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Pack up your Palico and brush the dust off your Insect Glaive: the beasts of Monster Hunter Wilds are waiting. Before you spend five hours tracking a rogue Rompopolo, however, it’s worth laying eyes on some of the best (and weirdest) games in the genre. Each takes an unusual approach to hunting, and each, in its own way, is unforgettable. Feeding a litter of wolf pups? Tracking a wounded Brontosaurus through the marshland? Sometimes, how you live matters as much as how your prey dies. Here are 10 great and unusual hunting games to slake your appetite for trophies.
The Isle
In most hunting games, you’re the predator. In a few, you’re the prey. The Isle casts you as both. Instead of running around as some flimsy human, however, you’re a dinosaur. Which type of dino you pick plays a big role in how your hunts will go. Will you stomp around as a mighty thunder lizard, intimidating all with your size and strength? Maybe you’ll team up with raptors for their speed and stealth. With 100-player servers, the hunt’s always new.
Witch Hunt
Witch Hunt is an 18th-century hunting game with a healthy dose of horror. There’s a financial and skill system, as well as magic and a variety of weapons, letting you find creative approaches to each hunt. Environments in Witch Hunt are large and non-linear, letting you find your way in and out of danger. Though its systems aren’t the deepest, the excellent atmosphere, unique setting, and freeform design keep this hunt engaging throughout.
Squirrel Stapler
The indie dev behind Dusk, Iron Lung, and Chop Goblins, David Szymanski has an eye for the funny and gruesome. Squirrel Stapler is a game about hunting squirrels and then stapling their carcasses to your deceased wife. Why? Don’t worry about why. God is coming, and when the All-Powerful arrives, squirrels will be the least of your worries. Squirrel Stapler blends surreal humor, eldritch horrors, and simple but satisfying gunplay to great effect.
Skinwalker Hunt
Another unusual hunting game from the creator of Witch Hunter, Skinwalker Hunt takes what made Gua’s first work great and makes it better. The emphasis is once more on the atmospheric exploration of large, non-linear environments. Though the locations are hand-crafted, the placement of loot, interactive objects, and NPCs is random. It’s a formula that keeps things fresh across multiple hunts. Another excuse to experience what Gua does best? Yes, please.
WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition
A realistic ecological sim set in Yellowstone National Park, WolfQuest is a one-of-a-kind hunting and survival game. While the graphics and educational angle aren’t for everyone, few hunting games deliver as much. You’ll find furry love, have a litter, then raise your pups and teach them to survive. Protecting your pack and exploring your surroundings matter just as much as your ability to run down a deer and howl at the moon. There’s even optional perma-death, as if wolf life wasn’t hard enough.
Multiverse Loot Hunter
Not everything you hunt for bleeds and bites. Sometimes you’re hunting down loot instead. Multiverse Loot Hunter is a turn-based fantasy idler about hunting down the best loot in the universe. Though it’s still in early access, there’s already enough to Multiverse Loot Hunter to keep determined stalkers on the prowl for hours. If you’re into cultivation systems, collectathons, and the eternal quest for the next stat bump, this one’s for you.
Far Cry Primal
It’s easy to dismiss Ubisoft’s approach to open-world design as a million map labels and yellow paint, but that doesn’t do Far Cry Primal justice. Primal is a departure from the modern military mayhem of the franchise’s mainline entries, but it gains plenty in the trade. Experience nature’s beauty! Scream bloody murder! Throw a spear at a charging sabertooth tiger! Plunged back into 10,000 BC, it’s you and your bow vs. the world.
The Axis Unseen
A self-described “heavy metal horror game,” The Axis Unseen pits you against a variety of monsters pulled straight from folklore. To help you find and slay these beasts, you have supernatural sense powers, elemental arrows, and other crafty magic.
The product of one of the devs behind Skyrim and Fallout, The Axis Unseen is every bit as good as its pedigree would suggest. As flashy as it is deep, The Axis Unseen ranks amongst the best of the unusual hunting games.
God Eater 3
Another game that tests the limits of the hunting genre, God Hand 3 has a lot in common with Monster Hunter. Anime protagonists? Check. Oversized weapons? Check. Way, way oversized monsters? Triple check. While not quite as deep or customizable as Monster Hunter, God Hand 3 is robust. Multiple weapons and ability synergies add depth to battle, but really, this one’s all about the spectacle. These fights are as flashy as they are fierce. Thankfully, this hunting expedition didn’t get canceled.
Prehistoric Hunt
Ever think Jurassic Park would work better as a shooting gallery? Prehistoric Hunt unleashes you on the local wildlife in a thrilling game of hunt and be hunted. Fill your custom hunting lodge with trophies from 14 dinosaur species, but don’t get gobbled in the process. Favorite dinos like the Triceratops and Tyrannosaurus Rex? They’ll clash with you and even one another. Thankfully, you can team up with up to 11 other players to take them down. Lock and load. We’re on the trail of something special.
