16 Great Games That Will Mess With Your Head

Numerous games aim to make you forget you’re engaged in gameplay, drawing you into their realms as a form of escapist amusement. Every event occurring within the game remains firmly within the limits of that universe. But what if the game escaped and began to impact the tangible world? What if you weren’t certain you were still participating in the game anymore? What if the game seemed to predict your actions, regardless of how inventive you became—and explicitly indicated so? Or perhaps it’s simply that the conclusion of the game is so impactful that you can’t cease pondering it for days afterward.

The list below showcases some of our cherished instances of games that desire to linger with you, circulating in your thoughts, long after you’ve completed them. As a side note, the majority of these games are not solely accessible on Windows, but on Mac and Linux as well, making it that much simpler for you to obtain and play. And if you lack a PC, you will discover some on PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch consoles too.

• Developer: Silicon Knights
• Platforms: GameCube
• Release Date: June 24, 2002

Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem is a title that badly requires a contemporary remaster, even though Nintendo has displayed minimal enthusiasm for reviving it. This was Nintendo’s very first Mature rated game, and you’ll need to retrieve your GameCube if you wish to revisit Silicon Knights’ response to the survival horror wave.

Sanity’s Requiem compels you to monitor the sanity meter for the primary characters to prevent them from spiraling into madness. If the sanity meter starts to drop, you’ll experience peculiar hallucinations like oozing walls, unsettling sounds, bizarre camera perspectives, and a complete disconnection from reality as the game pretends to fail. It’s a psychedelic journey that remains effective in its original setting.

• Developer: Konami
• Platforms: Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Switch, PC
• Release Date: November 13, 2001

For much of its runtime, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty adheres to the standard stealth action genre akin to the inaugural Metal Gear Solid. Without revealing excessive spoilers, the main character, Raiden, is compelled to question what’s authentic and what’s not as the game initiates what can solely be described as psychological warfare against the players and the character.

Suddenly, your Codec contacts begin communicating in nonsense, footage from the 8-bit Metal Gear games is displayed, and the game over screen places you in the peculiar position of trying to combat adversaries when the playable action is on a significantly smaller screen. Hideo Kojima was critical of AI here long before it became trendy.

Developer: Headfirst Productions

Platforms: PC, Xbox

Release Date: October 24, 2005

Lovecraftian narratives frequently revolve around terrors that can shatter men’s minds. Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth is no different, and this first-person shooter/survival horror relishes in frightening players. The protagonist, private investigator Jack Walters, wasn’t particularly the poster figure for sanity before the game commenced. However, he risks losing his mind if he gazes intently at the horrifying entities obstructing him.

Jack’s descent into madness is also your entry into insanity, as the game releases distorted sounds and visuals while also interfering with your controls. You can safeguard Jack’s sanity by locating sanctuary spots or defeating enemies. But if you delay too long in assisting Jack, his madness may become irreversible, potentially leading to an early game over for you.

Developer: Bloober Team

Platforms: Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Switch, PC

Release Date: August 15, 2017

Prior to Bloober Team remaking Silent Hill 2 for Konami, it launched Observer, a psychological horror thriller featuring Rutger Hauer as Daniel Lazarski, a mind hacker working for the Observers police unit. This capability provides some highly advantageous skills, but the game begins to manipulate you when Daniel employs his power to access minds.

There are some thematic elements that may bring to mind Ghost in the Shell, as Daniel must ponder if someone’s consciousness residing in a computer still qualifies as a person. Daniel is also required to make a critical decision late in the game, and the twist is that there truly isn’t a correct choice. Daniel is doomed regardless of the conclusion he reaches.

• Developer: Galactic Cafe
• Platforms: PC (macOS, Linux, Windows)
• Release Date: October 17, 2013

Manipulating your thoughts is often a spooky, frightening affair. However, The Stanley Parable turns it into a jest. This first-person narrative experience is a game about engaging in gameplay. The (genuinely humorous) narrator appears prepared for any action you might undertake, even if it’s simply to remain still gazing at a wall, or something as extreme as attempting to glitch your way out of the map. We often play games to feel intelligent, striving to perform actions the game doesn’t anticipate in hopes of breaking them. The Stanley Parable is aware of all your tricks.

• Developer: Frictional
• Platforms: PC (macOS, Linux, Windows), PlayStation 4, Xbox One
• Release Date: September 22, 2015

From the creators of Amnesia: The Dark Descent, SOMA moves away from the bleak gothic style, inviting you to investigate an underwater facility where everyone has vanished, and robots assert that they are human. The Giger-like artistic direction already renders this game disturbing, yet as the narrative unfolds, you will confront philosophical dilemmas regarding concepts like consciousness and identity. What truly remains with you is the conclusion. We won’t reveal it here–SOMA is relatively affordable these days and includes a mode for gamers who simply want to appreciate the narrative without concerning themselves with stealth. SOMA doesn’t attempt to shatter the barrier, but engaging deeply with the character and allowing the conclusion to resonate with you will have a profound impact, lingering in your thoughts for weeks, months, and even years to come.

• Developer: Kotake Create
• Platforms: Meta Quest, Nintendo Switch, PC (Windows), Playstation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S
• Release Date: November 29, 2023

Spot-the-anomaly games are quite popular at the moment, and Exit 8 stands out as one of the finest. Crafted by Kotake Create, Exit 8 immerses you in the subterranean corridors leading away from a Japanese train station. However, as you advance, you will observe peculiar occurrences. It could merely be an unusual sign, but pay attention if the wall tiles appear more human-shaped than ordinary. During gameplay, you are prompted to remember your environment, leading you to question your recollection—was that there previously? This is a brief game; completing eight consecutive successful runs will free you. But that might not be as straightforward as it seems.

• Developer: Frictional Games/EA
• Platforms: PC (Windows), PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
• Release Date: February 5, 2013

Dead Space has been attempting to unsettle us since the inaugural installment—Isaac is not the epitome of composure. Nevertheless, Dead Space 3 elevated that tension. Although the single-player mode featured annoying and unnecessary microtransaction elements, developer Visceral Games successfully introduced an exciting aspect in co-op mode: One player assumes control of Isaac Clarke, while the second player commands a new character named Jonathan Carver. This dynamic unlocks new side missions and character-related interactions. Most crucially, the game includes “asymmetric hallucinations.” The persistent Markers are notorious for inducing hallucinations, and really, it would be more perplexing if Clarke and Carver experienced identical hallucinations, given how personal Isaac’s typically are. This element is not merely a gimmick, as it aligns with the story’s tone and themes, enhancing the narrative by exposing players to the same phenomena the characters are enduring.

• Developer: Daniel Mullins Games
• Platforms: PC (macOS, Linux, Windows)
• Release Date: January 4, 2016

Created by Daniel Mullins, Pony Island is a game centered on a pony leaping over obstacles. At least in the initial few minutes. Soon, it transforms into a game about trapped souls, deteriorating code, and the devil himself. For a game that appears deceptively simple, Pony Island excels at disturbing the player through glitches and peculiar actions, even before it starts to dismantle the fourth wall.

• Developer: Team Salvato
• Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PC (macOS, Windows), PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
• Release Date: September 22, 2017

One of the truly definitive entries on this list, Doki Doki Literature Club seems to be just your typical dating simulator, closely adhering to genre conventions. Your childhood friend invites you to the literature club in school, presenting three additional female characters. As in a dating sim, you’ll interact with them and make dialogue choices, and at pivotal moments you’ll be prompted to create a poem for one of them. Events quickly spiral into chaos as the storyline takes a dark turn, and the game starts to glitch. The standard version is free to download and play on Steam, while the Doki Doki Literature Club Plus edition adds new side stories, fresh music, a visual revamp, and more.

• Developer: Pillow Castle Games
• Platforms: Mobile (Android, iOS), Nintendo Switch, PC (macOS, Linux, Windows), PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
• Release Date: November 12, 2019

Occasionally, you require a fresh viewpoint to solve a challenging puzzle. With Superliminal, that’s not just a figurative expression. In this game, you will tackle puzzles utilizing the power of perspective. There’s a small cube on the ground and a high ledge that you undoubtedly cannot reach across the room. The answer? Lift the box and step back until it creates the illusion of being tall enough to make the leap, then drop it. Suddenly, it is sufficiently large. This game continually astonishes with its ability to leverage perspective to design engaging and unforgettable puzzles. Once you play it, you won’t trust your own eyes.

• Developer: Demruth
• Platforms: PC (macOS, Linux, Windows)
• Release Date: January 13, 2013

Antichamber explores the concept of impossible spaces—this and Superliminal differ in the puzzles they present, but they both disorient your mind in similar ways. Turning around in a corridor might reveal that backward movement is impossible. Two sides of the same cube might lead to different rooms. If you’ve ever fantasized about traversing an M.C. Escher painting, Antichamber is the game designed for you. The puzzles revolve around making sense of elements that, at first glance, appear nonsensical.

• Developer: Daniel Mullins Games
• Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PC (macOS, Linux, Windows), PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
• Release Date: October 19, 2021

Another masterpiece by Daniel Mullins, it’s not difficult to observe how this game succeeded Pony Island. Similar to that title, Inscryption is a chilling metanarrative experience. You are engaged in a game about an individual engaging in a game, and it appears that the game is conscious of its own existence. You awaken in an ancient cabin with an elderly man inviting you to partake in a card game. Like Pony Island, this title revolves around darkness encased within an abandoned game, yet it delivers some truly captivating gameplay entwined with a haunting metanarrative. There’s an official modification for the game, dubbed Kaycee’s Mod, that enables you to replay some of the game’s finest segments.

• Developer: Draw Me A Pixel
• Platforms: Mobile (Android, iOS), Nintendo Switch, PC (macOS, Windows)
• Release Date: August 6, 2020

At times, it feels as if we must leap through numerous obstacles to access games today—agreeing to terms of service, configuring our characters, enduring endless cutscenes, and trudging through ceaseless tutorials—that it appears we may never reach the actual game. However, in the case of There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension, that is the entire concept. When you attempt to initiate the game, it won’t launch, and you are tasked with discovering how to make it functional. As you progress, the game challenges you with puzzles that require imaginative lateral thinking. A robust hint system is implemented to prevent you from becoming entirely stuck. Like The Stanley Parable, There Is No Game frequently seems to understand your thoughts. You may attempt something, and there will be an audio line for that particular item being misapplied in that specific manner. If you can adapt to the mindset of this game, though, a wealth of enjoyable puzzles awaits you.

• Developer: Three More Years
• Platforms: PC (macOS, Linux, Windows)
• Release Date: Dec 12, 2024

Mini Mini Golf Golf is a rather baffling title. This is indeed a miniature golf experience, but it is far from your typical mini-golf game (for that, check out Golf With Your Friends). Instead, it serves as an experimental narrative experience. You’re not aiming to sink balls into golf holes, but rather something akin to wormholes. Here’s the completely ordinary description from Steam: “As you explore tunnels through spacetime and unravel memories of imminent climate collapse, identity and obligation intersect at the fault line of our planet’s future.” Just a standard mini-golf game.

• Developer: Black Tabby Games
• Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PC (macOS, Linux, Windows), PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
• Release Date: October 23, 2023

Your task is straightforward: Slay the Princess to rescue the world. She’s even imprisoned in a cabin basement, so you need not search for her. Sounds simple. So why do you keep perishing? Slay the Princess is a visual novel psychological horror experience with a looping, branching narrative filled with themes of bodily and cosmic horror. As the protagonist, you will discover that the straightforward objective is more challenging than you initially anticipated, and as you persist, the game unveils new ways to confound you. Slay the Princess showcases a distinctive pencil-art aesthetic and full vocal performances, as well.