Ever since the language puzzle in Tunic that got me to fill up 6 pocket sized pages of notes over multiple days while trying to puzzle it out as I tried to and, eventually, succeeded at translating the in-game “paper” manual, I’ve had a craving for games that force you to pull out a notebook and take notes/puzzle things out as part of the actual meta-gameplay mechanics, because the game doesn’t just do that thinking for you.
What other games are like this, even a little bit, that you’ve loved?
And to be clear, I don’t mean things like TTRPGs which are just inherently on paper. Those are cool and all, but aren’t this thing. I want things that force me to engage my thinking beyond what the inputs of a controller and medium of a screen and my short-term memory alone can do for me.
Pretty much any 90s point and click adventure game made by Lucas arts, Sierra etc. No objective marker, no journal, you just wander around clicking things trying to mash items together. “Where did I see that symbol before?? flips through notebook Oh right!”
Mostly old point and click games like Sierra and Lucasarts things. Stuff where you can easily softlock yourself with 1 simple mistake.
I play Ocarina of Time randomizers using both a tracker and my own notes. That game is pretty huge, especially when things are shuffled around.
Welcome to my favorite genre of game!
As they’ve already been mentioned before, I will second both La-Mulana (and though not mentioned, it’s sequel), and FEZ.
The Witness didn’t make me break out Pen and Paper, but it was definitely one I had to give my brain a break and come back to to look at things from a fresh angle.
Now for some previously unmentioned finds where your attention to detail will be rewarded. Not all will require notebooks. But there puzzles hidden in all of them.
Environmental Station Alpha is a Metroidvania.
Full Metal Furies is a side-scrolling beat-em up.
INSIDE is a side-scrolling platformer.
Inscryption is a deck-builder / puzzle room.
Pillars of Eternity 2 for me. Had TONS of pages of notes of build ideas, locations, treasures, remembering to go to X at Y level, etc… Absolutely had a blast with that game.
Wasteland 2.
There’s a couple of places that need passcodes and figuring out riddles. Sometimes you team is smart enough to remember them, other times not so much.
It also comes in handy with Dialog Options when no one in your team has ‘talking’ as a primary stat. You can still punch in the triggering word manually.
You’re basically the sixth member of the team if you can remember all that stuff. It’s neat little feature. Pen and paper absolutely required.
I did the same for wasteland 3~! Had a bunch of pages of notes trying to remember where to come back to, etc… Love it!
Since you already said Tunic, I’ll throw out Riven: The Sequel to Myst
I played it several months ago for the first time and my desk was completely littered with sticky notes, most of which would have been incomprehensible to anyone else
Tunic is a BIG one. The language puzzles, and the math puzzles. SO MANY NOTES.
