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

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.

Next Life is fairly lengthy, probably 15+ hours of playtime, but it's not quality time because of the abundance of backtracking and slow animations.

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.

In spite of all the similarities, Miami Law turned out to be a better game than Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles—but not by much. Miami Law has higher production values and a more ambitious scope, but overall these games share a surprising number of pitfalls, which leaves me wondering who they were designed for.

“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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

Regardless, the gorgeous look and feel of the game is poorly served by bad design decisions and ultimately fails as an enjoyable experience.

Play this game if you enjoy feeling hopeless and frustrated or are just plain curious as to how a game would specifically seek to bring about such a feeling. Otherwise, you'd be wise not to bother.

With little more to offer than superficial weirdness and pretty polygons in this series debut, it’s best to wait and see where Catmouth Island goes before investing any time in this underwhelming adventure.

Full of promise but little enjoyment, Enola is a unique and disturbing story wrapped in a bad game.

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.

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.

9 Elefants effortlessly copies what should have been a successful formula on paper, but a lack of puzzle variety and story relevance causes most redeeming qualities to get lost in translation.

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.

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.

The DS is capable of better, and even diehard fans of the show won't miss much by passing on this game.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.