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.
Myst. Surprised this wasn’t mentioned yet.
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.
Mostly old point and click games like Sierra and Lucasarts things. Stuff where you can easily softlock yourself with 1 simple mistake.
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!”
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.
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.
I did this for the Witness - it really helped to think out some of the puzzles if scribbled possible solutions down. Oh and Obra Dinn to an extent - mostly things like ‘I saw this guy hanging around in this memory - could he be X’?
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.
I don’t think anything will ever beat Ultima IV for me in this regard.
Not quite the same puzzley aspect but check out etrian Odyssey. It’s premise essentially is that you have a dungeon crawler and you have to make the map yourself. There are tools in game for making the map as you go.
I’m playing through the Switch re-releases now and they’re great. The mapping controls leave a lot to be desired versus the DS originals, but it was never gonna be as good as that magic.
DS flashcarts are great and cheap, and the DSi can be soft modded to work directly from an SD card. If you can afford it, get a DSi XL for the best DS experience.
I gave away my NES, 3DS, Dreamcast, N64, and all related games and peripherals a few years ago cause they were taking up too much room for stuff I barely ever used.
I’ve already played these games on (3)DS back in 2013 or so, so I agree it’s the best way to play em. But I just don’t have the time, money, or space to be a retro game collector (outside of Evercade) anymore so I’ll make do with playing these games on Switch.
Return of the Obra Dinn
This was going to be mine as well. The fact that you don’t start to investigate the mystery in chronological order turned out to be quite a treat, as I need some way to organize my thoughts.
Fantastic game, honestly, I’ve had quite a few good detective experiences the past few years that nearly perfected the genre to me.
La-mulana. It’s one of those games that only has value if you play it blind and without a walkthrough. The game’s platforming and combat is subpar at best and atrocious at worst, but the riddles and the mythology make up for it. I played it around 2008 on the “MSX” freeware version, and it took me 10 months and 2 new save files after getting stuck. You have no chances of completing that game without extensive notes.
Myst and its mainline sequels, especially Riven will generally require pen and paper for almost all puzzles (except for the godforsaken train tunnel puzzle). Cyan has also made Obduction which is very similar and I ended up using pen and paper to take notes for. Quern: Undying Thoughts is a Myst-inspired game that is also like this.
the Submachine series by artist Mateusz Skutnik also benefits from using pen and paper, although a few of the games include virtual notes as well. The later games in the series are more open ended and require you memorizing coordinates if you don’t take notes. It also helps to write down which items you collect (potentially) go to which screens. It’s a 2D point and click adventure game series.
I came here to say “Any Cyan game”, Riven i think was definitely one of the most complex and needed the most notes. They’ve recently released Firmament and Riven remake is on its way too.
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!
