Knowledge Based Rules

Actively trying to lobotomize myself so I can play Obra Dinn for the first time again

Tunic mentioned

Outer wilds is soooo good, so thank you for reminding me that tunic exists, I'll get that one now.

Disco Elysium!

This is like the 3rd time I've seen somebody bring up Outer Wilds today, and I still haven't played it. It looks like that might be next on my list.

Noita, but you just suffer along instead of growing

You fool

Tunic was incredible, what they did with the manual was just, great.

noita

I tend to not get into these types of games because the progression is often a time-limited loop, and a lot of the time you have to go to the same place or do the same thing multiple times before you can finish it because those are places or actions that don't persist through a loop.

Similarly, games setup like Mario 64 where every level is intended to be played 5 or 6 times to get all the stars instead of just having it designed in a way that you can get everything in one go if you're good enough.

I call these puzzle box games because that's what they remind me of and nobody else has a name for them yet. There's one called Void Stranger that nobody ever talks about. Baba Is You is popular but nobody has mentioned it here yet. I think it's sad as hell that people let their dislike of Phil Fish ruin Fez for them. That's a really good game.

"The Long Dark". Knowing the maps by heart and being able to navigate by landmarks is key to survival.

I'll mention Fez since I think people forgot about it in the wake of all the Phil Phish drama.

Excellent game that I think fits this bill.

For those looking for more. Fez is a delight and a classic in the genre. The very last puzzle is more interesting from a community lore standpoint than actually being a decent puzzle, though. So be kind to yourself on that one.

Curiously Deep Rock Galactic is about practical knowhow. At least that differentiates greenbeards from greybeards.

• The oppressor is nearly immune to bullets but melee attacks are super effective
• The Driller will overheat digging about 12 meters (depending on the upgrades used) Digging ten clicks then pausing to cool will prevent overheat
• Cave leeches make a distinct yummy noise before attacking. You can escape by seeking cover again. Cave leech attacks are often facilitated by a distraction such as minerals or glyphid ambushes
• The Scout's grappling hook does not account for safe perch or landing. Scouting to a sheer cliff is a good way to just get hurt. Mind where you're going to land.
• On the other hand minerals embedded in a cliff face often protrude enough to get purchase. This can be facilitated with a flying pickax attack. Practice, practice!
• Likewise, dwarves can scamper up steep slopes like mountain goats with forward movement and spamming jump.
• Then again, gravity is the number one killer of dwarves, seconded by common Glyphid Grunts. Don't underestimate them.
• The Driller's Collette Wave Cooker can defuse unfuzed Exploders when it deals the killing damage (defuse = doesn't explode). The Driller's Cryo Cannon can defuse fuzing Exploders...sometimes.
• Overhanging cliff-sides are the nemesis to the Engineer's platforms. If you dont want to carve out headroom, extend them out a layer or two.
• The Engineer / Scout team (platforms and grappling hooks) can quickly exploit the high-positioned minerals in a cave.
• That said, platforms can make for great bridges. Do so at whimsy for starters and learn where it's useful.
• And yet, the engineer has the most trouble traversing sheer incline, especially in tight quarters. Make sure your Engie can get to the drop-pod safely.
• Speaking of extraction, Simple Mining missions are the most linear and require the most attention regarding preparing traversal back to the droppod. Escort is also linear but naturally comes with a big tunnel which makes it easy (when Dotty doesn't carve a vertical drop). Other missions feature a rounder, unlinear complex and a shorter exfiltration. Sometimes the pod will drop onto a crap place, with the ramp in mid air, or embedded in hard rock.
• Drillers should watch for adjacent chambers to connect by tunnel. Engineers should bridge chasms and seal holes. Engies can also create safe steps to traverse hot slag and slime. Both can level out arenas where fights are expected (say when prepping for a dreadnought or powering up a salvaged drop-pod)
• In escort the Engineer's grenades make short work of rocks and beamers. (The latter needs something that chips into rock, even a scout with a pickaxe power attack). The Gunner's hurricane rocket launcher manages both nicely.
• Dotty, Hack-C, Steeve, lootbugs, Hexawings, Breathers, Cave Vines can all be petted and should be. Bosco can be saluted. Using the laser pointer, other Dwarves can be talked to.

These are all off the top of my head. There are dozens of others one learns on the path to Greybeard enlightenment. Rock and Stone.

What's so good a out outer wilds? What's so appealing?

I’m interested in these types of games but fear that as I don’t have a a lot of time to play and don’t have regular times to play, I’d get half way through and just forget what’s going on.

I hear you’re taking reccos. May I suggest The Forgotten City? It’s not quite the same, but has a very similar “learn wtf is happening* as you go” mechanic. Also it’s one of my favorites.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance fits this bill, I think. I haven't played any of the games listed yet, so I can't compare.

Check out chants of senaar

YYEEAAAAAAHHHH outer wilds!!! FUCK that game just absolutely slaps, top tier experience.

Probably not for everyone here but 'I was a Teenage Exocolonist' is one of the best games in that category I ever played. You feel the developer's love in every character and storyline and being able to have so many different outcomes really made it feel special.

There's an interesting game that's kinda similar called minit or something 60 second* time limit to play a zelda game but you keep some progress iirc.

It's an itch thing.

That skyrim mod turned game umm forgotten city? might also count. Good shit.

Try Deathloop. It's actually a lot of fun once you get into it. Though the game will outright TELL you progression information every so often which can be annoying.

The Forgotten City is good

I love Celeste for this exact reason!

The Witness also falls into this category I think. I love these games as well

Lingo too! Gosh I wish I could forget Lingo and play through it again.

knowledge based? I don't quite understand, how does it work?

OP's image is pretty good but some recommendations posted are really stretching it specially the RPGs.

Noita and Who's Lila? 🙏

I almost feel like you're describing a job.

I'm always having to learn new practical skills for work, and getting into things I know nothing about and having to learn them to be successful.

The difference is that the skills you learn from playing games usually are not transferable to the rest of your life. There's some exceptions to this but most of the stuff you learn from complex games are completely fabricated for the game and have very little bearing on real life.... Though, am argument can be made in many cases, such as kerbal. I haven't played kerbal, but I understand there's some reasonably accurate orbital mechanics and rocket science involved. This is just one fairly obvious example that I know of. Not to be confused with a comprehensive list of games with practical educational value.

For me though, I usually don't want to learn anything useful while playing a game, since that's basically what I do for work. So any game, like our example of kerbal will, in all likelihood, feel like more work to me, which is decidedly not the objective I'm going for by playing a game.

I dunno. Different games for different folks or whatever.

Thanks for recommendations! Outer Wilds is phenomenal, and Obra Dinn was so-o satisfactory to complete.

Trying frantically to remember some recs too but nothing that fits exactly comes to mind except those already mentioned. Probably Cultist Simulator? Though it has frustrating moments where you seem to exhaust all available options and hit the wall without noticing some seemingly random option you have to try. Maybe also Sorcery! series — the more branches you try, the more complete picture of the world you get.

Chants of Senaar mentioned!!!

holy shit wawa

I have some suggestions that fit this category with varying degrees so I will include some justifications so you can decide if you want to include them in your own playlists

• Her story/the stanley parable :: fit the category perfectly
• subnautica :: Survival game with heavy exploration. Unusually for this genre it has a story which you can only progress by finding some clues and piecing them together
• the witness :: This one has been mentioned already but I just wanted to reiterate that although it may seem like a simple puzzle game it's a good fit for this category. Here's an excellent analysis of it that you can watch after playing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZokQov_aH0
• The talos principle :: the main part of this game is just a puzzle game so it seemingly doesn't fit very well. However, along with those there are some characters which ask you some philosophical questions which you unintentionally end up mulling over while solving the puzzles. By the end of the game you have understood some things that can make the ending very meaningful and emotional.
• antichamber/gorogoa/superliminal/baba is you :: Simple puzzle games but they are solved by lateral thinking where you're constantly pushing the boundaries and rules of the puzzle itself
• into the breach :: rougelike tactics game. Someone else mentioned how roguelikes in general fit this category and this is my honorable mention
• hacknet :: You are given some tools that can open some doors but you have to learn how to exploit those doors to open the remaining ones

The whole soulsborne series

Didn't think while reading and got 'I want to fuck(ing) fellas' and I concur

Toki tori