The Occultist’s many fetch quests provide a fairly fun way to get the blood pumping and the heart beating through an anxiety-inducing ghost story, though the survival elements might be overwhelming for those who don’t like to be scared to death.

Mixtape is less a game and more an interactive art piece – and that’s okay! You’re a passenger along for a nostalgic teenage reminiscence in motion, and with its captivating presentation of raw emotional moments it’s a musical odyssey well worth taking.

The Caribou Trail is a short but powerful tale of brotherhood in the trenches of World War I that will leave a lasting impression on anyone who plays it.

Chaotic, colourful, and endearingly daft, Detective Dotson is a brief but gloriously over-the-top cultural experience, but its gameplay rarely lives up to its Bollywood ambitions.

Uncle Lee’s Cookbook is a collection of comedy adventures divided up into bite-sized chunks, with plenty of reality-breaking hilarity sure to tickle the fancy of anyone who loves a bit of insanity in their games.

There’s plenty of tension and fear in preparing for your own survival before time runs out, but the very short Cult Vacui will pose little challenge to experienced adventurers.

The season may be colder, but Moomintroll: Winter’s Warmth is even more heartwarming than Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley, combining strong writing with rewarding winter-themed mechanics to create another charming family favorite.

If you love live-action melodrama, the seventh-century Imperial Chinese court intrigue of Road to Empress I is the game for you. Embrace the chaos of 110 endings and marvel at the production value, but don’t get too comfortable – the plot moves as fast as the poison.

Directive 8020 rockets Supermassive’s horror anthology into the stars with a homage to Ridley Scott, John Carpenter, and all things body horror, while delivering a stellar narrative twist that’s out of this world.

Cardboard and constructivism collide in Amanita Design’s masterful marriage of story, puzzles, and hand-crafted aesthetic in Phonopolis.

WILL: Follow the Light’s ambitious mix of sailing, character drama and puzzle-based adventuring shows plenty of promise but often results in choppy pacing and rough implementation.

Whirlight: No Time To Trip is a wonderful time-travel adventure filled with stunning production values and loads of puzzles that you’ll gladly get lost in for days.

Call of the Elder Gods is an arguably even better follow-up to Call of the Sea, continuing the saga with plenty more puzzles and a tighter story that fleshes out its Lovecraftian tale of eldritch horror and destiny.

Immersive, trippy, and nicely varied in its gameplay, Mindcop is a well-paced non-linear whodunit that strikes just the right balance between emotional and hilarious in its gritty murder mystery.

Midnight Saturn combines futuristic sci-fi and film noir sensibilities in a short but perfectly okay detective case that is best described as average in just about every respect.

Some very pretty and impressive visual production values can’t disguise the fact that Neon Blood’s narrative and gameplay feel far too anemic.

A worthy detective game in the vein of Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot (but with animals), Last Train to Clawville is a compelling murder mystery visual novel that is easy to grasp and will keep you wanting to know more.

With only a little interference to enjoyment, Radiolight‘s one-man production offers a supernatural 1980s mystery well worth exploring in a gorgeously detailed yet solidly creepy woodland setting.

No frustrating time-loop antics in the wonderfully designed The Posthumous Investigation, just a deep but fast-paced unraveling of who might have killed Rio de Janeiro’s most influential resident.

With an engaging array of suspects, fun trial mechanics, and some surprisingly emotional moments, The Real Face of a VTuber is worthy of that other famous visual novel courtroom series that inspired it.

Once Upon a Puppet is an often delightful, sometimes frustrating, digital puzzle-platforming puppet show that engages with its premise in smart ways. The world built here is truly something to behold, and with just a little more rehearsal, this would have been a must-see performance.

Its puzzles may leave something to be desired, but Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss legitimately feels like one of Lovecraft’s dark stories experienced first-hand.

D3AD HAND gives a satirical twist to the Cold War, presenting players with the chance to save the world from nuclear annihilation through a fun mix of point-and-click puzzling and crafty feline wiles.

The Lightkeeper’s great visuals and sound design are the strongest points of this short, tightly paced experience, making up in eerie atmosphere what it lacks in actual gameplay.

Life Is Strange: Reunion is a fitting capstone to the story of Max and Chloe started years ago, providing a welcome feeling of closure and satisfaction that this tale was worth the wait.

Out of Sight is a brilliant, and at times touching, take on classic survival horror, mixing stealth, environmental puzzling, and even the occasional chase sequence into its thrilling escape mission. It’s short and maybe a bit on the easy side, but the excellent pacing and terrific storytelling will keep players gripping their teddy bears with delight.

Shuten Order breaks up the traditional visual novel experience with a gameplay conceit or two you’ll love, plus a few you’ll likely just need to deal with, to tell a compelling sci-fi mystery with a unique take on the genre.

Thief’s Shelter pulls you into a beautifully eerie mansion to investigate a strange, supernatural mystery full of fun puzzles, yet its limited freedom of exploration to solve the case yourself can be a bit frustrating.