After last week’s cranky post, let’s talk about things I like. I really like games that make me think. If you do too you should definitely play The Beginner’s Guide. It’s Davey Wreden’s second game, he also made The Stanley Parable (which was amazing and you should play it too).

I can’t say too much about the game without spoiling it, so I’m going to have to be a little vague here. What I enjoyed about the game was having to think about what was going on and try to figure out what it meant. I also love games like Torchlight and Torchlight II which are all about straightforward dungeon exploring and monster smiting, but sometimes I want something I can dig into a little more.

The Beginner’s Guide (and The Stanley Parable, for that matter), aren’t for everyone. They aren’t so much “games” as interactive experiences – there’s no score, no win condition, no lives or deaths. Some people get really into stuff like that and other people just aren’t interested. I personally like just about anything weird and/or morbid, so I really enjoy stuff that tries to expand the boundaries of what you can express with a game.

After you play The Beginner’s Guide, if you decide to, I highly recommend watching this talk Davey gave called Playing Stories. In the context of that talk, the game is a lot easier to understand. It’s also an interesting talk in general if you’re into making games or anything else to express yourself.