My Beautiful Paper Smile drops players into a dark, captivating world of masks, monsters, and malice seemingly torn straight from a mad poet’s notebook, though its many memorable shocks can’t entirely distract from its frustrating gameplay elements and deceptively simplistic narrative.

Looking better than ever but reducing the gameplay elements even further, Impostor Factory manages to weave a supernatural time travel murder mystery starring a whole new character into the series’ existing tapestry, giving the game a unique-yet-familiar flavor.

It could use a stronger pairing of story and gameplay, but Tandem: A Tale of Shadows is a cleverly conceived puzzle-platformer stuffed full of dual-character, double-dimension obstacles to overcome.

Its over-reliance on tedious shooting creates an uneven balance of storytelling and gameplay, stymying Liberated’s otherwise thoughtful interpretation of the interactive comic.

Murder Mystery Machine provides a compellingly intricate web of crime and treachery to investigate for those not afraid to miss a few of its less obvious strands.

A few mechanical issues prevent it from being as user-friendly as it could be, but The Office Quest has a unique fantasy setting, interesting puzzles, funny characters and a beautiful art style that combine to guarantee a pretty enjoyable time.

Half Past Fate: Romantic Distancing is shorter and less ambitious than its predecessor, but its limitations result in a tighter, more intimate character-driven experience, with all the realistic challenges you’d expect from a burgeoning relationship in the middle of a pandemic.

Happy Game sends players on a shrieking, blood-soaked odyssey through the candy-colored hell within a young boy’s subconscious. Though it’s weakened somewhat by a less-cohesive third act, overall it’s a vivid interactive nightmare with a striking aesthetic and powerful narrative conceit.

Kraken Academy!!’s strengths are largely skin deep, let down by the lack of focus and care put into its gameplay and story. Amusing, quirky characters may keep you going for a while, but this isn’t a game you really want to be stuck in as time loops repeatedly.

A Juggler’s Tale lasts only a precious few hours, but it manages to pack in an inspired, captivating puzzle-platforming experience with engaging gameplay, a smart and poignant story, and a jaw-droppingly beautiful aesthetic.

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.

Sable is a visually interesting game with a unique concept and setting, but uninspired gameplay, sparse characterization and a staggering number of technical issues prevent it from realizing most of its lofty goals.

By emphasizing the connections between suspects, Hercule Poirot: The First Cases’ focus on deduction board gameplay nicely suits Agatha Christie’s famed Belgian detective and challenges your own little grey cells.

What Happened is an abstract first-person acid trip through a troubled teenaged mind that is impressive both visually and aurally, but it has very little gameplay and fumbles the delivery of its narrative with barely anything new to say through the entire second half.

Far more action-oriented than a traditional point-and-click, Omno feels like a true “adventure” in the literal sense, offering a jaw-dropping journey of enlightenment that is sure to brighten any gamer’s day.

The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles is two deduction-based adventure games in one, set over a hundred years prior to the original Phoenix Wright trilogy. With improved graphics, fun new characters and enthralling cases to solve, it more than lives up to the legacy of its classic predecessors.

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.

More a series of escape rooms than a full-fledged adventure, Vile Matter is a short, simple and uninspired psychological horror game that is nevertheless perfectly playable and offers a few brief moments of suspense.

There isn’t much in the way of actual gameplay or player agency, but anyone who enjoys a highly interactive story will certainly want to add Last Stop to their gaming library.

Though some technical and uncompromising design issues occasionally hinder the experience, Døm Rusalok captures the delight of aimless teenage wanderings set against the creepy backdrop of urban legend, and its oblique Russian charm ultimately makes it worthy of a look from horror fans.

Down in Bermuda is a delightful adventure to play, especially if you want to just relax and enjoy some fun, clever puzzles in a charming isometric island setting.

In cramming a time-looping murder mystery into the confines of a small inner-city studio apartment, Twelve Minutes offers much to appreciate, though the execution suffers somewhat from the limitations such a premise inevitably brings with it.

Critters for Sale is a captivating and almost unspeakably bizarre journey into black-and-white hell that you’ll have to play to comprehend. It won’t be for everyone, but those willing to take the plunge will find themselves mesmerized by an experience like none they’ve had before.

Chicory: A Colorful Tale is like a warm hug from a wise old aunt, simultaneously bursting with creativity and offering an unblinking but hopeful look at humanity.

Fire Tonight’s story of two lovers separated by a city going up in flames is charming enough while it lasts. Unfortunately, the attempt to reunite them isn’t nearly as exciting as it sounds, and the whole adventure is only marginally longer than the song on which it’s based.

With its sheer volume of ever-evolving challenges, it’d be easy to credit Filament with being just an excellent puzzle game, but its equally impressive ability to build an emotional connection to the cast and central mystery is a feat that few puzzle games are able to achieve.

The Corruption Within is an entertaining exercise in gothic spookiness that understands what makes its particular subgenre tick, but its setting and characters are ill-served by the story’s hurried pace.

TOEM is a delightfully Zen experience, perfect for anyone looking to spend a few hours in some entertaining locales with a cute protagonist and a variety of photo quests that aren’t too taxing.