The gaming world is full of titles that seek to make a name for themselves by being bizarre and weird. Most fall into the trap of simply being gross, unusual, or awkward without delivering on the core necessities of being a game or attracting positive critical or player reception.
Every once in a while, though, a strange or quirky game will rise through the ranks to make it onto the steam charts alongside more traditional titles. These weird games impact gaming culture in unique and interesting ways while remaining fun or engaging experiences. Winning awards, making the best sellers list, or simply being the most frequently played, these games have made it to the Steam charts in one form or another and won’t be easily forgotten… no matter how much we want to forget some of them.
11 Goat Simulator
This game is perhaps the most recognizable on the list, and most gamers will have some familiarity with the title, even if it was simply from watching famous YouTubers giggle over the gameplay. Goat Simulator has players gallivant as a goat in a large and rich open world full of odd game mechanics, secrets, easter eggs, and every video game bug or glitch imaginable.
Players will fling their goats off high areas, smash into cars, turn into demons, or simply lick humans to death. There’s no telling what you’ll encounter in this game, and the developers have no intention of fixing the broken parts. They’ve even gone so far as to make some of them necessary to obtain certain achievements.
10 Viscera Cleanup Detail
On the surface, this sounds like the worst game concept in the world; introduce players to a world where they literally run around performing chores like mopping, throwing away garbage, and fixing broken items. Yet Viscera Cleanup Detail makes virtual chores fun by putting players in engaging and interesting environments like secret labs, Santa’s workshop, and eerie, icy tombs.
It also addresses the question of what happens after the hero blitzes through his mission killing enemies and leaving red smears in his or her wake. Some poor sap hired by the hero’s agency, the villain’s organization, or some third-party taking over the area must pick up the shell casings, mop up the blood, and dispose of the bodies.
9 Doki Doki Literature Club
Virtual novels and dating simulators are inherently odd games by design. The goal is often to establish a relationship with a digital character, often leading to some intimate and awkward moments that have players looking over their shoulders to make sure they’re alone.
Doki Doki Literature Club took this concept in a new direction by embedding a horror game deep into a traditional dating simulator. Players will notice odd glitches, strange responses, and other quirks in the beginning with the end-game descending into madness and chaos as the lurking horrors within the game fully surface. It’s an odd concept with an equally odd storyline that took a weird game and made it a star.
8 Crypt of the Necrodancer
Rogue-like games have been making a resurgence given how easy they can be to make and play. The basic premise of dungeon crawling with procedurally-generated levels and permanent death hasn’t changed much, and it’s easy for the games to seem likes copies.
That is until Crypt of The Necrodancer rose to prominence on the Steam Charts and surprised gamers everywhere. It has all the traditional elements of a rogue-like game with one exception; everyone is dancing and grooving in the dungeons. It’s a fun and quirky game which lets players slash and smash enemies amidst colorful disco lights and lively music, and it’s not often that a game lets you beat down a hip-shaking skeleton.
7 Mount Your Friends
An awkward game title for an equally awkward game. Fortunately, there’s nothing overtly graphic in this game, and the title is largely misleading, but it’s only a small comfort. In Mount Your Friends, two players are tasked with getting their characters to climb on top of each other in order to reach the highest possible point, resulting in massive towers that must be scaled by players racing a timer.
It’s a legitimately fun game which is simple to understand and play, but difficult to master. What makes the game awkward is that it’s a physics game with ragdoll elements, and the characters are little men in speedos that do a very poor job of maintaining modesty.
6 The Binding Of Isaac
A strange and immensely fun game that seemingly came out of nowhere, The Binding Of Isaac has a deeply tragic storyline, bizarre weapons, and even stranger enemies to overcome. Isaac is an unfortunate child whose deranged mother believes she’s been commanded by God to sacrifice him. To escape her insanity, he flees to the basement and enters a nightmare that, much like Silent Hill, is very symbolic and deeply personal.
Isaac will shoot tears at his enemies, have the ghosts of lost siblings as companions, and even go toe-to-toe with his insane, outrageously disproportionate mother. It’s a deep game with a dark and important message, but make no mistake, it’s weird.
5 Shower With Your Dad Simulator
It’s unclear why this game made the steam charts at all, perhaps it had to do with the cheap price tag of $1, the simplistic gameplay, or the alarming title, but it did make waves when it was released. The game has the main character, a child with a Tom Selleck mustache, correctly identify which of the showering dads is his and navigate to him. The game is basically a fast-paced matchmaking game with disturbing visuals.
The game’s sales page claims it was featured on Comedy Central and is sarcastically considered the “greatest game of all time” by YouTube star PewDiePie. It’s a bizarre game, with simplistic gameplay, and its success was nearly incomprehensible. With a decent ranking on steam charts and placing in the top ten on GiantBomb’s Game of The Year awards a total of two separate times.
4 Totally Accurate Battle Simulator
This is an addictive game and immensely fun to play and watch others play. Totally Accurate Battle Simulator, also known as TABS, is a sandbox game that allows players to create battle scenarios using a massive list of strange units and pit them against each other in a variety of settings.
The game has a campaign mode that requires players to strategically spend their resources on the units necessary to win the battle, but the game shines in sandbox mode. Whether it’s archers fighting mammoths, halflings fighting vikings, or samurais fighting chicken men, this game is nuts. The ragdoll physics are hilarious, the googly eyes are disturbing, and the battle scenarios players can create are absolutely ridiculous.
3 Jazzpunk
This comedic title has generated a small cult following on Steam and was brought out of obscurity when YouTubers like PewDiePie and Markiplier gave the game a whirl and loved it. The player stars as a mysterious secret agent tasked with ridiculous missions like tracking down an artificial kidney so their boss can make a steak and kidney pie.
The game isn’t very long—a normal run on the main quest can be finished in under an hour—but the side content is well worth taking the time to explore and have a little fun. Whether it’s slapping characters with a fly swatter to see their reactions or gunning down enemies in Wedding Qake, this game is hilarious, bizarre, and deserving of its spot on the Steam charts.
2 South Park: Stick Of Truth
If it’s a product of South Park, you know it’s going to be a weird game, and South Park: Stick Of Truth didn’t disappoint. It was a surprisingly well-built turn-based RPG that had players fulfill the role of the hero Douchebag (regardless of what they named him). The hero is tasked with retrieving the stick of truth in order to bring balance to the imaginary fantasy world the kids have created.
During this imaginative role play, a deeply disturbing real-life conspiracy is transpiring in the town of South Park. Government cover-ups, alien abductions, Nazi zombies, and the mysterious origins of the main character will have players rolling with laughter as they grind through this fun game.
1 Hatoful Boyfriend
This dating sim deserves a spot on this list for just how truly bizarre it is when compared to other dating sims. Having the main character court and seduce humans, vampires, androids, and even furries is normal when compared to the dating options in this bizarre game.
The player’s character has the unique privilege of being accepted into a prestigious school that’s entirely populated by birds. As if the dating waters weren’t tumultuous enough, players are now required to figure out what makes a pigeon tick to ensure the date goes well. It’s a truly bizarre game that would only make sense in the dating sim realm, and even then, it’s still weird.
