Surrealism and Stream of Consciousness: Top 3 Strange Games

Often when we say “the weirdest games ever,” we unknowingly substitute concepts. There are silly games like Goat Simulator, there are absurd games like Seaman, where we care for a fish with the face of a bald man, and so on. But today we’re going to talk about the really weird, surreal games. They look more like paintings by Salvador Dali, René Magritte, Joan Miró, and Paul Delvaux, and they will be enjoyed by the most sophisticated 22 Bet app visitors. We don’t always understand what the creator wanted to convey, but they look appealing. These games can be frightening in their psychedelics, but that doesn’t negate the fact that they are part of the world of games.

Weird Dreams

Many famous artists have been inspired by their dreams. We still don’t fully understand their nature and purpose. Some perceive them as secret desires, some as absurdity, and some people see them as nightmares that torment them every night and make them wake up in a cold sweat. This is what a faraway flight of fancy called Weird Dreams is all about.

This game was released in 1989 for DOS, Amiga, Atari ST, and Commodore 64. It was accompanied by a short story written by journalist Rupert Goodwins. The novel acts as a prequel to the events of the game. The story is about a poor fool in love, Steve. He has feelings for his co-worker Emily. Emily, however, is a girl with a twist. Inside her dwells a fallen demon, Zelloripus, who has been banished to Earth by other demonic beings. This companion gets very bored and wants access to Steve’s consciousness, which constantly looms in plain sight.

Emily suggests that the poor guy take three pills with her that will supposedly help him open his mind and relax. After taking them, Zelloripus gains access to Steve’s mind and begins to send him nightmares that cause him to go a little crazy. Steve is diagnosed with a mental disorder and agrees to undergo brain surgery to cure himself. During it, Steve finds himself in the worst dream he’s ever had. This is where we start to play.

Weird Dreams is insane on all fronts. We need to pass five levels, applying the strangest logic, which is even hard to call logic. So, on the first level we get in the car with cotton candy from which we need to get out, then we cheat at the fair giant bee, we get into the desert, where the fish are swimming in the sky. For example, Steve is attacked by an unknown creature, to fight him, you have to jump, grab a fish from the sky and fight it.

Hylics 

This is a game with a simple plot and a crazy concept and execution. The story tells us about the most ordinary guy Wayne with a crescent-shaped head. One day he realizes that he must overthrow a tyrant nicknamed the Moon King. We don’t know why he deserves to be destroyed, and we never do. The world of Hylics looks psychedelic, like it’s sick with something. Bizarre shapes, different soft structures, inhabitants whose heads are twisted, flattened, or simply have no definite parameters. This world lives by its own rules, which do not obey the laws of logic and physics. The author of the game made the entire environment out of plasticine, and then digitized it.

Behind a strange surrealistic cover hides pretty good JRPG mechanics. We fight alone and then with partners against enemies, traveling the map, collecting loot and equipment. The combat itself is original: we have the hands that we cast spells, snapping our fingers to attack, our partners use different perks. We can fight with anything, it can be a burrito, coffee or a stick from the nearest bush. And the murders look like a total tin. Just look at the animation of Wayne’s death, when the meat drips from his head.

Sanitarium 

This is one of the most important games in the history of the horror genre. It tells the story of the fate of schizophrenic Max, who wakes up in an asylum and goes through a very difficult and quite scary journey in the hope of conquering his illness.

The sick images in the game show Max’s real problems. Unlike the monsters or ghosts we used to be afraid of, the game says that we should truly be afraid of ourselves. Each level is an allegory for our hero’s whole life. Sometimes we will play as this sister, and sometimes as the Cyclops from Max’s favorite children’s tale, and soon other unusual characters.