The Unfinished Swan October 2012 Giant Sparrow
Journey March 2012 Thatgamecompany
Limbo July 2010 Playdead
The Unfinished Swan begins in a blank white place with no manual, no cues. Architectural space is made known by throwing black paint into the void, however project too much paint and you'll be lost in a black nothingness. 'A game about exploring the unknown.'
Journey again has no stated rules, you discover who and where you are with play.
'The developers sought to evoke in the player a sense of smallness and wonder, and to forge an emotional connection between them and the anonymous players they meet along the way'
'Other players on the same journey can be discovered, and two players can meet and assist each other, but they cannot communicate via speech or text and cannot see each other's names. The only form of communication between the two is a musical chime.'
'The multiplayer component of Journey was designed to facilitate cooperation between players without forcing it, and without allowing competition. It is intended to allow the players to feel a connection to other people through exploring with them' *
Once more, in Limbo you have to perceive the laws of the land and of the physics. Limbo contains Box2D, an open source cross platform physics system. And as with The Unfinished Swan and Journey, it is beautiful.
The Unfinished Swan: http://www.giantsparrow.com/games/swan/
