Fans of CSI-type games may find it makes the grade, but for everyone else, there’s just not enough here to warrant much of a look.

Apart from a few pulse-pounding moments in an otherwise generic haunted house story, the weakest link in Silver Chains is that it’s just not very scary or engaging enough to survive as an adventure game otherwise.

While the puzzles are genuinely decent, only the most die-hard puzzle fanatics will likely be willing to play Dark Room a single time through, let alone all three times it will take to see everything it has to offer. For most gamers, the negatives will vastly outweigh the positives in the lackluster first episode of this horror/sci-fi adventure series.

No evolution here; just a splicing of new and old, resulting in more frustration than fun.

The many Nancy Drew fans and DS adventure gamers may be interested in this title, but I can’t really recommend it to any audience. Even for a younger gamer, the repetitive gameplay will likely get boring before the end, and the tedium will quickly be felt by a more seasoned adventure gamer.

As a first-person platformer, Unknown Fate has some interesting ideas; as an adventure game it is ultimately a frustrating experience.

Series fans may get a mild kick out of the latest case for Lindsay and the gang, but few others will find the point of exploring these Crimes of Passion, as there’s just not enough of significance to seek out here.

With decent art and sound design, as well as simple and generally straightforward gameplay, the news certainly isn’t all bad, but Detective Hayseed falls far short of the grand Hollywood standards it espouses. If you’re really in the mood for some crude humor (that’s actually funny), you’d be better off picking up an old copy of Leisure Suit Larry instead.

Bloodshore delivers what it advertises: as a true interactive movie, it provides some decent schlock here and there, but ultimately its narrative and characters come up lacking.

It’s based on a fun idea and setting, but Jerry McPartlin isn’t nearly ambitious enough or committed enough to its humor to leave any lasting impact. What a drag.

The superficial use of Asian motifs and a playable dog protagonist aren’t enough to flesh out the universal themes of life and death in the stylish but extremely short Don’t Disturb.

Eleusis starts off promisingly enough, but well-appointed graphics can’t make up for the lackluster story and generally poor gameplay.

Magnus Failure has an interesting setting with a fairly decent little set of partly illogical puzzles to solve, but really not much more than that.

With a lot of gimmicky, trial-and-error-based audio puzzles connected by a bit of light exploration, Lisssn has little to recommend it save for those who like poking and prodding things just to see what happens.

Fans of the show will enjoy it as a quick diversion; hardcore adventure fans will definitely not get their money's worth.

There is very little about CSI: Fatal Conspiracy that would appeal to non-fans of the series.

The Sundew is very nice to look at and attempts to use its cyberpunk setting to cover intriguing thematic ground, but its story, gameplay and presentation come up short in just about every other way that matters.

Next Life is fairly lengthy, probably 15+ hours of playtime, but it's not quality time because of the abundance of backtracking and slow animations.

Cheeky thrills and the occasional picturesque vista can’t mask the fact that Museum: Volumes I and II feel more like incomplete sketches of a game, and not a complete picture. Each can be diverting for the very short time they last, but neither ever really fulfills the promise of what could have been.

In spite of all the similarities, Miami Law turned out to be a better game than Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles—but not by much. Miami Law has higher production values and a more ambitious scope, but overall these games share a surprising number of pitfalls, which leaves me wondering who they were designed for.

“Planet of Aping Better Movies” might be a better title for Last Frontier, a beautiful but barely interactive “us vs. them” tale whose simplistic choices negate the benefit of experiencing the conflict from both sides.

Lone McLonegan has all the throwback trappings of a Golden Age point-and-click adventure with a welcome Wild West setting, but lacks an understanding of what made those classics work, resulting in a pointless, tedious outing.

There's some real scares to be found, but illogical puzzles and a confusing plot make Anna a different kind of horror to play.

The frustrating issues in Westmark Manor’s design aren’t game-breaking, but they take too much focus away from its better aspects and place the spotlight squarely on areas that should be afterthoughts at best.

Even so, while the tragic backstory is worth seeing through and the cell phone concept is novel for a while, all that’s left beyond that is a poorly-paced exploration in the dark, punctuated by a series of startling yet repetitive ghost encounters. So unless that’s your idea of a good time, this is one number that’s probably not worth picking up.

It's easy to pick up and play in short bursts, which does suit a handheld if you're looking for a budget time-waster, but in the end, this body of evidence should steer most people away from a game that's guilty of sucking all the life out of its own potential.

Regardless, the gorgeous look and feel of the game is poorly served by bad design decisions and ultimately fails as an enjoyable experience.

Play this game if you enjoy feeling hopeless and frustrated or are just plain curious as to how a game would specifically seek to bring about such a feeling. Otherwise, you'd be wise not to bother.

With little more to offer than superficial weirdness and pretty polygons in this series debut, it’s best to wait and see where Catmouth Island goes before investing any time in this underwhelming adventure.

Full of promise but little enjoyment, Enola is a unique and disturbing story wrapped in a bad game.

The Wild Case seems to have begun life as yet another hidden object adventure before mutating into a beautiful but thoroughly domesticated point-and-click adventure that underwhelms in all respects but one.

Forgiveness features a few memorable puzzles and its presentation is top-notch, but inconsistent design choices and the promise of a story that never materializes render it frustratingly unfulfilling.

9 Elefants effortlessly copies what should have been a successful formula on paper, but a lack of puzzle variety and story relevance causes most redeeming qualities to get lost in translation.

As a Saw-inspired escape room adventure, Play With Me is a concept that works well on paper, but too many design choices inevitably stack up to an unsatisfying slog through one keycode puzzle after another.

Twin Mirror is DONTNOD’s attempt to do something outside of their usual wheelhouse, but its poorly executed story, tedious investigation process and excruciatingly uninteresting main character prevent the game from meeting the standard of quality audiences have come to expect from the studio.

The DS is capable of better, and even diehard fans of the show won't miss much by passing on this game.

Despite some promising elements, Seven Doors offers only the merest illusion of depth with its dull and dusty environment, overly simple puzzles and sometimes frustrating design issues.

The developers of Intruder in Antiquonia looked to craft a compelling mystery with an offline twist. However, a story that struggles to connect and lukewarm puzzle-solving make this game about an amnesiac one that’s all too easy to forget.

A positive late-game change in design ethos and cute atmospheric graphics can’t save Tales of the Neon Sea from a lack of story coherency, tedious gameplay, and poor writing.

While the art and music tug at your LucasArts-loving heartstrings, The Dark Prophecy is primarily a letdown. Its lacklustre puzzles, writing, and game design quickly overwhelm the majesty of its appearance.

A great premise tarnished by underdeveloped ideas, Nubla’s puzzle-platforming tour of the Thyssen-Bornemisza museum neither educates nor entertains.

Memoranda is visually stunning with an inviting atmosphere, but the lack of both plot and puzzle logic is too great to overcome.

Escape from Pleasure Planet is one of the few games attempting to hone in on an underrepresented thematic niche, which is very laudable. However, while it incorporates its homosexual elements very tastefully, it isn’t nearly as successful at being an enjoyable game. Hindered somewhat by technical shortcomings and a lackluster story, what really sinks the deal are the inconsistent, sometimes unfair, often frustrating or joyless changes in gameplay that force players to participate in filler tasks that are poorly explained, if at all. What results is an experiment that has a praiseworthy premise but falls short of providing any actual fun. I’d like to see Captain Tycho Minogue return for more galactic exploits, but this isn’t the game to cause his star to rise.

More an incoherent collection of jump scares than a horror game, Layers of Fear occasionally spooks but doesn’t make much of a lasting impression.

What Happened is an abstract first-person acid trip through a troubled teenaged mind that is impressive both visually and aurally, but it has very little gameplay and fumbles the delivery of its narrative with barely anything new to say through the entire second half.

If you're looking for a really great graphic adventure game, give "Circle of Blood" a try, but resist the temptation to pick up its sequel. Like the game's title implies, it’s all smoke and mirrors, and very little substance.

The game has its moments and a few interesting ideas, but the experience as a whole is so irritating, with its constantly grating voices, bad writing and dull gameplay, that you barely register the positive.

Although it sports some incredible artwork and a few interesting plot twists, Repentant doesn’t come close to achieving the heights of its predecessor, Little Kite.

With its five episodes now complete, Song of Horror’s obtuse puzzles, meandering story and frustratingly unintuitive gameplay result in an experience that’s rarely scary but often exasperating.

The Great Perhaps has a lot of good ideas yet fails to devote enough attention to them, raising lots of questions but not answering many. While the artwork and music are highlights, they’re not enough to balance out what is otherwise a disappointing experience.

Cheeky thrills and the occasional picturesque vista can’t mask the fact that Museum: Volumes I and II feel more like incomplete sketches of a game, and not a complete picture. Each can be diverting for the very short time they last, but neither ever really fulfills the promise of what could have been.

Midvinter is actually a decent little game, though for something that touts itself as a cross between Monkey Island and Over the Garden Wall, it is neither funny, deep, nor imaginative enough to really warrant such a comparison. While it is impressive that the game was created by just one person (and a composer), its flat characters, sub-par voice acting, and lack of story and gameplay depth left me feeling like it might have been improved by collaboration to expand its scope. Still, if you have an interest in the unique setting and culture of Scandinavian mythology and want a relatively challenge-free game to finish in a single sitting, Midvinter would certainly fit the bill.

A co-op crime solver may sound like a dream come true for mystery fans, but although Mark & Lara: Partners in Justice ticks the right boxes, it’s far too simplistic to fulfill its potential as an enjoyable two-player investigative game.

Similarly to its predecessor, a striking presentation is not enough for Layers of Fear 2 to overcome a jumbled menagerie of cliches, jump scares, and overwrought writing.

The production values place Erica in good company as an FMV psychological thriller, but with a near total absence of gameplay and a plot that struggles to consistently thrill, what’s left is an underwhelming choose-your-own-adventure tale that leaves a poor lingering impression.

A potentially interesting exploration of depression let down by poor storytelling and dearth of gameplay, Into A Dream is more likely to put you to sleep than rivet you.

A Hand With Many Fingers sets a creepy tone with its dimly lit CIA archive environment and ominous sound design, but its drab visuals, dry story, and simplistic gameplay loop fail to spark much interest.

Vane manages to successfully present an intriguingly surreal world, but its aimless story and execution keep players from deriving much satisfaction from visiting it.

Unlike its renowned predecessor by Sierra, Gold Rush! 2 fails to strike it rich. A historically interesting, slightly educational narrative can’t save the experience from its mind-numbingly easy puzzles and poor presentation in every respect.

With three chapters down and one to go, the Doorways series still lacks the kind of compelling story or gameplay needed for a successful horror game.

Unless you're already a die-hard fan of Myst clones, RHEM 2 is probably not the game for you.

The Inquisitor loses its way through The Village with a poorly designed, technically weak sequel that fails to capitalise on the strengths of its brazen story and brutal, brilliant title character.

Releasing for a budget price doesn't excuse mediocre puzzle design, heavy repetition and a story with so little coherence.

Very self-aware of being a prequel to a bestseller, Before the Storm puts fan service and farfetched melodrama above cohesive storytelling, resulting in a superficial and disappointing experience.

While it remains an innovative and highly laudable idea which I hope will one day be put to better use, in Jazz and Faust it fails to be more than a misguided gimmick. The ‘two adventures in one’ angle fails because even with this feature, the game is extremely short.

Other than the mildly non-linear, Her Story-style keyword investigation, How to shoot a criminal’s dull story and boring videos don’t leave much else to see in this FMV mystery game.

Dream Chamber feels like a game born out of good ideas that lost their way and were abandoned halfway through, leaving a curious collection of ill-fitting pieces in the opening installment.

Angelo and Deemon attempts to pay homage to the classic age of adventure gaming, but outside of a promising early premise it fails to deliver on its potential. Between frustrating puzzles and an exasperating translation, there are few reasons to travel down this highway to hell.

While Among the Innocent has a solid foundation for a tense psychological thriller, this exceptionally short game as a whole never really comes together and is neither intriguing or scary.

Perhaps devoted casual game fans will have some tolerance for this type of hollow experience, but ultimately The Tiny Bang Story's pieces just don't add up to a fulfilling adventure in the end.

Arkhangel offers some fascinating lore for those with the patience to see it through, but obstructing enjoyment are a number of unfortunate shortcomings.

If you love solving puzzles you may enjoy One Against All, particularly if this is your first Red Johnson adventure, but this sequel is overrun with flaws, and if you're in it for the story and characters, look elsewhere.

As much as I like NCIS, if this game were a cup of coffee Gibbs would spit it out and throw it in the bin.

With minimal storytelling, characterization or interaction, little direction and even less feedback, TARTARUS will only appeal to a small subset of players who would appreciate a DOS-like command line experience in their first-person sci-fi adventures.

The presence of a few decent adventure environments and puzzles can’t save the weak stealth game that is Sir Typhil’s second medieval fantasy outing, Poltergeist Treasure.

Some slick visuals and good intentions can’t make up for the fact that The Grandfather is simply too short and under-developed to deliver on its intriguing premise and experimental aspirations.

Despite its few moments of levity, however, the surreal nature of the storyline remains a little too odd throughout, and the repetitive nature of the gameplay makes Flower, Sun and Rain more of a slog to play through than it is enjoyable.

The Detail sets out to provide a memorable police thriller with visual flair, but can’t quite seal the deal in either storytelling or gameplay across its three-part narrative arc.

Spirit of the North may look as nice as it sounds, but it’s largely disappointing and unforgivably boring, offering only a superficial story and sorely lacking interesting exploration.

As the first commercial installment in on ongoing series, Rusty Lake Hotel comes with both story and gameplay reservations for newcomers, and only escape-the-room fans should bother checking it out.

The puzzles make an effort to redeem Last Labyrinth, but with its already unsatisfying narrative stretched even thinner by tedious pacing and unnecessary repetition, it’s best to avoid the trap of playing this one.

Alone in the Park offers a different approach to treasure hunting, though it’s anything but a pleasant, annoyance-free afternoon stroll.

The few complex puzzles in Without Escape tease a more involved room-escape adventure with greater potential, but as it stands, there’s simply no escaping the fact that it isn’t much fun.

More illustrated e-book than game, Mira is a trip through beautifully painted Slavic myths and legends that’s let down by a lack of gameplay and poor localization.

It’s a simple game that everyone should be able to relate to, but some of the design choices and a number of production limitations make playing Alexey’s Winter feel too much like trudging through a cold winter blizzard yourself.

Fort Solis is a bland sci-fi adventure that sacrifices interesting gameplay in its attempt to provide a cinematic experience.

Although much more playable on standard PCs, Alice is a great idea lost amid mountains of technical issues in VR. If you have endless amounts of patience and like Lewis Carroll a whole heck of a lot, this is your game. Otherwise, you probably won’t find it your cup of tea.

With its barest of storylines, over-simplified gameplay, and lack of creativity overall, this beautiful game shimmers superficially before evaporating into nothingness.

3 GEEKS had the potential to be a fun comical romp, but with its near-incomprehensible English translation, clashing art styles, occasional technical hiccup, and patience-testing gameplay, the end result falls far short of its promise.

Mount Olympus is a repetitive, lackluster, and simplistic experience barely masquerading as an original adventure.

Try MOTD only if you are willing to put up with rude character dialogue and idiotic puzzle solutions. If not, wait for House of Tales to release "The Moment of Silence."

Although it is possible to overlook the somewhat pre-dated graphics, poor elements in both plot and puzzle design taint what could otherwise have been an excellent game. With its short length and $20 price point, I simply cannot recommend The Arrangement.

Everything just falls all to pieces in the execution, specifically every element of character interaction (which is 80% of the game). It's frustrating to the point of bafflement at times, to want to care so much about the story, but feel so stifled by the atrocious dialogue and unfriendly interaction system.

Nemezis: Mysterious Journey III nails the beauty and atmosphere of a Myst game but misses the mark in just about every other respect.

This contributes to the overall feeling that A Stroke of Fate: Operation Valkyrie is exactly what it is: about half of a game. It's got pretty good writing, a decent aptitude for historical authenticity, and entirely okay art design, but it's wrapped up in a very bland package that lacks ambition, depth, length, and a single moment of tolerable voice acting.

NightCry is confusing mess of a game that nevertheless manages to provide a bit of schlocky B movie horror fun, particularly for those with fond memories of Clock Tower.

Mysterious Cities of Gold faithfully recreates the look of the television show, but its shallow, repetitive, and unimaginative gameplay should have you prospecting somewhere else.

Hugo Pratt’s title character is nicely represented through collectible memorabilia and original artwork, but Corto Maltese: Secrets of Venice fails to deliver an engaging story or gameplay experience worthy of its source material.