The "Can't remember the name of this game" Thread v3.0

Okay, I might have brought it up here before ages ago, I don't remember, but I've been trying to ID this thing for well over a decade to no avail and I'd like to finally put this mystery to rest.

This was somewhere from 96 to 98... I was too old for it and have no idea how or why I had it, but it was one of those "interactive storybook" CD-ROMs. It's none of the well-known ones, I've scoured every one of those in my searches, but here's what little I remember: There were at least two stories on the program, and I seem to remember there being three, but I know there were two for certain. The first one had three creatures sharing a house, and the main thrust was that the house was very messy. Guessing the "moral" was "clean up your shit, kid". I remember the creatures being tall and lanky in a cutesy way, not entirely unlike tall versions of the Dodos from Looney Tunes, but that's sort of a reach.

The second story I remember less of, but I recall two things quite clearly. One of the random clickables was an old style toilet, and upon clicking it, it would flush and a deepish voice would say "Ahh, what a relief!". The other thing was a scene in which tiny humans were kept in jars (which doesn't help, since that's a trope used in a million things).

For the longest time, I assumed this was a homebrew thing I had somehow gotten from one of the local computer shows we always went to back then, but in hindsight it was way too polished and high quality. It had to have had a wide release. (also, my vague descriptions of what I recall make it sound like the rumblings of a creepypasta, but none of this was even vaguely creepy, it was very much kid-friendly)

I'd be happy if I could even get a "Hey, I remember that" out of someone, just to know for sure that I didn't have some beta or local homebrew that nobody outside of PA ever saw. If that was the case, I'm basically screwed, lol.

Hi all, I have been racking my brain for ages and searching as we do over the net, hopefully someone will remember this game...

So I do remember it was circa 95 pc, loaded from floppy disk, like 8 to 12 of them or so.

When it comes to the game I'm a bit fuzzy on the details, but it was a dark game I remember a forest and it being one screen after another like a puzzle game, but i feel it was point and click some level of fighting enemies was involved, possibly with limited magic and swords.

Biggest thing I remember but probably won't help at all is it was hard for a 7/8 year old me, and I needed to reload the game each time I wanted to play it for some reason.

Hope someone knows of the game and even has a photo of it for my old brain to remember it 😀

Thanks guys

So it was this minigame collection for the PS1 and one of the games maybe involved you dressed up as penguins and pushing each other around on an ice platform. It was definitely Japanese but can't remember more than that.

I was reminded of a video on this website of Brad and I wanna say Ryan or Dave and it was colorful and wild. I recall a lady running around and kicking babies or something like that. I think it was Eastern European. I'm sorry I don't remember more.

@roberthm: Any chance that it's Expendable? It's a 1998 run n gun where the intro shows your character taken from a naked clone to a prepped soldier.

@whitegreyblack:

Unfortunately that is not the cinematic I remember. The two characters are shown in basically a dark void, and the gameplay is a close side scroller as opposed to top down as Millennium Soldier”s gameplay is described.

@electric_messiah: there's a PS1 Japanese game that is a mini game collection but you play as actual penguins - can't find an entry on here but here's a link to it elsewhere Iwatobi Penguin. There's a few youtube videos knocking about to see more of it.

Hi everyone! Tried to find an old game whole night and I think I should just give this a last shot now.

It is a browser game coming out around 2005-2010 I believe. I am not sure it is flash or java or javascript. It's kind of a cute educational kids game which set in ancient China or Japan. The player needs to collect items, finish tasks and solve puzzles to find a little girl as her cat or find her cat as a little girl. The game is quite easy but has quite some levels and I remembered I spent more than 30 mins on it and still had not walked it through.

Really hope I can find it. It tickles me so much right now. Thank you all in advance!

A game in a similar vein as Noita, where ever pixel is simulated. Fantasy esthetic, open-ish world. Still 2D and pixelated. You aren't in a mine, but out and about above ground.

It was featured on Kotaku once, in video form.

Sorry if that was too vague.

That's definitely Cargo.

Hey everybody! I've been researching and looking through the interwebz for a game from my childhood and I just can't seem to find it no matter what descriptions I use. I believe the game came as a demo with an old Compaq computer my parents had bought in the dial up days.

It either came with windows 94, or windows XP, can't remember which. I just know the game doesn't work on any version of windows that came after windows XP. (My brother remembered the name and he told me about a year ago and I looked it up on youtube and even with the name, it wasn't that easy to find and some user had uploaded a video where he had to make a VM with Windows XP in order to run the game). My brother has since passed away and I can't find the video.

On to the description of the game:

It was set in a jungle/forest and it's the type of game where the camera view is as if you were looking at it from the top. IE: You're in a helicopter or something and you're looking down at a forest.

What you were controlling was a spaceship that kinda looked like the millenium falcon in terms of shape from what I can remember (but had nothing to do with star wars) and you just went around the forest shooting down any hostile ships and destroying enemy structures. I don't remember if there was any music on it. My mind wants to tell me the name starts with an S but I might be completely wrong. It wasn't really a mainstream game I think cuz nobody remembers it and most people I knew then didn't play it either. Hope someone can remember so I can write it on the wall in my closet with a sharpie and never forget again :( Thank you all for your time.

@falc0n: sounds to me like Hocus Pocus ?

I have two unknown games that are driving me nuts.

1) An early PS1 game (possibly on other systems too, but I played it on PS1).

I think it's some sort of murder mystery thing. I didn't get far into the game at all, but at the beginning you were outside of a mansion. You control a guy (maybe a detective?) in third person.

The main thing I remember is the music, which was dark and jazzy. "Film noir" kind of vibe.

2) I remember a line from a game, I think it must be a point and click adventure game (probably from the mid 90s, but I'm not sure at this point).

The line is something like: "I must still be goofy from the gas."

I was convinced that it was from Full Throttle but I recently played back through it and the line was nowhere to be found. (There is a puzzle involving siphoning gas, so that must have been what made me think that.)

I don't know if you huff gas at some point in this game or what, but that line is in my head all the time, and I need to figure out where it's from!

@snailwhiskers: Are you sure the second game isn't Full Throttle? There's a part where Ben is riding in the truck with all the manure and says something really like that line.

@snailwhiskers: Nah I think it was released after year 2000

Okay, this is hard but I'll try to explain. it as much as my memory can remember.

There was this browser game, where you fight. There's a story mode and also customs. It was 3D.

One of the characters was a guy that is muscular and fights with fists.

Another one was with a sword.

There were different combos, for example one of them was that he grabs them and throws them away.

The characters had individual names and could level up.

And on the story, for example some of the enemies came up on your screen with horses which you could ride. You could also find a red health potion.

I had it downloaded but I don't know from where.

Ask me more questions, and I'll try to help. Thank you in advance.

@snailwhiskers: 1) Sounds like it might be Alone in the Dark 2.

So I have two at the moment. One all I can remember about is that it was a PS1 fighting game and in the intro a guy pulls off his face to revel he has a scull for a head. The other is an old adventure/edutianment game that you are transformed into a doll at a carnival and are transported to an island that you have to solve puzzles to regain your human form.

Hello! So when I was younger (this would be about 10-7 years ago so 2010-2013 ish?) there was a game I would play on the computer. My memory is really spotty but the main goal of the game I think was to repair a hot air balloon/air ship in order to get yourself off an island. There were helium canisters you collected to fix it as well. It was a 3D game if that helps, there were these small slimeish enemies that may or may not have had orange hair? There was also an underwater area. This game was aimed at young kids, it would’ve been an adventure game I believe. Apologies about my memory being spotty, I just remembered this random game I liked as a kid and wanted to know what it was. Thanks for any help, sorry if I was too vague.

Yes! That's definitely it! It's a little different than I how I remembered, but that's how memory works I guess. Thank you!

@sparky_buzzsaw: Doesn't seem to be, I just checked that part again. There's also a full dialogue script online, and according to that the word "goofy" never appears, and that's the one word I'm sure of.. But I swear I can picture Ben's voice saying the line. I hope this isn't a Mandela Effect situation!

@x19:

It was a game I played in a web browser probably around 10 years ago. I think it may have been a flash game, but regardless it exhibited that type of bad graphics and small window size that flash games do. It was a dungeon crawler where you had 6 characters(Or at least 6 slots where you could have characters, I think maybe you unlocked more as you went?)

You would navigate the dungeon which was split up into tiles. It started all dark and each tile would light up as you navigated to it. You would encounter different things, and sometimes it would be an enemy. If it was an enemy, you would enter combat.

This went to a new screen where you and the enemy each had 6 tiles(3 in front, 3 in back) facing each other. You could place your heroes on the tiles and they had different moves to attack, heal, or do different abilities, that would target different tiles. So you had to strategize where they would be placed. The gameplay was turn-based and the characters were different classes, and you could choose between a variety of portraits of your character.

You could also pick up items along the way, and this was a big part of the gameplay. I remember tower shields were really good(they were tall shields with a medic symbol on them).

I know this is a bit of scattered memories but I remember loving this game.

@babychoochoo: Is the alien game "alien isolation"?

Hey,

I am looking for a PC game I played 10-15 years ago. It is a really simple puzzle game with a grid-like map. You have to control a ball to the left and right, which moves up and down by itself to destroy blocks of different colors. You can only destroy blocks that have the same color as the ball, and some special blocks can change the color of the ball. Then there are some blocks with skulls, which destroy the ball when touched, and many other special blocks. By far the best feature was the level editor, with which you could create your own levels.

Thank you in advance!

Hello good folks,

looking for a small old PC game (maybe 90s or early 20s), where you were laying out clay figures with different sorts of simple actions (I remember e.g. shooting a bouncing ball forward) on a 2D tilemap (it was either isometric or top-down view). It was sort of a simple strategy/puzzle game, not very big, funny cartoonish animations of the actions, mostly beige/orange color.

I remember the figures could dissolve in clay holes on the map, and they could be pushed into it (e.g. with the bouncing ball). The concept was a bit like lemmings (maybe), but on a tilemap with dicrete moves I think.

Thank you very much in advance!

@gustik: Hi, there's a old PC game I remember that mostly fits what you're describing called Magic and Mayhem - although a bit more colourful than you suggest. There's also a game called The Neverhood, which fits closer to the pallet you describe but is a point and click adventure so less likely gameplay-wise.

There's a GB concept page for Claymation that might help with other suggestions for you.

Hope this helps.

@stantongrouse:Dear @stantongrouse , thanks a lot for your effort! I've encountered these games during my search, unfortunatelly it's not amongst those. The figures in the game were not physically made of clay, it was just a completely virtual animation concept where the figures were casted from the clay/mud/sludge and dissolved back to it when destroyed. It was fully PC animated, maybe flash (idk), and a static, single 2D tilemap.

But it was a rather small game, maybe that's why I can't find it :(

old computer game from like the 90s or something

You get to choose to play from a few characters: A girl, a boy, an old scientist, or a robot. You go to either an island on whatever planet you are already on or you go to an island on another planet. There are different environments like an icy cavern, a metal bridge area with some sort of monster, a cave maze with enemies inside you need to avoid, and more. I really want to know!!!

tags educational, adventure, space, island, robots, monsters, caves, sea creatures, different characters to play

@giannamattina: Is this your card?

Jump Start Adventures 4th Grade

Hello! First time here and I'm glad a platform like this exists now :D I have a game that I'm looking for, it's probably flash, there is a story that goes basically like the villain abducts children from the protagonist's village and sucks the life out of them for his own immortality, and the main protagonist goes to the kingdom to save the children. There are many puzzles, it's animated but the characters are static (so they sort of just move on the screen), it's drawn in a very fantastical, celtic/fairy/rune-like manner with gold and sorcery and stuff. It's also a point-and-click adventure and you have to solve the puzzles to save the children basically. The last time I played it was like in 2018 on NotDoppler but I just couldn't find it there anymore, wonder if the game was removed or I just wasn't searching the right place. Thank you in advance!

Hi everyone, trying to find the name of a game I saw once at a friends house when I was young, I never knew the name.

All I remember was that is was a car version of 1994’s Raptor Call: of the Shadows (https://www.giantbomb.com/raptor-call-of-the-shadows/3030-16253/). Same top-down view, same vertical scrolling, similar shooting to kill enemies. I remember it being a burnt lava like world/level.

Any help would be appreciated, it’s been bugging me for years! Cheers

Hey!

The game I'm trying to remember the name of is a music/audio puzzle game, probably for the PC, that came out sometime between 2012 and 2017 I think. Vinny talked about it on the podcast and I remember him saying it was really difficult in the end and he spent like 3 hours on a single puzzle. If I recall correctly it has some modular synth type of gameplay where you have oscillators, LFOs, envelopes and filters and stuff that you need to connect together. Pretty sure it had 2D graphics. Thanks!

EDIT: I found it, it's Fract OSC.

@philedius: The closest I can think might be this... ...Exa Punks

@stantongrouse: That's not it but thanks for replying! Exa Punks is really good!

@philedius: If it's a 3 hour manufacturing puzzle game, it's probably a Zachtronics game and it's probably Shenzhen I/O. It's a predecessor to Exapunks, and it also has a physical product building component, where you slot modular components/chips together and program them. It also has a puzzle where you build a synth, though that isn't the plot itself.

The rest of the description sounds like FRACT OSC though.

@petesix0: Unfortunately no. The art style of the game is like pretty pixelated so not like that polyanimation style. Thank you though!

@giannamattina: Ah well, best of luck in finding it. "Thank you for inquiring at the Nerd Castle - enjoy your day"

Hi guys,

Im looking for a PC game I played as a youngster around 2010. It was an fps survival horror game where you fought infernal creatures such as demons, zombies etc. I remember that the first scenario was a cementery and the second one was an orphanage. The game was very bloody and the weapons were quite diverse: grenade launchers, laser guns, chainsaw-like razors etc. I dont really remember the plot, but I believe it was something related to a car crush where your wife died and you scaping purgatory.

I dont think it became a popular game, so it might be difficult, but I believe I've provided enough details.

Thx in advance.

@millonet1: This sounds a LOT like Painkiller. If it was 2010 it might have been the console port or another game in the series.

The only thing giving me pause is that I would not call Painkiller survival horror. It's much more a straight action FPS. But there are very few survival horror games that have the arsenal you're describing.

@bigsocrates: That's it! Thanks for the reply :)

There is another game from my childhood playing on Amiga. It's quite different than the last one I've mentioned here.

It's an rts with ant soldiers. Not regular ant but cartoony ones wielding firearms and such. At Least I remember it that way.

@ulfhedinn: Do you remember anything else about it? I would have suggested Sim Ant, which was a pretty big release when it came out and the only Ant-based RTS in can find in my Amiga collection, but it's not got the cartoony style and guns (that I can remember but I've not played it in a couple of decades). There weren't a massive amount of RTS games on the Amiga though so we might be able to whittle it down. When I think I have a 'oh gosh what was that RTS' moment about Amiga games it's almost always a Dune mission I have mis-remembered as a separate game.

(Edit) There's a game a friend had on PC called Battle Bugs that much better fits your description but I can't find an Amiga release for it.

So if I remember correctly it was made around the early 2000s or late 90s.

It was an only mouse,shooting game,you play as a soldier you have to shoot the ememy soldier before they do this to you, and I also remember that is starts in a helicopter.You have different kinds of weapon and you can hear the soldiers shouting in english.Thank you very much for answering

Okay, so I played this sometime between 2001-2007 on Windows. The graphics were pretty standard at the time so I don't imagine it would've been made before the 90's at earliest. It might have been a god game, or a city management game. The villagers had portraits when you clicked on them depending on their age and sex (male/female, child/adult/old). The villagers would breed, and I seem to recall that you could direct two villagers to breed if they were both adults of different sexes (I know it's kinda creepy that I remember that, but look, kids remember weird things about video games). And it was NOT the game Black and White.

It was my aunt's game, and I seem to remember her mentioning something about getting attacked by giant bees, but that might have just been something my child brain imagined so it's not a crucial detail.

Thanks!

Cannon Fodder?