Bramble's action elements might prove challenging for those used to relaxed adventuring gameplay, but with its main focus on platforming, stealth and boss battles, this stunning and terrifying survival horror game artfully weaves Scandinavian folklore into its dark but gripping narrative.

You’ll certainly speed through the experience with no real gameplay slowing you down, but it's more than just a compelling survival tale. The live-action presentation is highly immersive and the game’s killers provide a tense creep factor without going full-on slasher flick frightening. While the instant do-or-die decisions could provide more clues as to what the right option is, it’s in the choices about who Zanna is as a person that the game finds its most meaningful moments, culminating in a heartfelt outcome that is both surprising and satisfying. It’s not much of a gaming workout, but The Run is at times poignant, at times metaphorical, and at times an experience sure to get the blood pumping.

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.

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.

The Berlin Apartment feels less like a traditional game and more like an interactive story, but it’s the everyday personal moments that make experiencing its shared place and the lives shaped by history more powerful.

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.

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.

It’s fun to exercise one’s brain cells in Scene Investigators’ assorted collection of engaging mysteries that pull no punches when it comes to challenge and are immensely rewarding as a result.

Dordogne takes you on a stunning watercolor journey through the past and present of rural southern France. There isn’t anything much in the way of challenge, but it’s a charming interactive storybook that will remind you of the really important things in life.

Combining a slick presentation, unsettling vibes, and an impressive list of talented actors, Dead Take is a solid FMV thriller with a unique Hollywood spin that would benefit most from an alternate ending.

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

Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical is a dazzlingly executed take on familiar stories that breathes new life into old legends. There’s very little gameplay to speak of, but it’s an emotional story and a must-play for musical theater fans and those who are invested in Greek mythology.

No, I’m not a Human is a masterclass in suspense that revels in the paranoia it creates. Some of the magic is lost when trying to unearth specific outcomes for this tale of cosmic horror, but for a single playthrough it’s a deeply disturbing experience where everyday traits of average people are twisted into a mine field.

Aspyr has done an excellent job preserving three of the most important, and timeless, examples of early 3D gaming. Tomb Raider I-III Remastered may largely be a greatest hits set for existing fans, but it’s a comprehensive bundle whose new visuals and updated control schemes are nice options to introduce the original series to the uninitiated.

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.

Like an interactive multi-episode spinoff of the TV show, The Expanse leaves room for improvement but offers a solid sci-fi experience in which time seems to fly by.

Ghost on the Shore guides you on a beautiful island hike with a spectral companion while hunting for long-forgotten family secrets that continue to live on.

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.

A strong contender for champion of League of Legends spinoffs, Song of Nunu is fairly lightweight but presents a charming, beautiful 3D platforming adventure for franchise veterans and newcomers alike.

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.

Loretta is a pleasingly chaotic and entertaining romp through the best tropes of film noir – but it’s the player who decides just how dark things get.

Don’t Nod’s visual novel Harmony is an awkwardly balanced mix of gorgeous but limited production values, clumsy choice mechanic, and an intriguing story whose best parts you never get to experience yourself.

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

Emio – The Smiling Man is a haunting tale that marks a welcome return of the Famicom Detective Club series. It’s the best of the three so far and steers significantly darker than previous entries, though as a visual novel with limited gameplay, it won’t change any minds if you weren’t already on board with what’s on offer.

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.

It certainly doesn’t take a great detective to solve this rather easy adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express, but there’s just something about stepping into the shoes of Hercule Poirot to snoop around the most beautiful and famous train in history in an intricately plotted whodunit that makes it immensely satisfying. If you like playing detective, this interactive version of the most famous case in literary fiction will certainly tickle your own little grey cells.

Not for those who seek challenge above all, but anyone who enjoys relaxing, contemplative experiences should feel over the moon about Europa.

Earth Must Die revels in its comedic, over-the-top adult sci-fi insanity while delivering a genuinely great adventure game experience starring a power-hungry megalomaniac. Never before has it been so much fun to be the arbiter of your own species’ destruction!

A dreamy Italian getaway packed with charm, mystery, and minigames, On Your Tail is the cozy escape you didn’t know you needed.

The Chinese Room’s Still Wakes the Deep sees man’s greed and hubris bring an unknowable disaster down upon an offshore oil rig in a tense, highly effective horror outing.

Valiant Heart: Coming Home’s limited release strategy is a self-inflicted wound, but this beautiful WWI side-scrolling sequel is a fairly fun, lightly educational little three-hour engagement free to those equipped to play it.

Monolith earns science fiction cred with a witty sidekick robot, a beautifully drawn alien world and many clever puzzles relevant to the genre, though an uneven story, shaky dialogue, and poor characterizations may turn off players less willing to endure them to get to the good parts.

A wonderfully surreal and heartfelt narrative adventure, to a T delightfully reinforces the important message that regardless of our perceived personal limitations, we are all “the perfect shape.”

Bigger and better than its predecessor in some ways, more bloated and less focused in others, Oxenfree II: Lost Signals is an intriguing sequel for those on the right wavelength for this kind of gameplay-lite narrative experience.

Combining several gameplay styles with a protagonist-switching, fourth-wall-breaking story makes RE:CALL feel almost experimental at times. But since its disparate elements ultimately work reasonably well together, it’s an experiment in storytelling that could be worth checking out.

The steampunk-styled world of Verne: The Shape of Fantasy provides a fun way to ease lovers of written fiction into interactive storytelling. It could have been written by Jules Verne himself, and although never very challenging, it is intriguing enough to keep more experienced gamers glued to the screen as well.

While it doesn’t quite reach the allegorical heights it aspires to, if you like text adventures or simply enjoy games that subvert the role of the player, then [I] doesn’t exist should keep you solidly entertained for a few hours.

If you enjoy side-scrolling puzzle-platformers, Unleaving is a fun afternoon snack. The esoteric narrative is too clumsy for its own good, but the team at orangutan matter is incredibly talented, and they’ve earned their stripes when it comes to gameplay and design.

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.

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.

Phoenix Springs will land well with anyone looking for a complex, experimental mystery with striking art and a surreal atmosphere, so long as they don’t mind wrestling with a strange, disjointed narrative and a few obtuse puzzles in an increasingly bizarre second half.

It’s a shame there isn’t more opportunity to explore the world at large, but Gamedec is a rewarding and immersive role-playing adventure that offers a satisfying amount of player agency in the direction of this cyberpunk detective mystery.

Full of gorgeous art, delightful jazz, and a very light amount of challenge, The Forest Quartet turns a story about death and grief into a fun, lively, cathartic memorial romp.

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.

At first the unusual art style and uncanny hand-animated world of The Many Pieces of Mr. Coo feels uniquely captivating, but delve a little deeper and its raw mechanics and unclear puzzle design make for a gameplay experience as fragmented as its protagonist.

Near-Mage will cast a powerful spell on fans of narrative-driven adventures. While it may not challenge puzzle wizards, it will enchant players with its beautifully vibrant locales and heartfelt tale of finding one’s place in the world.

Cute characters, great story, beautiful soundtrack, STAT! Fall of Porcupine may lack in the gameplay department, but it’s impossible to not fall in love with this charming character-driven tribute to our underappreciated health care workers.

With a sharp narrative focus, engaging gameplay, and a fresh take on its characters as younger men, Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened functions as both a stellar remake and a compelling sequel to Chapter One.

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.

It gets more repetitive with each new playthrough, but the fun presentation, delightful characters, and significant freedom of choice give Quantum Witch enough replay value to want to find everything you can in this magical fantasy universe.

An artfully made take on the familiar story of an alien invasion, Somerville’s visual design and interesting scenarios form an engaging experience, though some confusing puzzle design and a plot that holds the player at arm’s length keep it from truly being out of this world.

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 House of Tesla’s biographical elements are very well integrated into the numerous puzzles in this beautifully designed mechanical puzzle lover's bonanza.

It may have a bare-bones story and some wonky gameplay mechanics, but Life of Delta is a visually beautiful journey packed full of enjoyable puzzles with a sublime soundtrack to go with it. Although it didn’t completely live up to my expectations, its charming robot protagonist did his best to keep me entertained for the short time we shared together.

While non-Trekkies and puzzle lovers may find Star Trek: Resurgence less appealing, franchise fans looking to simply dive into another fine story in this expansive universe will not be disappointed.

An upgrade in some ways and a step back in others, the remastered Syberia doesn’t quite measure up to the classic work of art that was the original, but its melancholic trip through an entropic Europe filled with automatons is still splendid enough to delight new players to the franchise.

Based on the 1964 hard sci-fi novel of the same name, The Invincible tells a mature, thought-provoking story about a research team’s discoveries on a distant planet. While the gameplay isn’t much to write home about, the smartly presented experience is nevertheless out of this world.

The otherwise moving narrative of Under the Waves misses out on some lost opportunities, but if you have an affinity for collecting, exploration and ocean preservation, you’ll effortlessly immerse yourself for hours in this enchanting, beautiful underwater adventure.

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.

Reveil takes you on a thrilling nightmare journey through one man’s memories of life at the circus on a quest for truth (and missing loved ones) that will keep you on the edge of your bleacher seat.

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.

With Your House, Patrones & Escondites return to their unique style of interactive storytelling with a prequel to Unmemory, offering another intriguing combination of book-style text and visuals in a thoughtful tale of drama and mystery.

A casual hidden object game mixed with a relentlessly wordy visual novel story, Crime O’ Clock is enjoyable enough with its beautiful illustrations, peppy music, and a ton of personality packed into its art, but only in small doses.

While Supermassive’s formula is starting to need a bit of a punch-up, and the H. H. Holmes Murder Castle is surprisingly less compelling than the earlier anthology settings, The Devil in Me is still a solid slasher story for horror fans to enjoy.

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.

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.

The methodical gameplay and occasional difficulty spikes of Bye Sweet Carole won’t be for everyone, but for those who crave an old-school stalker horror with a remarkably poignant story tying everything together, there is nothing else out there quite like this incredibly gorgeous, genre-defying gem.

With a gorgeous setting full of incredible architecture and nicely varied puzzles, Firmament is another confident and cerebral showcase from the legendary artists at Cyan.

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.

A sequel that’s put in the work to expand its predecessor’s horizons is commendable, but for Deliver Us Mars this doesn’t always work out perfectly. Still, it offers another thrilling adventure for deep-space explorers, with welcome character moments that make it a little less solitary this time around.

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.

Like a beloved storybook, Miniatures is a sentimental journey through four melancholy childhood memories that will stick with you long after the final page is turned.

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 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.

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

Not all aspects bridge the decades-long gap seamlessly, but as a modern re-imagining, Alone in the Dark is at once a comprehensive love letter to the venerated original and hands-down one of the best forays into Lovecraftian horror yet.

Hercule Poirot: The London Case is a mixed bag for fans of Agatha Christie and adventure games. They will be thrilled to put the little Belgian detective through his paces once again, but the mystery itself doesn’t fully satisfy.

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.

The expanded world of Agatha Christie – Death on the Nile might feel a bit TOO big at times, but the new playable character does add to the story and nothing gives a greater sense of accomplishment than solving a mystery as Hercule Poirot.

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.

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.

With its limited interaction, Know by heart… may have worked better as a book or film, but it’s a beautiful game with a touching personal story that never loses its focus on the people of a quiet town in crisis.

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.

Those who fondly remember cracking conundrums in The 7th Guest’s Stauf Mansion or feel nostalgic for the early 3D graphics of Resident Evil’s Spencer Mansion will feel right at home in The Tartarus Key, with its plethora of engaging puzzles and well-written cast that’ll welcome you in and make your stay a memorable one.

Toning down the puzzles this time around wasn’t the best idea, but otherwise Lifeless Moon delivers more of what made its predecessor enjoyable for the most part, gorgeously presenting its well-told story of a scientific experiment gone wrong, and the peril and promise of the unknown.

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.

Rauniot is the full post-apocalyptic experience, for better and worse. The story is slight but delicately layered, the detailed isometric graphics are gorgeous in a very monochrome kind of way, and the soundscape really rams home the feeling of remote isolation. The characters too, in their quiet endurance and occasional dark humour, are more affecting than if they had screamed or sobbed. The practical challenges you face are also reasonable and logical, even if finding the items you need can be tricky. If you're a fan of Fallout or Mad Max-style sci-fi, though, and you're interested in something a little off the beaten track, it could be exactly what you're looking for. Just be sure to pack plenty of dog food and watch out for tripwires!

Exploring the magnificent mythological world of The End of the Sun rivals any vacation you could ever take deep into Central Europe yourself, especially when travelling through time to uncover the Slavic valley dwellers’ intimate personal stories.

The charming Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island is a low-challenge but extremely addictive fetch quest and collectible-gathering Elysium filled with fun cartoony Greek gods to make friends with along the way.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Tape: Unveil the Memories is a creative indie adventure that does its best to appeal to suspense lovers whether they prefer stealth or story, but a middling narrative and inconsistent puzzles make it feel like more of a chore than a thrill.

Rendezvous offers cyberpunk with a distinctive Indonesian flavour. Its awkward combat and simple puzzles may soon be forgotten, but its gritty story and pungent atmosphere will stay with you.

Its compelling narrative and sci-fi environment make Fort Solis a welcome addition to the portfolio of thrillers that have sent us into outer space, even if this particular journey punches a little below the best in terms of emotional payoff and scare factor.

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.