Can you think of games that involve tasks/materials outside of them?

[Scottt]

The question comes from wondering about an old game I was going to post about in the "Games you remember, names you don't" thread when my memory finally jogged:

Swordquest!

Here's a great history of the game and the series it belonged to from Atlas Obscura:

In the game, players moved through a series of rooms, each one corresponding to a Zodiac sign. They had to place specific items in each to uncover numeric clues that would point to word clues in the accompanying comic book. For instance, leaving the Grappling Hook in the Cancer room, and the Rope in the Leo room, would reveal the number clue "25 - 6." This led players to page 25, panel six of the Earthworld comic book where the word "THE" was hidden within the background illustration.

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The comic included 10 different words hidden throughout its 52 pages. But the contest entry form only asked for five words. This final step was deciphered by noticing the words "prime" and "number" were colored purple in the comic book's introduction. This clue indicated that only the words found on prime numbered pages were correct.

In the end, players who wrote in with the phrase, "QUEST IN TOWER TALISMAN FOUND" were awarded the title of "Supreme Sage of Sorcery" by Atari (people with three to four correct words were named "Wise Warrior," and those with only one or two were dubbed "Brave Venturer"), and their names were entered in for a chance to join the final Earthworld tournament.

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The Quest for the Real-Life Treasures of Atari's Swordquest

In the 1980s Atari offered golden treasures as gaming prizes, most of which were lost to time. Until now.

www.atlasobscura.com

Now this kind of this is super cool to me. I like the idea of combining media to fulfill a story or quest.

So I'm wondering if there are more games lately that use "outside" materials in creative ways, though obviously not in the time-sensitive way that the Swordquest contests did. Augmented reality games on our phones have a similar feel, but are there some that require you to interact with other things, keep a notepad, or combine in-game and outside-game things in order to complete them?

 

[TerremotoDePorta]

Fez? Arguably The Witness (because I'm sure as fuck not gonna memorize what every single little icon in the puzzles needs)?

 

[Tali'Zorah]

I suppose the most obvious example is having to look at the back of the actual game case to find a codec number to call in Metal Gear Solid

 

[Orayn]

Technically any 80's era game with physical DRM (looking up words in the manual, code wheels, etc.) were games with a required physical component.

Most dungeon crawlers that lack an auto-map STRONGLY ENCOURAGE you to keep track of things on graph paper, though it's not strictly necessary to proceed.

It's "outside the game" in a different way, but the 2010's saw an increase in indie games that had content you could only access by actually editing game files, like Undertale and DDLC.

 

[Strandr]

Joke answer would be Quantum Break and watching a 25 minute tv show that buffered like crap every chapter of the game

Serious answer would be the puzzle solving required for FEZ, I ended up with a notebook of scribbles and translations of the different in game languages etc that all helped me work towards the max completion

 

[zoltek]

Wasn't there some GBA game, Boktai or something like that from Konami or Namco, where you had to go outside because the cart was light-sensitive?

 

[Acu]

Kentucky Route Zero has an intermission called "Here And There Along The Echo" that, while the game was in development, and as free content (AFAIK) you could Dial the number that the game prompted you to call and you could follow the exact same recordings from the in-game phone in your actual phone.

Only in the US, prolly.

 

[cubistic]

Labo.

 

[show me your skeleton]

there was a game in the 90s (i think) that would send you emails, can't remember anything else about it unfortunately.

 

[Dad_and_Videogames]

The Sword Quest comics were amazing. The games, not so much, but I loved the hell out of the concept.

 

[gblues]

The closest thing we have now to what Swordquest did is an ARG--we just use the Internet now instead of a game cartridge.

 

[SilverArrow20XX]

inFAMOUS Second Son had an AR game called Paper Trail.
It involved following clues on a website that included tasks like making origami that eventually led to unlocking a DLC at the end.
It was really fun for me.

Website's down now unfortunately.

 

[Xwing]

Wasn't there some GBA game, Boktai or something like that from Konami or Namco, where you had to go outside because the cart was light-sensitive?

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Specifically it was a UV sensor I believe, so you couldn't just hold it up to a regular light bulb or something.

 

[CountAntonio]

Does this pack in map for Morrowind count? This was before I had easy access to the internet and I used the hell out of this thing. The way Morrowind quests were worded made it so having a visual aid was great.

 

[Homura]

Doki Doki Literature Club

 

[Buried In Time]

The QR code in FEZ.

 

[Ashes of Dreams]

I suppose the most obvious example is having to look at the back of the actual game case to find a codec number to call in Metal Gear Solid

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And as with everything in Metal Gear Solid, it was also done in Metal Gear 2.

 

[TalonJH]

Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes

One person defuses a bomb on mobile, console, PC or in VR. While another player has to read a bomb disposal manual PDF to the player.

 

[Cels]

physical DRM

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i obviously understood what you meant but this is such a funny (and incorrect) descriptor to me. physical digital rights management, lol. digital is definitely NOT what you're describing.

i would say it's something like antiquated anti-piracy measures, but that isn't really catchy...

 

[Rats]

It's not really what the OP is asking about, but dishonorable mention to the Zodiac Spear in FFXII. Functionally impossible to acquire without external information.

 

[panama chief]

Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes

One person defuses a bomb on mobile, console, PC or in VR. While another player has to read a bomb disposal manual PDF to the player.

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This is exactly what came to mind.

 

[Osu 16 Bit]

In X-Men for NES to get to the final mission you have to enter a code printed on the cartridge. It's also written incorrectly lol

 

[maximumzero]

The Startropics manual needed to be wetted to find a clue to progress in the game.

 

[Oreiller]

In Memorian was a French videogame released in 2003 that was a thriller where you had to investigate a serial killer. Its main innovation and gimmick was you had to use the internet to get clues to progress in the game, both on websites built for the game and on "regular" websites like news sites and the like.

 

[Rookhelm]

There was that one PS3 card game that use the PS3 camera to see the cards and put them in the game

 

[Croc Man]

I suppose pocket station for ps1, vmu for Dreamcast and the pokewalker all count.

I also bought a mgs: peace walker shirt that came with a code to get the same shirt in-game.

 

[RagnarokX]

 

[Jaypah]

Majestic? That game was more out of game than in game. It used phone, email, fax, AOL instant messenger, etc. I never got to participate but I remember thinking it was trippy and cool.

 

[Green Mario]

OneShot makes you use files on your PC.

 

[Scarlett]

X-Men on Genesis required a very light touch on the Reset button when asked to Reset the computer of the Danger Room.

Didn't work at all with a Game Genie.

 

[Zaimokuza]

The train ticket in Layton 2

 

[zMiiChy-]

Some games require you to have 'friends' to complete certain tasks if that counts

 

[Jaded Alyx]

The Startropics manual needed to be wetted to find a clue to progress in the game.

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TWENTY-THREE POSTS

 

[Scottt]

Thanks all! These suggestions are great--a bunch I hadn't come across yet, so I'm going to seek them out.

 

[Tacitus]

There was an early DS game that had a puzzle that required you to half close the clamshell, IIRC to see a reflection or something.

Another Code: Two Memories - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[TeddyShardik]

Ni No Kuni had a bound book that came with the special editions with all the runes, spells, items, etc,
you would encounter in the game.
Sometimes you'd have to translate the runes to build a spell or something so the book was pretty handy to have.
The whole thing was also available in game though so maybe this one doesn't really count.
I vastly preferred to have the book in my lap to digging through a menu and scrolling around the pages though.

 

[MikeProtagonist]

Most games require outside materials, usually in the form of some type of controller...

But yeah, I love gimmick stuff like this. Eye of Judgment for PS3 was super janky and didn't last very long, but it was so cool to see little monsters superimposed on your hand on the screen. Both the DS and the Vita also had various AR stuff to play around with.

In general, PC games usually were much more complex than console games back in the day and in any kind of sim or RPG you were expected to take notes. I remember actually writing a log book while travelling in Frontier. Now that was a game that didn't "respect your time" :D

 

[spad3]

Pokemon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald required a guide in order to get the Regis as the game gave no instruction on how to solve their rooms.

Even finding what to do in order to unlock their rooms required outside help (you'd need a Relicanth and a Wailord).

Shame that the new Pokemon games don't have secrets anymore, let alone dungeons...

 

[Fleck0]

Zachtronics games like Exapunks and Shenzhen I/O have you print out various materials that you need to solve the puzzles. Part of the fun for me is making them look nice.

 

[Hippopuncher12]

I remember one of the Kings Quest games having a puzzle that required the manual. I think it was 6.

 

[bushmonkey]

The free Ben Jordan indie games had a PDF of Ben's journal that you would have to use to solve puzzles.
There are quite a few Ben Jordan games and if you like adventure games, they're really worth checking out:

Adventure Game Studio | Games | Ben Jordan: Paranormal Investigator Case 1 - In Search of the Skunk-Ape

AGS is an Adventure Engine to create graphical point-and-click adventure games - Adventure Game Studio

www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk

 

[chiller]

Hate Plus has an AI character ask you to bake a cake, and provides you with two potential recipes for it. To be clear, that's a real, actual cake made in your real, actual kitchen. There was even an achievement for emailing the developer a picture of your cake while sharing it with the character on your monitor (as of 2018, unlocking the achievement is on the honor system).

 

[Kiro]

Fez? Arguably The Witness (because I'm sure as fuck not gonna memorize what every single little icon in the puzzles needs)?

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Disagree on Witness, there are maybe five symbols to know.

MGS games that you needed a code on the back of the box, or swapping GCN controllers.

Pokemon step counter, though it is optional.

 

[DoctorPlayer MD]

Final Fantasy XV. You need the movie and the anime ro get a full story (/s. Kinda)

 

[Goldbob]

Destiny 1 having the entire story on a website

 

[Deleted member 34949]

Pokemon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald required a guide in order to get the Regis as the game gave no instruction on how to solve their rooms.

Even finding what to do in order to unlock their rooms required outside help (you'd need a Relicanth and a Wailord).

Shame that the new Pokemon games don't have secrets anymore, let alone dungeons...

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I just want to say I love that someone with a DD avatar pointed this one out lmao

 

[Silvergun-Blue]

Yeah, I had pages of notes when playing Fez. I fucking loved it.
When my friend played The Witness he found it useful to use pieces of paper cut into shapes for the puzzles that involved drawing out combinations of shapes.

 

[the dream of waking]

Majestic? That game was more out of game than in game. It used phone, email, fax, AOL instant messenger, etc. I never got to participate but I remember thinking it was trippy and cool.

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I remember seeing that on a shelf in a CompUSA (edit: or it may have been Media Play)back in the day and thinking the premise was cool. Never bought it though.

 

[spad3]

I just want to say I love that someone with a DD avatar pointed this one out lmao

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oh shit, the fact that its all braille...lmfao