Kirstie Summers
Rogue Heroes: Ruins of Tasos is an adorable yet challenging dungeon crawler designed to play with friends and suitable for any character class. Its world is exciting, its style is lovely and it has a lot going for it that draws you into the adventure.
Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion is a ridiculous little game with a twisted sense of humour, uncomplicated gameplay and a surprisingly absorbing plot.
Overboard is a charming and darkly funny game, with incredibly well-written characters and a great atmosphere of intrigue, secrecy and 1930s style.
A Plague Tale: Innocence – Cloud Version is an incredibly well-written, well-designed immersive game that blends stealth, survival and puzzles in a rich historical setting with an intense story of family, war and magic.
Unbound: Worlds Apart blends gorgeous design and animation with puzzle platformer challenges that incorporate a number of unique mechanics to create an extensive and exciting adventure.
Dreamscaper is a randomly generated dungeon crawler with fun combat, breath-taking design and a premise that is both moving and expertly woven into the mechanics and structure of the game.
Stilstand is an interactive graphic novel that accurately captures the minutiae of despair and loneliness through a darkly funny and absurdist story.
Please Touch the Artwork is a colourful and clever puzzle game that you can power through in an afternoon or so, but lingers with you for a long time afterwards.
Blending fun territories and weapons with easily accessible features, a variety of gameplay modes and a solid solo offering, this installment makes for the kind of game that does the Splatoon name proud.
A Plague Tale: Requiem is a beautiful follow up to Innocence, ramping up every element that made the prequel so captivating. Its gameplay expertly combines puzzles, action and stealth with a story that absorbs you into its mystery and makes sure you feel every emotional beat along the way.
Wavetail encourages you to explore to its fullest a beautiful aquatic world, with fluid animation that makes for thrilling action and a profound story that reinforces the importance of community and compassion.
A strikingly beautiful game, Chants of Sennaar takes you on a journey through a number of finely crafted cultures that challenge your puzzle skills and absorb you fully into the looming secrets of the labyrinth.
Bokura is a clever co-op game that makes use of an unusual play structure and innovative puzzles to deliver a story about friendship and contemplations about the human existence that stays with you.
A stunningly well-executed game, Cocoon takes you on a physics-bending adventure that has you leaping between worlds to solve puzzles that guide an endearing little alien home. It absorbs you fully into its unique and beautiful corner of space until its orb-based mechanics make more sense than reality.
A finely crafted game in almost every respect, Gunbrella mixes engaging puzzles with exciting action, well-rounded characters, and a dark, intriguing mystery that infects the entire dystopian world.
A provocative and technical feat, Terra Nil stands out from games with a similar environmental setting. It requires you to think creatively and intelligently about the challenges faced by the natural world, and it leaves you with a realistic vision of what humanity needs to do to change the world for the better.
Lil Guardsman is a delightful game that draws you into the complex and nuanced story of a well-constructed fantasy world and explores its political turmoil. The characters and dialogue are wonderfully written, with a great sense of humor and clear indication that your choices, no matter how small, make an impact.
A very worthy addition to the Demagog repertoire, Highwater builds on the gorgeous and provocative world of the studio's other games with a story-driven escape from a flooded planet. It is a sharp critique of late stage capitalism, but it populates the devastated world with a touching story, wholesome characters, and surprisingly engaging combat.
The Swindle is an excellent combination of platformer and stealth game, with a gorgeous steampunk aesthetic that absorbs you completely into the game.
A fun blend of futuristic and retro, with good game mechanics and a strong sense of nerd humour.