tl;dr I'm interested in games whose stories are mostly defined by the users who interact with them, games that focus on investigation and notetaking, and ghosts.
REFERENCES:
1. Ruby Quest (tgweaver)
A puzzle game originally run on the image board /tg/. Anonymous players could leave suggestions, and the artist would illustrate the results of the characters acting out that action. The art style is intentionally crude, allowing for quick and constant updates.
What sets the game apart from most puzzle games is the fact that it was run entirely by a human. This allowed players to get away with things that no programmer ever could have planned for, to the point where their choices were so interesting that the game ended in a way the author did not originally plan for.
This sort of working relationship between storyteller and audience has always struck me as really interesting, and is something I try to incorporate into most of my work. My own vision is boring. It's more fun to create a framework, and then let people bring their own ideas to the table.
2. The Book of Worms (toxaglossa)
Another game originally run on /tg/. Much like Ruby Quest, players could leave suggestions for the characters to act out, which the artist would illustrate the results of.
Unlike Ruby Quest, The Book of Worms is much more focused on story and characterization than it is on puzzles. Instead of trying to find a way out of a locked room, problems were much more personal, revolving around relationships, vices, and fears.
All too often in my work, I find that characters start out one way and do not change or learn anything by the end of it. ...But only if I'm working by myself. Letting players bring their own interpretation of a character to the table makes things much more interesting, both for me and for them.
3. The Eleventh Hour (Graeme Base)
A children's picture book about a cast of colorful animal characters investigating a stolen birthday cake at a party. The book features intricate illustrations, each with their own embedded puzzles. When solved, each of them reveals a clue that points towards the culprit.
This book has always been a big influence on my work. On the surface level, the detailed art tells us plenty about the personality of the characters and how they inhabit their world. But the hidden puzzle elements that explain the greater story also fascinate me. I love stories that don't explain everything upfront, and even though I may not be a puzzle designer I often hide important information in a seemingly innocuous scene.
4. Gravity Falls (Disney)
A show that has a focus on moody lighting, supernatural elements, and hidden puzzle elements. Plus, there's an ever present feeling of paranoia - but it's the FUN kind of paranoia. Like "what if the mailman is secretly a werewolf" kind of paranoia, and not "holy shit I'm about to get axe murdered by my best friend aren't I" kind of paranoia.
As a person who tries to balance occult mystery and suspense with a good sense of humor and more down-to-earth character arcs, Gravity Falls has been a good influence on me. I have little interest in stories with a high body count, so horror is not really the genre for me. But Gravity Falls has proved that traditionally scary things can be funny or exciting, and that is something I strive for.
5. Grickle (aka Graham Annable)
Known for his work on a number of darkly comedic short films, and also Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent.
Grickle's animations are generally characterized by having few frames of animation, long pauses, and bloody good sound design. I try to remember them whenever I'm working on my own animations - because as much as I love fluid animation and dramatic dialog, sometimes a simple picture of a character being stared at is much more effective.
6. Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes (Steel Crate Games)
A simple game that focuses on the physical as much as it does on digital. Players must search a printed out manual for clues on defusing a bomb, which they must then calmly and clearly communicate to the teammate who is actually cutting the wires.
Games that focus on communication have always appealed to me. The visual numberpad one is especially interesting to me, as each person describes the symbols on the pad differently. The fact that players could have different perspectives on the same thing is something I try to invoke in a lot of my work - be it in ambiguous environment clues that could mean multiple things, or in getting players to talk to each other because only they know half the story.
7. Myst series (Cyan, Inc)
A puzzle game that focuses on exploring elaborate, empty worlds and solving puzzles within them. Completing a puzzle usually required players getting information on one side of the map, only to bring it back to the other side and use it. Since remembering books and books of information is bloody difficult, you usually had to keep a journal of your adventures.
In a world where computers are now capable of keeping track of everything for us, I find Myst's almost unintuitive design fascinating. Making players keep their own notes and remember things for themselves rather than pointing it out for them makes them engage with the world just that much more.
8. Spirit Phone (Lemon Demon)
A really weird album of songs about the occult, social issues, and also Pepsi. The lyrics of the more serious songs know what parts to explain, and what things are best left unsaid in order to create an air of spooky mystery.
I tend to refer back to it whenever I need to write something unsettling. Its a fine line between "less is more" and "less is confusing to the point where I don't know what you're trying to accomplish here", but Spirit Phone manages to stay on the good side.
9. Chatroom (TheJBurger)
A short text adventure game about trying to make a friend in a post-apocalyptic world.
Chatroom has an intentionally clunky user interface, in grim contrast to its futuristic setting. Making games that are intentionally unintuitive just to challenge people who are used to modern standards of design is a lot of fun.
10. Neopets Plots
A tie-in puzzle for a tie-in comic for a trading card game based on a children's website. (Bloody hell.)
All Neopets plots were special in that the site's History was mostly written by players. On a grand scale, groups of players could choose sides to fight for in wars, move sand away from a dig site to discover ancient pyramids, or work together to map out temples full of traps. On smaller scales, players who were the first to defeat powerful opponents or dig up certain graves had their name permanently engraved in the site's history books.
On one hand, a good chunk of each story arc is scripted, and conveyed to players via a comic. But the other half of each story was conveyed entirely through puzzles hidden around the website, which could only be played for a week or so before being removed forever.
This balance of player interaction and scripted story is something I've tried to recreate in a couple of past projects, to no avail. But it fascinates me that a site could have such an elaborate history - one mostly shaped by players. I tend to look towards it when planning more ARG-y games, as the way it switches between linear and open narratives and back again seems like a great way of managing such a large number of players.
11. Ilovebees (42 Entertainment, Bungee)
A weird ARG that used webpages, in-character blogs, audio plays, puzzle solving, and going to phonebooths to tell its story. Players could talk directly to characters by going to said phonebooths at certain times, which in turn would either net them more of the story or convince the characters to do (or not do) certain things.
...All in all, this game has a really weird presentation style and I still don't understand what the hell went on in half of it. But damn if it doesn't ever serve as a strong reminder that my games need not be confined to the screen.
12. Betrayal at House on the Hill
A randomized board game about exploring a haunted house.
Gameplay-wise, Betrayal is pretty terrible. The random elements usually leave the game unbalanced in favor of one party or another. But while what written story there is for the game is pretty limited, there is plenty of room for player-generated emergent narrative to occur.
Everyone who has played the game probably has a favorite story of theirs. And it's incredible to think how one game kit can be used in different ways and result in different outcomes.
