Though only teasing the series' larger story arc for now, The Journey Down's HD remake is a short but vibrant indie adventure that far exceeds the quality of many full-blown retail games.

Captain Morgane and the Golden Turtle is a beautiful looking game with an adventurous story about growing up and dealing with grief, though a few odd design decisions spoil some of the fun.

The Walking Dead may have more gore than puzzles, but by striking out in a new direction that focuses on atmospheric storytelling, Telltale delivers one their most compelling and enjoyable titles to date.

It's a solid puzzler that atones for a few rough edges with homegrown charm, but your mileage with MacGuffin's Curse will ultimately depend on whether you enjoy block puzzles.

A creation of obvious love and care, Botanicula is a must-play for those seeking a truly imaginative and entertaining adventure game

Though padded somewhat by a repetitive combination of puzzles, strategy and RPG elements, Doctor Lautrec and the Forgotten Knights finally gives gamers an adventure of substance on the Nintendo 3DS.

Sleekly packaged and eminently playable, Yesterday conceals the darkness of the human mind within a beautiful artistic canvas; drawing you in with glimpses of dreadful secrets and leaving you shocked, yet satisfied, with its twisted narrative.

A lightweight fun distraction that aims high with interesting puzzle variety, Da New Guys is somewhat pinned down by its poor visuals, irritating lead characters and underused plot devices.

J.U.L.I.A. is a unique and thoroughly enjoyable mission of remote planetary exploration and puzzle-solving.

The Jolly Gang's Spooky Adventure focuses neither on the gang nor on the spooks, and offers at best a couple hours of lighthearted but linear, generic casual adventuring.

Three episodes in, Legacies offers a highly scaled-back version of the familiar cops-and-lawyers formula that doesn't do the intriguing storylines full justice.

Far more hardcore than most casual games, Pahelika: Revelations is enjoyable as a collection of puzzles in a fantasy setting, but the story is needlessly hard to follow and ultimately forgettable.

Metal Dead is an impressive first outing by a new developer that hits all the right notes and delivers a funny, touching, and well-made take on the zombie apocalypse.

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.

There isn't much glitz or glamour in James Noir's Hollywood Crimes, a puzzle-adventure with low production values and repetitive puzzles that even an interesting murder mystery can't overcome.

For those wishing to concentrate solely on a story you have some influence over, the experience may prove worthwhile during the few hours it takes to complete the first time through (with diminishing returns on each replay). For those seeking a playable challenge to go with the tale, however, there isn't a whole lot here to get your blood pumping.

Dead Mountaineer's Hotel is almost a case study of what an adventure game shouldn't be, which is all the more unfortunate considering its immense potential.

To the Moon is an unassuming game that does an unbelievably good job of evoking emotion. It tells a sweet, sad story in an unconventional way, and it shows a lot of promise for Freebird Games.

In the end, this is certainly not a bad game, but it feels cheaper than a Jurassic Park game should, and the gameplay is sure to be divisive among adventure fans.

As you play through a wide range of well-integrated puzzles and discover a variety of fun facets of Nancy's life and the not-so-humdrum town of River Heights, you'll have a great alibi for at least ten-plus hours of sleuthing fun.

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.

Aside from some of the underwhelming additions, Professor Layton and the Last Specter is yet another extremely competent puzzle-adventure game.

This basic story unfolds in less than three hours, not including the bonus chapter, which clocks in with a little over another half hour. Despite its brevity, Drawn: Trail Of Shadows is a gorgeous game that raises casual adventures to new artistic heights, and feels quite unlike any other game available (except its own predecessors). Its world of imagination is wondrous, filled with equal parts hidden dangers and flights of fancy, and with a variety of fun puzzling to solve, you'll easily be drawn into its charms.

At nearly 4GB, The Book of Unwritten Tales isn't small in size or scope, and provides a huge amount of entertainment from start to end.

With a little more challenge and visual polish, this could have been a truly great adventure, but instead settles for being another solid supernatural mystery.

Overall, Beyond Reasonable Doom is a fitting finish to a strange but enjoyable trilogy.

While the drastically different artwork and settings of this debut make a puzzle of the ghostly theme at times, its diverse gameplay, eerie soundscape, and a wide range of imaginative imagery make Age of Enigma: The Secret Of The Sixth Ghost one conundrum you'll really want to try to solve.

For the most part, Senseless Acts of Justice is more of the same great material we saw in the first episode.

Bigger fans will probably get a kick out of visiting Emily's world, particularly those who haven't played games like this before. For the rest of us, there are better puzzle games out there to choose from.

It is much, much easier for me to recommend the game as a free browser-based Flash game than as a commercial product.

If all you're looking for is the comforting, familiar feel of a Nancy Drew game with a wide variety of engaging puzzles and an entertaining supporting cast, you'll feel right at home in The Captive Curse, but if you're looking for a truly suspenseful game with a lot of exciting exploration, you may have to look elsewhere for your happily ever after.

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

It's certainly not a bad game, just a decidedly mediocre one, so unless you're in the mood for a fairly lightweight puzzle-adventure, a purchase is not so elementary this time.

The setting is inviting and the puzzles are solid, but unless you're a devoted series diehard, desperately seeking something new for your Wii, or have friends to join you in multiplayer, I suggest you consider leaving Mystery Case Files: The Malgrave Incident to gather dust on the store shelf.

Well, it's a good game, at times even great, but it functions better as Back to the Future: Part Four than as an adventure game.

With a whole extra case, better written stories and somewhat more varied analysis tasks than the last game, CSI: Unsolved! is certainly a step in the right direction, but the repetitiveness of the activities means it still isn't a great game.

As it stands, Red Johnson's Chronicles feels more like a showcase of style over substance: a demonstration that more adventure games can be made on the PS3 with QTEs and popular CSI-style investigations.

Like its heroine, The Rockin' Dead may be pretty, but beauty is only skin deep, and to find any substance below the surface here, you're definitely going to need glasses.

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

A few technical failings aside, A New Beginning comes highly recommended. It's not often that I consider a game hard to put down, but I found myself getting deeply invested in the plot as it unravelled thanks to its convincing characterisation and an increasingly gripping storyline. Although there's an obvious environmental focus, there's also a strong heart to the story and it's this that powers your desire to play on. Any minor problems that arise are quickly overshadowed by the stunning artwork and the inventive, well-integrated puzzles, so whatever your view on global warming, do yourself a favour and shell out the green for A New Beginning.

Whatever you call it, L.A. Noire is a monumental achievement that every console-owning adventure fan needs to experience.

Whatever you call it, L.A. Noire is a monumental achievement that every console-owning adventure fan needs to experience.

There is just too little done right throughout its 5-8 hours of play time (or much longer if you don't save regularly or have to replay minigames excessively) to recommend to anyone.

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.

999 is a gutsy, mature story that blends horror, science, and character-driven drama in intriguing, thoughtful ways. It's also backed by some sparse but solid gameplay, melding traditional puzzle types with a cohesive math-based theme that nicely suits its subject matter. Unfortunately, what could have been a taut psychological thriller all too often becomes a plodding, pace-killing narrative full of bloated, poorly-integrated dialogue.

As far as Double Visions goes, its pervasive blandness makes it the weakest of the series to date, and with yet another trip to Hill Valley's past, it's hard not to feel like we've been here and done all this before.

Like its predecessor, Portal 2 is not an adventure game in the traditional sense, but genre fans will find plenty to appreciate in this story-driven obstacle course, because puzzle games don't get any better than this.

These few rough edges aside, overall The Next BIG Thing is a lovingly crafted production – its sights and sounds are exquisite, the oddball characters are fascinating, and the whimsical script is epic – the nutty conversations are certain to amuse even the most dour cynic.

Whether you're new to the series or revisiting this dark world for the last time, you'll find this reflection of tortured souls and ancient family curses a mesmerizing adventure that's well worth a look.

In the end, the leap forward in the story helps a lot to counter any disappointment with the gameplay, though the latter won't change the minds of anyone let down by it in the series so far.

Baron Wittard may have failed in his bid to create a real Utopia, but he did manage to leave behind a haunting legacy that many will find worth exploring in its own right.

Even though the gameplay remains noticeably lightweight and the setting feels largely recycled, Get Tannen! still succeeds in entertaining.

Edna & Harvey: The Breakout is very much a mixed bag. Its distinctive art style is marred by a problematic interface. Its massive wealth of interactivity is hindered by a handful of vastly unfair puzzles. Its imaginative setting is dragged down by long, often tedious dialogues. Still, it's a game I'm glad I played, and that's mainly because the underlying story about a girl who's lost her way is so touching.

Gemini Rue is an imperfect adventure game, but a triumph of DIY adventure development and a marvelous feat of interactive storytelling.

Stacking mixes inventive gameplay with a charming visual style to produce an outstanding puzzle-adventure.

Stacking mixes inventive gameplay with a charming visual style to produce an outstanding puzzle-adventure.

Having come up with an intriguing premise, it would have been all too easy for Capcom to cut corners beyond that, relying on the gimmick alone to garner sales. Thankfully, that is definitely not the case with Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective, which is a quality piece of work at every level.

DARKSTAR: The Interactive Movie is a game that takes a lot of patience to truly enjoy. It's not a game for everyone, as some are sure to be turned off by the rarity and simplicity of its puzzles, while others may not relish a return to the infamous days of live actors as their game characters, particularly when some of the acting reminds us why this isn't always a good idea.

While light on the gameplay side, the first episode of Back to the Future absolutely nails the charm, humor, and sense of adventure that made the films so much fun.

Overall, Mystery Case Files: 13th Skull is an impressive mélange of solid storytelling, interesting gameplay and superlative production quality, and strives proactively to blur the line even more between casual and traditional adventure games.

Unfortunately, there are too many translation problems and story gaps that leave players guessing why things are happening or have come to be. Along with the poor sound quality and invisible gameplay triggers that hinder your progress unnecessarily, the end result is a promising game that never manages to rise above its modest station.

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.

In all, it took less than an hour to complete this episode. Hardly anything has happened so far in this king's tale, and it's hard to tell if the series is going somewhere or not.

Overall, Kaptain Brawe: A Brawe New World is a fun old school adventure game with modern user-friendly conveniences, combining some of the best elements of the genre and delivering them in an attractive sci-fi cartoon package.

Ultimately, Jekyll & Hyde is a bit like its dual protagonists: a very mixed bag.

While the storyline never really delivers on its suspenseful potential and we are still waiting for a new game engine that allows for expanded exploration, Nancy Drew: Shadow at the Water's Edge does have a lot of good things going for it.

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

Despite the convoluted story, Midnight Mysteries: Salem Witch Trials is an entertaining game from start to finish, offering about 3 to 4 hours of gameplay in story mode.

It may not be quite as good as the others, but it's still required gaming for the Layton-obsessed, and a high recommendation for anyone who loves puzzles.

Unless you're a glutton for punishment, avoid 15 Days. There are much better adventure games-or interactive stories, for that matter-to be played.

A Twist of Fate has restored my faith in the Runaway series, thanks to its engaging narrative and streamlined interface. This is a great game for Runaway fans and newbies alike.

It's a funhouse mirror, providing a totally new perspective on a familiar place, but gaze into it once and you won't want to look away.

If you're the kind of person who enjoys the rush of simulated terror, follow the developer's advice: wait until sundown, put on some headphones, and start up Amnesia: The Dark Descent

You may wonder what all of the beautiful set pieces have to do with the story, and you may knock your head against a few stubbornly long and tedious puzzles, but you can't help but walk away moved by the wonderful world of Stonebriar.

A series of small issues prevent it from shining as brightly as it could have, but its fun puzzles in a cool setting make Ghost Pirates of Vooju Island an entertaining adventure.

Despite the odd rough story edge and puzzling design choice, The City That Dares Not Sleep is a refreshing, triumphant end to The Devil's Playhouse.

Ultimately, although it definitely suffers for its extremely ill-conceived finale, Alter Ego shows significant improvements on some of the problems that plagued Future Games' previous projects, and in fact is probably the best game the developer has produced to date.

It's still worth playing, with its usual stellar production values and increasingly bizarre storyline, but this episode again feels like it's primarily laying the groundwork for a spectacular finale.

So whether you're a newcomer or a LeChuck's Revenge veteran, it's definitely worth taking the trip back to the world of Monkey Island.

Anyone looking for the next Sam & Max or Monkey Island won't find anything like that here, but with Puzzle Agent Telltale took an intriguing step in a new direction towards puzzle-based adventuring, and the result has proven to be well worthwhile.

I thought the idea of working with a storm chasing team was a great premise, but not enough was really done with it to hold my interest throughout the game.

The simple interface, stunning graphics which are some of the best I’ve seen on the DS, and an intriguing storyline all add up to an enthralling adventure.

This episode doesn't showcase the duo at their best, but it's still worth your while to continue following where they're headed.

Jolly Rover may not be the most original of stories, but if you're in the mood for something short and sweet and not too challenging, this funny pirate (dog) adventure gives you plenty of chuckles and lots to sink your teeth into.

While other Telltale series have suffered a bit of a letdown after a promising start, The Devil's Playhouse is shaping up to be a consistently entertaining season, any way you slice the cucumber.

This is a game that can be enjoyed by children, but is equally adept at speaking to adults about a childhood we only now perceive clearly. It got to me, and I think it will get to you, so do yourself a favor and visit The Whispered World for yourselves.

Overall, the game is a fairly fun little ride thanks to its variety of gameplay and nicely designed cartoonish environments, but the puzzles are often too simple, making for a very short game.

It won’t impress you with its story, but if you like an adventure that can send shivers down your spine as it flexes your brain, you owe it to yourself to check out Dark Fall: Lost Souls.

It's been a whole two years without a new adventure for the Freelance Police, but the wait has been worth it, at least for one episode

This game has a clever premise with gameplay to support it, and even though the story falls way short of its promise, players who go into it with the right expectations will find a lot to like here.

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.

As it is, unfortunately the game can't maintain a proper serious tone long enough to really be engrossing, and ultimately comes off as another substandard adventure with—ironically enough, considering the country of origin—a lack of polish.

The most devoted series fans will probably still love it, but newcomers should check out life as a defense attorney first. The rest of us are likely to find it entertaining enough at times, but a little too meandering, a little too mediocre to fully live up to the Ace Attorney legacy.

3 Cards to Dead Time is a (very) lite word-based adventure that offers a gripping ghost story full of interesting characters. However, its casual nature means it isn't for everyone, and the sequel doesn't quite measure up to the standards of its predecessor.

Treasure Island isn’t as good as the source material that inspired it, but offers enough pleasant discoveries that pirate fans should find worth the journey.

This reimagining significantly alters the Silent Hill formula, but for those willing to put up with the occasional frustrating chase sequence, Shattered Memories is a masterpiece of atmosphere and storytelling that demands your attention.

In spite of this chapter's sometimes bland early tone and uneven puzzle mechanics, Rise of the Pirate God and the series as a whole both come with my highest recommendation as a modern adventure genre must-play.

Despite a few arbitrary cracks, Dire Grove is another (frozen) solid entry in the growing casual adventure library, and a worthy addition to the Mystery Case Files series.