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.

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.

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.

Finally localized in English after being released in Dutch and French over a decade ago, Mozart Requiem is so unpolished it’s still not ready for prime time release, seriously undermining its fine protagonist and a story full of intrigue and adventure.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The hand-drawn world is beautifully remastered and the story hints of promise, but Detective Hayseed: The Cloning Madness is riddled with illogically designed puzzles, poorly written characters and misplaced attempts at comedy.

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.

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.

Wasting a promising idea, Blood on the Thames is so bug-riddled and poorly executed that the actors working on it were clearly having more fun than you ever will.

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.