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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?

#441

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…

It takes two is an amazing game. Even for non gamers.

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

#442

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Agree, the game is like a meditation on the nature of learning and perception. These realizations ("Is that just a tree or ...?") also gave me goosebumps.

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

#443

Earlier quoted context omitted.

By "the use of violence", do you mean violence directed at the player, or violence perpetrated by the player?

Asgore destroys your Mercy button.

Ah, thanks, I had forgotten about that.

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

#444

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have not played Disco yet, but have been tempted. Thanks for the comparison to The City & The City, easily one of my favorite books and such a mind bend. If you’ve not watched Counterpart with J.K. Simons is very similar in feel, to me at least. Shame it was never finished.

I'll take a look at Counterpart! I heard the TV adaptation of The City & The City was pretty boring. I'm reading The City and The City now and there are moments and plot lines where it feels like DE is the game adaptation of the book.

I saw that the adaptation existed but immediately thought, there’s no way they could get it “right”

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

#445
post #28

My favorites from the past decade: Soma, a science fiction horror game around the idea of transplanted consciousness. It's a common sci-fi theme but Soma handles it much better than most and adds a very interesting setting. What Remains of Edith Finch, not scary, it's a "walking sim" that explores a family's surreal curse over generations. It's actually really touching. Disco Elysium, a detective RPG in an interestin…

Like the other comment said, these are not exactly kid-friendly games. But! You just listed 2 of my all time favorite, and the other one is on top of my to-play list. Please list more games!

Most recently I loved Norco, a sci-fi "alternate present" adventure game set in a petroleum refining town outside of New Orleans, where you return home to investigate what your mother was researching before she died.

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

#446
post #445

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Like the other comment said, these are not exactly kid-friendly games. But! You just listed 2 of my all time favorite, and the other one is on top of my to-play list. Please list more games!

Most recently I loved Norco, a sci-fi "alternate present" adventure game set in a petroleum refining town outside of New Orleans, where you return home to investigate what your mother was researching before she died.

Looks nice, gonna try it out!

I recently finished The Age of Decadence, which is a turn based story-heavy RPG. This game is what actually got me into Disco Elysium.

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

#447

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Riven is another brilliant game that shares the structure of using information about the world as both the purpose and the means to exploration. Outer Wilds excels with creative planets full of adventure, while Riven is a slow paced affair that is impressively dedicated to creating an intricate world wordlessly. Without written aids ala the logs in Outer Wilds, gleaning insights from disparate information in Riven of…

Riven is an absolute masterpiece in visual storytelling. I remember playing it when it came out and just being blown away by it.

I still listen to the soundtrack on repeat when I'm doing work that requires intense concentration, like coding.

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

#450

My daughter (6 years) really likes My Brother Rabbit. It's a point and click adventure with no violence and a decent story.

One of my all-time favorites also :). Technically a hidden object puzzle game not a point and click adventure. While not for most young children I remembered Rakuen by Laura Shigihara. There is some volence in the stories (not on camera IIRC) and death is a theme.

https://www.polygon.com/2017/5/12/15632474/rakuen-review

https://www.humblebundle.com/store/rakuen

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