1y ago

I'm looking for games with unique or experimental game design

Hello!

One of the things I really enjoy is unique, interesting or out-of-the box game design. It doesn't have to be AAA game, it doesn't have to be a perfect game, it can be pretty rough - but if it has a mechanic or design element that is somehow unique or original, I'm instantly in love with the game.

The problem is that such games do not usually get a lot of exposure, since it is after all a niche. And that is really a shame - in the past few years the most fun had with video-games was playing such smaller and shorter indie games with something unique or pretty clever, where I can obsess over the design and more importantly - get inspired. That leads me to my question - are there any communites or blogs or content curators that are about this kind of smaller, maybe unpolished, but original games? Or what games would you recommend that would fit into this description? I don't mind if it's a 5 minute experience. It's ok if it's more interactive art than a game.

To better illustrate what I'm looking for, I'd compare it to modern art - the kind where you get a single colored square on a canvas. I never got it, and it always felt just weird - until I had to start doing flyer design and started researching and reading about composition, space and all that stuff. And now I see there's so much going on even on a picture with a single line, that it's really interesting to think about why the square is where it is, and what kind of composition rules was he working with.

And I think it's the same for game design - sometimes you see a clever mechanic or design on otherwise really ugly and unpolished game, and it still gets you inspired and thinking.

I understand that my question is a little bit vague, so I'll give you a list of some games I consider unique, some of them are well known, some of them not-so-much:

Immortality you probably know about this one, but a game where the plot twist is discovering a hidden game mechanic, you could've done all the time? And the fact that you watch three movies at once in random scene order is also a really good experience.
Against the Storm I really like how they solved the issue with management sims - that they tend to get boring once you set everything up, by making it a roguelike.
Different Strokes an online persistent collaborative museum of art, where you can either leave a new painting, or edit someone's else. Each painting can be edited only once, so there are always two authors of a single piece.
Sayonara Wild Hearts I really like the idea of making what's basically an interactive music album. While the game design isn't anyting that interresting, the focus on music is cool - there should be more music albums with video-games instead of video-clips.
Project Forlorn Again, not really a game - this time I think there's no actuall gameplay, but it's the best interactive music album presentation I've ever seen. And again - I like the idea of exploring music and games together.
Playdate Not exactly a single game, but rather a console - but the idea behind giving you a game per day (which is I think how it started, they may all be available now looking at it) sounds amazing - which I'd also consider a game design (or rather, experience design?).
Baba is You - Another probably well known game, but the puzzle mechanic is just mindblowing.
Before Your eyes - In this game, the main mechanic is that you go through the memories of someone who has just passed away, but the time advances every time you blink - physically blink, because the game can use your camera. That is such a clever idea, that it definitely fits onto this list.
Nerve Damage - This is my favourite recent discovery. The game is trying so hard to be uncomfortable to play, with it's main design build around just being unplayable. But it somehow works and once you get into the flow, it's such an unique experience.

So, does anyone has some recommendations about where to look for more experimental games? A curated list, blog would be awesome - since clicking through pages of games on itch.io is pretty hit and miss. Also, feel free to share some of your favourite unique design or experimental experiences and games!

146 comments

Since nobody mentioned it before, Stanley parable.
If I had to describe it with one sentence: you're not playing the game, it plays you. I played a lot of games but this one stuck in my head. It awards for thinking outside the box.
Any other title like antichamber were already mentioned ^^
- and if you want to play a completely different game from the stanley parable in every way by the same developer, the beginner’s guide is a short story game I would consider a work of art. It definitely is unusual as far as games go and it makes you feel things. It is best played completely blind on information.

SUPERHOT - a shooter in which time only moves when you move. It kind of plays like a puzzle game and is quite fun
- SUPERHOT is so much fun in VR! Definitely one of the best VR games I've played.
- Came here for this comment.
  Superhot is an absolute incredible videogame and I'm kind of stunned we've not seen more in that style.

You've come to the right place, I also fancy artsy games and unique experiences.
Return of the Obra Dinn is a great mystery game about figuring out who died and why. You use your watch to go back in time and explore the moment of death of everyone, trying to piece together what happened.
Viewfinder is a new puzzle game where you take pictures of your surrounding and place them in front of you, turning them back into 3D-space
Antichamber might be my favorite abstract puzzle game ever. It's hard to explain and can be a little obtuse (you get lost easily), but basically you explore a lot of world-shifting environments and try to figure out what is needed. Eventually you get a gun that manipulates cubes and stuff. Really, just play it.
Manifold Garden is a close second after Antichamber. You explore infinitely repeating worlds and shift gravity to solve puzzles. It's not a hard game and you can finish it in a few hours, but it's a great experience.
Journey is probably a game you've come across before. I loved this game to death when I first played it on PS3, I'd recommend giving it a shot. It's also quite short, only about 3 hours long.
Hypnospace Outlaw is a game where you play on a fake late 90's operating system acting as a web moderator. I can't understate how cool this game is, and the seemingly innocent story gets more interesting as you play along.
There's probably more out there, but these are on the top of my head.
- Thank you, there are some games I haven't heard about. Hypnospace Outlaw and Antichamber sounds cool, the rest I've already heard about or have on my backlog, but thanks for reminding me that I should finally play them.
  I've played Return of the Obra Dinn, it's exactly along the lines of what I'm looking for. Have you heard about The Case of the Golden Idol? It's similar to Return of the Obra Dinn, in it being a detective game that nails the design and solves issues of that genre in a clever way. I've found it in a game awards I've recently stumbled upon - the Independent Games Festival, which looks like one of the few game awards that are worth following (the only other one I know about are the BAFTA awards).
  Because in general, I'd say that most game awards are a joke. I mean, look at the "Most innovative gameplay" from the last few years of Steam Awards, and compare them to BAFTA or IGF. I may have a different outlook skewed by my interest in game design, but I just can't get over Stray winning so many game design awards, especially in a year where games such as Immortality came out. I mean, there's literally not a single unique mechanic in Stray. It's a platformer where you don't even have to jump manually -.-
  
  Have you heard about The Case of the Golden Idol?
  I've seen it before but I haven't played it. I might give it a shot.
  most game awards are a joke
  Steam game awards are a popularity contest, so don't worry about it. It's community-voted, not by critics, which means everyone just voted the game they knew.
  
  I second Antichamber, cool mechanics and ambient and on the shortish side. I had it gifted by a friend that knows I like the kind of games you're looking for.
- Great list, I can second Obra Dinn and Antichamber, so I'll have to try out the rest

Outer Wilds.
but a game where the plot twist is discovering a hidden game mechanic, you could've done all the time
Turn this up to 11.
- Outer Wilds is definitely in my top 3 games of all time. I'm currently waiting for a few years to forget as much of the game as I can, so I can replay it with the DLC and in VR.
  
  Absolutely fuck playing that in VR, that would be terrifying haha!
  
  I played it before the DLC and only recently got around to it. You don't need to forget the game to play the DLC. It's pretty much totally seperate and they managed to create the same feeling of discovery again. I'm not saying more than that though.
- I keep meaning to go back to Outer Wilds. Last time I tried it I just couldn't figure out the piloting mechanics. Or, you know, what to do or where to go, but that's the whole point of the game I guess. But the not knowing where to go combined with the fact that every time I got into the ship I wasn't having any fun, combined with the fact that it's a time loop game so I have to do that again and again and again just resulted in an unrewarding slog.
- Have tried it twice and both times got motion sick pretty quickly. Perhaps third time lucky.
  
  Oof, sorry to hear that.
  
  Increasing the fov or playing further from the screen may help. Unfortunately a zero g physics game tends to have a lot of issues with motion sickness.

Inscryption, there's a reason it's such a highly rated game on steam.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1092790/Inscryption/
Inscryption is an inky black card-based odyssey that blends the deckbuilding roguelike, escape-room style puzzles, and psychological horror into a blood-laced smoothie. Darker still are the secrets inscrybed upon the cards...
- Also THE HEX, the previous game from the same Dev. SOOOO GOOD. Don’t let the graphics turn you off, they make sense just a half hour into the game. It’s brilliant.

Heaven's Vault: Language translation point and click adventure game.
Project Hospital: A great hospital sim. You can even diagnose the patients yourself!
Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin: A japanese RPG/brawler with a (very detailed) rice farming simulator as the way to gain XP to level up.
Warsim: The Realm of Aslona: A text based kingdom manager / adventure game. Full of quirky details and humor.
THE LONGING: A very very slow paced point and click adventure game about waiting... for 400 days... in real time. Why not read some books while you wait, or come out of your little hole and explore the caverns outside?
Cultist Simulator: Run your very own lovecraftian cult, the card game!
Windward: A pirate sandbox akin to Sid Meier's Pirates! Tried it on a whim when I got it in a bundle and got stuck playing it for 15 hours. Worth a try.
Shadows of Doubt: A procedurally generated detective simulator (in early access at the moment).
Ruinarch: A big bad simulator sandbox. You are the big bad. See that village over there? Make their lives miserable!
Ghost of a Tale: You are a mouse bard in a fantasy world of anthropomorphic animal people. You are imprisoned in the castle dungeons and need to escape.
Heat Signature: A space bounty hunter sandbox. Hijack a ship, kill your target, collect the package, throw yourself out the airlock, and pick yourself up by remote controlling your ship.
Intergalactic Fishing: You like fishing? Do you want to fish an unlimited amount of different fish in an unlimited amount of different lakes all over the galaxy? Look no further.
The Last Federation: You are the last surviving individual of a powerful species in a star system full of different species at different levels of technology. Your mission: unite the star system to save its people from annihilation. Will you be able to unite all of them, or will some species be eradicated for the greater good?
Songs of Syx: A fantasy city builder of grand proportions. Build your kingdom's capital and fill it with hundreds or even thousands of individual people.
5D Chess with Multiverse Time travel: Are you good at chess? Well, everyone is on a level playing field when you introduce time travel and the multiverse.
- Thank you! That is an amazing list, most of the games you are recommending I haven't heard about, and it sounds awesome. I will add it to my backlog for sure!
  
  Glad you liked it! Here is a bonus item I did not remember for my list:
  Wilmot's Warehouse
  You are Wilmot, the (only) warehouse employee. You are tasked with storing items delivered to you, and retrieving items that people request from you. What are all these items and how do you organize them?
  Who knows! Figure it out!
- So many good ones in this list, cultist simulator will make you see the world through its game system afterwards, ghost of a tale is Soo damn cute and well done. Expanding on 5d chess I'd recommend 4D toys, a sandbox that will open your mind to the 4th dimension

Have you played Return of Obra Dinn? Also Inscryption, the creator is half mad

TUNIC https://youtu.be/Q5XpgTO7YN0
On the surface it's a Link To The Past inspired Zelda clone, with hints of Dark Souls, cutesy graphics, and a KILLER soundtrack. And while that might sound appealing, it's really just the surface. This game does something so unique that I can't imagine how it could be done again in any other game.

Baba is you: a simple block pushing puzzle game where you make the rules by lining up words. It's not like anything else.
Iron lung: a short horror game about navigating a submarine blind
Dollhouse: a flim noir styled avoid the pursuer type horror game, with eack level adding new mechanics. One of the most interesting games I've played, but it got lost to a ten year hype train and never recovered from the initial review bombing.
Jazzpunk: hard to describe. An first person puzzle game where the whole game is a joke and every aspect is unexpected.
Papers please: run a Soviet bloc security check point, and try to keep your family alive with the small amount of supplies you receive for filtering citizen correctly. Same guy who made obra dinn.
Receiver 2: at the surface it's an fps with insane gun mechanics. Deeper though, it's forced meditation and mindfulness. Nothing you do can be reactionary or automatic, every movement must be on purpose. Lots of mental health themes.
Many others already mentioned here are great. Obra dinn, doki doki, antichamber, outer worlds. There's a ton of great things out there.
- I'm here to vouch for Baba Is You. Definitely play it until you can affect entire levels. It's such a mind twist.
- Seconded on Jazz Punk and Papers Please, 2 awesome games!
- Honestly I heard of Obra Dinn because it was from the guy that made Papers, Please
- I have 35 and 41 hours in Receiver 1 & 2, I’ve managed to finish 1 2-3 times and never finished 2. But it’s a game you keep coming back to for its satisfying gameplay loop and challenge.

I absolutely recommend TUNIC. It's sort of a combination of a legend of zelda/dark souls gameplay and a really interesting puzzle element. Basically, you are playing this game without the guide or any tutorial, and as you play you pick up pages of the game guide which teach you how to play, but it's written in a language you can't read, so you have to piece together the mechanics based on the pictures. The game is absolutely full to bursting with secrets, including a final puzzle that blew my mind when I figured it out. I played it with invincibility on so that I could focus on the puzzle element and not worry about combat so much.
It's one of those games that you can only play once because you learn so many secrets through playing it, but it's a truly magical experience.

Planescape: Torment
The story of an amnesiac immortal piecing things back together.
The immortality isn't invincibility, you still die, but wake up after a while.
Die enough times and you lose all memories, maybe with a different personality altogether, that's where the game starts: a cold slab in the morgue and the start of this new incarnation you now control.
It's not only a respawn mechanic though, the mechanic is used in a few puzzles and social encounters, it's also integral to the storyline.
- One of the greatest experiences for sure. It's more like a book or a visual novel, though, rather than a game, I would say.
- Endure. In enduring, grow strong.

These definitely aren't everyone's cup of tea, but these are some really unique games I like.
Dwarf Fortress: A colony sim who's depth gives it it's uniqueness factor. It's been in development for forever and if you dig into it a little bit stories will begin to construct themselves in the game in a way that no other colony sim does. Heads up that you won't know how anything works and your forts will fall apart, it's part of the Fun.Check out Kruggsmash on YouTube for some great videos on it.
Caves of Qud: I just learned about this game today actually, it's a rogue lite(like?) In a similar vein as Dwarf Fortress. Super long in development with incredible depth and replayability. Really interesting stories that come out of it.
Kerbal Space Program: Learn to send adorable little green men to the moon! Build rockets, crash them, learn and try again! A few games have tried to do something similar, but nothing matches the vibe of ksp. Best to stick with the original + mods for now, the sequel needs more time in the oven.
Frontier Pilot Simulator: Be a delivery person on a alien world, fly vtol aircraft around, deliver goods, make money, upgrade craft. Ok that sounds basic as hell, but something about this game scratches a doing things itch for me. It's great once you kinda get the flight controlls and can be played in 20 or so min intervals which I actually have trouble finding these days.
Delta V: Rings of Saturn: Take the old school asteroids game to it's absolute furthest possible development and then a bit further, no, further than that, keep going.
Trackmania: Racing game that has crazy tracks but manages to stay grounded somehow. Fun if you just want to try and beat the latest tracks, also fun if you lose hours or weeks or months or years or decades of your life trying to get the best time.
VTOL VR and Jetborn Racing: Ok it's a VR game, and you need a headset. But if you have one it's literally the best flight sim ever. It's just realistic enough to make you learn a bunch, but not so realistic that you get bogged down. No sticks or equipment needed, it's all VR motion controls.
Carrier Command 2: Control a whole ass aircraft carrier! It's very microprose, so super simulated and fiddly, but really really neat. If you have friends and can somehow convince them to play this with you, it's super fun* *I take no responsibility for friendships lost due to 'fun'
Anyways, I might like odd sim games a little bit more than is strictly healthy. Splattercatgaming on YouTube is a good source for finding odd games if you haven't seen them yet.

Surprised nobody mentioned One Hour One Life before.
Basically, it's a game where you only have 60 minutes to live in an open multiplayer world, starting out as a baby being cared for by your "mother" going to adult, and then dying of old age, possibly leaving everything to your offspring, also actual players.
I found this mechanic to be very unique among other games.
- This is such a cool idea, I definitely have to try it sometime. I hope the game is not dead, it sounds like something you'd need an active playerbase for. The reviews on Steam sound amazing.
  
  It's not at all the same, but Crusader Kings has a related mechanic where you have kids and pass your dynasty to them, and they pass to their kids, etc. It's not at all what the OP talking about, but maybe it's interesting.

My personal favourite that fits the description but was not mentioned yet is Cultist Simulator.
A thing, a place, an attribute, a person or feeling: all of these are cards.
Talk, work, travel: those are special containers called verbs.
And this simple setting gives you a lot of freedom. Upgrade your abilities, hoard esoteric lore, recruit people into your cult, raid vaults for goodies, summon an alien demon to get rid of your annoying boss and try to become immortal.
Takes a bit long to master due to how opaque some parts of it are though.
- Somehow, the first time I played that game I had the longest run I’ve ever had for it. The more I learn the worse I seem to do. I did better when I was doing random shit than when I actually have a better understanding of what was going on.
- I never managed to beat this but it has by far the highest play time of any mobile game for me.
  
  I play it on PC. I don't think I could beat it on mobile either, it is hard enough to keep track of counters on all these cards as it is.

Not sure about experimental but different game mechanic:
Radio Commander - a RTS that you totally control via the radio, you don't see anything, you must interact with your deployed units.
Hell Let Loose - Not niche, but very unique in its 50 person radio system, where you must communicate and coordinate with other players. Think of it less as a FPS, and more as a management training simulator.
Majesty - A old game, but you don't actually control units, you set goals and bounties and the units have their own agency and will accomplish things in their own good time.
The forgotten city - A very cerebral approach to time loops by a indie studio.
- Osmos. Become the biggest. Ambient background music, trippy game play, mobile only, AFAIK.
  
  I most certainly played it on PC.
  Edit: yes, it's on Steam https://store.steampowered.com/app/29180/Osmos/
- Thank you, those sound interresting. I have already played The Forgotten City, and it was an amazing experience. Hell Let Loose I never got into, I did try to play it for a while but eventually have up - unfortunately, that's the kind of game I don't have friends or dedication for. I imagine it's similiar to Eve Online, which I did play for a few years and had an amazing time and community in, but it's one of those games where you really have to invest a lot of time and make the game for other players, because being just a linemember isn't that interesting. But once you get into higher positions, be it squad leader/fleet commander, that's where the game really shines. But I'm not assertive or brave enough for that.
  But I really fondly remember the experience of being a covops/stealth bomber fleet member in larger Eve Online alliance, and training for a fleet commander. Nothing will ever come close to it, but I'm just not made for leading people. And without it, the experience is not as unique or interresting, since it basically boils down to "simon says".
  Radio Commander and Majesty sounds like fun, I will have to try it.
  
  Your experience is exactly why hell let loose is great. Force yourself into management and you will develop new skills!

Death Stranding - package delivery simulator, with occasional horror and action elements
Iron Lung - horror game where you're in a submarine with no windows

Toribash is a unique take on fighting games, where you control the character in freeze-frames by adjusting actions on the character’s joints (relax, hold, flex, extend), then executing those actions. You can make singleplayer sequences or fight other players one on one - you get X amount of seconds per move simultaneously with your opponent, then the movement is resolved and you have another action round.
Omega Strikers - I’m not sure if this fits the bill entirely, but I think it is relatively unique in what it does and I have been playing the heck out of it since release, so I’ll plug it. It is a mesh of MOBA and table/air hockey, the game plays in 3v3 - 2 forwards and a goalie each team. Controls relatively standart for MOBA, the goal is to get the core (puck) into the enemy goal. You can also knock opponents off the sides or damage them making it easier to knock them off.
- Toribash is so good. I used to be in a Skype group where I'd play with people there like 10 years ago. Good times. Shame the game never went mainstream, but you can still grab a friend and have a ton of fun. There's a ton of game modes and even mod support, I'd recommend playing Aikido if it's your first time playing.
  
  Hell yea, I remember watching toribash parkour videos and in general the sick sequences people posted. Also skin designing trading, I think the skin stuff was way ahead of its time.
- There is also this new game in the same vein as Toribash:
  Your only move is HUSTLE
  
  Well, thanks for that, I bought it yesterday and am having a blast. Worth mentioning that there is a free (albeit old) version of the game too.

Undertale? I came at it being basically familiar with RPGs and having only a faint idea of what it was like. It was awesome. It has a few things that get "rosebudded" a bit these days, being an old game with a bunch of meme potential. It's an indie, very Japanese-inspired RPG with "bullet hell" fighting mechanics and an astonishing soundtrack. I basically can't praise it enough, BUT if you're going to play it and have managed to not get it spoiled so far, do yourself a favor and don't read up on it first.
Factorio? I fell in love with it practically because of the nice, flashy power graphs. It's a factory sim with "tower defense" aspects but you can play peaceful mode if you (like me) are not into that or don't like its combat mechanics.
TIS-100, Shenzhen IO, SpaceChem, Opus Magnum or Zachtronic games in general, if the last one was somehow not geeky enough. A lot of the zachtronic-style games have more or less the same general idea and they also focus on some nostalgia/zeitgeist type things. TIS-100 and Shenzhen IO are coding games on an imaginary computer, you basically write a minimal form of "assembly". SpaceChem and Opus Magnum have the same basic problem solving thing but are less overtly "code-y". TIS-100's UI is very "faux retro" and their last game, Last Call BBS doubled down on that aesthetic, really drilling down into the "90's kids' idea of computing back in the day". I personally didn't like the actual LCBBS games or activities but the presentation is really neat.

I guarantee you will never find a game like the Return of the Obra Dinn. Never. It’s a shame that I will never ever be able to re-experience playing it for the first time again. If I could erase my memory of it to play again I would.
Unheard is another good one. It scratches the itch after you’ve played Obra Dinn and you’re clamoring for more. It depends on proximity and sound and attention to detail to play and solve. Amazing.
Gorogoa is absolutely amazing and beautiful. It’s a puzzle game you will appreciate as a designer. It uses perspective. Gorgeous.
- I guarantee you will never find a game like the Return of the Obra Dinn. Never.
  Have you heard about The Case of the Golden Idol? I haven§t played it yet, but from what I§ve heard it's really good (it was most innovative game of last year on Independent Games Festival IIRC), and should be really similar to Return to Obra Dinn.
  
  I've played both.
  Obra Dinn is better for me, but I enjoyed both
- The Case of the Golden Idol scratches a similar itch to Return of the Obra Dinn, just in case you missed that one. Bit simpler and more episodic though.

Rain World (I love it so much please take it away from me before I lose all of my free time):
Very fluid procedural movement that takes 300+ hours to learn
Torturous first 20 hours that most people give up during
- I did play it for a while, but as you've said - I've eventually given up. I did see a few talks/videos about the game, and I really like what they are doing! Which is enough for me to enjoy the game, since I can appreciate a good design in theory. I had exactly the same experience with Pathologic - I'm just not patient enough to finish it, but I really love reading about it's design and what they are trying to accomplish with it, even though it's not for me.
  
  yeah, I've never heard of anyone that didn't give up on rain world once.
  I personally gave up on it until I found out about a coop mod that you can use to play with a friend, and I played it with my friend (who also gave up on it once) until I got past that 20h that makes the game really fun.

Read through some quick replies, I'd recommend Superhot a game where time moves only if you move, highly recommended.
- superhot is the most innovative shooter i've played in years
  
  superhot is the most innovative shooter I've played in years

Creeper World 4 - a sort of tower defence, but you are fighting the ocean. Sounds insane, and the graphics are not really great. But the core game play loop is so well refined. Check out the mods as well such as "light play as creep" or LPAC where you are the ocean instead.
- I'm still on Creeper World 3 and it's also very good. So was number 1. I didn't enjoy 2 (which has different mechanics) as much.

I've only played two of the games you mentioned, thanks for the list! Here are a few I thought were especially interesting and that I played somewhere recently:
Nuts - you set up cameras to track movements of squirrels to find their hidden stash; gameplay is placing cameras and reviewing footage
140 - platformer stripped to its roots; the novelty is the simplicity; honorable mention Thoth (same idea, but twin stick shooter)
Ys 1 - ARPG with bump combat, which I found very interesting
Death Squared - MP (2 or 4) puzzle game where moving one unit can move set pieces, so coordination is needed
Titan Souls - boss rush, but with 1HP for you and the boss
Gorogoa - abstract puzzle game
Donut County - you're a hole
Fez - 2D puzzle platformer where the gimmick is it's actually 3D, but you can only see one 2D surface at a time (rotate worpd mechanic)
And some you're probably aware of:
Superhot
Doki Doki Literature Club
Oxenfree
Portal/Portal 2
Undertale
Thanks again for the list! I'm excited to see what others post too!
Edit: I just wanted to say thanks for the post! I found a ton of great games to try out, and I hope you got the same out of it. :)

Factorio - the factory sim game part is fairly standard but the pollution mechanic is really neat. The more you build, the more you pollute, which feeds the monsters which attack your factory. It's self balancing.
Hardspace shipbreaker - the physics are damn close to real, within reason. You have a tractor beam and a laser saw. You break down space ships into salvageable bits. Voice acting is superb.
Terra Nil - most sim factory games have you exploit natural resources to achieve a goal, ruining the area in the process. This is the opposite. You're planting and reforesting, trying to undo the devastation. It's the anti Factorio.

This ended up a bit longer than I intended, whoops. Most of your examples are more conceptually unique than most of these, but I figured it couldn't hurt to mention them since they all do something 'different' you might find interesting. I've really enjoyed all these games myself.
Perspective - Absolutely mind-blowing, this is the one that I think fits your question best. There's both walking around in a 3d environment and 2d platforming, but the platforming is based on your perspective. It's hard to describe, but it's free (college project), so go check it out!
Cortex Command - I wouldn't exactly call it experimental, but it's certainly unique. The selling point is the fully destructible particle-based 2d environment. It may be 20 year old abandonware, but there's a reason it still has an active fanbase working to improve it (check out the Cortex Command Community Project).
Antichamber - Reality-bending first person puzzler. It can be frustrating at times but it has some seriously mind-boggling challenges.
Little Inferno - You burn things. It's amazing.
Reassembly - Hard to describe, kinda like 2d space legos with some strategy elements? You build spaceship things and slowly amass your army, gathering resources and commanding your fleet. It's a bit sandboxy for my taste but I've never played another game with this unique mix of strategy and building. It's a lot of fun seeing the ships you create flying around independently, gathering resources, fighting enemies and even making more ships themselves.
Melody's Escape, Beat Hazard (1/2/3), Symphony - I'm a big fan of games that use music for generating levels, and these are my favorites. It's a small 'genre' but it's fascinating to me to see how different developers approach it. Melody's Escape is a rhythm game which is pretty unique among this 'genre', Beat Hazard has spectacular visuals and adds in progression (with varying degrees of success), and Symphony is pretty similar to Beat Hazard in basic conception but executes things differently at every level.
Sanctum 2 - Combination tower defense + FPS. The unique thing about this is less the idea and more how well it's executed. A ton of fun with friends.
Yoku's Island Express - Pinball metroidvania-lite. What can I say, they make it work.
The Beginner's Guide - A linear story / adventure game sort of thing. The setup is essentially about exploring different short games made by someone who committed suicide. It's slow and sad, but has a unique concept that it executes well. It has a couple of twists that really make the game.
Shelter 1 & 2, Meadow - Shelter 1 is a linear adventure game where you play as a badger mother caring for her pups. Shelter 2 is a nonlinear survival game where you play as a lynx mother caring for her... kits? Then Meadow is a sandbox social MMO in the same universe, with little goal aside from just interacting with other players; but there's no text chat, only a limited set of emotes and some actions you can do. This is a great little family of games, each being an entirely distinct and unforgettable experience.
The Messenger - Starts out as a linear 8-bit-styled action platformer that (spoilers) turns into a 16-bit-styled metroidvania. Conceptually that's all that really makes it unique but it's done well, lots of fun.
Recently I've been exploring flash games again. I played them a lot as a kid, but in revisiting them I'm blown away at how unique and interesting so many of them are. Here are a few of the more unique ones you might enjoy, you'll have to use something like Flashpoint to play them:
This Is The Only Level - There's one level, but the mechanics change each time you complete it. Super fun.
Demons Took My Daughter - A combination 2d platformer and tower defense (complete with mazing). It's worth checking out all of the developer Nerdook's games, he has a habit of mixing genres in completely new ways.
This is not a minimalist game - A short adventure game, nothing groundbreaking but has some interesting ideas.
The Day - This is a weird one, kind of hard to describe without spoiling it but it's like <20 minutes to beat, mostly just a walking simulator sort of thing. The game's dev, Gregory Weir, has a lot of experimental games, if you like this one you'll probably like more.
Sugar, Sugar - A really unique puzzle game, its basic idea is simple but it makes the most of it. Another dev to check out more from.
- Melody’s Escape, Beat Hazard (1/2/3), Symphony
  Rythm/music-based games are my favourite! If you haven't already, I recommend giving Sayonara Wild Hearts a try - while it doesn't use your own music, it's still more of an interactive music album than a video game. From your list I haven't played Melody's Escape, so I will check it out. Also games like Metal: Hellsinger or BPM: Bullets Per Minute.
  I still didn't have time to check Soundfall, but it also sounds like a game that can be fun. It doesn't look like it can use your own music, but I think that's not that much of a problem - I preffer hand-crafted experiences as far as rythm games go.
- I loved anti chamber until I finished it. The last minutes kinda killed it for me, I was going to do a complete playthrough, then it was like, "why'd they do that?"
  
  I never actually finished it! That's too bad. If it's not a great ending anyway, could you spoil it for me?

Superliminal might be a good one for you, lot of perspective trickery and new ideas going on there.

Don't know how well known it is, but Who's Lila is a point and click adventure game when you progress by controlling the character's facial expressions

II would recommend these:
The Last Guardian: A story game where you are a small boy and you have a giant cat/bird/dog thing you befriend and try to escape the area. You are almost completely reliant on the animal and it is very unique. If you are an animal lover, you will love this game. This is exclusive to the PS4, but still is highly recommended. If you can't play it, watch a let's play because it is beautiful in more ways than one.
The Stanley Parable: A comedy game where all of your actions have some sort reaction from the narrator. It is a lot of fun. Other people have listed this and can give a better description.
The Beginner's Guide: A game from the developer of The Stanley Parable. However, the games could not be more different. This "game" is basically a story told by the developer who narrates about his time with a fellow game developer. It is very good, will make you think and is best played blind. Just keep in mind that this is not a funny game.

There's a game called Journey which is... mystically beautiful? It's mystical because it's basically just a walking sim with a few puzzles to solve in between, but yet it really draws out the emotions. I've played many games like this but nothing trumps Journey yet.
It's mostly single player but if you play it online, once in a while you'll come across a fellow traveler from another instance whom you can share the journey with for a while, or not.
- Journey was one of the first games that made me fall in love with unique game design.
  ::: spoiler spoiler about a game mechanic that makes it so good The way how they sneaked in non-consentual multiplayer (which I actually didn't even realize is a MP until I've read about it somwhere, I though it's an AI) is amazing and made the experience so much better. It was a really emotional experience thanks to that, and the fact that I will never have a chance to meet the other player who made my experience so interesting only adds to it weight. I still think about it sometimes. :::

Here's one you almost definitely won't know. Guy made his own game engine to make it work.
Hyperbolica - A whimsical Non-Euclidean adventure with mind-bending worlds full of games, puzzles, mazes, and secrets! Immerse yourself in reality-warping geometries where lines can never be parallel, horizons are curved, and space grows exponentially.
- Do you need VR for it, or is it a decent experience on a flat screen?

You might like the demo for a game I'm making. It's free, on Steam and is a standalone game (not just a slice of the main game), where the little demo character dies if you quit. So he does everything in his power to convince you not to.
I've yet to hear of someone who didnt enjoy the experience.
store.steampowered.com/app/2021600/Game_Over/

I dont know if it still can be found, but Achron is a Time travel strategy game. Think command and conquer where you can send orders and troops in the past. One the change is done, the effects will travel in the time line as a wave. Fixing the paradoxes Letting you send troops back 5 minutes giving time clones for the attack.
https://youtu.be/rGmMenc1jCY
- Time travel games immediately make me think of Bastion.

Superliminal is a fun puzzle game that plays with perspective to find out-of-the-box solutions.
- Ooh, thanks for mentioning that. Someone was recommending the Viewfinder, and I thought that I've already played it - but I actually mistook it for Superliminal!

Kinda surprised no one has mentioned Noita yet. Its a roguelike where every pixel is simulated, which lets you do cool things like burning the floor walls to light enemies on fire, then putting it out with some water (and also just makes it look really cool). Also even though its a roguelike the world is still completely, open so you can go back and forth from harder areas to the earlier ones, which i havent really seen before.
- This one seems to make even hardcore gamers hate it with difficulty. Seems similar to rain world a bit? I own rain world but have barely played
  
  Ya its super hard, but I think thats kinda the point. It has a similar feeling to rain world where you are just exploring some world where everything can and will kill you, instead of a more gamey world thats trying to actually be fair and let you win if that makes sense
- I love it so much; it’s wilfully tortuous and obtuse yet it’s those very qualities that make it what it is.

Cruelty Squad rapidly became one of my favorite games. It's a true art piece designed with a significant amount of spite, for both the world we live in and the player punishing themself with the game. Every single part of the game is thoughtfully designed, down to the fishing mechanic. It challenges you, both in its gameplay and in its audiovisual experience. It's abrasive on purpose, to wear you down until you get used to it and can build yourself back up better.
Pyrocynical recently did a video about the game but it's very long and a bit too revealing for someone who knows nothing, so I actually recommend Markiplier's video which shows just how bizarre the game is to get in to going in blind.

The Unfinished Swan came instantly to my mind.
Some others that might intrest you but I'm not sure really qualify with the description:
Roto force - Quirky take on a bullet hell game
Yukos Island express - Metroidvania pinball
The Witness - Well known puzzle game that has you looking for 2D shapes in 3D areas, and other things
Quantum Break - Mixing TV between chapters, didn't live up to it's potential in my opinion
- The Witness is one of those games I more enjoy reading about than playing. I really love the theory that the game was designed with the goal of just abusing the popularity of the devleoper, and trying to make a game as annoying and time-wasting to play as possible, just to see if the audience would still accept and praise it, because it's from someone who's a popular and known game designer. Which is what has happened - the game was really well received. And it's also true that some mechanics aren't making any sense and are in direct contrast with the main description of the game on Steam:
  The Witness is a single-player game in an open world with dozens of locations to explore and over 500 puzzles. This game respects you as an intelligent player and it treats your time as precious. There's no filler; each of those puzzles brings its own new idea into the mix. So, this is a game full of ideas.
  This is blatantly false. There are puzzles that requires you to wait for an hour. Slow moving lifts and contraptions. The whole first part of the game is just the same mobile-game style puzzles, with minor twists in between. And that's why I love the game from the game design perspective - because if it's true that it was indeed made to mess with players, it was a success and I really respect that the developer did that.
  Also, it has inspired someone to make The Looker, and parody games are my most favorite genre.
  
  I had no idea The Witness was made by an acclaimed developer; I played it because I saw a Youtube video titled "The Witness—A Great Game You Shouldn't Play" from a Youtuber I liked, and decided that despite his warning I needed to play the game before watching the video. Since I never ended up finishing it, I also never got around to watching the video, lol.
  I really liked it because "solve these puzzles without being told what the rules are or what counts as part of a puzzle" is like my favorite genre of puzzle game.
  
  I never knew that the creator meant to torture the players of this game. It completely makes sense in retrospect. I absolutely hated this game and couldn't finish it. It consistently gave me virtual vomit/migraines to the point that I rage quit and uninstalled it. Now I feel a little better knowing the game was a troll.
  
  I honestly wasn't super found off the witness either. Not a big puzzle game fan but I was recommended to play it and I stuck with it long enough to get the achievements. The Looker however made the witness 100% worth playing for me. Absolutely hilarious.
  I just want to bat for The Unfinished Swan again. It was pretty popular when it released on PS, but the first mechanic instantly pulled me into the game. The screen and scenery is all completely white, no shading, no nothing. You can't see where the floor ends and a wall begins. You throw what looks like black ink around to be able to navigate the environment. I don't find the rest off the game as interesting but I was super invested after the opening
- I surprisingly loved Yokos Island adventure. At first I was like what is this game, but it sucks you in.
  Great weird game!

How about Before Your Eyes? To my knowledge, it is the only game that uses blinking as a gameplay mechanic.

Check out Shadow of Doubt. Never played anything quite like it. Rough as hell.
You play a detective solving procedurally generated murders. They don’t all seem possible to solve but the idea is amazing. Early access

Auditorium is a very fun puzzle game, unfortunately not updated for higher rez screens. Would recommend checking it out if you like indie games, non traditional games, puzzle games, or awesome soundtracks.
Nimbus is an interesting level based game, feels a bit like a cell phone port, but a simple yet hard to master mechanic.
Return of the obra-dinn is one a lot of people will recommend, and I agree with them. An almost point and click mystery game so fully thought through and developed as to awe it's player with it's thorough-ness.
Disco Elysium is like the above, a nearly fully voice acted crpg fleshed out to such an unbelievable extent.
If you enjoy exploring the meta-ness of a video game the Stanley parable is very good.

Stacklands - a "city building survival strategy card game"
Moncage - a game where you match objects from different scenes viewed from the faces of a cube in order to progress by changing perspectives.
Tiny Topia - a city building game, except it's a toy city, you can stack buildings on top of each other, and it sometimes involves having to balance your city on an object so it doesn't tip over.
Superliminal - a first-person puzzle game where "perception is reality" (e.g. things change size when you move them around based on how large they look from your perspective).
I haven't actually played any of these. I found out about them watching Real Civil Engineer on Youtube, who plays a lot of building and simulation games but also plays weird stuff perhaps more often than the average gaming youtuber.

If you want weird go Eastern European
Cryostasis: Sleep of Reason - stuck on a nuclear ice breaker where you have to play back frozen members of the ships cause of death and save them. In addition to this the core health mechanic is the most unique I have found in a game where health is decided by how warm you are so you can recover off steam pipes and can as lose health in colder regions of the ship
The void - I don’t know too much about it since I never managed to complete it but this is really odd. It’s like Okami but I’m sort of this hellish weird world. You have to draw shapes to do things like attack enemies. Plus again another health system where you lose health as you stay on the menu screen very weird.
There are a lot more and all tend to be fairly bleak but cyrostasis I 100% recommend the story is just as good as it plays out through those death scenes

A fairly unique game that I've played and have never experienced anything like it since, is Doki Doki Literature Club. It's very easily spoiled, but one must be forewarned it is psychological horror and it's warning at the beginning of the game is on point. It's radically different than anything else here, but there's also nothing like it that I can think of to compare it to. Sure, it's basic gameplay is "visual novel" but it goes way beyond that. Again, it's absolutely a psychological horror and it does touch on extremely sensitive topics. So avoid if that sounds problematic, but as a standalone work, it honestly creates a category all its own and I'll likely never play a game that recreates anything close to it.
And totally different but a lot closer to other suggestions is the game Bastion. Very interesting time-manipulation puzzle solving with a intriguing plot story that doesn't steal the focus but is still good enough to add value to the game.
- I've played Doki Doki Literature Club, and I really love how did they approach the horror genre. IIRC Undertale is doing something similar at it's ending, but you are right that from the top of my head I don't remember many games experimenting in this direction.
  
  YOU and ME and HER does something similar, but it's way longer. The story takes a bit to get started, but it's one of my favourite games of all time. You should check it out.
  It's also on Steam, but for that version you need to install the Director's Cut patchto get the intended experience.
  
  There's also Pony Island that has similar fourth wall breaking mechanics. I think the developer Daniel Mullins has made a couple other games in a similar vein, though I haven't played any of them. Stanley Parable comes to mind too, though that's a little different.

So I would also recommend Antichamber, Manifold Garden, and Unfinished Swan. I would also add the following:
What Remains of Edith Finch - while technically a walking simulator it really does provoke a child like sense of exploration while providing a very adult storyline.
Thomas was Alone - this is a platformer at heart but the minimalist design, innovative mechanics, and great storytelling make this game a must play.
The Spectrum Retreat - this is technically a Portal clone but the puzzle mechanic is based on color and manipulation of environment. The story is bleak but compelling. And as the story progresses your view of the hotel changes adding to the tension.
The Bridge - not going to lie this puzzle game gets brutal but the mechanics are like nothing I've ever played before or since. You navigate through Escher-like environments. If you can get it cheap and don't mind using a help guide I'd say go for it.
Honorable mention/good time wasters:
Hexalogic - number puzzler and great zen experience. I've not found another game like it and I wanted more when I finished it.
Inbento - a cute puzzle slider game where the board is a bento box. The game introduces more mechanics as it progresses and it gets hard.
- You might like klocki, a puzzle game which isn't hard but it feels good to play. I got it as part of a bundle and enjoyed my brief time with it.

Crypt of the Necrodancer - Rhythm-based dungeon crawler
Forgot what it's called but there's a VR game where your hands are stuck in a box and you sit down and hold a controller that moves gadgets on the box to solve puzzles. Very fun, would recommend. There are optional rewards for being perceptive about your environment.
- That would be Statik Institute of Retention. Unfortunately it's only for the first PSVR. I'm really disappointed they haven't ported it to PSVR2.

I don't think I've seen these two mentioned so throwing them in.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/322450/FRAMED_Collection/ Framed has an amazing and creative use of comic panels that you rearrange to try and get to the right set that lets you move to the next page. However, putting them in the 'wrong' order gives very entertaining sequences and sometimes that's exactly what you need to do to progress. I highly recommend the entire collection. I think it's a near masterpiece of visual gameplay, with no dialogue at all (if I recall rightly) and even instructions all being visual indicators.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/224460/Contrast/ Contrast has an interesting puzzle mechanic where you have to transition between the 3D world of colours and 2D world of shadows to platform to the next location. It's interesting to see how the shadows and lights can be used and the way the story unfolded through the game made good use of the medium.
I've also seen certain games here that I'll be sure to add to my list.

Dominions 5: strategic turn by turn game where you play a god and all the armies of his nations. Dozens of spells, you can equip your units with items you forged. Unique mechanism: your god, your prophet, your clerics and your temple can spread faith. No faith = game over. Some nations have specifics rules about faith, for exemple a Astec one has to sacrifice virgin, another (Ermor) has a faith which kill his population an turn it undead, another one inspired by lovecraft generate mad men...
- Great game, can't wait for dom6 to release. There's a Steam page already and the changes already mentioned have me feeling things.
  
  I pray for QoL changes for years. Hope this one is the good one.

Super Time Force Ultra
It's a side scroller where you can rewind time to fix your mistakes and if you can't progress further, just let yourself die and respawn alongside all of the past versions of you to help yourself get further.

I'd highly recommend Patrick's Parabox. It's an incredible little puzzle game that revolves around paradoxical movements of pieces in each puzzle. I don't know how to adequately describe it, but it was incredibly unique.

Braid is a puzzle platformer divided into several sections, where time functions differently in each section and you have to figure out how to use it to solve the puzzles. It's very well designed and (as I remember it) the puzzles can be quite challenging.

Antichamber for a good old school mind bending puzzle game

might not be what you are looking for but i strongly recommend project zomboid for the best unique costumizable survival game. i think there is no other game like it

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