5 weird games that will make you wonder…”what were they thinking?”

There are some really, really weird games out there.

Sometimes they are so weird that we have to take a step back and wonder what on earth the developers were thinking when they came up with the concept for the game.

These 5 games are prime examples of this kind of strangeness:

Composition 83

This short, 5-10 minute game by nuprahtor places you in a seemingly apocalyptic world. Little explanation is given as to why certain things are the way they are throughout the game, but the slow movement, gray landscape and frozen humans, as well as the sound make for a particularly unnerving experience. The end is rather abrupt and, ultimately it left me rather disturbed, if not full of questions.

Why has the world gone into such a state of decay? Why are these humans trapped reliving their final moments again and again? Why are the controls so difficult to use? What kind of person would be able to dream up such a warped, horrifying world?  I do not think I am going to get any answers to these questions, however.

Goat Simulator

One would not think that a goat simulator would be fun at all, and that being a goat would be a dull existence. This is not so in Goat Simulator. The game is open world and there really is no plotline, but the things you can do to occupy your time range from sacrificing humans to become a demonic goat to using a jetpack and trashing peoples’ stuff. Coffee Stain Studios, the developers of this game, also left in a number of hilarious glitches that make the game unrealistic but highly amusing to watch.

The likelihood that a game simulating the life of a goat would be so funny for little spurts of play is what makes this weird…that, and the goat’s long, sticky tongue. What goat do you know can attach itself to a hanglider by its tongue and get flung about by the movement, or drag humans to their untimely demise with it?  Not many, I’m sure.

Hatoful Boyfriend

Hatoful Boyfriend is a dating sim developed by Mediatonic and Hato Moa, and published by Devolver Digital…but not a typical dating sim. All the characters in the game (except for you) are birds…intelligent birds that have grown in size. You are the only human (female) going to the St. PigeoNation’s Academy for birds. And things just get stranger from there. It becomes clear that there are not too many humans around, and if there are, politically inclined birds are debating what exactly to do with you. And apparently birds are completely capable of wielding guns and cleavers.

The sheer weirdness of birds with human intelligence that you can (and, to progress, must) become romantically involved with is hard to describe. Though the game’s individual stories range from creepy to adorable, it is really hard to shake the fact that you are dating birds. The stories from each playthrough (if you pursue a different bird) weave together into one narrative, though, a narrative that makes the game even more curious and at least somewhat worthwhile. Just be careful. You could end up as a preserved head in a jar.

I Am Bread

Developed by Bossa Studios (the studio that made Surgeon Simulator), you are put in the role of a piece of bread that wants to become toast. The controls are difficult but that is a purposeful design choice and part of being a piece of bread. You navigate the house you are in, trying to get to the nearby toaster by flopping, and climbing away from hazards that might make you less edible.

You occupy the house of an older man who steadily becomes more aware that there is a sentient piece of bread wrecking his home in its quest for toasted perfection. He attempts to tell the therapists who are treating him about this, but they believe he has gone senile and is imagining things.

In the end it is pretty funny to be a piece of bread that, despite having a mind of its own, only desires to be toast. Why toast? Admittedly, if the bread desired to be anything more the game would probably be far stranger than it already is. The concept certainly makes me question if there are sentient socks in my house…seeing as they are always going missing.

Octodad

Octodad has a pretty weird concept, but the hilarity that ensues just trying to control the character you play pretty much overwhelms that. This game was developed by a group of students at DePaul University, that are now known as Young Horses.

You are an octopus posing as the father and loving husband to a human family. Obviously the humans finding out that you are an octopus would be a terrible, terrible thing, so much of the game is dedicated to diminishing the suspicions of your wife and taking care of your children. However, you are also trying to avoid a Japanese chef who is just about the only one who saw through your clever disguise and desires to expose your secret and turn you into sushi.

In some ways, the game evokes thoughts of spies and undercover agents. Though, we have no idea why the octopus is posing as a human father. Octopi are pretty clever. I hope they are not planning on being our new evil overlords.

Just because the game is weird does not mean it is not worth playing, however.

Often the strangest games are the most thought provoking...or at least the most amusing. The concept for a game may seem odd, but try not to let that keep you from trying different games. Sometimes weirdness is a good thing.

What is the weirdest game you have ever played? Feel free to let us know!