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My most recent such games were Her Story and Return of the Obra Dinn.
During Her Story I ended up with an A5 sheet full of keyword ideas I wanted to search the recordings for.
Obra Dinn had me draw multiple iterations of a ship deck while trying to figure out who was likely to sleep in which hammock :D
Honorable mention fir Outer Wilds, cause taking notes and keeping track of things you learn is critical to the gameplay, but the game actually provides an excellent UI already it already.
Also, Elden Ring and other FromSoft games are a contender, cause when you meet a random NPC that says like 3 lines of dialog and doesn't repeat them, you're gonna have trouble remembering any of that 20 hours later when yoy meet them again.
Elite: Dangerous, because every time I tab out of the game to check INARA for the closest outfitting or something there's about a 30% chance of it crashing and becoming unlaunchable until I restart my computer. Hence writing system names down on paper before launching the game.
Riven is one of my favorite games and IMO the best of the Myst series of games. My recommendation is Outer Wilds, which doesn't necessarily require real life note taking although you could. However it is a fantastic puzzle/exploration game that is easily on par with Riven, and will hit that same vibe of learning more and more about the world and using that knowledge to progress. Trust me, its very worth it. Also get the DLC too!
Seconded, though I would advise getting the DLC after completing the main game.
Tunic
Elite Dangerous
Death Stranding
Tunic 💯💯
Why Death Stranding? I don't understand this one....
I kept some paper logs of what was needed where. Mostly for building things, but also for deliveries. I was trying to be relatively efficient in hauling stuff around.
For me with this ADD, a lot, honestly. But, if you've ever tried your hand at breeding in Ark, you kinda understand what is like to be a CPA in tax season.
Three very different games I actually took notes for :
La Mulana. In the "modern" version you have limited memory space to save some of the many texts you find, but you'll need more than that to solve the puzzles anyway. Good luck trying to scribble the weird pixelated symbols on your notes, too.
I play Shin Megami Tensei games with notes to optimize fusions, when I have a particular demon in mind and I want them to inherit the right skills. Later games let you see fusion results, but only one step ahead.
And then there's spacechem. I love Zachtronics games in general, and all the following ones tend to be progressive in difficulty and let you experiment from a good enough solution to better solutions. As the first, less refined one, spacechem is special. Before long it needs planning and calculations to even get something that works.
Probably not what you're looking for, but Elite Dangerous. I'm about to print out pictures of the controls just to teach myself to use them.
I would bet others like EVE Online for the bill better.
I use paper because the game tends to crash when I tab out to figure out where I was supposed to go. And then it won't launch again until I restart my computer.
Morrowind, Factorio and Stardew Valley
If you liked riven you might like the witness.
Love that your example was riven. Was my first thought on the title.
The myst games, their newer game Obduction, the Talos Principle. Those puzzle games all are awesome and take some pen and paper.
Escape from mystwood mansion, the house of da Vinci are a couple others that feel the same way.
Less adventure, more “must optimize!” games like Satisfactory, Factorio are other games that require me to bust out pen and paper or at least a website, spreadsheet or calculator.
The legend of grimrock 1,2. I have pages of notes and a hand drawn map on gridpaper for them!
Subnautica, if you want a map, you have to start triangulation and drawing
Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall the Non-Unity edition. Where you're going to have to remember some locations, characters and whatever else to get by.
And just any old-time classic RPGs from the 80s and 90s, who didn't hold your hand.
I am curious how you scribble your way out of Daggerfall's dungeons. Even the game's 3D automap is basically too messy to be of any use.
Dungeon Master
Still got my notebook as a kid with the spells like ZO KATH RA still around my parents house
Void Stranger is a relatively recent one. It's a Sokoban style puzzle game with layers of puzzles and a ton of hidden depth.
It took me 50 hours to feel like I beat the base game and I haven't even touched the post-game content they added after release. I have a folder full of text files with notes and clues and puzzle attempts and one of the best puzzles involved taking several screenshots and stitching them together in an image editor.
La Mulana is another one to check out. It's a metroidvania heavy on puzzles and exploration that's actively hostile toward the player. It's an exercise in frustration and every inch of progress is measured in blood. Every bit of information is important, and there's a lot of information to untangle. I haven't come close to beating it yet and my notes from just the first few floors are extensive.
Nobody said Myst or Nethack???
Return of the Obra Dinn. Indie darling puzzle game where you are an insurance adjuster working on a recovered ghost ship. Very thematic and satisfying to take notes by hand
Edit: whoops someone already mentioned it
EverQuest - especially in the classic era (99-02) fit this for me. The quests were delivered through unsaved text interactions with no quest log type feature - epic weapon quests were notorious for requiring detailed notes, notably prior to any walkthrough websites being available. There were also no maps and players were compelled to draw their own for zones and dungeons. I filled multiple Franklin-Covey (sp?) leather journals during my adventures and look at them with much nostalgia.
Hah, I actually just busted out pen and paper for Dragon Age Veilguard, although it was to compare companion stats, and nothing to do with the story.
Funny you mention Riven, that was my first offender too way back in the day.
Recently, it's mainly with KSP and Cities:Skylines for planning stuff while I don't have access to the game.
I've wanted to do this for awhile with a RPG - you might have convinced me to do this on the next one I pick up.
In-person tabletop RPGs. My group have been playing 1st Edition AD&D and a compact, modernized version of D&D Basic/Expert called Old School Essentials.
The following games all typically do not hold the player's hand. They are to varying degrees, some give you a map and/or journal, some do not.
The Witness
Lots of diagrams
Agree, I filled like half notebook with this game
I remember opening Paint to solve that incremental puzzle in the mountain only to realise there's multiple symbols in the same space
Tunic!
The "final" puzzle took a whole page of paper. It was brilliant
I still smile whenever I stumble upon these pages of my college block
The loading page was some straight up bullshit though.
So many instances of....
"...no.....nooo.... NOOO"
Then it works
The last game I recall breaking out pen and paper for was Tunic. You can definitely beat the story without, but the later puzzles call for it.
Myst was my answer even before reading your post, so I would say the rest of the series. Also Quern, in the same genre. Maybe The Talos Principle if you like puzzles, though I don't remember reaching for my notepad while playing.
Animal Well.
I hear Lorelei and The Laser Eyes was specifically designed around the idea of the player using a physical notepad to help solve the puzzles. Recently released and reviewed strongly, you should check it out if not already on your radar.