Odama

Odama is, above all else, odd. This third-party GameCube title somehow combines a pinball game with a real-time strategy military simulator that requires microphone-enabled voice commands and is all wrapped up in a samurai's kimono. And yeah, I said pinball. The titular Odama is said ball, a giant sphere you propel with flippers around the battlefield (which you can even "tilt") while ordering your feudal soldiers to take on the opposing forces in order to defend the philosophical Way of Ninten-do. It's the brainchild of cult designer Yoot Saito, best known for SimCity spinoff SimTower and the Sega Dreamcast virtual pet Seaman, which also used microphone technology and was purposefully strange. Odama is quirky, confusing and dead difficult — let's just say your yelling won't be used exclusively to move the men around — but it's also invigoratingly innovative, even if it doesn't totally work.