What are the best games that require real-world knowledge in order to succeed?

10

Options
Considered

11

User
Recs.

Oct 31, 2017

Last
Updated

Find Awesome Games

10 Games Considered

Best games that require real-world knowledge in order to succeed	Price	Steam Rating	RECOMMENDED
-- Kerbal Space Program	$39.99	Very Positive	Processor:Core i5 Memory:4 GB RAM Graphics:SM4 1GB VRAM Hard Drive:6 GB HD space
-- Europa Universalis IV	$39.99	Mixed	Mixed
-- Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes	$14.99	Very Positive	Very Positive
-- TIS-100	$6.99	Very Positive	Very Positive
-- The Secret World	-	Mixed	Mixed

Kerbal Space Program

Add Video or Image

Top Pro

Construction sandbox for building and launching rockets

Kerbal at its core is a rocket building and launching sandbox. See More

Top Con

Steep learning curve

Kerbal Space Program is not really a pick up and play title. There is much to learn before grasping the core concepts of the game, See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Top Pro

Teaches orbital dynamics & rocket design fundamentals in an accessible manner

The physics engine does a reasonably accurate job of replicating the fundamentals behind both orbital dynamics and rocket design, so by going through the tutorials and experimenting, you're actually learning some real rocket science. See More

Top Con

Graphics are not the most detailed

The graphics of KSP are not the most detailed but they work non the less. See More

Top Pro

Fun sandbox mode to experiment with rocket designs

The rocket designer lets you experiment with as many different rocket designs as you can think up. The designer is based on components such as engines, fuel cells, structural elements and various other items such as parachutes. See More

Top Pro

Huge modding scene

There's a plethora of mods available that can change every single aspect of the game. See More

Top Pro

NASA working on a mission pack for the game

While not released yet NASA is working on a mission pack for the game. See More

Top Pro

You don't get bored with it, and you will learn a lot

Build rockets, space planes, space stations, rovers, landers, probes. Explore planets, moons, capture asteroids. With the addition of mods you can even test warp drive, set up a communications network, colonize a planet, mine for resources and much much more. It can even simulate our solar system (the in-game one is very similar, although smaller to encourage new players. Learn orbital mechanics. Inspire yourself to learn about space and space travel history of human. This game is not only fun - it is inspiring. See More

Top Pro

In constant development

KSP is a shinning example of early release done right. The currently available game is fun to play, and the developers are constantly adding new major additions. See More

Europa Universalis IV

Add Video or Image

Top Pro

Lots of depth

EUIV is a simulation of global politics and war. There is a relatively limited set of choices you can make under normal circumstances: hiring advisors to improve your capabilities, hiring troops, about two dozen diplomatic actions in peace, and a number of different peace deal options when terminating a war. However, these interact to produce a large number of interesting decisions that affect your outcomes. If you want to annex a neighbor, do you declare a holy war on them, or do you fabricate claims on their territory and demand that they "return" this land to you? Do you ally a much larger nation that might try to force you to be their vassal? Conversely, do you try to improve relations with a much smaller neighbor in order to become their suzerain overlord, or do you attempt to conquer them directly and risk pulling their larger allies into a war? On top of that, there are hundreds of events that can occur once certain preconditions are met. Some of them are specific to which country you're playing as. Some require you to hire the right set of advisors. And if you don't keep your country's internal affairs in order, you may find yourself on the wrong end of a peasant's war or facing other national disasters. See More

Top Con

Games can take a very long time

Due to the in depth, meticulous gameplay mechanics, the games can take weeks to finish which some people may not have the patience for. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Mixed

Genre:Grand Strategy

Co-Op:12 Player Online / 32 LAN

Controller Support:No

Top Pro

Game features pausing and adjustable speeds

Europa Universalis IV allows you to play straight through in real-time, or pause the game for as much micro-management as needed. With this system in place, everyone can play at their own pace without need for rapid play styles or quick rushing attacks to achieve victory, thus giving players freedom to tackle missions at their own, preferred speed. See More

Top Con

Steep learning curve

When you start out, it can be overwhelming. You have a country and three thousand infantrymen -- what can you do? You decide to attack your neighbor -- and they cut you down like reeds. You start over as a bigger country and attack a smaller neighbor -- and suddenly you're in a war against several large countries at once. You start again and this time you find a weak neighbor with no allies. You crush them and bring them under your control -- and suddenly you find revolutions popping up everywhere. Even after you've learned the basics, you'll still find yourself wondering: if I declare a holy war, will it cost me diplomatic power to annex territory or not? And it's often hard -- certainly in ironman mode -- to undo decisions, so small mistakes and misclicks can end up costing you a lot. The game does give you guidance in the form of alert bubbles in the upper left of the screen, informing you of the things it thinks are most relevant, and paying attention to those can at least show you what you might want to think about. In the later patches, the user interface has been improving to help reduce surprises -- and the game mechanics as well. For instance, rebel uprising progress can be tracked easily -- you won't be surprised by a sudden uprising of Najdi nationalists, and when you're in for a long-term peasant revolt, the game will tell you why it's happening, how to prevent it, and how to get out of it once it happens. But simply finding all these parts of the user interface takes time playing. Determining what's important takes experience. You can pause the game at any time and find all the data you can handle, but if you're not just extracting the important parts, the deluge won't help. Your best bet is to find videos of people playing the game with a bit more skill than you. Streaming is best -- you can ask questions, and most streamers will answer. See More

Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes

Add Video or Image

Top Pro

Hilarious situations arise as tension increases

Both sides in the game can not see what the other does, creating a situation of confusion that needs a good bit of team work. A ticking bomb adds the tension needed for players to spit out the first things that come to mind when describing strange symbols or patterns. See More

Top Con

Puzzles may become stale after repetitive play

Particular modules in the game may be seen after playing repeatedly, which will make for easier play and quicker puzzle solving. This will have a tendency to make the gameplay feel stale due to ones familiarity with the puzzles. One example, is the Keypads module where the defuser will need to describe strange symbols. Part of the fun is struggling to describe something, or figure out what is being described and calling the other person an idiot for not getting it. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Genre:Puzzle / Indie

Co-Op:2 Player Local / 2 Player LAN

Controller Support:Full

Top Pro

Great for parties with friends and strangers alike

One person has the bomb on screen, and 1-5 "experts" need to consult the manual (either online or printed out). Thing is: the bomb defuser can't see the manual, and the experts don't see the bomb with its various modules. The person who sees the bomb will have to precisely say what they see, and then the experts will frantically flip through the manual to find the instructions for that particular module. To succeed, you will all have to work together. See More

Top Con

Number of players can determine whether you succeed or fail

Most modules can be worked on one at a time - you start describing one to an expert, and he replies right away telling you what to do. Some modules however require some time for the expert to decipher. For example, if there is just one expert and you get the Morse code module you are pretty much screwed as deciphering the Morse code takes a lot of precious time. If you had an extra expert, you could work on deciphering it while they worked on another module. See More

Top Pro

VR minimizes cheating

The point of the game is that those with the manual are not able to actually see the bomb, this can be difficult to achieve when using a regular monitor to play the game, as someone could sneak a peak. Using a VR headset guarantees that no one with the manual will be able to see the bomb as it is only visible to the one wearing the VR headset. See More

Top Con

Morse code section difficult for those with dry or bad eyes

There is a morse code module section of the game that relays morse code through visual cues, in order to understand the code the player will need to not blink for 3 seconds straight. While for most players this is not an issue, those that have chronic dry eyes or any other condition that requires blinking a lot, the code will be difficult if not impossible to understand. An optimal solution would be a setting to change this to audio cues, but sadly that is not an option. See More

Top Pro

Bomb defusal manual is easily accessible

The manual can be viewed as a PDF download as well as a static webpage, which gives easy access to any mobile device as well as PC. On top of this the manual can be printed out for those that would rather navigate tactically, which is often the easier way to go due to touch and ease of flipping pages (over a tablet or phone). Basically you are able to pull up the manual in any way you prefer, which requires little preparation, even on short notice. See More

TIS-100

Top Pro

Teaches actual coding

The game is basically text based which means users will have to actually type in code in order to play. This makes for a learning experience for those unfamiliar with coding due to actually having to code in order to play. See More

Top Con

No in game tutorial makes it difficult to learn

There is no hand holding with this game, no in-game tutorial makes it difficult to know how to play. Though there is a PDF manual that can be printed out. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Top Pro

Competitive score comparing

TIS-100 has a leaderboard function for all 45 puzzles in the game which allows users to compare score with friends and random online players. This way people can see how high they rank in comparison to all other players. See More

Top Pro

Replayability through a never ending sandbox creation mode

Users can create their own puzzles in the 3 available sandbox modes in game. This allows for users to come back to the game over and over to create custom puzzles and experience something different each time making for a lot of replayability. See More

Out of the Park Baseball 17

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Trivia.Town - Quiz Duel

Add Video or Image

Football Manager 2017

Add Video or Image

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego

Add Video or Image

KOHCTPYKTOP

Add Video or Image

Request recommendations from the community

Explore Related Questions

Help millions of people find awesome games.

Each month, over 2.8 million people use Slant to find the best products and share their knowledge. Pick the tags you’re passionate about to get a personalized feed and begin contributing your knowledge.