I just got finished with beating Riven for the first time. I adored the way the game seeped into my real life with pages of notes about the world I was discovering. Are there any other games that can match this feeling? That really work best when you have a journal in hand?
First and only game I was able to think of. Good stuff
My most recent such games were Her Story and Return of the Obra Dinn.
During Her Story I ended up with an A5 sheet full of keyword ideas I wanted to search the recordings for.
Obra Dinn had me draw multiple iterations of a ship deck while trying to figure out who was likely to sleep in which hammock :D
Elite: Dangerous, because every time I tab out of the game to check INARA for the closest outfitting or something there’s about a 30% chance of it crashing and becoming unlaunchable until I restart my computer. Hence writing system names down on paper before launching the game.
Riven is one of my favorite games and IMO the best of the Myst series of games. My recommendation is Outer Wilds, which doesn’t necessarily require real life note taking although you could. However it is a fantastic puzzle/exploration game that is easily on par with Riven, and will hit that same vibe of learning more and more about the world and using that knowledge to progress. Trust me, its very worth it. Also get the DLC too!
Seconded, though I would advise getting the DLC after completing the main game.
Tunic!
The “final” puzzle took a whole page of paper. It was brilliant
The loading page was some straight up bullshit though.
So many instances of…
“…no…nooo… NOOO”
Then it works
I still smile whenever I stumble upon these pages of my college block
Tunic
Elite Dangerous
Death Stranding
Tunic 💯💯
Why Death Stranding? I don’t understand this one…
I kept some paper logs of what was needed where. Mostly for building things, but also for deliveries. I was trying to be relatively efficient in hauling stuff around.
The Witness
Lots of diagrams
I left my computer to go out with friends to have wings. I was thinking about the puzzle I left behind on the trip there. I was trying to draw the patterns on my phone while we waited. This game gets into your head.
I remember opening Paint to solve that incremental puzzle in the mountain only to realise there’s multiple symbols in the same space
Agree, I filled like half notebook with this game
This. So many sketches and diagrams the month I played through this one.
If you liked riven you might like the witness.
Three very different games I actually took notes for :
La Mulana. In the “modern” version you have limited memory space to save some of the many texts you find, but you’ll need more than that to solve the puzzles anyway. Good luck trying to scribble the weird pixelated symbols on your notes, too.
I play Shin Megami Tensei games with notes to optimize fusions, when I have a particular demon in mind and I want them to inherit the right skills. Later games let you see fusion results, but only one step ahead.
And then there’s spacechem. I love Zachtronics games in general, and all the following ones tend to be progressive in difficulty and let you experiment from a good enough solution to better solutions. As the first, less refined one, spacechem is special. Before long it needs planning and calculations to even get something that works.
I sketch out factory designs for Satisfactory
Same my friend, same. I’m starting my new factory on Friday and I’m getting ready for the math.
Btw if you’re not already, we’re here at [email protected]
I wasn’t already, but I am now.
The last game I recall breaking out pen and paper for was Tunic. You can definitely beat the story without, but the later puzzles call for it.
Love that your example was riven. Was my first thought on the title.
The myst games, their newer game Obduction, the Talos Principle. Those puzzle games all are awesome and take some pen and paper.
Escape from mystwood mansion, the house of da Vinci are a couple others that feel the same way.
Less adventure, more “must optimize!” games like Satisfactory, Factorio are other games that require me to bust out pen and paper or at least a website, spreadsheet or calculator.
Void Stranger is a relatively recent one. It’s a Sokoban style puzzle game with layers of puzzles and a ton of hidden depth.
It took me 50 hours to feel like I beat the base game and I haven’t even touched the post-game content they added after release. I have a folder full of text files with notes and clues and puzzle attempts and one of the best puzzles involved taking several screenshots and stitching them together in an image editor.
La Mulana is another one to check out. It’s a metroidvania heavy on puzzles and exploration that’s actively hostile toward the player. It’s an exercise in frustration and every inch of progress is measured in blood. Every bit of information is important, and there’s a lot of information to untangle. I haven’t come close to beating it yet and my notes from just the first few floors are extensive.
Probably not what you’re looking for, but Elite Dangerous. I’m about to print out pictures of the controls just to teach myself to use them.
I would bet others like EVE Online for the bill better.
I use paper because the game tends to crash when I tab out to figure out where I was supposed to go. And then it won’t launch again until I restart my computer.
The following games all typically do not hold the player’s hand. They are to varying degrees, some give you a map and/or journal, some do not.
- TES III Morrowind
- King’s Field 1-4
- Snatcher on SEGA CD
- Dark Souls 1-3, Demons Souls, Bloodborne, and Elden Ring
- Ultima Underworld
- Silent Hill 1-4
- Shadow of the Colossus
- Tunic
- Super Metroid
- Hollow Knight
- Rain World
- System Shock 1,2
I love the Morrowind recommendation. Also, unlikely suggestion, but I had to get a pen and paper for The Great Crystal dungeon on Final Fantasy XII.
