TumbleSeed

The frustration in TumbleSeed seems to be by design, at least, but it didn't feel particularly earned. This is the type of game where you’re meant to die dozens of times, that will take tens of hours to reach the "end," even before taking into account the daily challenges and endless replayability of randomized runs. Between its unique core mechanic and the gorgeous, colorful 2D world it’s built around, TumbleSeed makes a case to spend those dozens of hours rolling up its mountain. But the lack of control over the character mixed with some extremely punishing design choices pushed me away well before I reached the summit, and I can’t say that I expect to return.