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

Obduction is clearly not aimed at impatient gamers with older hardware. But Myst enthusiasts and exotic-world explorers will find a whole new stupendous universe to fall in love with, and fans of mind-bending challenges will find themselves in paradise… most of the time.

Later Alligator may turn off some adventure fans with its minigame-heavy gameplay, but those willing to try something different will find a beautifully animated, wonderfully replayable and often hilarious experience.

Return of the Phantom presents an intriguing encounter with the Phantom of the Opera, and is fascinating to experience with modern sensibilities nearly thirty years after its debut.

Ghost on the Shore is a quiet exploration game that gets progressively more intense as the plot unravels. With a focus on storytelling, players who enjoy supernatural mystery and period drama will find this to be an intriguing journey.

Smile For Me combines an engaging story with fresh gameplay ideas, a relatable and quick-witted cast of characters, and an impressive sense of style in a memorable experience that is worth any adventure gamer’s time.

Tells a story that is a masterful blend of challenge, characters and story. It is a definite game of the year candidate, and will likely earn a spot on many gamers' list of favorites.

Twilight Oracle is aimed at those who cherish the point-and-click classics from adventure gaming’s past. It features vividly surreal pixel-art graphics, a fantasy-based story, challenging puzzles and surprisingly delightful writing.

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.

If you are a Myst fan who has played one or all the previous iterations, this is by far the best version yet and deserves your attention with or without the supported VR hardware. If you are one of the few adventure game fans new to the series, you are in for a real treat, though be forewarned that all the same divisively esoteric design elements remain from the original.

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.

Lacuna is a wonderfully tense hard-boiled story set in a gorgeous jazzpunk future. Its mysteries will make you work for the answers, and will even let you fail, but either way the payoff is a sense of accomplishment that few other narrative puzzlers provide.

A short but satisfying adventure in a surreal and creative world, Caetano’s Slice is a terrific entry in the Off-Peak series and a promising first volume of a new anthology.

Making good use of its modest presentation, Moonrise Fall is an enchantingly bittersweet and beautiful game filled with intrigue and environmental obstacles to overcome. While you won’t get answers to all of your questions by the end, it’s still well worth investigating this surreal mystery.

The Bulb Boy’s brief but brilliant battle to reclaim his home from the hideous monsters of the night underscores the proverbial victory of light over darkness, and quality over quantity.

With its brain-bending puzzles, delightful story, and all around impressive fairy-tale-ness, Beyond the Sky is a point-and-click adventure not to be missed.

Sunday Gold is a bold, flashy experiment, merging a point-and-click adventure game with heavy tactical RPG elements. Kinetic, beautiful, and bursting with character, it serves up a brand new way to look at the adventure game genre.

Argonus and the Gods of Stone takes elements of real Greek mythology and shuffles them about to create a fantastic, engrossing new experience that feels like it fits in antiquity.

The time, thought and care put into bringing Papetura to life is obvious on every screen of this short but very sweet journey through a vibrant papercrafted world.

realMyst’s Masterpiece Edition offers spectacular enhancements to an already iconic adventure game – even the Myst naysayers should be pleasantly surprised by the new visuals and interface revisions.

Silence offers a captivating mix of innocent delight layered over an undercurrent of wistful sadness, wrapped up in lovely art and music. The story could have done with a bit more flesh on its bones, but it’s filled with nuance and heart.

With its creatively whimsical yet sincere approach, entertaining mechanics, memorable story, likable characters and vibrant world, Wandersong proves to be one of the most memorable and endearing games to come out of an independent studio in recent times.

Torn Away is the harrowing story of a child’s journey home from a labor camp during World War II, and every aspect of the game combines to present a bold and affecting narrative.

A fateful return of a venerable series proves it still has legs even 10 odd years on.

The Amerzone – The Explorer’s Legacy remake is a bold and melancholic tribute that embraces its anachronistic roots to deliver a hauntingly beautiful, atmospheric journey that’s more about reverie than challenge.

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.

That aside, this is the best time I've had with an adventure game – 2D or 3D, big or small budget – this year. With an original charm all its own, Machinarium is a real winner and an instant classic.

Embracelet doesn’t offer much challenge, it’s a welcome change of pace from the norm, and the simplicity of its gameplay and beautiful low-poly presentation nicely serve an elegantly told, astoundingly good story.