Sid Meier's Covert Action is a game that I think stands out to this day as being truly one-of-a-kind. It's a game that puts you in the shoes of a knock-off James Bond CIA Agent who's tasked with saving America from all sorts of nefarious threats from terrorists/criminals/rival nations.
Gameplay involves being told about some kind of vague terroristic threat, ("We have received rumors that somebody plans to kidnap a top atomic scientist", etc.) then going around to various criminal hideouts around the city and around the world to try to find clues to stop it.
What really stands out to me about this game, is that it is about you trying to piece together clues about a criminal conspiracy while the conspiracy unfolds around you in real time. So, for example, you might find out that Agent A is in Paris and their job is to steal some blueprints. Depending on when you get there you might catch them red-handed with the blueprints (in which case you can stop the whole plan right there), or they might have handed them to Agent B in West Berlin already.
The various criminals/terrorists/spies you're trying to catch act on their own, and react to the state of the plan as it changes. If you decide to arrest Agent A before they can hand over the blueprints, Agents B, C, D, etc. will realize that their plan is no longer feasible and will go into hiding pretty quickly. Or, on higher difficulties, they will even break Agent A out of jail so their plan can continue.
It's a game that I think holds up incredibly well because there is nothing like it. If you haven't played it, and you can tolerate games this old, I highly, highly recommend it.
It's a game so interesting that I keep thinking about making my own version of it. If Sid Meier isn't going to do it, maybe I should, right? It has interesting systems, it's not actually that big of a game, and there's nothing like it. But...
Well, there's one glaring problem. While I don't have any problem playing Unironic CIA Simulator 1990, (it's just generic James Bond, whatever) I really would not want to make an Unironic CIA Simulator. I wouldn't even want to make Fantasy or Cyberpunk CIA Simulator, either, and slap a coat of paint on it and have it be about you being Secret Police or something.
And so it's a concept I get stuck on. It's a very interesting game! The concepts are straightforward you could pretty reasonably adapt them into a new indie game without that much trouble! It's novel! You could put some more modern RPG or narrative mechanics that would add interesting twists! It could be so good!
...But then what do you do about the menu in the second screenshot where your verbs are "Wiretap" and "Break in"
