I fully understand what you mean. I got turned on to UFO 50 the exact same way, from a stranger’s recommendation online. They referred to it as “a master class in game design”, and I was like, that’s exactly what I was just saying about Split Fiction!

I think how we say things is important to how we connect.

Anyway, Split Fiction requires two players. The whole game is in split screen, even if you play online. But you only need one copy of the game to play online - I think your partner can just download a special version of the game for free. But if you have someone to play with in the same room, I recommend that.

A bit more about UFO 50 if you haven’t already looked it up: it’s a faux-retro game collection from a fictional, defunct 80s game developer called UFOSoft.

Fifty is an insane number of games, and it’s got so much damn content. There are space shooters, side scrollers, a wild west Final-Fantasy-style RPG, a roguelike, a soccer game inspired by Bubble Bobble, at least three golf games, and then whatever the hell Mooncat is. There’s also a dark meta-narrative hidden between the games that describes why the company went under.

So UFO 50 is a deep dive. You may want to start there first, because it’s something you’ll likely bounce off of and come back to. Luckily you have literally 50 games to switch between if you get frustrated.

When it does get frustrating, it’s so rewarding if you power through it. Several of the games are in the style of those ridiculously punishing 80’s arcade games, except it mostly is just a style. If you keep an open mind and look for what the game is trying to show you, you start to see that there are modern design conventions underpinning everything that make the games more fair than they appear. (Except Caramel Caramel. That game is bullshit.)

That’s part of what I meant when I said it changed how I approach games. I realized I can spend so much time on my own expectations that I don’t see what’s in front of me. Learning to approach these games with an open mind has been a defining moment for me.