The Neverhood Chronicles. It's the game that inspired my username. In many ways it's just another point-and-click adventure game...except its wacky claymation world and characters.
Zeno Clash. It's a first person brawling game with some FPS elements thrown in. It has a truly surreal and unsettling world, with an equally bizarre story to boot.
Space Station: Silicon Valley. An overlooked and underrated game for the N64. You're a robot assistant to a dim-witted mercenary sent to investigate a space station. Your ship crashes and your metallic body is destroyed, forcing you to "posess" the robotic animals that live on the station with your processor chip. each different type of animal has its own unique weapons and abilities that help you progress through the game.
Dungeons of Daggorath. Very early "dungeon crawler" game originally made for the Tandy TRS-80 Color Computer. Uses a "heartbeat" mechanic for health. Basically any action you do exerts yourself to some degree, raising your heartbeat. Getting hit by enemies accelerates your heartbeat much more. If your heart starts beating too fast you pass out and will probably be killed/eaten by the various enemies in the dungeon. This mechanic makes the game surprisingly tense despite its ancient visuals. It just goes to show that you don't need good graphics to create a good atmosphere.
The original creator was kind enough to make the title public domain. You can get a PC port for free at http://mspencer.net/daggorath/doddownload.html
Dungeons of Daggorath. Very early "dungeon crawler" game originally made for the Tandy TRS-80 Color Computer. Uses a "heartbeat" mechanic for health. Basically any action you do exerts yourself to some degree, raising your heartbeat. Getting hit by enemies accelerates your heartbeat much more. If your heart starts beating too fast you pass out and will probably be killed/eaten by the various enemies in the dungeon. This mechanic makes the game surprisingly tense despite its ancient visuals. It just goes to show that you don't need good graphics to create a good atmosphere.
The original creator was kind enough to make the title public domain. You can get a PC port for free at http://mspencer.net/daggorath/doddownload.html