Summary
When we play video games, there are certain expectations we have. You have an interactive medium with set goals to achieve and narratives to follow. Ultimately, we have it in a box, the same way we have non-interactive mediums like movies or books. However, some game devs realize that preconception and use it to great effect.
They make it so the game can break out of that box and affect things that they normally don’t, usually to get under your skin. Since this is usually done by changing things on your computer, that’s where you find these mind-bending twists, but it does happen on consoles occasionally. Ready to blur the lines? Here are some games that break their boundaries.
Since this is usually a trick to catch you off guard, by its very nature this list has many spoilers, from Easter Eggs to important plot points. Proceed at your own risk.
7Doki Doki Literature Club
Doki Doki Literature Clubis probably the most famous example of a game going out of bounds in recent history.Ostensibly an innocent dating sim, the game is actually a harrowing psychological horror tale. Monika, supposedly a secondary character with no route of her own, becomes self-aware and is not happy about her position.
In console versions of DDLC, an in-game file manager exists, allowing you to access things you could normally only see on PC. It gets the job done but isn’t nearly as surprising.
After a saga of bloodshed and confusion, she rewrites the game world so that it’s just you and her. From there on, that’s all the game will be. Of course, if you’re savvy, you’ll know that, as a computer program, she exists in the game files. To reach the finale, you’ll have to dip into the game’s files and delete her to break her hold on the game.
6Imscared
Imscared doesn’t so much break the boundaries as much as it mostly takes place outside of them. This tale of a rogue program, malevolent entity, or some other dark force takes place mostly in your file browser.
The game plays out like a low-res creepypasta, like one you’d find because a friend of a friend told you about the cursed game. Seemingly harmless, if a little spooky, the game ramps up since the entity known as White Face affects your computer by crashing the game or making other sinister changes. All the while, the plot is told as it adds, deletes, or edits files in the game folder.
5Inscryption
Already a strange game,Inscryptiondips into mind-bending territory after the first act. But in the fight against the Archivist in act 3, it gets personal. During the fight, you’re forced to give your opponent access to your hard drive. Not Luke, whose computer you’re using, but YOU – the player.
Like in DDLC, console versions have an in-game computer, this one owned by Luke Carder, the guy in the cutscenes.
You’re prompted to choose a file and a card is generated based on that file, getting more powerful and sturdy the bigger and older the file is. To prove it’s legit, it will show you an image or play a clip of the audio if it’s a sound or image file. You’re also promised that the file will be deleted should the card die.
4Irisu Syndrome!
Irisu Syndrome is a deep-cut freeware puzzle game that you can find online if you’re willing to dig around for it. Released all the way back in 2008, in many ways this game is an unappreciated pioneer, likely being the first game to leave files for you to find in the game’s folder.
It also has some tricks that haven’t yet been replicated. This includes a picture file that changes as the story develops like James’ letter in Silent Hill 2. Or a much more chilling one where the titular Irisu approaches a victimfrom your desktopinto the game before putting her nail bat to work.
3Outcore
Most titles which decide to go outside the normal boundaries of a video game, usually do so as a trick or a pivotal moment. A way to show that the game might be more real than you think. In Outcore, however, this is the whole conceit. Starting the game brings an aberration to your actual desktop, files, wallpaper, and all.
You bring this aberration to life by guiding a file on your desktop to it, allowing it to spring forth as Lumi, a girl apparently inhabiting your computer. You then draw pictures in Microsoft Paint, the actual program, to open a door which is actually a file from your Documents folder that you’re trying to decrypt. This is just in the first few minutes of the game. The rest has to be seen to be believed, which is easy enough since the game is free on Steam.
2Metal Gear Series
TheMetal Gear Solidgames are pretty famous for blurring the line between video games and reality, and at this point, it’s a bit of a trademark for Hideo Kojima, the series’ creator. However, the prime example has to be Psycho Mantis, who codified the concept of messing with players directly.
In his fight in MGS1, he’ll read your memory card and comment on it, which was unheard of at the time. Even wilder, the best way to defeat him is by switching your controller to the second port so he can no longer read and dodge your movements.
If you had a Dualshock 3 plugged in instead, he’ll successfully vibrate your controller and exclaim proudly about the feature’s return.
The fight is even referenced in MGS4, where the game mocks you for trying the same trick against Screaming Mantis, as well as an appearance from Psycho Mantis himself as he tries in vain to make your SIXAXIS controller vibrate.
1OneShot
In OneShot, you’re tasked with helping Niko by bringing light to a world with no sun. Not the royal you, either, you the player. Niko even addresses you by name. With your gamer skills, you have to guide Niko on her quest and help her interact with the denizens of this dying world.
The game interacts with your computer by doing things like changing your desktop wallpaper, turning itself off, or generating text files in the game’s folder. These aren’t just for exposition either, but actually contain information that could give you solutions to puzzles or pass parts of the game that seem impassable.
The game lives up to its name too. At the end of it, you have to make a decision, either of which will render the game unplayable because as the title implies, you only have one shot. Or do you…?
The original free version of the game was even stricter. If you shut off the game before you get to the end, it counts as an ending and you can no longer play it.
