I’ve realised recently that this is a genre that I enjoy but doesn’t quite have a name. Games where you explore your unfamiliar location, with greater success every day/session, returning to a safe location at the end.
The first one is Lost in Blue, a DS game where you wash up on an island and must survive out of a cave, every day balancing survival mechanics with going further than yesterday.
The second is Gregory Horror Show: Soul Collector. You find yourself in a hotel for lost souls and must find information on every guest to steal their soul and. Every night you journey further from your room, explore more rooks, dig up the dirt on more guests but your “sanity” drains and you get tired, eventually forcing you to return.
Soft versions of these mechanics can be found in RPGs with mana/energy, you can only go so far using abilities, to push further without X resource is risky. Persona 5, hoping to explore more palace or get to the next safe room. Dark Souls 1, pushing around lordran with estus slowly dwindling.
Do people like these mechanics or find them too limiting? Are they welcome in a modern gaming space where short play sessions should still be interruptable or suspendable? Are there any games you can recommend that have mechanics like these?