I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream is a solid port of a classic point-and-click adventure game, co-designed by author Harlan Ellison, with enough alterations to make gameplay surprising even for those who've read the original story.
I'm not a fan of jumping puzzle games, but SCHiM managed to win me over. Its minimalist art style, inventive use of shadows and movement, and the idea that the game makes sure that messing up doesn't feel too frustrating, kept me engaged level after level.
I appreciate that Times and Galaxy is a very different vision of what a game can attempt to do. It reminds me of the games I used to play on the Apple ][ in my school library, where the idea was to teach lateral thinking. But while I enjoy the weird idea, a new mechanic, time-wasting NPCs, and game-ending bugs simply make for a bad front page.
Despite its pitfalls, Dicefolk was one of the more fun roguelikes I've played. It successfully tantalized me with the idea that this might be the time that I managed to pull a team together, after crushing me again and again.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance is an open-world immersive world action RPG. You can go anywhere. You can make a lot of choices in terms of what your character will do. There are so many options and choices, in fact, that it becomes intoxicated with how immersive it is and forgets to be fun to play.
Lunar Lander Beyond is an extremely difficult arcade action game aimed squarely at those who prefer a steep (and I would argue unfair) challenge. OK. The problem is that, aside from some great design work, that challenge is pretty much all it offers.
A weird, beautifully rendered combination of Limbo and Super Mario Brothers, Saviorless is an interesting take on an action-platformer.
Jujutsu Kaisen Cursed Clash boils the elements of the show down to a fighting game that's likely to appeal only to fans of the show. Even to them, we have to suggest there are many fighting games out there to better occupy your time.
One Night Burlesque isn't one of those indies where the fantastic gameplay spawns a cult of followers who keep it alive in tournaments. There's very little actual "game" here. But if you're a fan of visually innovative storytelling and want a movie-length experience, I recommend it wholeheartedly.
Any potential Wartales displays as an outlaw fantasy RPG is negated by frequent crashes. There's fun to be had with party management and a robust turn-based combat system, but until the stability issues are addressed, the game's not worth the frequent backtracking previous save points.
If you're a hardcore fan of Deadliest Catch, you might-might-eke some enjoyment from the video game version's lazy simulation of the tasks. However, you'd have a much better time just watching the show with a controller in your hand, and pretending. You might get a more responsive experience, too.
Ship Graveyard Simulator is exactly what it says on the tin. Using different tools to break down ship parts and sell them for profit may not sound like the best use of your gaming time, but it can be a relaxing alternative to the typically high pressure, high stress fare.
For those familiar with this long-time simulation/strategy series, Nobunaga's Ambition: Awakening may feel like a warm welcome home. But as a newcomer, I found the game a confusing mess, and the Switch version frustrated my every attempt to enjoy playing it.
If you're looking for something that's creepy without being violent are gory, the puzzle game Smile for Me is for you. It effectively uses its low-fi graphics and video to create a point-and-click adventure that unnerves you without resorting to jump scares and violence.
Process of Elimination is a fun visual novel in which you must solve a murder mystery on an island of super-detectives. Actual gameplay is light, but the bonkers story, mini-games, and detective puzzles make this a mystery worth solving.
The action in Kung Fury: Street Rage – Ultimate Edition is as basic as can be for an '80s-inspired arcade brawler, but it captures the tone of the source material (not to mention many of the characters) in a manner that'll please fans of the original short film.
Heirs of the Kings plays everything a little too safely. It moves from one retro JRPG trope to the next, but doesn't provide the player with much incentive to do so beyond checking the boxes along the way.
Nadir: A Grimdark Deck Builder feels unfinished in parts, but fans of card-based battle games will be intrigued by the ingenious combat mechanism that forces you to balance your attacks against the threat of the enemy's retaliation.
Moncage is a puzzle game that should be treated like a collection of short stories rather than a novel. Enjoy it over several sessions, pausing when it's difficult to think about the different parts, rather than consume it as one experience. It's quite literally to be puzzled over.
The Dark Prophecy is a fun little point-and-click adventure. All the puzzles make enough sense, and you can finish the whole thing in under an hour. It teases further parts of the story, and this certainly feels like the first chapter of what will hopefully be a longer tale.