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.