With stunning visuals, solid sound and music, and nuanced worldbuilding that many adventure games would kill for, it’s unfortunate that Lamplight City is lacking in the one area that distinguishes games over other storytelling media: interactivity.

Lake Ridden‘s spookiness is slightly undone by its attempts to appeal to horror, puzzle, and drama fans alike, but the end result is still worth the trip.

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.

Many of State of Mind’s ideas sound great on paper, but as an interactive thriller it fails to establish proper stakes, with virtually no challenge, a world with few likeable characters, and a story sparse on purposeful events.

The Birdwatcher makes for a somewhat enjoyable walking tour of Norrköping, but the detachment of story and gameplay makes for a surprisingly disengaging mystery.

Although still lacking much challenge beyond working through its more confusing story, Dead Secret Circle is a longer and more diverse game than its predecessor with the same creepy, immersive atmosphere introduced in the series debut.

With a great cast of characters, Unavowed is a stylish urban supernatural fantasy that is touching, funny, endearing, replayable and above all, fun.

For fans of Escape Rooms, the puzzle-centric The Initiate does an excellent job of scratching a hard-to-satisfy itch for many hours, and does so in a fair way that hardly ever feels cheap.

Shrug Island is a short but scenic getaway with a tropical sorbet-flavored design that provides a relaxing experience of gentle puzzling fun.

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.

A side-scrolling vehicle adventure with a platformer’s stylish detailing, FAR: Lone Sails is a simple but charming little ride that gradually builds up momentum and never loses its way.

Short and sweet, The Search’s slideshow-style adventuring isn’t particularly challenging on the puzzle front but may leave you contemplating your own creativity after the experience.

The founding family of Quest for Glory has returned with an all-new unofficial entry that proves worthy of its predecessors’ legacy yet still manages to distinguish itself entirely on its own. Existing fans will be thrilled to see all the classic design staples make a return in Hero-U, while newcomers can enjoy a witty, substantial (if somewhat bloated) adventure-RPG experience.

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.

The adventure gamer’s platformer, Forgotton Anne’s endearing exploration of lost objects come to life is sure to please all but the most dexterously challenged.

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.

Consistent enjoyment of AntVentor is hindered by its gameplay frustrations, but its charming main character and gorgeous visual design make for an interesting first stepping stone for the rest of the trilogy.

The 20-plus hour commitment to The Pillars of the Earth is well worth it to enjoy this interactive towering tale, faithfully adapted to near-perfection by Daedalic. For patient gamers, this is not a narrative adventure that should be missed.

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.

Detective Gallo is a comic-noir point-and-click adventure starring a grumpy, sarcastic rooster as he tries to solve a case of plant destruction. What’s not to like? Except maybe that there’s not more of it.

A linear experience where you’re told what to do almost every step of the way, Devil in the Capital still manages to offer a brief bit of fun for those just looking to point-and-click their way through a rarely-explored cultural setting.

While it takes a few narrative missteps, The Thin Silence oozes raw emotion as it courageously bares the suffocating reality of depression and loneliness, yet still manages to be a fairly entertaining game in its own right.

Dark Train takes you on a singular, confusing, marvellous journey into a seemingly grey industrial world that proves to be full of exuberant imagination. All in the company of a mechanical squid called Ann.

Stonewall Penitentiary offers an interactive thriller of murder and paranoia in an atmospheric setting filled with the tortured ghosts of its past. It looks fairly dated and certainly doesn’t tread any revolutionary new ground, but it succeeds at what it sets out to do: to be a satisfyingly entertaining experience from beginning to end.

Just like its predecessor, MIAZMA or the Devil’s Stone provides a lot of charming B movie-type fun, with a story that will keep you engaged all the way through. Even though its ending is rushed and has only an English dub, FMV mystery fans should definitely give this one a try.

With a great voice cast, distinctive visual style, and intricate puzzle design, Unforeseen Incidents delivers a solid if well-worn story of a nobody from nowhere saving the world.

STAY is a game that requires dedication, both to its digital protagonist and its puzzle solving, and features the kind of narrative that’s best digested via discussion with others who’ve played it. Eccentricities aside, it provides the kind of fodder that transcends the superficial and is recommended for anybody willing to face a slice of real-world drama.

The Painscreek Killings is an engrossing, complex, challenging murder mystery that makes you feel like a real investigator. Dig out your notepad; it’s time to uncover the secrets this sleepy, abandoned town is hiding.

Hostil feels like the bare-bones outline of a survival tale in an alien landscape. There’s enough effort and polish to demonstrate a legitimate attempt at a serious narrative, but it’s disappointingly hamstrung by its own brevity to really be effective.

Although an aesthetically impressive achievement, the surreal Karma. Incarnation 1 is unfortunately let down by a confusingly abstract story that can be completed more by just following available steps than by any extensive thought.

Earthworms is a solid point-and-click adventure across the board, although your appreciation of it will surely depend on your reaction to its utterly surreal nature.

On a surface level, Part 2: Unbound continues where The Fall‘s last installment left off, but several changes have been made to both story and gameplay formulas, for better and for worse, including an overreliance on combat that may not appeal as strongly to hardcore adventure gamers.

A challenging but fair science fiction adventure, Tardy’s unique look, direct inventory manipulation mechanics, and interesting story and characters easily overshadow a few interface and localization issues.

For a story starring a robot vacuum cleaner and a smart home A.I., the short but sweet Rumu showcases a wide spectrum of human emotions, which is a feat that not even many people-centric dramas achieve.

Its interesting story and characters are the highlights of The St Christopher’s School Lockdown, though a lack of polish and some questionable design decisions prevent them from shining quite as brightly as they might.

Although modestly designed, A Tale of Caos: Overture does many things right, including some that aren’t easy to pull off, offering some genuinely funny moments as well as some truly head-scratching puzzles.

A compelling if somewhat easy puzzler with a unique aesthetic inspired by medieval engravings, Apocalipsis has that melancholic appeal of a Grimm’s fairy tale on a rainy day.

Presented as a mockumentary, The Mind of Marlo delivers a short, hilariously down-the-earth story despite the wildly absurd nature of its premise.

Working together with a partner to overcome obstacles is a great core concept at the heart of We Were Here Too, though as a castle escape game it isn’t particularly noteworthy beyond that.

Another Lost Phone doesn’t look like much and its linearity ensures a short play time, but it has enough gameplay and story depth with important themes to be a pleasant experience while it lasts.

While not flawless and more focused on narrative than puzzles, SIMULACRA manages to be a fun experience by offering more player agency than its lost phone contemporaries, throwing players into an ongoing missing persons investigation – with a supernatural twist.

Although light on actual gameplay, Alone With You is an interesting and worthwhile third-person exploration game overall. Those with an interest in science should absolutely play this; those looking for the publicized romance visual novel will be disappointed.

I fell from Grace needs to be played more than once to get the most out of a shifting story driven by your choices. If you enjoy tales with darker tones or gritty urban dramas, you definitely cannot miss this.

The idea is executed effectively, but the game is consumed too fast, leaving you wanting for more from this bowl of rice. These kind of gameplay mechanics need to be implemented on a larger scale to make a real impact.

Short on both puzzles and in-depth narrative, The Station is all about atmosphere. If you’re a fan of immersive sci-fi exploration, turn off the lights, turn up the sound, and enjoy the ride.

While shorter than the last instalment, and the easiest of the three to boot, the final chapter of The Journey Down brings closure to series veterans and, more importantly, makes the entire trilogy required gaming for adventure fans in general.

Slighter than other Amanita offerings, CHUCHEL whizzes you through an assortment of easy but highly comical sketches, succeeding in its primary aim of making you laugh.

A Case of Distrust is a stylish and solid mystery adventure, but with no chance to solve it yourself, you may be left wondering what your role in this game actually is.

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.

Although The House of Da Vinci is slightly marred by persnickety mechanics and the occasionally frustrating puzzle, exploring the mind of a genius by reverse engineering his inventions will pull you into a gorgeous Renaissance world and keep you challenged throughout.

Captain Disaster in Death Has a Million Stomping Boots is a lighthearted and enjoyable point-and-click adventure with a good story and plenty of humour to help overcome the modest presentation and a few noticeable weaknesses.

Alternately compelling and maddening, INFRA requires a lot of patience but provides a uniquely grounded adventuring experience.

The deliberate pace and excessive reading will surely limit its appeal, but for high-fantasy fans, the rich game world, solid storyline, varied puzzles and exceptional background art make Eselmir and the five magical gifts worth being patient to see through to the end.

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.

Little Kite tackles themes of abuse, drug addiction, and childhood trauma in a manner that few others dare, though its content might be a little too bleak for some players.

An intriguing first attempt at a gumshoe adventure modeled on the Carol Reed footprint. First-person mystery fans and Carol devotees should definitely give Silent Footsteps a go.

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.

Newcomers need not apply, but fans of the Danganronpa series are in for a treat, as the story and characters are among the best we’ve seen, while the gameplay introduces just enough tweaks to keep things interesting.

Misao’s potential for an engrossing, topical storyline is unfortunately shoved aside in favor of aimless exploration, but with the right expectations and a budget price, horror fans might find it worth a look.

With enough updates finally addressing the most serious technical problems at launch (though some still remain), the clever second entry is a funny and much more substantial cartoon romp through Victorian London.

Gorogoa is a clever, well-balanced tile-based puzzler that shines through its visual illusions. If you’re seeking an innovative game with unique brain-teasers and gorgeous graphics, this game is for you.

As a point-and-click experience in spirit, Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin is much better suited to hardcore adventure gamers than its sometimes demanding platforming predecessor ever was, but it isn’t a standout game in terms of enjoyment or quality. It’s a short side mission that doesn’t wow with its puzzles or offer anything revolutionary in terms of gameplay or narrative. But it accomplishes what it sets out to do, by bringing a sorely-needed new dose of Psychonauts to the faithful, or at least those with a PlayStation 4 and a PSVR headset. It neither particularly delights nor disappoints, but marks its place as a competent placeholder in the expanding Psychonauts series, and a reasonable point of entry for those new to the virtual reality experience.

An adventure out of time, Thaumistry‘s a lighthearted text romp that casts its entertaining puzzle magic on the modern era.

Though the gameplay isn’t particularly inspired, Darkestville Castle is a winner thanks to its prank-prone principal character, delightful cartoon environments, and witty humour.

AER creates a beautiful fantasy world with a wonderful flying mechanic to explore it, but ultimately doesn’t give players much to do besides repetitive platforming puzzles.

Trackless feels like it’s trying to offer some kind of social commentary, but any deeper meaning remains unclear, and nothing of any substance is ever revealed. In the end, that leaves us with a cool blend of puzzle styles that is perhaps worth a single cursory playthrough for those looking for something a little different.

A brief reboot of the cult classic series, Black Mirror does well to pile more richly atmospheric doom and gloom on the Gordon family, but is hobbled by creaking mechanics and poor design decisions.

Even though it doesn’t offer much story or puzzle depth, Tiny Echo is nevertheless a treat for the eyes and an enchanting journey worth every minute of its two-hour playtime.

As a game it’s fairly simple and repetitive, but if the idea of a well-crafted, emotional story gives you shivers, Last Day of June is an interactive experience you need to play.

Bloober Team’s >observer_ marries cyberpunk and body horror tropes into an intense, disturbing sensory feast, for the most part successfully.

Tales of Cosmos is an adventure in the classic mould, putting puzzles before story, having fun before making much sense, and ideas before polish. Whether that’s refreshing or just old-fashioned is up to you.

If you love British comedies like Blackadder and surreal mysteries like Twin Peaks, The Darkside Detective is a retro-styled supernatural adventure game you don’t want to miss.

Once the momentum picks up, the three-part Bear With Me is a funny, well-written point-and-click adventure, with memorable characters that will stick with you for a long time.

Though still an enjoyable adventure with high production values, The Last Wind Monk marks something of a tonal shift in the series. Part of what made The Inner World so appealing was its charm, and the sequel ends up leaving a little of that behind in favor of a darker story full of challenging puzzles.

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.

A solid but unremarkable casual experience, The Mystery of Haunted Hollow surrounds its creepy tale with a nice variety of easy puzzling and places to explore.

The surreal presentation may draw a lot of the attention, but Maggie’s Apartment proves equal parts strange, artistic, and entertaining as you slowly peel back the quirky layers of a mystery that proves deceptively deep.

Breathtakingly beautiful and fiendishly logical, XING: The Land Beyond will spark your ingenuity and kindle a keen delight as you trek its entrancing pathways.

Danganronpa 2 is a sequel adhering to the motto, Don’t change, just improve. Some of the same problem areas are still present, but much has been smoothed out or enhanced for a superior entry over what was already a good first effort.

Although falling short of its full potential, Tokyo Dark tells an intriguing mystery story and nicely integrates elements of both western and eastern cultures, combining point-and-click adventure-style exploration and simple puzzles with visual novel-length conversations and multiple endings, some more satisfying than others.

Offering the same abundance of barely-integrated gameplay as its predecessors but with new protagonists and smaller cases, the gorgeous Layton's Mystery Journey is ideal for puzzle fans on the go, though at times it sacrifices quality for quantity.

Although the story is ultimately a disappointment, Ahnayro’s highly-polished puzzle mechanics, dreamlike atmosphere, and budget-friendly pricing make this a very worthwhile buy for gamers who yearn for something a little different.

Without question, Rakuen is an ambitious indie endeavor and I admired many aspects of it—the Boy’s authentic child-like wonder in the face of real human tragedy, the funny and endearing inhabitants of Morizora Forest, and the mystery surrounding the Boy’s hospital stay, to name a few. But my dissatisfaction with the puzzles and ending make the game difficult to wholeheartedly recommend. It really comes down to what kind of game you’re in the mood for. If you want a game that’s mostly story, then the number and type of puzzles in Rakuen will likely turn you off. If you’re looking for more of a story-puzzle balance regardless of how well the two are integrated, you’ll probably have a better time with Rakuen than I did. And if you’re in the mood for a game to make you cry—well, this one will, I guarantee it. I just can’t promise it’ll be the catharsis you’re looking for.

The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker is engrossing, disturbing and erudite, and though it’s a little lacking in plot it’s full of welcome ideas.

The Low Road’s tale of espionage is told in a fun, quirky fashion that manages to hold your attention and keep a smile on your face throughout its short playtime. While it doesn’t reinvent the wheel and falters slightly on occasion, it is a lovely experience that is definitely worth your time.

This Monty Python-inspired puzzler has a great sense of humor, generally fun puzzles, and a clever collage presentation. If you’re a fan of absurdist send-ups of religion, Four Last Things should be number one on your list of games to play next.

A little more story and gameplay variety would have filled out its generous play time better, but there is plenty of reason for both puzzle and platforming fans to enjoy RiME.

If you cherish piecing together clever, dramatic plot fragments and don’t mind lots of backtracking while rummaging through dimly-lit locales, then you owe it to yourself to play Empathy: Path of Whispers.

Lone Echo has left me wanting more, but not just because of the loose ends left in the story. In the days since finishing the game, I can’t seem to shake it – like a memory I keep turning to whenever my mind wanders. Immersive mechanics; an intimate, character-driven story; and a detailed, believable world all come together to create an experience I could genuinely lose myself in. Hopefully we won’t have to wait for a sequel before another game gets VR this right.

Stories Untold is better than the sum of its parts, even if this collection of horror-themed interactive fiction vignettes never quite capitalizes on the potential of its concept.

Danganronpa may not score highly with its excessive menagerie of gameplay mechanics, but if you’re morbidly curious and want to indulge your darker side, this unique visual novel adventure gets a solid passing grade.

The Turing Test gets a high passing grade for its many engaging puzzles, but marks deducted for a storyline that never fully connects.

Paradigm is a uniquely creative blend of art, music and consistently humorous gameplay. It’s an absurdist adventure like no other, and one that’s earned its place among the classics.