The Weirdest Control Methods in Gaming History

10 The Typing of the Dead Type to Shoot

SEGA’s The House of the Dead series is best known for its presence in arcades as a light gun game, but shooting zombies by pointing a plastic gun at the screen is just so predictable. That’s where Dreamcast (and later Windows) port The Typing of the Dead comes in.

This home version trades shooting for typing, tasking you with typing increasingly complex words as they appear on screen to dispatch zombies. Right now the only version of the game that’s still available for purchase on PC is The Typing of the Dead: Overkill, a game that’s still every bit as fun as it was back in the day.

The Typing of the Dead: Overkill

Systems

Released

October 29, 2013

ESRB

m

Developer(s)

Modern Dream

Publisher(s)

Sega

• 

This is just one of many such typing games that you can use to increase your words-per-minute score.

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9 Berserk or Die Keyboard Mashing

In a similar vein to The Typing of the Dead but way more primal, Berserk or Die is a 2025 video game from Poncle (the solo-dev-turned 25-strong team behind smash hit Vampire Survivors). The game is simple to play, with the only controls being mashing the left or right side of your keyboard.

The more you mash, the more enemies you’ll hit, and the more damage you’ll do. The key is to survive until nightfall, then level up, and do it all over again. The game costs $4, which at least means you’ll have plenty left over to replace your keyboard (no, but seriously, you don’t have to mash the keys here, it even works on the Steam Deck if you want).

8 Tom Clancy’s EndWar Voice Controls

While voice controls have been around in video games since the days of the Famicom, Nintendo 64, and Nintendo DS; few were as adventurous as Ubisoft’s Tom Clancy’s EndWar. This Xbox 360-era real-time strategy game takes place during a global energy crisis brought on by a nuclear terrorist attack which sounds pretty standard Tom Clancy stuff.

What’s not standard is the voice-enabled control scheme, with Ubisoft claiming that the game was “completely controllable through voice commands.” I distinctly remember playing the demo for this one, barking commands into the Xbox 360’s rather uncomfortable headset. This took a lot of the pain out of controlling an RTS with a gamepad. Perhaps most surprisingly, the game itself was pretty good and didn’t rely on this gimmick to carry it. You can still grab it on Steam today.

Tom Clancy’s EndWar

Released

November 4, 2008

ESRB

m

Developer(s)

Ubisoft Shanghai

Publisher(s)

Ubisoft

Engine

Unreal Engine 3

7 Steel Battalion Mega Jockey 9000

Steel Battalion is a 2002 mech combat game for the original Xbox with one of the wildest control schemes of all time. The game required the use of a four-piece peripheral consisting of two joysticks, a throttle, three foot pedals, and an array of buttons, switches, and dials. These controllers sold out at launch and have become collector’s pieces since.

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Not only is this one of the most involved and immersive control schemes of all time, Steel Battalion has the gameplay to go with it. Notably, if you don’t eject safely before your mech is destroyed then your save file is deleted and you have to start the game from the beginning. You can still find the game and its controller on the second-hand market, but be prepared to dig deep.

Steel Battalion

Systems

Released

November 21, 2002

ESRB

t

Developer(s)

Capcom Production Studio 4

Publisher(s)

Capcom

6 Samba de Amigo Maracas

While we have Dance Dance Revolution to thank for the rise of movement-based dance controllers, the concept isn’t that weird. Unfortunately, the barrier to entry is a little high for those of us with two left feet, which is where Samba de Amigo comes in. Initially developed for arcades and ported to the Dreamcast only a year later, the game uses maraca controllers and is directly inspired by Japan’s love affair with karaoke.

The arcade version used magnets to determine the controller’s position related to low, medium, and high notes. For the home version, a sensor bar that stays on the floor during play reduced costs significantly. The game eventually made it to Wii in 2007 and a party game version Samba de Amiga: Party Central was released in 2023 for Switch, Apple Arcade, and Meta Quest which is the easiest way to play along today.

Samba De Amigo

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5 Donkey Kong Bongos

Continuing the musical theme, Nintendo’s rhythm-based Donkey Konga arrived in 2004 for the GameCube complete with the DK Bongos controller. This is strictly a rhythm video game, where the aim of the game is to drum along to hits like Rock Lobster and title music to some of Nintendo’s most memorable franchises.

Two sequels arrived in 2004 and 2005, adding new music and mini-games to enjoy. A spin-off game called Jungle Beat combined rhythm action with Donkey Kong_’s usual platforming approach, to widespread acclaim. The game eventually made its way to Wii in 2008, though thanks to the Wiimotes the DK Bongos were no longer required. The controller has since gained notoriety for its use as a non-standard control method for games like Dark Souls_.

Donkey Konga

Systems

Released

December 12, 2003

ESRB

e // Comic Mischief

Developer(s)

Namco

Publisher(s)

Nintendo

Multiplayer

Local Multiplayer

For a modern take, Taiko no Tatsujin uses a similar drum controller. The Switch version of Taiko is even compatible with the original GameCube DK Bongos via the GameCube adapter!

4 Before Your Eyes Blinking

Before Your Eyes is a game that pioneered a completely new way of controlling a game: blinking. The plot follows the recently deceased Benjamin Brynn who is on a journey to the afterlife. The gameplay consists of navigating Benjamin’s memories, with every blink that the game registers moving time forward.

If that sounds intense, you’d be right. One moment you might be trying to absorb an important moment from the protagonist’s life, the next you’re catapulted forward a seemingly random number of years. Though the game received some criticism for the control scheme’s implementation, that hasn’t stopped the developer from announcing a follow up called Goodnight Universe which promises to further expand on the eye-tracking tech.

Before Your Eyes

Released

April 8, 2021

ESRB

e

Publisher(s)

Skybound Games

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3 SEGA Bass Fishing Rod

Like Samba de Amigo, Sega Bass Fishing is a product of the arcades that was eventually ported to the Dreamcast. The game makes use of a rod controller complete with a reel mechanism, turning the slow-paced light beer-drenched hobby of fishing into a frantic game of reaction complete with rankings and unlockables.

The game sold surprisingly well on the Dreamcast, eventually earning releases on the Wii, Xbox 360, PS3, and PC. The game was featured in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth in 2024 as a playable arcade cabinet. Other games like Reel Fishing continued the trend, though the arcade feel of SEGA Bass Fishing is hard to come by these days (VR title Catch & Release is arguably the closest modern equivalent).

Sega Bass Fishing

Released

April 1, 1999

ESRB

e

Developer(s)

Sega

Publisher(s)

Sega

2 Tony Hawk: Ride Skateboard

While plastic musical instruments made games like Guitar Hero and Rockband more expensive and less accessible, the underlying game was good enough that it all felt worthwhile. That wasn’t the case with Tony Hawk: Ride, the 2009 PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Nintendo Wii flop. Chief among the complaints was its peculiar skateboard controller.

The controller wasn’t just a gimmick, it was required to play the game. For the first time in Tony Hawk history, you’d need to stand on something resembling an actual skateboard and vaguely replicate your skater’s moves on the screen. Critics were not kind to Ride, noting that it was frustrating though the peripheral itself was at least well-built. Tony Hawk: Shred came out the following year and also used the skateboard peripheral. It also sucked.

Tony Hawk: Ride

Released

November 17, 2009

ESRB

Everyone 10+ // Animated Blood, Lyrics, Mild Suggestive Themes

Publisher(s)

Activision

Multiplayer

Online Multiplayer

Franchise

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater

1 Densha de Go! Train Controllers

Densha de Go! is a train simulation game that has enjoyed a fair amount of success in Japan. The game first appeared in arcades but has since had major releases on every console since the original PlayStation. The latest version of the game is Densha de Go!! Hashirou Yamanote-sen released in 2020 for the PS4 and Nintendo Switch, complete with its own game-specific train controller.

In the past, versions of Densha de Go! have featured more extravagant controllers, like the Shinkansen (bullet train) edition for the Wii and PS2 which included an LED screen that told you how fast you were going. There are also versions of the game that plug directly into your TV and include the hardware necessary to play, no console necessary.

There are plenty of other weird controllers, but we had to draw a line somewhere. If all you need is a solid conventional controller, check out our favorite game controllers. If you’re looking for weird games, check out some niche gaming genres you might want to try.