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.

The Last Worker offers an intriguing blend of gameplay elements, but it labours under some dodgy mechanics and questionable design decisions.

Rocco’s Island: Ring to End the Pain gets points for having an interesting story, colorful characters, and beautiful artwork that would have made a great animated movie. Unfortunately, it fails on pretty much every possible level as a game that doesn’t know quite how to be what it wants to be.

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.

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.