15 People Share the Old Video Game They Don’t Think Anyone Else Remembers

We may only play viral or popular games now, but back in the day, video games lived and died by the power of word of mouth. As such, many unique old gems that tried something new, even ones that would be beloved today, seem to have fallen into absolute obscurity. And yet, to us, they were a crucial part of our formative years.

A recent Reddit thread asked gamers to name the old titles they suspected nobody else remembered, producing an eclectic collection of cult favorites, and games that seemed impossible to categorize. Together, these suggestions offer a fascinating tour through gaming history, when developers could take enormous creative risks and somehow convince publishers to actually release them.

Ehrgeiz: God Bless the Ring

Ehrgeiz was already an unusual 1998 arcade fighting game, but its PlayStation version became unforgettable by adding Final Fantasy VII characters including Cloud, Sephiroth, Tifa, and Vincent. It also featured the separate dungeon-crawling Quest mode.

The Incredible Machine

The Incredible Machine turned Rube Goldberg contraptions into an entire puzzle-game concept. Released in 1993, it challenged players to combine objects such as ropes, pulleys, bowling balls, and cats to accomplish deceptively simple objectives.

Tak and the Power of Juju

Tak and the Power of Juju was a colorful 2003 action-platformer from Avalanche Software. Players controlled Tak, a young shaman’s apprentice, through environments filled with puzzles, combat, collectibles, and magical Juju abilities.

Cool Spot

Cool Spot was essentially a 7 Up commercial turned into a 1993 platformer. Players controlled the soda brand’s sunglasses-wearing mascot while rescuing imprisoned Spots, collecting Cool Points, and blasting enemies with soda bubbles across colorful levels.

SimTower

SimTower: The Vertical Empire let players construct and manage an enormous skyscraper, balancing apartments, offices, hotels, elevators, and other facilities. Developed by OPeNBooK and released in 1994, it was later published internationally by Maxis as part of the Sim series.

Bomberman Hero

Bomberman Hero gave the familiar Bomberman character a very different Nintendo 64 adventure. Released in 1998, it was primarily a single-player 3D platformer, emphasizing exploration, weapons, bosses, and numerous levels instead of Bomberman’s traditional multiplayer battles.

Titanic: Adventure Out of Time

Titanic: Adventure Out of Time was a 1996 point-and-click adventure that placed players aboard a detailed virtual recreation of the doomed ocean liner. As a British spy, players explored the ship, solved puzzles, and attempted to alter history.

Little Nemo: The Dream Master

Capcom’s 1990 NES platformer transported Little Nemo into the surreal world of Slumberland. Its most distinctive mechanic involved feeding different candies to animals, allowing Nemo to ride creatures such as frogs, gorillas, and moles to access their abilities.

Jazz Jackrabbit

Before PC platformers became synonymous with 3D, Epic MegaGames released Jazz Jackrabbit in 1994. The fast-moving DOS game drew inspiration from console classics such as Sonic and Mega Man, giving computer players a colorful, weapon-filled alternative.

Descent

Descent arrived on PC in 1995 with something that felt revolutionary at the time: genuine six-degrees-of-freedom movement in fully three-dimensional environments. Players flew through twisting mines while fighting robots, creating a uniquely disorienting first-person shooter experience.

Scorched Earth

Scorched Earth was a 1991 MS-DOS artillery game that turned tank battles into wonderfully destructive strategy exercises. Players adjusted firing angle and power across destructible terrain while choosing from an absurd assortment of weapons, making experimentation central to every match.

Einhänder

Square’s 1997 PlayStation shooter was an unexpected departure for a company better known for RPGs. Einhänder put players in a futuristic spacecraft fighting through a war between Earth and the Moon, with a distinctive mechanical arm used to capture enemy weapons.

A Boy and His Blob

A Boy and His Blob: Trouble on Blobolonia was an unusually inventive 1989 NES puzzle-platformer. The boy’s alien companion transformed into useful objects whenever fed particular jellybeans, turning food flavors into ladders, trampolines, holes, and other essential tools.

ToeJam & Earl

ToeJam & Earl was a bizarre 1991 Sega Genesis adventure starring two alien rappers stranded on Earth. Its randomly generated levels and items were heavily influenced by Rogue, making this funky, humorous game an unusually early console roguelike.

Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem

Eternal Darkness remains one of GameCube’s strangest horror games. Its story spans 2,000 years and twelve playable characters, while its famous Sanity system could manipulate the game itself as characters became increasingly disturbed by supernatural events.