I have 18 hidden games. I'll go though why.
Another World 20th Aniv Edition: The game has not been changed in 20+ years and consequently, with no randomization or factors to keep it fresh, once you've seen a video of it, you've literally seen what it has to offer. (I never was into the Dragon's Lair type of games.) Plus, I wasn't ever keen on the graphical style in the first place. Comes with growing up with a SNES instead of a Mega Drive.
Block'hood: The game is dead and I don't want to be reminded that it exists; it was a failed idea. I'll unhide it should the developer bother to ever finish it.
Caves of Qud: Rejecting a glowing review and genuinely being a game I don't get along with; I should have to stare at the screen to locate the PC.
Eschalon 1 & 2: Hidden due to being a drag of a game. Came out around long after Avernum and yet feels so incredibly shallow. Plus the walking speed was a slog, there were too many stats and most classes seemed to be traps meant to make certain playstyles implausible.
Factorio:
Kovorex didn't know when to shut up. And left a radioactive crater. I had already had trouble meshing with Factorio, that simply sealed the deal.
Forager:
The lead dev lied about being unaided. I had already deemed the game a pointless, poorly designed game. Had effort actually been put into balancing it against new systems, it might still be played by me.
Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number Digital Comics: I have no idea how I got this or why I claimed it. It's not a game I'm remotely interested in.
Little Inferno: A bit of a switchup here, it is hidden because I have completed the game several times and feel closure with it.
Luftrausers: The developer never gave us a critical update, so progression is impossible. Thanks, ratfinks.
Race the Sun: I completed the game, and felt there wasn't more to get out of it.
Retro City Rampage DX: This game pulls a rental killer¹ several times while having no excuse for doing so. I like the idea of the game, but there's at least two levels I'd axe completely. Also commits the sin of the sudden genre change. (Also contains several fallen stars as mooching cameos and deadnames; but I stopped caring about this game before those were factors.)
Sid Meier’s Railroads!: It's a bad game and an even worse followup to the Railroad Tycoon series. Actually, I wouldn't call it much of a game, more of a pottering around emulator. With games like
Tracks! around, there's literally no reason for it. (
HEY, BLUES. I'D LITERALLY BUY THIS IN A HEARTBEAT.)
Slime Rancher: I'd compare it to having to drink a very long stein of cream soda. Once you're past the initial cloying bubbles, all you're left with is a very deep glass of sugar water. It goes flat quickly and the game isn't actually about the slimes (nor the ranching), but exploring the map so you can find out a short story in steps. I bounced off it once I had this realization that the grind wasn't to make the ranch better.
Starbound: Unoptimized garbage made by ex-Terraria devs. Literally only kept on life support by one overgrown mod. Allegedly an Xbox port in the works, but that was two Xboxes ago.
Here's a longform video that goes into the bigger elephants. Also, the developers kept implementing half baked features and never finished the implementation of any of them. The 1.0 release was awful and ruined any sense of player agency the game had before.
Teen Agent: Thanks, I literally don't want this! Being a teenager was a confusing part of my life and it's not something I'm interested in being near again.
To The Moon:
This isn't a game, it's a four hour movie that could have seriously used an editor. Windforge: It's a stillborn game, in a similar state to Block'hood, but at least the developers gracefully took it off the air. It didn't play well, was prone to CTDs, and controlled like buttered shoes on ice.
¹Actions meant to prevent a player from advancing beyond a rental period of a game; levels in Toy Story (Mega/SNES) and The Lion King had these.