I have a name for the forgotten, forgettable, off-brand, off-axis games of our youth. I call them: Cousin Games.The best way to get in the Cousin Game mindset is to imagine being dropped off in a house that smells different from how you think a house is supposed to smell and you go into a room with a guy whos like a weird version of you, and hes playing Nintendo which you understand but when you look at the screen, its like What is that? What the hell is that?(Its Iggys Wreckin Balls.)A Cousin Game is a game you dont own, and dont necessarily want to own. But Cousin Game is not a euphemism for bad game. There are lots of bad games that are not cousin games.Heres a quick list of Cousin Games:Army Men: Sarges HeroesUniracersRise of the RobotsIggys Wreckin BallsOperation WinbackColiseum: Road to FreedomSpy HunterLoaded187 Ride or DieBug!Cousin Games arent normie games. Madden is not a Cousin Game. It is just a game your cousin plays. This is true for most sports games, but not always true in extreme sports and motorsport.Tony Hawks Pro Skater is not a Cousin Game, but Tony Hawks Underground 2 is. AirBlade is a Cousin Game.A game with Spider-Man in it has a 75 percent chance of being a Cousin Game. Eighty percent for Wolverine. Ninety percent for Taz.In general, licensed tie-in games have a higher chance of being Cousin Games. @polygon For me? It was Pajama San and Freddy Fish. #gaming #gamingontiktok original sound Polygon First and third-party mascot games are rarely Cousin Games, but there are many exceptions in the Sonic franchise. First-party Nintendo games are never Cousin Games. Except for Geist, which is definitely a Cousin Game.PC games can be Cousin Games, but are far more likely to be Uncle Games, which we dont have time to get into.The Cousin Game is defined by a mystery. How did this game come to be in this wrong-smelling house? Was it a gift from a parent, plucked arbitrarily from a Babbages shelf? Or did your cousin believe in BattleTanx 2? Do they still think of it fondly today? Is it as sweet and familiar in their memory as it is strange in yours?And if you see any of the games mentioned here and said, thats not a Cousin Game, you may have to consider the troubling possibility that you are the cousin. Help is available.