Reviews
The Many Pieces of Mr. Coo
At first the unusual art style and uncanny hand-animated world of The Many Pieces of Mr. Coo feels uniquely captivating, but delve a little deeper and its raw mechanics and unclear puzzle design make for a gameplay experience as fragmented as its protagonist.
We Were Here Expeditions: The FriendShip
With a new storyline and new tweaks to the series’ co-op gameplay, We Were Here Expeditions: The FriendShip is an excellent start to this multi-part franchise installment.
Valiant Hearts: Coming Home
Valiant Heart: Coming Home’s limited release strategy is a self-inflicted wound, but this beautiful WWI side-scrolling sequel is a fairly fun, lightly educational little three-hour engagement free to those equipped to play it.
Dreams in the Witch House
Live the life of a starving student or investigate dark occult secrets. It’s your choice in Dreams in the Witch House, a roleplaying/resource management/point-and-click adventure hybrid that makes for a very challenging, occasionally frustrating but often fun balancing act.
Beacon Pines
Gameplay and player agency may be limited, but as an interactive storybook, Beacon Pines is a charming, intriguing mystery with a great cast, gorgeous art, and a fun branching path mechanic.
Repella Fella
Laughs are at the forefront of Repella Fella, a crude, gory, and yet occasionally earnest adventure. Ease of play allows the jokes to come fast and furious, and despite some issues with the pace of storytelling, this game is sure to provide hours of delight to its intended audience.
Beyond the Wall
Its length – or rather its extreme lack of it – is difficult to overlook, but Beyond the Wall is a cute and charming little adventure in the same style as many of the classic Amanita games.
Killer Frequency
Killer Frequency is a compelling choice-driven, non-action-oriented survival horror game that demands you keep your wits about you. If you really want to become the hero, you’ll enjoy every tense minute of it. Fail or consciously turn to the dark side, however, and you’re awarded with funny deaths and dark humor. Either way, it’s well worth giving it a spin.
SEASON: A Letter to the Future
Fort Solis
A
- After You: Level Escape review – Puzzles come first in this raw but engaging, unapologetically challenging game
- AI: The Somnium Files – nirvanA Initiative review – Spike Chunsoft’s sequel is a tale of two halves
- Alfred Hitchcock: Vertigo review – Suspenseful thriller a dizzying array of compelling plot twists
- Amanda the Adventurer review – Cleverly conceived but weakly programmed analog horror is largely a turn-off
- Amnesia: The Bunker review – Frictional’s memorable survival horror sequel emerges as one of the series’ best
- As Dusk Falls review – Gripping narrative adventure elevated by real player choice
- Azazel’s Christmas Fable review – A slice of devilishly festive fun
- A Space for the Unbound review – A riveting Indonesian drama takes off once freed from a slow start
B
- Beacon Pines review – Charming visual novel-styled animal adventure features clever branching path mechanic to dig deeper
- Beyond The Edge of Owlsgard review – A hoot of a pixel art animal adventure
- Beyond the Wall review – Charming, beautifully hand-drawn fantasy adventure too short to take players very far
- Blood Nova review – Lore-filled sci-fi that’s hard to fully love
- Born Punk review – Cyberpunk point-and-click isn’t able to fully deliver on its abundant promise
- Boxville review – Pleasing Machinarium-style puzzler with a can-do attitude
- BROK the InvestiGator review – A knockout blend of cartoon fighting and detective adventure
- Burnhouse Lane – Another searingly powerful Rem Michalski horror adventure
C
- Cats and the Other Lives review – Blend of feline playfulness and compellingly dark human drama purrs right along
- Children of Silentown review – Hums right along until puzzle repetition gets old
- Cleo: A Pirate’s Tale review – Retro RPG-styled adventure worth digging up for a limited bit of hearty fun
- Colossal Cave – Reimagined by Roberta Williams review – The iconic text classic unearthed in graphical 3D
- Creepy Tale 3: Ingrid Penance review – Minor sins of atmospheric sequel more than atoned for by its virtues
- Crowns and Pawns: Kingdom of Deceit review – Like a Broken Sword game in Lithuania, this epic adventure rules
D
- Delirium review – Short, raw but frequently funny absurdist adventure you’re bound to cotton to while it lasts
- Deliver Us Mars review – Solid sci-fi sequel roves farther but lands a little short of predecessor
- DE:EXIT – Eternal Matters review – Ambitious genre-bender an uneven but lively mix of stealth, platforming and puzzles
- Doctor Who: The Lonely Assassins review – Interactive found-phone sequel to Blink not completely dialed-in
- Dordogne review – Light on challenge but stunning artwork and nostalgic childlike atmosphere are très magnifique
- Dreams in the Witch House review – Spellbinding concoction of RPG, resource management and retro adventure ingredients
E
F
- Firmament review – Cyan’s latest comes close to heavenly for fans of puzzles and gorgeous worlds to explore
- Fort Solis review – Martian outpost thriller holds the scares but shines brightly in its atmospheric sci-fi exploration
- Frog Detective 3: Corruption at Cowboy County review – Charming cartoon animal series leaps to a delightful conclusion
G
H
I
J
K
- KAPIA review – Postapocalyptic adventure feels rushed but plenty of charming, quirky fun remains
- Killer Frequency review – Choice-driven thriller slickly executes a remote survival horror experience anyone can enjoy
- Know by heart… review – Beautiful but unforgettably bleak narrative adventure sacrifices gameplay for character drama
L
- Life of Delta review – Gorgeous robot adventure manages to overcome a few mechanical difficulties
- Lord Winklebottom Investigates review – Delightfully British animal whodunit is head and shoulders above most
- Loretta review – Compelling 1940s pulp noir thriller offers some killer choices of just how bad you want to be
- Lost in Play review – Plenty of fun to be found in this charming, family-friendly adventure
- Lucy Dreaming review – Don’t sleep on this hilarious point-and-click pixel art adventure
M
- Monorail Stories review – Compelling character dramas keep the adventure moving
- Mozart Requiem review – Entertaining historical mystery desperately in need of fine tuning
- Murderous Muses review – Another inspired if overly ambitious FMV mystery from D’Avekki Studios
- Murder Is Game Over review – Whodunit short on detective work and time
N
- New Tales from the Borderlands review – Sequel might have been better left in the vault
- Nightmare Frames review – Retro point-and-clicker a cheesy 80s horror movie buff’s dream
- Nine Noir Lives review – Gorgeous cat-themed mystery has most of its contemporaries licked
- NORCO review – A down-to-earth, highly refined narrative adventure
O
P
- Paper Ghost Stories: 7PM review – Make time for a crisp little Malaysian slice-of-life adventure
- Path of Ra review – Let the superficial story slide for some ancient Egyptian afterlife puzzling fun
- Paws of Coal review – Charming hand-drawn narrative mystery a tentative first step into a larger animal adventure
- Pentiment review – Rich historical layers revealed in Obsidian’s impressive narrative adventure
- Perfect Tides review – A near-perfect adventure about coming of age in the early 2000s
- Planet of Lana review – Nothing earth-shattering but a gorgeous, entertaining side-scrolling stealth adventure
R
- Rendezvous review – Action meets adventure in this uneven side-scrolling pixel art vision of cyberpunk Indonesia
- Repella Fella review – Hilarious, distinctly Aussie postapocalyptic comedy for those not turned off by violently dark humour
- Return to Grace review – Beautiful sci-fi exploration of AI bestows a short but favourable time on all who come to play
- Return to Monkey Island review – A treasured comeback for Ron Gilbert and Dave Grossman
- RE:CALL review – Retro-RPG-styled blend of elements makes some interesting if not totally successful choices
- Rocco’s Island: Ring to End the Pain review – Casual hybrid suffers from a poor match of gameplay styles
- Rock ‘n’ Roll Will Never Die! review – Solid score for bangin’ classic-styled cartoon comedy adventure
S
- SEASON: A Letter to the Future review – Magical realist adventure beautifully cycles through art and introspection
- Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One review – Frogwares books another winner in stellar origin story
- Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened review – A rousing reimagining of Frogwares’ 2006 Lovecraftian crossover
- SILT review – Black-and-white underwater odyssey a bit too predictably shallow
- Somerville review – Stunning 3D alien invasion puzzle-platformer could have used a bit more seasoning
- SpaceVenture review – Funny but flawed adventure fills a needed gap for Space Quest fans
- Star Trek: Resurgence review – A treat for franchise fans that boldly goes where Telltale has gone before
- Stasis: Bone Totem review – Sci-fi horror sequel mostly reaches stunning new heights from the ocean depths
- Storyteller video review – Cute little narrative puzzler so short it feels like only an introductory chapter
- Stray review – Easy to lose yourself in this stunning postapocalyptic cat adventure
- Summer Daze: Tilly’s Tale review – Light, sunny visual novel from Lori and Corey Cole not in the same class as Hero-U
T
- Tails: The Backbone Preludes review – Intimate branching animal anthology is a winner
- Tape: Unveil the Memories review – Time manipulation thriller can’t quite stick the landing
- The Bookwalker: Thief of Tales review – Isometric science fantasy adventure/RPG takes novel approach to storytelling
- The Case of the Golden Idol review – Brilliantly executed deduction game like Mad Libs meets Return of the Obra Dinn
- The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil in Me review – A few reservations about Supermassive’s horror season finale
- The Entropy Centre review – Energetic physics puzzler largely measures up to its inspiration
- The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow review – Richly atmospheric mystery a slow climb to a great finish
- The Forest Quartet review – Short narrative puzzler for people who enjoy emotionally touching musical experiences
- The Gallery review – Dual-era FMV hostage thriller displays potential not fully realized
- The Last Worker review – Action-adventure comes packaged with assorted strengths and weaknesses
- The Many Pieces of Mr. Coo review – Gorgeously absurd hand-animated puzzler suffers from mechanical disconnect
- The Past Within review – Rusty Lake presents a short, surreal co-op puzzler
- The Plague Doctor of Wippra review – Short but infectious medieval slice of life adventure
- The Quarry review – Loads of camp thrills dug up in Supermassive horror
- The Rewinder – Ancient Chinese side-scroller is not to be overlooked
- The Safe Place review – No escaping the unapologetically bleak atmosphere of this gritty urban adventure
- The Whispering Valley review – Atmospheric mystery largely plateaus as a middling thriller
- The Wreck review – Poignant time-looping visual novel-styled adventure steers largely clear of engaging gameplay
U
V
- Valiant Hearts: Coming Home review – No charge for short but stunning WWI mobile sequel available only through Netflix
- Verne: The Shape of Fantasy review – Entertaining, shipshape side-scrolling adventure worthy of its namesake author
- Voodoo Detective review – Beautiful point-and-click island mystery has the right magic
W
- Watch Over Christmas review – Joy to the point-and-click adventure gaming world
- Wavetale review – Easy to enjoy sailing through this lovely waterbound 3D platforming adventure
- Wayward Strand review – Charming narrative adventure sure to leave you feeling better
- We Were Here Expeditions: The FriendShip review – Popular co-op puzzle franchise embarks on fun new spinoff series
- Whateverland review – Flawed but fun dark comic adventure won’t leave you feeling indifferent