In addition to the similar games listed above, which have been linked to this game specifically in the database, you may find games with a similar theme to Boo! in the following lists:
While a significant portion of video games focus on combat and competition, these titles offer a less aggressive way to progress and win. None of these games enable or require the player to cause harm to another living thing -- even Mario's merciless campaign to stomp on every Goomba he meets bars him from this list. Or then there's catching and selling fish in Animal Crossing that rule that one out.
Many of them are aimed at children and families, but you'll be surprised how many explore deeper, more mature themes in their narratives, or require just as much skill as a fast-paced first-person shooter. This means there's plenty of offer for parents who might lack the reflexes (or interest) to survive a round of Fortnite.
We've focused on the games you might not expect to be played non-violently here, but you can find the full list at
Non-Violent Games Of the Day curated by James Batchelor.
Video games often create spaces like beautiful paintings. Designers and artists spend years crafting worlds that invite us to interact with realistic or stylised brushstrokes. The games in this list let the play take part in that painting process.
Some of the games here, like
Okami or
Concrete Genie, use painting as a way to solve puzzles to progress through the game. Other games in the list, like
Splatoon,
De Blob or
Chicory, use painting as a way interact with the game world itself. Then there are games like
The Unfinished Swan, that use painting as a way of revealing what is in front of you, giving the impression of limit faculties. Finally, there are games like
Ete or
Dordogne, that use painting in the game to express emotion.
Unlike the world of real painting, in video games anyone can create a masterpiece. The game
Sloppy Forgeries, uses this idea as its main mechanic. You are presented with a classic painting and given a limited time to race other players to recreate it. In amongst the frantic silliness is something lovely. The usual barriers to creativity fall, as we all get stuck in and have a go. Another notable game is
If Found where you are erasing your drawings and paintings in a powerful way that aligns with a narrative of rediscovered identity.
Video games create spaces for us to go and play. These spaces are sometimes an escape from the real world. Equally, games can help us revel and celebrate the real world.
Inspired by an
article written by Keith Stuart about autumnal games, this is a list of games that are played while the leaves are falling.
These games offer, rather than escapism, unique ways to appreciate the season we are living in. They are an exercise in the present moment, where we find writ large, the joys of harvesting apples, warm fires, crisp walks and the breathing in before the long dark of winter.
In this series, we are learning how different aspects of video games work by playing games that offer an easy introduction to this one concept. This is designed for people new to gaming, and aims to identify games with the least barriers. In this entry we are looking at
Puzzle games.
Puzzle video games are a broad genre, as there is something puzzling, or something to solve in most games. The games we specify here focus on a puzzle or conundrum as the main interactive mechanic. They test many problem-solving skills, logic, pattern recognition, sequence solving, spatial recognition, and word completion.
Some puzzle games will focus on a traditional, self-contained, puzzle board with pieces to move. Other video games take this in more conceptual directions, offering puzzles that involve
Action,
Platforming,
Shooting or even
Role-Play relationships with other characters.
In this way, the puzzle can be used to communicate frustration, difficulty or tension as well as offer a sense of control, understanding and ease in
or
Adventure games. Most Puzzle video games are, by their nature,
Turn Based but they can also be integrated into more pressured and time-limited
Action game experiences.
All games make you think in some way or other. However, some are designed to stretch your puzzle-knowhow more than others. There are games that don't lean on reactions or visuals to tell a story. Instead, they offer a conundrum to get you thinking.
I've worked with some people from the
Thinky Puzzle Game movement to track down the best little games that get you thinking. "The devotees of such games have been known to smile at all sorts of diverse puzzles and conundrums. Puzzle games, platformers, number games, word games, games with or without grids, games with or without secrets. Easy games. Hard games. But keep it thinky and save your FPS games and dexterity-intensive platformers for another day."
Many of the games in this list look simple and, well, a bit basic. But that is part of the charm. The clever bit is how their design draws you in and gets you thinking. If you want more like this, you can find helpful people on the
Thinky Puzzle Discord group.
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