Totally Unique Games

There are a bunch of games that are very unique, but also very popular, so mentioning them isn't very interesting. From the top of my head: Portal (1 & 2), Rocket League, Baba is You ....

Unheared is a pretty unique one.
You try to figure out the solution to various crimes, which doesn't sound unique, but you can only do it by listening to the audio at the crime scene.

Wow... Indeed there could be a long list of "unique games", but just to start here's a shorter list ( ;) more to come... ) :

• Back in the days, I remember that "Ecco the Dolphin" used to be pretty unusual, too. Not so much, by now.

• Which lead to... "They Breathe" : Where a little frog had to survive many hazard while diving further down underwater. and eventually discover the truth ?
  (Remind me a bit something from "The Plan", too, where a fly had to go up, but not as a slight joke.)

• Speaking of bugs, there's "Webbed" : While it's still a classic not-so-metroidvania-but-quite exploration grounds, the ability to shape your path (and even more) with thread is quite unique.

...Oh, and :

• Obviously, ":The Longing:" ?

Watch Paint Dry is unique as it was released on Steam as a prank to showcase the many flaws the platform has and very few keys were given away by the "developer" making it the rarest game on Steam probably.

The one that comes to mind for me is Exanima. Very much a physics based game, very weird at first to control your character and weapons, but not that bad to get used to. Highly recommend it.

Wow, this memory, i also played it on PS2 (still have), really unique indead, maybe a few ones that also have a unique concept :
SUPERHOT, really know one.
Rollers of the Realm, the only i know that mix Pinball & RPG, but a good one.
OMNIBUS, a 3d plateform with a bus, really unique level design, really unique.
Fortix 2, hard to describe it, really unique, a sort of "Conquering the territory", with a single men ...
CLUSTERTRUCK, Jean-Claude Van Demme, the game.

Since you mentioned Monster Lab, I thought I'd point out a PS1 game titled Dragon Seeds. It was a creature-breeding game similar to Monster Rancher in the sense that you can scan real world data into the game to unlock secret breeds of dragons. You should totally check it out, though you may not enjoy how limited it is. The combat is turn-based and kind of grid-based, though it's really only about the distance from the opponent and the type of attack used. You don't move around much in combat. The game's biggest selling point is how the world is presented, similar to a visual novel. It has a unique vibe to it that I've yet to witness elsewhere.

Although not unique per se (there are several games in the genre, just none of them hit the same) : fantasy life from 3ds.

Even the mini games grinds were ok to move on with skills

The first that comes to mind:

• CARRION
• FEZ
• Viewfinder
• LocoRoco
• LocoRoco 2
• Patapon
• Patapon 2

https://store.steampowered.com/app/844590/Hypnospace_Outlaw/

If you have been browsing internet on the y2k era, then you can't miss this one.

GNOG
Little Inferno

Knights in the Nightmare is always the first that comes to mind. Something I like doing whenever this topic gets brought up is to link this video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_r8gR8eQB7A

and ask the person if they can decipher what's going on.

What's going on is that the game is a mix of SRPG with bullet hell where enemies target your cursor instead of your units. You have to dodge attacks while you fiddle with the HUD and give your units commands. There's a timer for each turn and getting hit makes you lose time.

My nomination would be the Katamari franchise. While it's not a singular, unique game, the "mishmash ball of everything that keeps growing as you roll it around" is still referred to as a Katamari in pop culture which shows its influence.
It's super memorable and has a very distinct identity, despite the mechanics being simple.

Stacklands was unique. Honestly it was the first boardgame based RPG that worked. It had a lot of followups in terms of copycat or at least mimicing the style.

Well, let's check my library. Those games I would call as somehow unique:

• Puzzle Pirates: A multiplayer online game where you play as pirate. During your raids, there are multiple tasks to perform on board and the better each respective player performs the better your chances in beating your foes.
• Crypt of the Necrodancer: Just keep moving to the beat.
• La-Mulana: This brings exploration and the metroidvania experience to a whole new level. Play this without a guide and in you are in for a hell of experience. Technically, there is La-Mulana 2, so not "unique" per se. But shhh.
• Before the Echo: It is a rhythm game. With a story. Where you need to synthesize items. And you need to pay attention to three different screens at the same time.
• Element4I: A platformer? Just that you don't jump. You only trigger changes between different elemental states and with this you have to build momentum and complete the map.

I'll stop now. I have already glossed over a few where I would be on the fence if I would sort them to unique already or just an innovative variation of an existing genre. And I fear there are a lot more in my library ^^'

And you build your monster out of these parts (Medabots-like), each part would have its own ability, or passive, as well as its own stats

that sounds like Zoids, although i don't think there is a minigame to craft the machine part. i think it was Zoids: Legacy that i played back then.

anyways, for unique games, i would say something like megaman battle network, but there have been similar games like that already so my nomination would be There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension. but wait, that's not a game.

For me it would be The path , a game but not only that. A work of art in the form of a game.

I just quote the game description:

There is one rule in the game. And it needs to be broken. There is one goal. And when you attain it, you die.

Wish I could remember its name, but I once played a free fps puzzle game where instead of shooting you had to position these glowing objects that changed the course of some missiles that were constantly being shot, so basically you had to guide a bunch of missiles through the level to solve puzzles. I remember that I never finished it because the later levels had so many missiles flying around that they completely tanked the performance on the shitty PC I had at the time. The game is probably like 15 years old at this point and I think it ran on a modified version of the Quake engine.

Other than that there's Yoku's Island Express which is a pinball-metroidvania hybrid, I don't think there's many of those.

D-Life

D-Life is the introduction to a new and exciting genre of video games. There is a unique world filled with electron-based life forms and your mission is to take pictures of them.

You can control the electronic life forms by utilizing their inherent mutating ability and the wind. Each electron has a specific color, and your score is determined by how well you can manipulate them to take a great picture.

Although D-Life is unprecedented in its design, you'll soon discover that this game is easy to understand, simple to play, yet also deep and challenging. It can be played with a mouse and keyboard, or a controller.

Yuriko Keino, who has worked on legendary Namco titles such as Dig Dug and XEVIOUS, is in charge of all sounds, from background music to jingles and sound effects!

D-Life is also compatible with the Nano KONTROL2, an electronic musical instrument manufactured by KORG. Make use of its knobs and sliders to control the electron-based life forms for added immersion.

Feel the electronic DNA and take great pictures!

My suggestion for a unique game is Wandersong. Bit of a bias as I just finished the game recently, but there are so many great things about the game. You play as a bard in the game and your powers are singing and dancing! The unique mechanic of the game is the color wheel that you use to sing songs, solve puzzles, use in fights, and to generally interact with the world around you. I don't know of any other games that use this mechanic, so it was unique to me while playing.

The story is overall upbeat and has plenty of positive themes with lots of comedic elements thrown in. An eclectic cast of characters that you meet along the way, my favorite being the coffee drinking pirates, to help you in your journey to save the world. Add in a soundtrack that is ginormous and it is a really fun and enjoyable game.

For some reason, The Cat Lady came to my mind.... the controls take some getting used to, but the general tone is rather unique, I think.

(In a sense, this is almost the polar opposite of Wandersong.... but both are great!)

Edit: wait, wait, wait -- Immortality is possibly one of the most unique... shit, not even sure if I say "game", but it is a really really memorable experience, and quite impossible to label. I found it enthralling, but I can see many people hating it with all their guts.

Creatures: The Albian Years very old game already but i has many unique features not seen in newer games (as far as i know) - like genetics and neural network, you can grow and learn your creatures a lot of things in a living and interactive world, I often recommended it and now it is even available also on steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1818340/Creatures_The_Albian_Years/ :)