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.

Of Bird and Cage is an experimental music album that pairs interactive elements with the songs to create a unique experience. However, the game is plagued by bad mechanics and a story that is uninteresting and devoid of nuance.

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.

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.

Despite a promising hook and a convincing immersion into 1940s Italy, Martha Is Dead caters to a tiny audience willing to put up with disturbing themes, game-crashing bugs, and little sense of adventure.

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.

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 its interesting rural Ukrainian setting, beautiful graphics and engaging Narrator, Highly Likely could have been an enjoyable interactive folk tale, if only the interaction wasn’t so painstakingly tedious and dull so as to make the entire thing feel like a frustrating waste of time.

The Works of Mercy is an initially promising thriller about the morality of our choices that promptly dies thrashing and gurgling. Post-mortem reveals the cause of death to be flimsy writing and bare-bones gameplay.

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.

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.

Siblings aren’t the only thing missing in Lost Brothers, as this buggy trip through a hidden cave is bereft of either acceptable storytelling or anything to do.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

Although Freakpocalypse – Part 1: Hall Pass to Hell ends a little prematurely, this pun-packed and polished traditional point-and-click series debut should appeal both to fans of the Cyanide & Happiness web comic and genre aficionados looking for a fun cartoon-styled adventure.

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.

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.

Monkeys & Dragons tries very hard to put players in mind of LucasArts classics, but its poorly designed puzzles, buggy gameplay and underdeveloped story demonstrate little understanding of what made those games work.

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.

Hiveswap: Act 2 can be a little slow in places and doesn’t take us very far in the overall story, but it’s nevertheless a charming and beautiful point-and-click adventure set in a fully fleshed-out, intriguing alien world.

While the story and entertaining characters will keep you engaged until the end of The Uncertain: Light at the End, you will still need to wait for the next episode to (hopefully) discover who wins the battle between humans and robots.

Buck Bradley Comic Adventure 2: The Sand and the Techno-pyramid is a beautiful point-and-click adventure that unfortunately has too many flaws to be as endearing as the comic book-styled graphics.

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 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.

Despite some technical issues, Boreal Tenebrae constructs a thoughtful narrative via solid writing and retro horror art design that remains entertaining throughout, though its abrupt ending leaves us without any closure.

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.

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.

A visually appealing futuristic adventure, the debut installment of Mad Cat’s World is unfortunately heavily hindered by its bland script and poor localization.

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.

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.

“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.

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.

Come Back has potential, but a compelling theme and pleasing art style can’t save this first episode from feeling a little unsatisfying, both as a game and a narrative.

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

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.

The Secrets of Jesus has a great premise for parody of a topic that few people would be game enough to attempt, but the execution is awful in delivering a wordy mess that makes little sense and, more importantly, is just plain uninteresting and a labour to play.

From Beyond’s designers do a formidable job recreating a nostalgic MacVenture feel while avoiding most retro pitfalls. But until we get a more substantial entry in the series, there simply isn’t enough here to be satisfied just yet, no matter how well it all works.

To forgive is divine, but The Unholy Society comes up sinfully short in too many areas to deserve a full redemption without further acts of contrition in future installments.

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.

Joyfess is a pleasant series introduction on the surface, with compelling artwork and a nicely designed world, but its lacklustre game mechanics and story delivery make it hard to endorse for now as an unfinished product.

Artematica’s video game adaptation of Morbus Gravis is underdeveloped, unbalanced, and borderline unplayable. Only the most dedicated of Druuna fans need subject themselves to the game’s insurmountable frustrations.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Bear With Me‘s DLC prequel episode The Lost Robots is an entertaining addition to the Paper City universe, with plenty of stylish laughs surrounding an intriguing whodunit.

While the short, casual room puzzler The Tower of Beatrice has an intriguing premise and interesting recipe potion mechanic, they simply don’t make up for the nearly non-existent story, poor English translation and largely generic gameplay.

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.

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

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.

Despite an underwhelming ending, Harvester of Dreams’s strong start, intriguing main setting and attention to little details makes this an enchanting journey to embark on.

An attempt to right the wrongs of a terrible second game goes wayward, as Lucius III misses the mark in nearly every way.

Along with a number of rough edges, Elea’s attempts at surrealism on a spaceship prevent this first-person explorer from delivering a compelling narrative experience in its episodic debut.

Beyond KURSK‘s virtual tour of the ill-fated titular submarine, this self-proclaimed “adventure documentary” works as neither a compelling adventure game nor a fact-based documentary of the mysterious disaster.

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.

More choice-driven visual novel than pure adventure, the first half Herald‘s four parts is admirable in many ways, with memorable characters and a slow-burning story that sucks you in and successfully tackles heavy topics without losing its charm.

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

With a compelling fraternal relationship at its core and a challenging journey ahead, Roads is a positive and promising evolution for the Life Is Strange franchise.

The Inpatient sounds amazing on paper, but the terror is watered down so quickly and to such a large degree that it manages to make three hours feel easily twice as long, and not in a good way.

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.

Although it delivers an abundance of horrifying imagery, the indiscriminately gratuitous Lust for Darkness falls short of delivering a truly engaging Lovecraft-meets-sex-cult experience throughout its brief three-hour play time.

At under an hour, Shiver is a budget horror title through and through, but even by casual standards it is bound to disappoint. While the suspenseful early build-up shows some promise, it soon becomes apparent that there was never much behind the misleading facade.

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.

Unapologetically aping Ridley Scott’s Alien, the debut installment of The Outpost Nine seeks like-minded fans who yearn for a bygone era of sci-fi. The devotion to a tried-and-true formula ultimately steals away a lot of potential, though a decent foundation is constructed for future episodes to improve upon.

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.

There’s some interesting background teased here, but Rogue Quest is way too short, starts unexpectedly in the middle of the story, and doesn’t really maintain interest even throughout its extremely brief length.

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

Lovers of point-and-click adventures should enjoy the funny and compelling first installment of tiny & Tall: Gleipnir, providing you can overlook some broken English and perhaps the occasional glitch.

Destination Primus Vita‘s shallow puzzles are buoyed by lush, creative visuals and a thoughtful story to make for a fun exercise in exploration and discovery in this first-person, character-driven narrative through a high-tech ethereal dreamscape.

Much like its shorter predecessor, the magnitude of negatives outweigh the positives in Red Comrades 3. It has its amusing moments, but eventually the gameplay just feels like a slog and the story doesn’t provide much reward for sticking with it to the end.

Done Running is a strong opener for Clementine’s final story, successfully exploring the theme of motherhood while providing the usual dose of zombies and human drama.

Code 7’s thoughtful combination of hacking sim mechanics and modernized text adventure set the stage for a compelling sci-fi drama. If future installments are as good as the free prologue and first commercial episode, Code 7 is one cyberpunk indie you won’t want to miss.

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.

More personal family drama than superhero extravaganza, The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit packs most of its punch in the quiet emotional moments that make it well worth a couple hours to play.

Tequila Works delivers again with The Invisible Hours, giving players an intriguing voyeur role in a genuinely interesting mystery populated by an unforgettable cast. Doing it all in VR is just the icing on the cake.

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.

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.

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.

Perhaps best left locked in the past, The Silver Case is not worth looking into unless you REALLY like visual novels and Suda51 and have a lot of patience.

Mystery of Rivenhallows isn’t a terrible game so much as a terribly underwhelming one – a short, easy, bland adventure whose budget price is its main redeeming quality.

Kate Walker’s latest expedition to save the hapless Youkols is fraught with development missteps on multiple fronts, making Syberia 3 a mammoth disappointment.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

If you have a strong masochistic urge to inflict a few hours of excruciating, pretentious sociopolitical ramblings interspersed with bouts of petty cruelty and vulgarity upon yourself, Désiré is the game for you.

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.

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.