It’s not a perfect game, but Beyond a Steel Sky is a perfectly joyful experience and a faithful sequel for anyone who loved the original game, while bearing the standard for what a modern science fiction adventure should look and sound like in 2020.

Come Back has potential, but a compelling theme and pleasing art style can’t save this first episode from feeling a little unsatisfying, both as a game and a narrative.

Mutazione is a feel-good narrative adventure that will remind you of the importance of love and family, though with minimal gameplay to master, the experience will appeal mainly to those looking for a poignant, character-driven story.

Combining smooth gameplay and solid level design, the pieces in Phantom Path click together to form a puzzle game that is easy to pick up but hard to put down.

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

Delightfully creepy and packed with content, Someday You’ll Return will keep you on the edge of your seat with its exploration of a dark forest and darker forces and leave you pondering what it all means when it’s finally over.

Spirit of the North may look as nice as it sounds, but it’s largely disappointing and unforgivably boring, offering only a superficial story and sorely lacking interesting exploration.

The Academy can be frustratingly clunky and limited at times, but at its best it’s energetic, likable and packed with puzzling goodness.

Shapik: The Moon Quest ticks almost every checkbox for lovers of charming, atmospheric puzzle adventures. What it lacks in narrative depth it more than makes up for with fun gameplay and impressive production values.

With a focus on old-school, high-quality puzzling and an intriguing stand-alone story, Boïnihi: The K’i Codex comes with an unhesitating recommendation for both newcomers to the Black Cube shared universe and series veterans alike.

Old Gods Rising provides a spirited boost to those who prize spectacular scenery, a gripping mystery, and slow-burn horror without mind-bending puzzles to stall the journey.

The complexity and weighty subject matter of the complete seven-part Pendula Swing threaten to get the better of it at times, but the end result is unique and uplifting, offering a timely social history lesson wrapped up in jazzy fantasy flair.

While The Grimsworth Reports: Woodfall lacks refinement and is clearly limited by its budget, it is a solid mystery adventure with a strong atmosphere and true repercussions for the choices you make.

Though it never really rises above its simple premise, the gorgeously immersive Beyond Blue may just be as close to deep-sea diving as you can get without a wetsuit (or the stress).

Debonair, aggressive, honest, deceiving—whatever your spy style, Over the Alps is a wonderful visual novel with a really fun mechanic. Picking this game up, with the promise of similar games still to come, is a choice no story lover will regret.

In Other Waters guides players through the visualization of an alien oceanic ecosystem and invites them to share in the exhilaration of discovering new life, all while telling a complex, original story with memorable characters through the medium of a diving suit’s display monitor.

There were moments early on when I began to feel a sense of missed opportunity from VirtuaVerse, but as with any good slow burn sci-fi, the stakes ramp up with the action in a much more satisfying second half to complete a beautiful, challenging point-and-click adventure.

Eclipse: Edge of Light makes the most out of its humble mobile beginnings, making exploration visually and aurally entertaining. Deeper gameplay and a bigger focus on narrative would have pushed the game to the next level, but being able to ride a jetpack for a few hours is a winning mechanic right from the start.

In spite of some technical hiccups and a half-baked plot, great pacing and puzzle design make Veritas an easy recommendation for veterans of the puzzle-adventure genre.

Interactivity is a short but well-executed meta-story adventure that stands on the shoulders of games like The Stanley Parable but has enough of its own identity to make it worth checking out.

A huge city in a state of entropic decay to explore, a diverse and memorable cast to meet, and an engaging new spin on adventure game navigation make for a highly compelling sci-fi experience in Cloudpunk.

The Secrets of Jesus has a great premise for parody of a topic that few people would be game enough to attempt, but the execution is awful in delivering a wordy mess that makes little sense and, more importantly, is just plain uninteresting and a labour to play.

From Beyond’s designers do a formidable job recreating a nostalgic MacVenture feel while avoiding most retro pitfalls. But until we get a more substantial entry in the series, there simply isn’t enough here to be satisfied just yet, no matter how well it all works.

Night Lights is a cute side-scroller with a quick pace and unique gameplay that unfortunately is a bit too buggy and ends way too soon to stand among the better puzzle-platforming adventures.

While lighter on adventure elements than earlier games in the series, the gameplay is as innovative and fun as ever (with one or two exceptions), and the story of The Craftsman is advanced in an interesting way. If you have the proper hardware and enjoy puzzles, The Room VR is a must-have for your collection.

Short but very sweet, A Fold Apart is a hug in game form that’s sure to warm even the hardest of hearts.

Mazovian Adventure’s rough localization and glitchiness aren’t enough to stop the occasional sparkle of fun from shining through in this throwback to Sierra-inspired comic medieval adventuring.

The Gateway Trilogy is sometimes too mysterious for its own good, but it’s nonetheless an entertaining collection of well-designed puzzles presented alongside accessible and entertaining commentary from its developer.