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

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.

After years of incremental improvements, the final release of SpaceVenture is a fairly entertaining experience tailored especially for Space Quest fans that’s still plagued by a significant number of unfortunate caveats.

The second short standalone game in the BrokenLore series, Don't Watch has some merit with its dive into the fears and threats facing a young social recluse, and there's promise in its varied gameplay mechanics. It’s a shame, then, that it’s too inconsistent in almost every way for a truly impactful, worthwhile experience.

Caravan SandWitch is a calm, atmospheric journey that’s pleasant to play, but held back by repetitive tasks and a lack of momentum.

The follow-up to NAIRI: Tower of Shirin is too self-referential to make waves with anyone not already familiar with the series, but longtime fans will find more of what made them just that in Rising Tide: adorable talking animals, a ton of dialogue, cozy point-and-clicking, and a jarring cliffhanger that leaves room for the next game.

Its premise is as easy to connect with as its charming presentation, but Aarik and the Ruined Kingdom never quite capitalizes on its potential, choosing instead to walk the path of a rather simple and woefully short puzzler aimed at casual or younger gamers.

Despite its obvious surface similarities, don’t go into Letters of War expecting an emotion-wrecking Valiant Hearts-like experience, but rather a simple hero story and WWII history lesson wrapped up in unfortunately repetitive gameplay.

Cantaloupe Chronicle is too uneven to make the front page news, but there is some relaxing fun to be had with chasing news stories and overcoming small-town inventory obstacles.

CARIMARA: Beneath the forlorn limbs is an attention-grabbing introduction to a strange and original fantasy world that features an engaging spin on the detective genre, but our time there is so brief that it’s hard to come away fully satisfied.

Fun enough while it lasts, Confidential Killings gets in and out a bit too quickly with its tightly paced plot and lack of much challenge, all wrapped up in the glitz and glam of 1970s Hollywood.

The Last Case of John Morley transitions from a film-noir mystery into a psychological horror that reveals just how fragile the human psyche is, prioritizing atmosphere over detective work in its short run time.

LOW has enough surprising moments and weighty themes to warrant experiencing this BrokenLore debut, but an array of minor irritants leave plenty of room for improvement in what will hopefully become a more regularly rewarding franchise.

It’s not as open-ended as other narrative RPGs and lacks a believable ending, but Rue Valley has an appealing graphic novel aesthetic and engagingly human time-looping story that avoids becoming too repetitive or frustrating each time it resets.

After two stellar Golden Idol Investigations spinoff DLC chapters, The Age of Restraint falters a bit under the weight of its complicated conspiracies, though it still manages to mostly deliver the goods. If only it wasn't so blisteringly hard to deduce its secrets.

The Empty Desk is a supernatural whodunit with components of conspiracy theories made into an average game with some serious shortcomings.

The Supper: New Blood has the right recipe for a darkly delicious cartoon adventure, though repetition and limited gameplay opportunities work against its sinister premise, and its campy but fun B-horror shocks elicit diminishing returns long before its last course.

In telling its tragic story against a striking (and swampy) Louisiana backdrop, Intrigue at Oakhaven delivers the short atmospheric experience it promises, but structurally the adventure feels less like playing a well-rounded game than it does listening to a two-chapter novel with a brief intermission to bang out some familiar puzzles.

While not flashy or revolutionary, with the occasional questionable narrative choice, Casebook 1899: The Leipzig Murders offers exactly what it says on the tin: a solidly entertaining collection of murder mysteries designed specifically with lovers of good ol’ classic point-and-clicking in mind.

Within its subset of casual adventures, True Fear: Forsaken Souls stands out due to its stalwart dedication to delivering peak camp-horror charm. Its story gets a bit wobbly, but after a long delay, the final part of the trilogy largely succeeds in giving some closure at last.

Though pretty and painless, The Adventures of Zomboy is so brief and bare-bones that it can neither be called a reimagining of the free Flash original nor a sendup of the zombie genre, despite its potentially interesting premise.

Centum is full of memorably horrific imagery and atmosphere, but enjoying them means putting up with uneven writing, poor design choices, and a truckload of obscurity for obscurity’s sake.

Beautiful, unexpectedly emotional, but frequently frustrating, Simon the Sorcerer is back in an intriguing if uneven series prequel reboot.

Necrophosis creates startling scenes of cosmic horror and meshes existentialism with religion, yet repetitive item hunting and a lack of sustainable tension dilute the potentially potent core of the experience.

Hello Stranger has solid FMV production values and fun performances, but it feels like a short and forgettable Creepshow episode with a thin story that just doesn’t merit the tedium of more than a single replay.

While charming in delivering a somewhat heartwarming story, Petit Island is ultimately rather dull in its delivery, with boring implementations of activities like fishing and bug catching. In essence, it’s an uninspired effort in a familiar game style that others have done in much more interesting ways.

Fans of Firewatch are likely to enjoy this similarly designed walking simulator set in the northern wilderness, though Arctic Awakening’s story fails to bring enough tension or wonderment to match its acclaimed predecessor.

Gloomy Eyes is a dark but lovely fairy tale, revived from its previous VR-exclusive short film form and given new life with a welcome if fairly shallow layer of gameplay.

The Centennial Case is one of the more ambitious FMV games in years, telling a century-spanning mystery while putting the player in charge of investigating several whodunits. Unfortunately, despite a solid production, there is very little to engage the player and the uneven acting performances fail to make up for it.

Cat’s Request is a lovely, imaginative science fiction fever dream that spreads itself a bit too thin but is nevertheless an enjoyable gaming experience over the course of its too-brief two-hour runtime.

Though it would have benefited from more restraint, Hyperdrive Inn is a wild, multidimensional journey through a kaleidoscope of the possible and the impossible alike, with so much to see that you’ll need multiple playthroughs to experience the fullness of it.

The short and overly surreal Undying Flower shows signs of what a talented group of designers can come up with artistically, but don’t go in expecting much in terms of gameplay, clear-cut storytelling or lasting emotional connection.

Wormventures: Barrier 51 is a funny point-and-click comedic adventure with challenging puzzles that will surely charm players but can also frustrate with some tedious pacing and lack of polish.

The magical world it sets up begs to be explored more deeply than it is here, but while it lasts, the hour-long Arcane Investigations largely succeeds in its promise of being a Phoenix Wright-inspired fantasy mystery.

As a bite-sized new dive into the world of Still Wakes the Deep, Siren’s Rest doesn’t quite measure up and will likely leave you hungering for the meatier, more fulfilling experience of the base game.

Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo is a gently paced, vividly colorful paper adventure filled with memorable afterlife inhabitants and a simple but fun time-looping premise. It’s a shame, then, that the character arcs often fail to reach the same satisfying conclusion for the player as they do for these wayward souls themselves.

The Alex Hill series debut Whispers at White Oak Inn nicely captures the lo-fi charm of early Nancy Drew mysteries with clear affection for its inspiration, but stumbles somewhat when trying to stand on its own.

Lara’s last three adventures from Core Design play differently enough from the first trilogy that serious fans will want to check them out. However, with inconsistent visual and mechanical upgrades, and a higher overall difficulty, Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered is not a good jumping-in point for newcomers.

CollectorVision’s dedication to recreating an authentic nostalgic experience is clearly evident on every screen, but whenever Dead Tomb goes out of its way to make the experience as cumbersome as possible, this jaunt to Ancient Egypt will leave you parched for a more robust experience.

Its short length prevents Neon Hearts City from shining as brightly as it could, but slick production values, solid writing and simple but entertaining gameplay make for an intriguing enough tour while it lasts.

Don’t let the bright cartoon world and cute animals fool you: Magret & FaceDeBouc, with its poop jokes, blood and snarky characters, is definitely not for children. But if you’re okay with that, and the occasional bug, it packs a twisty tale and some satisfyingly old-school puzzles into its brief runtime.

There are no grand mysteries for Sherlock Holmes to solve in The Beekeeper’s Picnic, but rather a cozy, charming, easy little adventure about the world’s most famous retired detective dusting off his deduction skills for worthwhile personal reasons.

Don’t Nod spins a thoughtful yarn about friendship and trauma, but Lost Records can’t find the right tonal balance to guarantee a hit.

The Extrication is still far from a masterclass in horror, but this better sophomore effort in the Bridge Curse franchise has shown it’s learned a few lessons along the way.

Urban Myth Dissolution Center’s bold art and an even bolder concept isn’t quite enough to spice up this slow-burning mystery visual novel with limited detective elements.

It’s nice to finally have ASYLUM in our hands after so long, but while it has the makings of an interesting story at its center, the vast size and emptiness of its namesake hospital overwhelm everything else about it, and it never gets a handle on how to balance narrative and gameplay or to deliver the horror it promises.

A bewildering story is content to leave players floundering in the dark, but KARMA’s commitment to nonstop weirdness provides some gloriously unhinged nightmare fuel.

With only two of five planned Backrooms-inspired liminal spaces to explore, Dreamcore tries so hard to avoid stimulating the player that playing it feels less like an experience and more like a chore to navigate its endlessly maze-like environments.

The beautifully atmospheric Tales from Candleforth is a fairly solid occult puzzle mystery with plenty to enjoy while it lasts, though it’s missing some polish and depth as the final key ingredients.

The strong visual aesthetic and tranquil atmosphere help elevate Pine: A Story of Loss, but the slow, repetitive pacing and simplistic gameplay limit the game’s appeal primarily to those who can draw from their own experiences to reflect more deeply on the emotional themes of moving on from heartbreak.

Designed for ease of play, what the culturally distinctive EQQO lacks in depth, it makes up for with its charming, multilayered allegorical story.

Tourist Trap is a brief but enjoyable vacation from more difficult games, with a colorful cartoon aesthetic and great sense of humor but still able to surprise you with some darker layers to uncover.

Despite a puzzling choice to include some timed dexterity-based sequences, if you enjoy moderate lateral thinking challenges and dying often in creative and gruesome ways, Is This Game Trying to Kill Me? surely fits the bill.

There isn’t much in the way of brain teasers, but Spiral is a heartwarming story with a heartbreaking premise that follows its mentally deteriorating protagonist on his last trip down memory lane.

NoseBound starts off as a graphically intriguing, gritty detective noir investigation, but quickly leads you by the hand on a linear and (currently) unpolished path towards a bewilderingly strange conclusion.

As the final installment of the Immortal John Triptych, Death of the Reprobate provides more of the same fun Monty Python-esque humor, signature Renaissance-era aesthetic, and enjoyable puzzles that Joe Richardson fans have come to expect, even if some aspects are starting to wear thin the third time around.

Officially localized three decades after the original release, Clock Tower: Rewind is a perfectly passable way to experience what was once officially a Japan-exclusive piece of horror history. This is the real, first Clock Tower experience warts and all, along with a smattering of goodies that will delight longtime fans – even if it feels like an inconsistent package throughout.

Using multiple personalities to examine everything can be entertaining until it becomes tiresome, so you’ll need to take your time if you hope to succeed in the Spanish point-and-click comic adventure Ramas’ Call: Twisted Timing.

Three Minutes to Eight is a fun game to look at with all kinds of style, though the inherent repetition of time loops is not helped by unfortunate design choices that make it likely this cool experience will wear out its welcome long before you uncover all its mysteries.

Looking and sounding perhaps better than ever, Murder Malady is everything players expect from a Carol Reed mystery, refined to focus on what the series does best. For a 20th anniversary release, it's not a grand and unforgettable outing, but certainly a welcome and enjoyable one.

Copycat’s linear cozy feline simulator is a far too tame to measure up to its own in-game wildlife ambitions, though its playful yet emotional story might purr its way into an animal lover’s.

Open Roads is a short but emotionally stirring character drama that is, fittingly, more about the journey than the destination, without so much as a speed bump challenge to slow you down in the latest narrative adventure from the creators of Gone Home.

The Abandoned Planet sends you on a not-too-strenuous journey through a visually enticing world full of mystery and menace, even if the protagonist’s hint-laden narration and surface-level characterization mean you shouldn’t expect too much more than that.

Bugs and translation issues stop this adventure from reaching the stars, but with its wonderful hand-painted graphics, quirky characters and delightful puzzles, it is difficult not to have a good time with The Journey of AutUmn.

Bigger but not necessarily better, the unapologetically old-school Beyond Shadowgate plays virtually the same as the original, and fans should enjoy it just as much as its iconic predecessor from way back when.

It’s an okay survival horror game that doesn’t do enough to capitalize on the franchise’s appeal, so if you haven’t seen A Quiet Place and only played The Road Ahead, you’ll probably wonder what all the hoopla’s about.

Sailing through the Slavic- and Icelandic-influenced world of Selfloss is often a breathtaking sensory experience, but unengaging puzzles, buggy features and an ill-conceived final twist mean its pleasures are largely limited.

While sporting an intriguing alternate timeline, a decent cast, and a variety of gameplay features, most players will find something to dislike in Dustborn, an epic action-adventure that fails to evoke excitement and sentiment over an excessively long playtime.

Echoes presents an intriguing mystery through a gorgeous progression of graphical styles, albeit with little to do besides clicking through dialogues and finding the occasional hidden piece of information and making subtly impactful choices.

Clearly meant as a love letter to VGA space adventures of yesteryear, the very short and simple Orbital Cargo Division may succeed more in making you fondly recall your time with those titles rather than giving you a new favorite to reminisce about.

Immortality is within reach for this stylishly produced noir detective thriller about the misery of eternal life, but limited world-building and player agency prevent Nobody Wants to Die from becoming a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Looking Up I See Only a Ceiling is an extremely short but nightmarishly eerie micro-experience. Its manga stylings and sensible puzzle design make it enjoyable to play, though even with its post-game replay options, it feels like a ton of potential for expansion was simply left unexplored.

Bent Oak Island’s budget limitations and lack of polish certainly hold it back, but you can get some good fun out of its twin protagonists’ sibling banter while trying to prevent a summer vacation from ending in disaster.

Autopsy Simulator’s puzzle elements may be dead on arrival, but the well-researched autopsy cases presented in the unsettling atmosphere of an isolated coroner’s office injects enough thrills to give the game some measurable signs of life.

Skeler Boy is a beautiful micro-sized horror adventure filled to the brim with scares and quirky challenges throughout its short runtime, though it ultimately feels like a compilation of homages that never manages to find a voice of its own.

It’s Grim Up North’s first (and so far only) chapter puts a comedic twist on the concept of alien body snatchers in Yorkshire, delivering a fun but flawed point-and-click adventure/turn-based RPG combo experience.

Light on gameplay but rich in atmosphere, the short but sweet stories that make up Makoto Wakaido’s Case Files are full of entertaining misdirection and unique subversion of perspective.

The Anchor of Memory, like all Isoland games, is a unique experience that will appeal to a player's quiet, thoughtful, poetic side. Light on story and heavy on bizarre puzzles, this game lives up to its predecessors in every way, making it a solid addition to the franchise.

After a long hiatus, the perennially youthful Nancy Drew is back in Mystery of the Seven Keys. The pendulum has swung back from the greater focus on story and character interaction in the previous installment, but fans of the classic series will doubtless welcome the renewed emphasis on puzzle solving this time around.

The Curse of Grimsey Island brings some interesting ideas to the table but struggles to make the most of them, with a sci-fi murder mystery still sorely in need of refinement and better connection to the gameplay.

The Mildew Children tells a great witch story with impressive lore and tricky dialogue challenges wrapped up in a beautiful side-scrolling presentation, though the endless roaming and long conversations are likely to take their toll on your attention span.

Focusing more on the story than the spooks (though the spooks are good when they materialize!), An English Haunting is a solid, user-friendly paranormal tale with strong production values, even if it lacks the compelling characters and dialogue of the best horror fiction.

Bloated dialog bogs down what’s otherwise a fun search for a missing cat in the lightly humorous Scott Whiskers in: The Search for Mr. Fumbleclaw.

Lil’ Guardsman is a silly, high-fantasy take on Papers, Please that mixes deductive gameplay with goblins and wizards – what more could you want? Well, a tighter story with more consistent quality would have been great, but the end result is still very much worth playing for comedy fans.

With no story or any real puzzles to speak of, Path of Kami’s prologue will hold little interest for more hardcore traditional adventure game players, but the beautiful graphics and music do create an interesting world to explore at your leisure, if you think that alone will be enough to keep you interested for a couple hours.

Skaramazuzu’s strange, gray world and creepily adorable characters look and sound fantastic, but it’s hard to stay interested when it gives players so little of interest to think about or actually do.

It would be nice to focus solely on how the bleak setting is intriguing, the stealth missions often feel cool, and the characters are at least entertaining, if not quite appealing—but it’s tough to do that when Sunday Gold is simply overrun with punishing turn-based combat and related RPG-style skill mechanics, and the adventure side of this genre hybrid is consistently minimized.

Sanya’s very simple gameplay won’t challenge anyone over the age of its young protagonist, but even for adults, this quaint, lovely side-scrolling adventure is like a nostalgic trip back to childhood.

Harold Halibut is a curious fish, using its retro-futuristic, painstakingly handcrafted world and cast of weird but relatable characters to tell a heartfelt but ambling, puzzle-free story that’s (in the best way) more soap opera than space opera.

Cluttered level design and a lack of polish somewhat mar this episodic series debut, but they don’t stop Twogether: Project Indigos from being a fun and clever prison escape with its endearing telekinetic and telepathic leads.

The SCUMM-style interface and some poorly clued objectives might not appeal to modern players used to easier games, but for old-school genre fans, The Legend of Skye provides a wonderful dose of nostalgia, transporting you back to the golden days of point-and-click classics.

Conrad Stevenson’s Paranormal P.I. forces you to be patient and follow procedures to the letter, but once you get the hang of exploring haunted environs in search of ghosts, figuring out whose spirit is still lingering and finding the right way to get them to move on can be highly rewarding.

Champy the Useless Vampire is a very short and easy adventure game that won’t pose any challenge to the experienced gamer, but its charming cartoon presentation and cozy gameplay might mesmerize their kids enough to try out the point-and-click adventure genre.

Even with a bit of open exploration, Saltsea Chronicles is essentially a visual novel – a character-driven, story you read on screens of charmingly beautiful backgrounds. It’s a stress-free piece of interactive media that invites players to help write the unfolding tale, but those looking for deeper gameplay won’t find any swashbuckling, seafaring action in these calm seas.

Like a bingeable TV show, American Arcadia is slickly presented and tightly paced, resulting in a charismatic and entertaining theme park ride of an adventure, even if the simple characters and somewhat unfocused approach to gameplay doesn’t foster much lasting impact.

Questioning and confronting suspects in Chronique des Silencieux can be very fun if you’re a patient reader willing to ignore the often faulty English translations and some technical issues to really appreciate this intricate detective story set in 1970s France.

The Adventures of the Black Hawk succeeds at copying—and I mean copying—the aesthetic that made the early LucasArts games so successful. While the copy doesn’t shine quite as brightly due to some inconsistent localization and general lack of polish, it is a consistently amusing and challenging adventure worthy of being in the conversation.

Flake: The Legend of Snowblind is a captivating cartoon adventure in a fun, intricately crafted setting, though its considerable charms are complicated by the fact that it feels more like a substantial first chapter than a full game in its own right.