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For people who are unaware "Return of the Obra Dinn" and "Papers, Please" are both games by Lucas Pope and they are both considered absolute classics and have w

For people who are unaware "Return of the Obra Dinn" and "Papers, Please" are both games by Lucas Pope and they are both considered absolute classics and have won multiple awards. Well worth checking out even if you don't consider yourself a typical game-enjoyer. They are not typical games.

stavros 2y ago
"Papers, Please" is a masterpiece. Obra Dinn I must have made some mistake, because it stopped giving me clues after way too few stories to match anything else.
- db48x 2y ago
  What do you mean by “stopped giving clues”? The clues are all around you. Hair styles, clothing styles, accents, places, etc.
  - magicalhippo 2y ago
    There were some I found really hard, and required a lot of backtracking, ie watching "other" scenes but picking up who was there in the background and such. I might have had a couple of lets say educated guesses, but the rest was hard work piecing together details. Easily one of my favorite games ever, and I've been playing for almost 40 year now.
  - disillusioned 2y ago
    I can't tell you how much I _loved_ that accents from the voice actors were a part of it. It was the first time I truly felt like a _detective_ in a video game, stuck piecing together whatever I could from a painstaking analysis of the details in front of me. That being said, I got stuck and brute forced my way to one or two solves, only to find out at the very end (talking to a friend who completed it) that I had missed a crucial and very helpful detail. Made it obvious that's why I was stuck trying to brute force, which was deeply unpleasant by design: the triple-match made that very tricky and only once I got the search set down a lot.
    - db48x 2y ago
      Yes, it’s worth knowing going in that if you have to guess then you’ve missed a clue. Or several.
      - Cyph0n 2y ago
        I had to make a few educated guesses of identities towards the end of the game - I think among the last 5 or so people. Now I am wondering which clues I missed.
        egypturnash 2y ago
        If it was "who are all these topmen" then you are supposed to notice the differences in the shoes sticking out of numbered hammocks and use that to put together with the few times they are involved in a memory while awake.
        Cyph0n 2y ago
        It was indeed the topmen. Damn, yeah, completely missed those then haha.
- atribecalledqst 2y ago
  I definitely brute-forced my way through significant portions of Obra Dinn, but the fact that you can do that at all (and it's not TOO onerous) is nice.
- init2null 2y ago
  Once it starts raining you have access to all the bodies you need on the ship. Rewatch every flashback and take notes. Details really matter, and those flashbacks are crime scenes that need to be studied fully. Pay special attention to clips in quick succession, as a clue from another flashback may show the means of death or the killer.
  - stavros 2y ago
    Ahh, thank you! I'm not sure it started raining, I'll check.
    - pdpi 2y ago
      I’m quite fond of watching Let’s Plays of Obra Dinn (it’s the closest I can get to experiencing it for the first time again), and there is a fundamental mistake I see happening over and over: people not getting the rules the game plays by. First off, the game is tough but fair. I’ve seen a lot of people say out loud what the correct solution is, but not punch it in because the game could be tricking them. In fact, the game would rather give you a hard puzzle and help you solve it rather than giving you an easy puzzle and trick you away from the solution. Second, the game does a a neat trick of using very contrived game-y mechanics (the magic of the pocket watch) to present information, but only to enable that information following fairly natural real world logic, rather than puzzle game logic. People are unexceptional — they hang out with their peers, use more or less familiar language depending on who they’re talking to, stick to their jobs unless shit is hitting the fan (and even then, their job informs how they react).
      - the_af 2y ago
        Another thing I like about Obra Dinn is that some puzzles admit more than one solution when two interpretations make equal sense.
  - the_snooze 2y ago
    >Details really matter, and those flashbacks are crime scenes that need to be studied fully. This is really what the game is all about. It's amazing when you're going through a scene for the 10th time and pick up on a huge clue that's been hiding in plain sight all that time.
tmountain 2y ago
Papers, Please is an all time favorite of mine. I made flash cards to remember key bits of information and drilled on them to improve my review skills. Not many games would have me doing that. Never played Obra Dinn because the art style didn’t appeal to me. That said, if you like mystery games, check out Curse of the Golden Idol. It’s adjacent to these games from a creative standpoint and a lot of fun.
- SamBam 2y ago
  I've only played Obra Dinn, but I similarly had a notebook filled with notes that I used through the game.
- ta_1138 2y ago
  Remember that Curse of the Golden Idol is getting a sequel next week
- the_af 2y ago
  The art style grows on you even if you don't like monochrome graphics, and it's definitely more impressive in motion rather than in screenshots. I say give it a chance, you're missing a cool game.
mietek 2y ago
I've been playing FPS games since "Wolfenstein 3D", and "Return of the Obra Dinn" is the only one that has ever given me motion sickness. Still finished it.
- karmelapple 2y ago
  I like the art style a lot and was so excited to play it. After a two hour session on my TV, I had to stop due to motion sickness, and I haven’t picked it back up since. Was really fun though.
Forgeties79 2y ago
His website has many really cool projects he did for game jams. Really fun/creative ideas. Several became full games.
- chamomeal 2y ago
  He also did an interview on the playdate podcast, which was super fun. One of those little tidbits that reminds you why it can be so easy to fall in love with programming.
  - Forgeties79 2y ago
    I’ll have to check that out!

stavros 2y ago

"Papers, Please" is a masterpiece. Obra Dinn I must have made some mistake, because it stopped giving me clues after way too few stories to match anything else.

db48x 2y ago
What do you mean by “stopped giving clues”? The clues are all around you. Hair styles, clothing styles, accents, places, etc.
- magicalhippo 2y ago
  There were some I found really hard, and required a lot of backtracking, ie watching "other" scenes but picking up who was there in the background and such. I might have had a couple of lets say educated guesses, but the rest was hard work piecing together details. Easily one of my favorite games ever, and I've been playing for almost 40 year now.
- disillusioned 2y ago
  I can't tell you how much I _loved_ that accents from the voice actors were a part of it. It was the first time I truly felt like a _detective_ in a video game, stuck piecing together whatever I could from a painstaking analysis of the details in front of me. That being said, I got stuck and brute forced my way to one or two solves, only to find out at the very end (talking to a friend who completed it) that I had missed a crucial and very helpful detail. Made it obvious that's why I was stuck trying to brute force, which was deeply unpleasant by design: the triple-match made that very tricky and only once I got the search set down a lot.
  - db48x 2y ago
    Yes, it’s worth knowing going in that if you have to guess then you’ve missed a clue. Or several.
    - Cyph0n 2y ago
      I had to make a few educated guesses of identities towards the end of the game - I think among the last 5 or so people. Now I am wondering which clues I missed.
      - egypturnash 2y ago
        If it was "who are all these topmen" then you are supposed to notice the differences in the shoes sticking out of numbered hammocks and use that to put together with the few times they are involved in a memory while awake.
        Cyph0n 2y ago
        It was indeed the topmen. Damn, yeah, completely missed those then haha.
atribecalledqst 2y ago
I definitely brute-forced my way through significant portions of Obra Dinn, but the fact that you can do that at all (and it's not TOO onerous) is nice.
init2null 2y ago
Once it starts raining you have access to all the bodies you need on the ship. Rewatch every flashback and take notes. Details really matter, and those flashbacks are crime scenes that need to be studied fully. Pay special attention to clips in quick succession, as a clue from another flashback may show the means of death or the killer.
- stavros 2y ago
  Ahh, thank you! I'm not sure it started raining, I'll check.
  - pdpi 2y ago
    I’m quite fond of watching Let’s Plays of Obra Dinn (it’s the closest I can get to experiencing it for the first time again), and there is a fundamental mistake I see happening over and over: people not getting the rules the game plays by. First off, the game is tough but fair. I’ve seen a lot of people say out loud what the correct solution is, but not punch it in because the game could be tricking them. In fact, the game would rather give you a hard puzzle and help you solve it rather than giving you an easy puzzle and trick you away from the solution. Second, the game does a a neat trick of using very contrived game-y mechanics (the magic of the pocket watch) to present information, but only to enable that information following fairly natural real world logic, rather than puzzle game logic. People are unexceptional — they hang out with their peers, use more or less familiar language depending on who they’re talking to, stick to their jobs unless shit is hitting the fan (and even then, their job informs how they react).
    - the_af 2y ago
      Another thing I like about Obra Dinn is that some puzzles admit more than one solution when two interpretations make equal sense.
- the_snooze 2y ago
  >Details really matter, and those flashbacks are crime scenes that need to be studied fully. This is really what the game is all about. It's amazing when you're going through a scene for the 10th time and pick up on a huge clue that's been hiding in plain sight all that time.

tmountain 2y ago

Papers, Please is an all time favorite of mine. I made flash cards to remember key bits of information and drilled on them to improve my review skills. Not many games would have me doing that. Never played Obra Dinn because the art style didn’t appeal to me. That said, if you like mystery games, check out Curse of the Golden Idol. It’s adjacent to these games from a creative standpoint and a lot of fun.

SamBam 2y ago
I've only played Obra Dinn, but I similarly had a notebook filled with notes that I used through the game.
ta_1138 2y ago
Remember that Curse of the Golden Idol is getting a sequel next week
the_af 2y ago
The art style grows on you even if you don't like monochrome graphics, and it's definitely more impressive in motion rather than in screenshots. I say give it a chance, you're missing a cool game.

mietek 2y ago

I've been playing FPS games since "Wolfenstein 3D", and "Return of the Obra Dinn" is the only one that has ever given me motion sickness. Still finished it.

karmelapple 2y ago
I like the art style a lot and was so excited to play it. After a two hour session on my TV, I had to stop due to motion sickness, and I haven’t picked it back up since. Was really fun though.

Forgeties79 2y ago

His website has many really cool projects he did for game jams. Really fun/creative ideas. Several became full games.

chamomeal 2y ago
He also did an interview on the playdate podcast, which was super fun. One of those little tidbits that reminds you why it can be so easy to fall in love with programming.
- Forgeties79 2y ago
  I’ll have to check that out!