite part of the game (still haven't unlocked them all)

Re: Ask HN: Non-violent video games with great stories?

#347

Post by bullen »

I helped make Meadow, a non toxic MMO where you basically run around as different animals.

It has maybe around 10 players during the evening in Europe now so it pretty empty (designed for worlds of 50 players max) but it's very calm and wholesome.

You only communicate with emoticons and the story is none unless you count role playing as story.

Re: Ask HN: Non-violent video games with great stories?

#348

Post by awildfivreld »

barrysteve wrote: post #11

To the moon Psychonauts Full throttle (gritty tone, one scene of bike fighting) Point n click adventures e.g. Monkey island and Indiana jones series There's a lot of nonviolent puzzle games. Like portal, superliminal, antichamber, stanley parable, ect.

To the moon is one of the two games where I legit shed some tears at the end. That game (and its sequel, Finding paradise) are hands down the best story games I have ever played.

Re: Ask HN: Non-violent video games with great stories?

#349

Post by uejfiweun »

loevborg wrote: post #346
uejfiweun wrote: post #337

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I loved the Witness, but the story seemed straight up pretentious. I just stopped listening to the audio logs after a while because they were just too long and the VAs went too hard, it was distracting and had 0 to do with the gameplay.

The cassette tapes and clips in the movie theater were my favorite part of the game (still haven't unlocked them all)

That's fair - to each their own. For me personally my favorite thing was finding those lines of "tutorial puzzles" that teach you how certain rules work, and suddenly realizing how other puzzles could be solved - I got goosebumps from that a lot of times. One thing can be said for certain, it's a great game - unfortunately not the best replay value though IMO, because you tend not to forget the puzzle rules once you figure them out (similar to Outer Wilds in this aspect).
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