10 Ingeniously Clever Video Games That Will Mess With Your Mind

6. BioShock

bioshock little sister
2K Games

Most people will single out the first Bioshock as the most mind-bending game in the series, thanks largely to that infamous revelation late in the game that all along you've just been a puppet for ruthless revolutionary Frank Fontaine, robotically following orders to the trigger phrase of 'Would you kindly'.

It's one of the biggest, most brilliant twists in video game history, and a total subversion of your typical shooter power fantasy. There you are, endowing yourself with all kinds of superpowers and becoming more lethal than the formidable Big Daddies, only to find out that all of it is ultimately so that you can unwittingly assassinate your own father.

While that's the moment that frazzled most of our brains back in 2007, Bioshock's ingenuity extends to political philosophy, as the entire city of Rapture is a critique of Ayn Rand's objectivism - the idea that society should be completely unregulated by government, so that people are truly free to pursue their individualistic dreams.

Evidently, Bioshock mastermind Ken Levine clearly didn't think such a society was a great idea...

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Contributor

Gamer, Researcher of strange things. I'm a writer-editor hybrid whose writings on video games, technology and movies can be found across the internet. I've even ventured into the realm of current affairs on occasion but, unable to face reality, have retreated into expatiating on things on screens instead.