An investigative adventure that actually makes you feel like a detective, Paradise Killer blends surreal world-building, vibrant art, clever writing, and rock-solid open-world gameplay to create an experience you won’t soon forget.

Transference is a solid, polished experience that plucks equally at your tension wires and heartstrings. Though it seems to end almost as soon as it has begun, it makes the most of its quick pace with some impressive production values and an intriguingly atmospheric narrative of a troubled family.

While the story and entertaining characters will keep you engaged until the end of The Uncertain: Light at the End, you will still need to wait for the next episode to (hopefully) discover who wins the battle between humans and robots.

A short and sweet journey through a wintery landscape and Celtic temples, Solas and the White Winter would be even shorter and sweeter without its long, empty travel intervals.

A little less toilet humor would have better suited its otherwise serious story, but Oneiros is an adventure that both seasoned veterans and genre newcomers can enjoy thanks to its well-crafted gameplay and gorgeous art.

The quest for a pilsner in Oslo in Dude, Where Is My Beer? boasts a charming aesthetic and beer-themed puzzles that will make you think; unfortunately the simplistic story fails to deliver much satisfaction as it remains unfinished for now.

Krystopia: A Puzzle Journey will keep you busy largely solving laser-redirection and pattern-matching puzzles on an intriguing alien planet, but fatigue may eventually set in when facing the same mechanics over and over again.

Although neither as scary as the original nor as disturbing as SOMA, Amnesia: Rebirth is a more personal, emotional tale with plenty of horror to spare.

While Deeproot Manor’s extremely dark aesthetic and retro-styled atmosphere may not be for everyone, the game creates an exciting and memorable horror gaming experience, building something new and fun out of a host of old ideas.

Buck Bradley Comic Adventure 2: The Sand and the Techno-pyramid is a beautiful point-and-click adventure that unfortunately has too many flaws to be as endearing as the comic book-styled graphics.

Though not as memorable as its acclaimed puzzle-platforming inspirations, Stela manages to carve out an identity of its own and is worth playing for its interesting world, atmosphere and excellent music.

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.

While the overly convoluted plot devolves into a straight visual novel near the end, until then you’ll be drawn in by the intuitive gameplay, vibrant side-scrolling world and the intriguing mystery that make Evan’s Remains such a satisfying puzzle platformer.

This game is wildly implausible and absurdly melodramatic—you already know if that appeals to you or not, and if so, Fire Escape is a very fun way to spend an hour or more of voyeuristic spying.

The Revenge of Johnny Bonasera is buoyed by its colorful cartoonish art, evolving story, and excellent puzzle design across its four distinct episodes, but it’s hindered throughout by a lack of depth and nihilistic toilet humor.

Beautiful and bittersweet, When the Past Was Around is a brief but touching point-and-click adventure with simple puzzles that tells a tale of loss and love through gorgeous hand-drawn graphics and elegant, memorable music.

The inherent weirdness of exploring a person’s memories and an ever-evolving mystery help make up for some obtuse gameplay and a lack of proper resolution in The Signifier.

Short on challenge but full of moments that can make you laugh or cry, Welcome to Elk is an intense and memorable narrative experience about a group of people dealing with the hardships of life.

There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension takes the rulebook for what a game can and should do and sets it on fire, practically reinventing the entire medium in the process. Unceasingly hilarious, ludicrously entertaining, and utterly unique, it will remind you why you play games while forcing you to reconsider every aspect of what that means.

Investi-Gator and the Case of the Big Crime is a short but sweetly entertaining romp that lightly pokes fun at the tropes associated with classic mystery stories. While it doesn’t require any critical thinking and there is a distinct lack of puzzles, it’ll be a welcome diversion for those wishing to take a break from more serious fare and have a few laughs at the same time.

Although a little more polish to the unique medieval-themed art style wouldn’t be unwelcome, the Monty Python-inspired Lancelot’s Hangover is a charming, fun and delightfully bonkers point-and-click comic adventure.

The production values place Erica in good company as an FMV psychological thriller, but with a near total absence of gameplay and a plot that struggles to consistently thrill, what’s left is an underwhelming choose-your-own-adventure tale that leaves a poor lingering impression.

From simple magnetism and gravity mechanics springs the fiendishly challenging Relicta, a highly polished environmental puzzler through a lunar space station with your every move being watched.

The Last Campfire is a wonderful way to while away a few evenings, pondering your own mortality while having a fun time doing it by solving puzzles in a lovely fantasy world.

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.

Despite some technical issues, Boreal Tenebrae constructs a thoughtful narrative via solid writing and retro horror art design that remains entertaining throughout, though its abrupt ending leaves us without any closure.

While falling slightly short of its full interactive potential, A Fisherman’s Tale is a unique experience, lovingly and charmingly crafted with a clever premise, solid puzzles and the poignant feel of a Pixar movie.

A potentially interesting exploration of depression let down by poor storytelling and dearth of gameplay, Into A Dream is more likely to put you to sleep than rivet you.