Games You Should Only Play Once

This video is a sequel and sort of glue connecting many of the topics I've covered in the past year, as well as a reflection on them. I hope you enjoy. Also, I am deliriously tired as I type this, this week was a lot of work. Turns out, when a video is double the length, you do twice the work. Who could have known. Anyways, hope you all enjoy. Also, I've now updated the description with every game shown in the video with timestamps. Thank you to a dog I know for doing 90% of it while I was asleep as a challenge.

Outer Wilds is the video game that should truly be played once. It's no wonder, people comment with don't spoil anything or tell others to not use a guide with the game. It lives off the mystery of its story, and exploration is the path to the story. You see everything, you know everything, and there's only one first playthrough.

Someone said that being a Youtuber is like strip-mining all your life for meaningful content. It seems like you've discovered the devastation this mining process causes. My condolences.

Holy crap, that Helldivers 2 post made my IQ plummet. Meta-chasing is one of the worst thing to have happened to multiplayer games. God forbid if you want to expirement with an unorthodox build, or "have fun" a little.

Firewatch was a game I only ever played once.. but the ending and story still move me to this day..

What Remains of Edith Finch was that game for me, I don’t think I would ever get the same experience I did the first time I played it. I cried really hard throughout that game

this is probably my favorite body of work you've done yet, excellent job dude

I thought this was gonna be another one of those video essays about games like The Outer Wilds and related games and how they can only be played once etc etc. But you have made an experience and journey not unlike the games you've talked about. A video that should only be watched once, but remembered for years to come. As both a person who loves creating and analyzing things that i love, the last sentiments of this video put into words a feeling that i couldnt describe on my own. That feeling of killing something by exploring why it is great.

What i love about your videos is that your videos always seem to be a typical video game essay but then turn into beautiful works of philosophical art

single-use games are often short, but they always slap so much harder than replayable games

i feel like the intro with Manifold Garden and stuff was explained well with "It felt like an artpiece, but you could play it"

finishing outer wilds felt like losing an old friend. I've cried at plenty of games before but ive never had a game that made me feel real grief. I was crying like a baby for absolutely ages.

i’m not into video games the way you are and i don’t really dip into the video game side of yt too much, but this channel is an easy exception. you treat video games as a medium, and the game itself as the art to muse over. you treat it like an insight into the human experience, and respect the depth of the creation process and user experience. and i like that you never shy away from the real world shit that impacts the whole medium

What Remains of Edith Finch - if you haven't talked about it yet. Fantastic storytelling with an emotional reveal towards the end. Hands down my personal fave

This video was suggested to me by YouTube. I'm 20 minutes in, and as much as I'm completely intellectually immersed, I snap out of it every few minutes, baffled at just how much hard work this represents... and with such an articulate dissection of concepts on top of it all. Thank you for making this, I'm thoroughly enjoying every word.

I loved this video and was honestly a little surprised that OneShot wasn't mentioned in it. OneShot, to its core, is a game that can only be played once and centers around permanence and reality, (among other things). I personally enjoyed it alot, and wanted to mention it bc it matches the theme of this video essay very well.

Firewatch was so cool to me that I decided to play it one more time to "knock off the few achievements I've missed". And though I discovered some new things, it definitely felt different, less.. Thank you for this fine video!

What Remains of Edith Finch has been described as a game that takes about 2 hours to beat, and a lifetime to process. It is the most beautiful game I have ever played and recommend it to anyone who enjoyed Firewatch.

A very speechless yet hearty thank you! This video gave me a few good, and much needed, cries. As a gamer for nearly 3 decades I constantly try to go back to old games and try and enjoy it but, like you mentioned about Portal, we are not trying to figure out but rather recall the memories of how we completed it in the past. That was one among MANY things throughout this video that really impacted me. Your use of words in relation to your knowledge of gaming and impact on us, or rather you, is unparalleled - may just be me but holy... REALLY played my heartstrings and not pulled but YANKED my emotions and sheesh did the waterworks start and really give me a new appreciation and perspective on gaming.

I subbed to you around a year ago because you understood the art in game design, seeing games as more than a distraction. This was the perfect video to sum up why, I truly hope others can see it.