Unmarketable Plushie

I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream**

Book Video game Radio Drama

This one gets cited the most as one of Digital Circus' main inspirations. It is a story about an advanced planet-wide AI torturing the last few humans on earth. The radio drama is a significantly shortened version I am not familiar with, and the video game has a possible alternate ending that differs from the book. I was first introduced to it through the critical lets play done by youtuber PlagueofGripes though whether it holds up after so many years remains to be seen.

Raggedy Ann and Andy: A Musical Adventure

The Amazing Digital Circus' second primary inspiration, a beautifully animated children's film. The plot may seem simplistic but I assure the watch is worth it. There will likely be a lot of moments where you notice Gooseworx lifted a lot of concepts and made a lot of references to this in earlier episodes. I think more subtly it had somewhat of an impact on the voice direction throughout the series.

Misfits in Toyland**

A webcomic by @zal-cryptid heavily inspired by a segment of the Rankin-Bass "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Rain Deer" re-contextualizing the island of misfit toys as a place where people wake up having been turned into playthings ironically paralleling the sins they committed in life, delivered there by krampus. It has over a hundred entries and in the link above I have done the favor of having it take readers to the first page of chapters. It has a lot of slow-burn queer themes.

Popee The Performer*

Another more minor influence on TADC, Popee the Performer is a violent and surreal CG anime that lacks any spoken dialogue. It mostly involves slapstick antics between the titular Popee and the purple wolf Kedamono, which devolves into shockingly bloody and destructive scenes.

Immercenary**

MyAbandonware.com Dump No-Commentary Longplay

A high-concept oldhead FPS RPG taking place in a simulation called Perfect that mankind has been collectively trapped within, with the player given the goal to defeat the entity keeping them all trapped here. Makes heavy use of FMV graphics as was the style for the time, and likely to be a bit jank and obtuse, but the surreal depictions of living in a computer simulation I think will be to TADC fans' likings.

INTERLOPER**

A video web series/ARG exploring an alternate history of Valve's Source engine (Half Life, Team Fortress 2, Garry's Mod, etc.,) as something far deeper and interconnected than it appears, surrounding a central entity that moves around inside of it. I know "Source game ARG with spooky entity in it" is going to evoke some feelings but I think this series has a lot more to say and more going on as well as being a complete work in an anthology rather than something like serverblight or the living ragdoll ARGs. Give it a chance.

Five Characters in Search of an Exit

An extremely on-the-nose title, an episode of The Twilight Zone where a homeless man, a ballerina, a bagpiper, a clown and a major of the U.S. army with no memories of their past inhabit a sheer metal cylinder and swing between wondering where they are and trying to escape it. Like most episodes of the show this one has a big twist I won't spoil here.

Smile for Me

An easy to pick up controls-lite first person adventure game by Limbolane, the team behind Great God Grove. The premise is not so much tied to tadc as the presentation, with it also being focused on its cast and character writing with themes of coping with mental health issues. The player is a mute flower-loving individual who has come to Dr. Habit's Habitat, a place where people of all kinds come to be cured of their woes that only seem to be exacerbated by their situations and surroundings with no way to leave and a sleeping gas-enforced curfew. Like many people I was first introduced to this game from Snapcube's let's play of it way back when. Though there is nothing more than rare moments of cartoonish violence in this game, if you have a fear of scenarios involving teeth or any bad experiences involving mental institutions or alcoholism, you may find some of its content off-putting or disturbing.

Berry Bury Berry*

A deceptively simple game in the vein of something like cookie clicker with puzzle elements where the player throws berries into a hole. In the background of all this is an unfolding plot about a children's TV program called Ms. Rainbow's Garden and the disappearance of its producer. The host character, Ms. Rainbow, watching and reacting to the player's actions as the game continues and the facade of the world starts to fall apart. It has four different endings.

They Dream of Shapeless Bodies**

A series of soliloquies about the artist's relationship to sexuality and the body after a long period of living in isolation. Each soliloquy is accompanied by a surreal interactive scene for its duration. It is not like a traditional game where there are objectives or points, just a scene for the player to witness and interact with as they follow along.

NiGHTS: Into Dreams

This is very very much a heavily biased surface-level "You'll like the vibe" recommendation. A personal favorite for the sega saturn, its pc port is unfortunately no longer available for purchase legally, but hopefully you come across it some other way. A surreal game where you play as nonbinary icon NiGHTS, flying through the world of a child's dreams. Hard to get a grasp on the gameplay at first but once you do its a fun and easy-going time.

The Beginner's Guide

A narrative game made by Davey Wreden of Stanley Parable fame where a fictional narrator takes you through the various unfinished or avant garde game design projects made by one of his colleagues while trying to extrapolate their meaning. Surreal digital scenery paired with themes of agency, dependency and grief.

Broken Reality

A first person vaporwave themed adventure game taking place in an immersive version of the internet that satirizes mid-2000s internet culture with a tech company narrative not unlike what someone might see in Hypnospace Outlaw. It has a sequel on the way in in just a few weeks as well.

Puzzle and Sling: Boredom Killers