There’s nothing about Edengate: The Edge of Life that’s inherently broken or neglected: the voiced dialogue is serviceable, the music fades into its atmospheric background, and navigating the town of Edengate works well enough despite having so little to do. It’s more a case of a game that desperately needed one of its core elements – be it story, puzzles, or creepy mood – to take charge and step into the foreground, putting a definitive stamp onto the overall experience. Instead, everything is accounted for but nothing makes any waves, so the game ultimately just fizzles out and fades away in a forgettable thud rather than a memorable bang.

Punctuated by a few big scares, Paper Ghost Stories: 7PM is captivating in its quieter moments, too, with an understated slice-of-life narrative, cultural authenticity, an underrepresented setting, and just the right amount of foreboding. The experience is heightened by a sensible sound design, an effectively eerie score, and an infinitely appealing paper cut-out visual style pulled off to near perfection. A few decisions that lead to unique content make it worth playing again as you fully absorb the detail and charm on offer, especially when a single playthrough is so short. Overall, this unassuming little ghost story adventure does just about everything right. It’s bite-sized indeed, but I truly enjoyed my brief introduction, and I can’t wait to see how this style of game plays out in long-form in the upcoming, full-length Third Eye Open sequel.

The stylish Jennifer Wilde: Unlikely Revolutionaries will grab you at first but the pace quickly slows, as will your interest, feeling like a missed opportunity.

Although hampered slightly by lackluster environments and overly repetitive randomized replays to unlock the story in full, Murderous Muses is another impressively written and performed FMV mystery game by D’Avekki Studios, centered around dynamic characters and an unforgettable setting.

While a few questionable design choices and derivative character art keep it from achieving true greatness, Creepy Tale 3: Ingrid Penance is nonetheless a solidly eerie, atmospheric and challenging adventure.

While Unwording succeeds in creatively introducing the mental health concepts of cognitive distortions using wordplay, the surrounding game is simply too short and too shallow to make a lasting impact.

Path of Ra is a fun little ancient Egypt-themed tile-swapper that provides a decent challenge for puzzle fans looking for an atmospheric diversion, though a lackluster story that provides little more than a basic framework seems like a lost opportunity.

Summer Daze: Tilly’s Tale is a pleasant but undemanding little visual novel. Fans of Quest for Glory and Hero-U will enjoy spending time in the Coles’ universe again, but those who want the same kind of intricate gameplay might be disappointed.

It’s a bit too short for its own good, but when you get used to the wonky camera controls, KAPIA is a beautiful and charming game, serving up a colourful cast and fun puzzles.

Unless you are either a die-hard fan of puzzles or analog horror, and really don’t mind a lackluster and increasingly tiresome version of both, there are far better and spookier games out there than Amanda the Adventurer.

A little too unrefined with a bare-bones narrative, After You is nevertheless packed with engaging and demanding puzzles, some of which inspire creative thinking.

There’s no real challenge and very little gameplay in this craftily created 3D visual novel, but The Wreck’s main character’s personal story will pull you in and leave you feeling fully invested in seeing her through the worst – and perhaps last – day of her life.

It may not be the most polished or user-friendly game, but Delirium’s zany night at home with two teens and a talking stuffed bunny proves to be a fair bit of fun.

Being a feline makes Cats and the Other Lives a fun and playful game for the most part, though the storyline you uncover along the way gets darker and darker, and all the more compelling because of it.

Intruder in Antiquonia‘s pleasing aesthetic and rural charm with flashes of something deeper aren’t quite enough to compensate for the hurried storytelling and pedestrian puzzles.

The gritty, realistic urban setting is stunning, but the story of The Safe Place is so drearily centered on poverty, crime and abuse that succeeding in cracking the more difficult inventory puzzles becomes more of a struggle than a pleasure just to progress and see more misery unfold.

DE-EXIT is an ambitious and mostly well-crafted adventure, with great puzzle design, charming visuals, and an immersive cinematic flair. Not all of its ideas play out equally well, and a slow first half combined with minor technical issues make it a bit hard to break into, but those who stick with it until the end won’t regret the effort.

Paws of Coal is a cute and fun little animal detective mystery, featuring some intriguing deduction puzzles and a whole lot of brilliant writing to read, though it is difficult to overlook the fact that it is just a prelude to a larger adventure and not a complete game on its own.

Though let down somewhat by its graphical limitations, its well-written pirate story and a variety of nicely balanced puzzles make Cleo: A Pirate’s Tale an enjoyable experience overall.

Its length – or rather its extreme lack of it – is difficult to overlook, but Beyond the Wall is a cute and charming little adventure in the same style as many of the classic Amanita games.

Laughs are at the forefront of Repella Fella, a crude, gory, and yet occasionally earnest adventure. Ease of play allows the jokes to come fast and furious, and despite some issues with the pace of storytelling, this game is sure to provide hours of delight to its intended audience.

Live the life of a starving student or investigate dark occult secrets. It’s your choice in Dreams in the Witch House, a roleplaying/resource management/point-and-click adventure hybrid that makes for a very challenging, occasionally frustrating but often fun balancing act.

Perhaps the next closest thing to a real-world ghost-hunting expedition, Incubus offers plenty of paranormal phenomena to keep you busy and satisfy your fears and fantasies.

Ashina: The Red Witch isn’t an ambitious game, but as a short and simple retro-styled narrative adventure, it is fun and functional enough for a mild recommendation to those who enjoy this style of anime fantasy.

The idea behind this quirky anthology of four very distinct anecdotes is commendable, but its blink-and-you-missed-it brevity does not pair well with its already limited chill factor, leaving The Creepy Syndrome feeling not particularly worthwhile.

You can’t help but feel like a true conspiracy theorist exploring the beautifully eerie pixel art world of Mythargia with all its mysterious supernatural elements. As a journalist in search of clues about secret human experiments, a bit more control over how to compile the evidence into your article would’ve been welcome, but collecting it all feels very rewarding along the way.

While there are certainly aspects that work in Hauma’s graphic novel-styled exploration through Munich to unearth a mystery about an ancient relic spanning the ages, the game’s pacing and finicky inventory puzzles demand some patience to get to its best stuff.

Midnight Girl looks and sounds like a slice of ’60s cool, drawing you into its atmospheric world and keeping you moving. Your life as a burglar doesn’t always match the glamour of the movies, but it’s still a lively if all too brief escape.

Vlad Circus is fun and scary in all the right ways. With locked doors, monsters, a mysterious circus director and a hallucinating main character, it may not be the greatest show on earth but has plenty to entertain unsuspecting visitors.

If an hour-plus playing politics with The Expanse’s Chrisjen Avasarala sounds like your idea of a good time, “Archangel” is a match made in heaven. For all others, it’s merely an undercooked diversion that adds nothing new to the main storyline.

Desolatium is an unapologetically old-school node-based adventure in the vein of turn-of-the-millennium cult classics like Dracula. Its mix of wildly different art styles doesn’t work as well as it could, but those who don’t mind a bit of pixel hunting will likely enjoy its budget presentation, generally solid puzzle design and atmospheric story.

Golden Idol Mysteries: The Lemurian Vampire serves up a fitting conclusion to the elaborate and electrifying mystery started in The Spider of Lanka, making that game’s satisfying story feel even more complete. Rarely do mystery games make observational deduction this much fun.

Don’t let the cute cartoon style and adventure game humour fool you: in its brief play time, Last Christmas deals with some of the darker elements of the season in a horrifying yet compelling way.

The Season’s Greetings DLC views Lake‘s world through very different eyes, offering reassuring familiarity while shaking things up just enough to make them fresh again. Retaining the same slow, puzzle-free style and relatable characters, it’s not for everyone but will surely feel like the perfect gift for fans of the original game.

Time loop mysteries require a delicate balance of challenge while rewarding players for both their successes and mistakes. In Orten Was the Case, the play control and action elements can upset that balance at times, but the twelve-minute puzzle itself hits all the right beats and proves to be quite satisfying.

OU deserves enormous credit for its superb art and its distinct, ambitious style of storytelling, providing a memorable high-concept experience only slightly hampered by questionable design choices.

Superfluous Returnz isn’t superfluous at all, as its not-so-super hero’s bumbling (and occasionally credibility-defying) antics offer an all-too-brief breath of fresh country air.

Experienced adventurers can probably cruise through Enypnion ReDreamed in their sleep, though some of the logic puzzles might be responsible for a few nightmares. Overall, though, it’s a short but charming little journey through the subconscious that may just remind you of your own childhood nighttime fantasies.

Hill Agency is a stylistically gorgeous game and a refreshing futuristic representation of Indigenous people, but otherwise this detective noir game is too hampered by bugs and a lack of real investigative work to make the experience worthwhile.

Other than the odd puzzle frustration, The Will of Arthur Flabbington offers plenty of nostalgia, laughs and a gauntlet of inventory-based brainteasers that is sure to stretch your creative thinking when glued to your screen and keep you thoughtfully pondering when away from it.

Delivering everything series fans should expect by this point, Dead Drop is another soothing romp with Carol Reed through Swedish countrysides and dilapidated buildings, elevated by a fun hook and some decades-old KGB intrigue that helps to make up for the more humdrum moments.

Twilight Oracle is a nostalgic ride through a zany fantasy world, though even its witty banter can’t hide the fact it’s a short story with a simple plot only good for a single afternoon’s fun.

It’s not about seeing the story through to the end or solving complicated puzzles—version 2.0 of Colossal Cave in VR faithfully retains the flaws of the original groundbreaking game but is otherwise a delightful interactive experience that feels like an actual genuine adventure.

With its lack of relevant story progression until a rushed finale, MADievals won’t make a lasting impression, but its eccentric characters, plethora of anachronisms, and straight-up weirdness keep this fantasy medieval romp entertaining in the moment.

Snowman Story isn’t your typical Christmas tale and the singular puzzle type does it no favours, but it tells a gripping and emotional tale, in a delightfully vivid pixel art style, of a snowman trying to escape his inevitable springtime thaw.

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.

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.

Although quite different from its predecessor, Another Fisherman’s Tale is another brilliant game from InnerspaceVR that combines a vibrant world, moving story, and reality-bending mechanics. An instant classic for both fans of virtual reality and narrative games.

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.

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.

A charming atmosphere, puzzles that are just right, and bonus secrets are all waiting to be unlocked in the fantastic escape room adventure Escape from Mystwood Mansion.

There’s potential here for a good time, but Pendulo and Microids have failed rather miserably at giving Hergé’s beloved character the game he deserves. Riddled with bugs and shallow gameplay that is all over the place, Tintin Reporter: Cigars of the Pharaoh is a disappointing experience that even a diehard fan of the series will have trouble enjoying for long.

Big Loop Studios’ pedigree in the puzzle box space shows through in Boxes: Lost Fragments, a brief but fun foray into a world of creativity and sheer imagination.

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.

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.

Afterdream is a chilling side-scrolling adventure that combines a variety of rather easy, engaging puzzles with a creepy yet surprisingly poignant story about loss, all wrapped up in the developer’s distinctive art style.

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.

Submachine: Legacy asks a lot of the player: a lot of attention, a lot of time, a lot of thought, and a lot of travel. In return, though, it has an incredible amount to offer. The narrative is both intriguing and unobtrusive, allowing you to take or leave as much as you want while you get down to puzzle-solving. The puzzles themselves are almost uniformly excellent, while the art and music are perfectly suited to the aura of mysterious foreboding that infuses each chapter. This is not a game to be approached casually or without the full complement of one’s faculties, but the subnet contains such an embarrassment of adventuring riches that it’s no surprise people have spent so many years jumping at the chance to vanish there.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

With its unique presentation and hybrid role-playing elements, Midnight Margo maintains the perfect balancing act between serious themes like depression and social acceptance and self-deprecating humor that makes it so much fun to play.

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 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.

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.

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.

Though not without its rough edges, Creepy Tale: Some Other Place is a series high point that moves beyond previous entries’ shortcomings with well-designed puzzles, a wickedly spooky atmosphere, and a more confident, less derivative art style.

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.

Packed with many hours’ worth of puzzles to solve, secrets to uncover, and plenty of jokes, Bilkins' Folly finds the sweet spot that combines a light and humorous presentation with a compelling gameplay loop of tricky treasure hunting that has deeper layers than you might expect.

If you’re used to a simple point-and-click interface, Tachyon Dreams Anthology might take some getting used to, but its humor-filled sci-fi story is a wonderful homage to the text parser adventures of the 1980s.

Once a Tale more than compensates for some rough edges with gorgeous stop-motion animation, solid puzzle-platforming gameplay, and a strong finish.

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.

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.

Puzzles for Clef endearingly blends plentiful puzzles with an intricate fairytale world and quirky characters. Like its teenage heroine, it's a little gawky and awkward in places, but it's also charming and full of heart.

Cosmic Void succeeds in delivering another compelling mystery, as the frights in Devil’s Hideout challenge your courage and puzzle-solving skills in this short but spooky point-and-click occult adventure.

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.

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.

The Phantom Fellows marches to the beat of its own ghostly drum. Its zany yet fair puzzles may require a little too much pixel hunting, but it grounds its surreal world in quirkily relatable stories packed with wildly creative dialogue and comically empathetic characters.

Shapik: The Quest is a short but delightfully cozy fantasy forest odyssey. What it lacks in challenge and story depth, it more than makes up in its charming presentation and varied, well-choreographed gameplay.

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.

Murder on Space Station 52 combines a fun but fairly traditional detective noir story with an intriguing sci-fi setting that’s totally out of this world.

It’s come a long way since its schlocky early days, as Midnight Scenes’ fifth and best installment so far invites players to find a safe place to curl up and experience an absorbing dive into the human psyche’s darkest depths.

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.

Arsene Lupin: Once a Thief doesn’t pose much challenge or risk, but the chance to play both as the criminal AND the police in this fun cat-and-mouse-style detective game makes it quite a catch.

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.

Move over, Phoenix Wright! Murders on the Yangtze River takes us on a compelling trip to late-nineteenth-century China, where tradition and progress clash in almost every facet of life and an embattled detective chases down the ghosts of his brother’s enigmatic murder in this satisfying courtroom drama.

Shines Over: The Damned is immersive, and even a bit scary, for the very brief time it lasts. However, its underdeveloped gameplay and narrative will leave players with more a sense of bewilderment than awe.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The Last Shot is a brilliant and wickedly funny war critique that immerses players in a fascinating dieselpunk world filled with engaging platforming challenges and continually creative puzzles, effectively communicating its message without uttering a single word.

While its colourful graphics and lure of a good mystery may be enticing, Arthur & Susan: Almost Detectives falls short of its promise in most important ways.

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.

10 Dead Doves is a fascinating horror adventure with janky PSX-era controls that takes too long to start unfolding, but once you start diving down the rabbit hole you’ll find a wonderfully weird journey that gets more and more compelling the longer you play.

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.