Tales from the Dragon Mountain 2 improves on the puzzles of the first game, but the other limitations remain and its ending proves unsatisfying.

Detective Grimoire breathes some new life into the investigation/visual novel sub-genre with its compelling setting, characters and humour, undermined only by puzzles that are nowhere as enjoyable as the rest of the game.

Conspirocracy offers some meaty puzzles and more than a few chuckles that make it well worth playing, but it runs out of steam somewhat and lacks the ambition for true greatness.

The adrenaline-laced interactive sequences of Smoke & Mirrors are fun to play, but in between the gameplay is far too sparse and linear, and its story loses some story momentum in the process.

It’s hard to tell if it’s the protagonist of Guise of the Wolf that’s cursed or the game itself. Stay away from this clunky mess of a game.

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.

A unique mix of genre blends, Master Reboot doesn’t always come together cohesively, but there’s plenty of heart in its Soul Cloud.

Finding Teddy sucks you in with its imaginative charm and atmosphere, but beware the sound puzzles don’t spit you right back out again.

If you’re looking for some absurdly fun puzzles and a truly unique storytelling experience, you’ll want to check out DEVICE 6 on iOS, but you’ll wish for a gameplay integration upgrade.

Detective Case and Clown Bot’s fun plot and interesting characters get obscured by uneven and potentially offensive jokes, one-trick gameplay, and poor audio quality.

Whilst not performing any great new feats, The Miracle Mask is a solid first 3DS addition to the Layton franchise.

Most necessary elements of a winning formula are in place, but Violett desperately needs a story to bind the disparate parts together into a classic experience.

Telltale start the new Walking Dead season with a bang, delivering a tense and gripping episode that thrusts a familiar face into new desperation and dangers.

The Lost City is a swift, undemanding adventure that chooses to parade as relaxed mobile entertainment, rather than capitalizing on its potential to be a more memorable adventure gaming experience.

It’s short and easy without much variation, but there’s just enough charm and humour in Gomo to make it a worthwhile experience for fans of Machinarium clones.

With a captivating backstory and engaging, challenging puzzles, ASA: A Space Adventure is a welcome addition to the pantheon of Myst-style puzzle-adventure games.

The unique Mad Libs-style text presentation of Blackbar’s sci-fi social commentary is certainly engaging, but it works better as an innovative reading experience rather than a fully-realized adventure game.

An awkward translation and poorly-clued puzzles let it down somewhat, but Helga Deep in Trouble looks good, tries hard and has some genuinely hilarious moments.

It’s rather short in length and lacks much story substance, but Journey of a Roach is a charming, original adventure that genre fans and newcomers alike will enjoy.

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.

Sassy journalist Sam Peters makes the most of her moment in the sun in this neat little Secret Files spin-off, reclaiming some of the series’ former glory by demystifying an ancient African legend.

A charming yet unassuming adventure through the pantheon of Swedish folklore, Oknytt is good enough to warrant your attention, though it won’t blow you away.

The Deponia trilogy turns out to be very good at goodbyes. If you enjoy LucasArts-style comedic games, this series – and especially the final game – will provide hours of tongue-in-cheek unconventionality.

Lilly Looking Through is an easy-to-love game with a top-notch presentation that unfortunately comes to an end all too soon.

The debut installment of Montague’s Mount is very pretty and atmospheric, but the lack of plot, puzzles or scares so far should have you waiting until the next episode before you decide whether to climb on.

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

It has a wonderful premise, but rain too often neglects its gameplay in this otherwise honest, heartwarming tale of childhood solitude and trust.

Hats off to Telltale for not resting on their laurels with The Wolf Among Us, but stepping out and creating a new adventure series that is shaping up to be brilliantly bleak and gritty but joyously fun.

While The Inner World certainly doesn’t push the envelope, neither does it cut any corners in delivering top-notch fun for the family.

An ambitious story with real, complex characters makes BEYOND: Two Souls one of the year’s most memorable adventures, as long as you’re willing to look past some constrained and awkward gameplay.

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

A richly defined, innovative experience, Lost Echo is exactly what an iOS adventure should be, capturing the spirit of traditional adventure gaming with all the potential the platform has to offer.

A Murder of Ravens ends the story on a cheap note and doesn’t quite live up to the promise laid out in the opening, but it’s certainly more fun than the preceding chapter.

Definitely the low point of the series, The Cain Killer is obviously still a must-play if you’re invested in the Cognition series thus far, though it reminds us that Phoenix Online has a lot of room to grow.

Although an endearing tribute to classic first-person horror adventures, The Curse of Shadow House collapses under the weight of too many concepts that lack strong implementation, creating an uneven experience.

Papers, Please is anything but a standard adventure, but beneath the seemingly unappealing premise of bureaucratic drudgery and human misery lies a fascinating game of choices, surprises, and intrigue.

More of a side story than a full sequel, A Machine for Pigs is memorably dark, disturbing, and bizarre.

The story of The Raven continues to entertain, but the second chapter fails to reach the heights of the first, with a much shorter run time and a detour from what made the opening chapter so good.

The Unfinished Swan is a creative experiment that’s worth a play, even if some aspects feel incomplete.

Despite its misleading title, Layton Brothers stands on its own as an addictive, quirky and refreshing mystery adventure that can be the start of a solid new investigation series.

Gone Home does only one thing but does it superbly, telling a touching story solely through exploration that makes it well worth experiencing.

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is an exquisitely told story set in a world overflowing with personality. It’s an immersive, emotional gem that’s not to be missed.

The five single-character segments in 400 Days results in fleeting bouts of entertainment that are cut short too early and only tease at the prospect of something more substantial.

It doesn’t last long and its humour certainly won’t be for everyone, but Leisure Suit Larry: Reloaded is an almost perfect remake that is short, sweet and loads of fun.

A combination of the eponymous Inquisitor’s acerbic charisma, a compelling story and ambitious production quality overcome a plague of minor gameplay issues to keep you interested in the first episode of this four-part series.

The first episode of The Raven offers up a captivating story, intriguing characters and brilliant audio production to get the three-part series on track right away.

Face Noir is a genuinely entertaining adventure for fans of private eye mysteries, and a solid debut for a promising developer, even if it’s only half of a story.

Tipping Point is an odd game with a handful of frustrations, but there are enough positive aspects to justify its almost negligible price of iPad admission.

Jack Keane 2 is a fun action-packed journey at times, made far more frustrating than it needed to be due to its clumsy interface and obtuse, pace-killing puzzles.

Kentucky Route Zero‘s second act keeps things weird, but feels a tad slight and uneventful compared to the first.

Like a vampire out in the midday sun, Dracula 4 is a short-lived and painfully weak episodic prelude that should be consigned back to its coffin until the series develops some real bite.

While the first episode is a little uneven in its story and puzzle pacing at times, Jacob Jones and the Bigfoot Mystery is a delightfully stylish debut that makes me want to come back for more.

The Starship Damrey is a short but enjoyable space mystery that could have been so much better if it allowed you to puzzle through the enigma yourself.

It may not be very spooky or offer any new ideas, but Ghost of Thornton Hall is quite entertaining if you’re up for sleuthing your way through a haunted southern manor.

Buoyed by the endearing performance of young Jerry Hazelnut, the beautiful, fantastical Night of the Rabbit rises above its shortcomings to celebrate camaraderie, courage and hope in the face of overwhelming odds.

Hypnosis HD offers quite a few hours of mild entertainment, but its shallow story and awkward mixture of classic adventure and casual gaming mechanics make this lite adventure a disappointment.

The third Cognition episode dramatically raises the intensity bar, and ends on a stellar cliffhanger that should leave everyone excited for the conclusion.

The Extended Edition of Anna is a definite improvement over the original, though there’s still nothing that really jumps out for horror fans (except for the now-dangerous poltergeists).

Astroloco is a short but hilarious sci-fi comic adventure that will strain your sides if not your brain.

Year Walk is beautiful meditation on darkness, love, time, and space that goes beyond traditional point-and-click and into a more immersive iOS interface.

An ethereal, innovative, emotional cooperative experience, thatgamecompany’s Journey is one that any PlayStation 3 owner should take.

The first commercial adventure in the Reversion series expands the storyline slightly but continues to feel insubstantial instead of ramping up either the action or the tension.

Though it clings a little too tightly to its classic retro roots, the first episode of Fester Mudd is a short but decent comedy western.

Haters of happy endings—or happiness in general—are in luck, because Richard & Alice is a game so bleak and dreary that it’s hard to find any other purpose for seeing it through to the bitter end.

The Cave may not turn out to be the genre trailblazer that Maniac Mansion was, but this modern day classic puts a new spin on many of the adventure conventions that have been around since Colossal Cave.

Not many adventures have as much dark storytelling ambition as Cognition-endure the awkward conversations to get to the puzzles and story developments, and you'll be glad you stuck with it.

As much a poem as it is a game, Kentucky Route Zero: Act I is the bizarre, lovely first leg of a road trip into the sad, strange heart of America.

Reperfection is unlike anything you've played before and Volume 1 shows promise, but its highly streamlined gameplay and short length will make it too shallow for some.

It leaves you with more questions than answers, but keep an open mind and Kairo will prove be one of the more enticing and captivating worlds you'll ever explore.

CYPHER's attempt to modernize the classic text adventure has a lot of interesting ideas, but the lack of polish on the text itself keeps the game from living up to its potential.

An uncompromisingly methodical and detailed survival adventure, Miasmata is a tense, slow-burning gem.

The Critter Chronicles adopts enough of the positive qualities of its predecessor to deliver another enjoyable adventure, but skids on some crucial issues to land somewhat short of true excellence.

Feeling more like Layton-lite than heavy-duty Holmes, Mystery of the Frozen City is for those who enjoy casual puzzling enough to overlook a nonsensical story.

If you like seeing stories from various personal angles, Virtue's Last Reward offers many hours of value, but you might feel betrayed by the storytelling grind of this longwinded horror adventure.

Haunted is a fun and well-balanced adventure that's highly enjoyable on the surface, but lacks the depth to be truly great.

Falling just a little short of instant classic status, Primordia is still a gorgeous, clever, and melancholy science-fiction parable.

Though it doesn't chart new territory with its premise, Lost Chronicles of Zerzura combines all the right elements to create a thoroughly enjoyable old-school adventure.

Despite its slow start and limited exploration, The Deadly Device provides a good jolt to the franchise with its compelling story and fun puzzles.

It's extraordinarily rare for a game to possess scenes of such powerful emotion, but Telltale have managed something special with The Walking Dead finale, and it'd be a tragedy to miss it.

Very similar to its predecessor with a few improvements in pacing and story, Chaos on Deponia is a solid adventure that fans of LucasArts-style comedies will likely enjoy.

Though flawed, the first episode of Cognition leaves a great final impression and sets up a series that could become a major achievement for episodic adventure gaming.

Sometimes infernally frustrating and plagued with inconsistent design, the deeply morbid Lucius nevertheless contains some diabolical fun for those with loads of patience and a strong stomach.

Another entertaining game for those who can't get enough of the wacky blue plush rabbit, Harvey's New Eyes simplifies the Edna & Harvey experience but is slightly less fun to play as a result.

Whilst Around Every Corner relies a bit too much on action sequences and not enough of group-building with its new characters, it effectively manages to draw hope and desperation to new emotional highs and lows, ultimately ending with the most dramatic conclusion so far.

Arguably the great detective's finest hour, The Testament of Sherlock Holmes makes for a thoroughly enjoyable adventure through the murkier side of Sherlock's psyche.

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.

Secret Files 3 replaces romance with rocket science, but its convoluted premise, simplistic puzzles, and slapdash resolutions make it the weakest link of the trilogy.

Despite a few rough edges, this surreal platforming adventure is a heartfelt, emotional experience that's well worth your time.

The freedom of choice is more illusory this time around, but Long Road Ahead still delivers tremendous emotional blows throughout its increasingly compelling story.

Though light in story, Azada: In Libro's beautiful worlds and wide variety of puzzles make for a satisfying chapter in the casual fantasy series.

It's not without its rough edges, but Doc Apocalypse is an intriguing, original title that's well worth your time if you're looking for a budget sci-fi indie adventure.

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

May's Mysteries is a substantial puzzler that is sure to satisfy fans of logical and mathematical brainteasers, but offers little of interest for those seeking more.

Hoodwink establishes an interesting premise in a unique setting, but its ease and occasional frustrations spoil some of the fun in this (undisclosed) episodic debut.

Starved for Help more than fulfills the high expectations set for it, maintaining the tense immersion and bold story development of its predecessor.

With its 2D cartoon aesthetic, simple point-and-click interface, and challenging puzzles, Deponia is classic old-school adventuring in many ways, making it worth playing even when the storytelling falters.

Chains of Satinav boasts incredible artwork and atmosphere, though it's populated by weak characters that spoil some of the appeal.

Resonance took a long time to arrive, but this meaty, challenging sci-fi thriller has unquestionably been worth the wait.