Puzzle fans will find The Guest a solid room-escape adventure, while story and exploration fans will have plenty of reservations.

While the story is anything but deep, underneath Pan-Pan’s pretty face beats the heart of a solid puzzle-adventure that provides a couple hours of light-hearted entertainment.

Wailing Heights is a stylish ballad of comic horror. The plot could be stronger and there are a few technical bum notes, but it’ll leave you with a wolfish grin.

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.

An uneven game of kaleidoscopic highs and somber lows, N.E.R.O. rewards patient exploration, connect-the-dots plot analysis, and an appreciation for nature’s surreal beauty.

If you have a strong masochistic urge to inflict a few hours of excruciating, pretentious sociopolitical ramblings interspersed with bouts of petty cruelty and vulgarity upon yourself, Désiré is the game for you.

Much like its classic inspirations, Kelvin and the Infamous Machine is a fun romp through a wacky history that is good for anyone looking for a lighthearted adventure.

Act IV is a slow, meandering episode that continues Kentucky Route Zero’s streak of quiet, introspective, blue collar beauty.

Dishing up triumphs and frustrations in equal measure, The Eyes of Ara is a game no puzzle lover should miss, while story-driven adventurers should consider themselves sufficiently warned.

Slap Village is a ray of Western sunshine whose whimsical charm overcomes its approximate English and short length.

Some slick visuals and good intentions can’t make up for the fact that The Grandfather is simply too short and under-developed to deliver on its intriguing premise and experimental aspirations.

Although let down by poor storytelling, The Minims is easy to get into and serves as a fairly fun distraction for a few hours.

More an incoherent collection of jump scares than a horror game, Layers of Fear occasionally spooks but doesn’t make much of a lasting impression.

A lighthearted distraction that may be more appreciated by the younger crowd, Tick’s Tales has a degree of charm but never really delves into anything more substantial or interesting.

Remade as a modern text adventure, Lifestream is a clever supernatural mystery that is not without its flaws but manages to be better than the sum of its parts.

A charming game about two robots surviving the apocalypse, Wanda has a surprising amount of humanity packed into its fairly short playtime.

An ambitious sequel to 2006’s Dreamfall, Chapters is worth playing to see how the saga ends but doesn’t hold up as a standalone adventure.

The Preposterous Awesomeness of Everything only half lives up to its name, wrapping a clever bit of satirical absurdity up in a self-confessed underwhelming adventure game experience.

If you’ve got a few hours to spare, the colorfully casual Royal Trouble sequel is a breezy way to spend them, though there’s no escaping some disappointment at its slight puzzling and story.

A love letter to gamers who prefer first-person, devilishly difficult, puzzle-heavy adventures, Catyph offers tasty dollops of sci-fi and a hint of Myst.

Monumental feels like an homage to the heyday of bad Myst clones that no one should be particularly nostalgic for.

P.O.L.L.E.N is a slick, atmospheric and unnerving experience that is let down by its short length, confused plot and tired storytelling devices.

Goetia is a beautifully crafted and intricately complex game set in a fantastically spooky world. It’s a must-play for horror and supernatural mystery enthusiasts, though not for those afraid of a little challenge.

The highly erratic Soul Axiom is a love-hate kind of game – you’ll love it until you hate it, and vice versa. If only it knew when enough was enough.

Despite embarking with a sound plan for another beautiful globe-trotting adventure, Lost Horizon 2 suffers from weary execution and assorted technical limitations, eventually losing the way to greatness and ending up in the land of the average.

A remarkable achievement from a first-time developer, Kathy Rain is an unexpectedly personal gem about a heroine who proves she belongs with the genre’s other big names.

As the first commercial installment in on ongoing series, Rusty Lake Hotel comes with both story and gameplay reservations for newcomers, and only escape-the-room fans should bother checking it out.

Although it might be worth checking out Red Comrades Save the Galaxy for the sake of novelty alone, don’t expect too much from either the plot or the puzzles. You’ll just end up confused anyway.