Games

Developer:
Honeyslug and Richard Hogg

Content:
A whimsical, colorful game with an emphasis on playful exploration and creativity.

Opinion:
Hohokum should definitely be tried, if only to understand how strange and difficult it is to describe. Not everyone will appreciate its laid-back nature and allergy to guidance. But most importantly, you get out of Hohokum what you put into it. Players who want to explore the nooks and crannies and see everything in every world will definitely be rewarded.

Developer:
Campo Santo

Content:
A game set in the wilds of Wyoming, where the protagonist’s only emotional and physical connection is the person on the other end of a handheld radio.

Opinion:
Firewatch manages to keep you in suspense from start to finish, even when you are doing mundane tasks as a ranger. It’s thanks to the amazing and fascinating conversations with beautiful landscapes that this game keeps the player enthralled.

Developer:
Japan Studio

Content:
An open-world action-adventure game featuring a strange but positively charged woman named Kat, who finds herself in a strange town with a black cat… and the ability to manipulate gravity.

Opinion:
Really unique game with great gameplay, atmosphere, story and characters. Extremely underrated. It may start a little slow, but once it gets going, it quickly becomes clear that the sky is both the literal and figurative limit of what this game can achieve.

Developer:
Queasy Games

Content:
Play, compose and share in a unique take on the classic sidescrolling platformer where your actions determine the music.

Opinion:
Sound Shapes offers a simple, stylish and very entertaining platforming experience that comes up with some really good tunes. If you’re one of those people who likes user-generated content, then this is definitely your thing – and even if you’re not, the clever concept makes it a good investment.

Developer:
White Paper Games

Content:
A first-person adventure game in which the player has the task of recovering the memories of a dementia patient.

Opinion:
An emotionally charged story enhanced by the game’s thematic centerpiece, dementia. A wonderfully thoughtful, moving story with puzzles cleverly embedded in the theme.

Developer:
HumaNature Studios

Content:
A role-playing and interactive story with a large universe to explore and a significant social component.

Opinion:
It fills a galaxy with happy, hopeful, broken and bizarre characters while retaining an infectious, childlike sense of joie de vivre. It challenged me to think about what it means to be human in general, and also what it means to be me. In that respect, at least, Doki-Doki Universe is something very special.

Developer:
Supergiant Games

Content:
Transistor is a science fiction action RPG set in a futuristic city, in which players take on the role of a young woman who gains control of an extraordinary weapon of unknown origin after a mysterious group of attackers almost kills her with it.

Opinion:
From the surreal environment and the enigmatic characters to the unique upgrade system and the combat system, Transistor is a game in which its charm can be discovered over time. For players who are willing to accept a slightly more opaque experience than many other games, Transistor offers an escape to a strange and enchanting world.

Developer:
ThroughLine Games

Content:
In a magical land where forgotten human objects are alive, a young girl must fight a rebellion to return to the human world – but not everything is as it seems.

Opinion:
Beautifully rendered, Forgotton Anne feels like a full-fledged animated film. The title keeps up the pace until the end, but the puzzles lack variety in the second half of the game. Still, this is a magical adventure away from dragons and goblins that is really worthwhile.

Developer:
Stroboskop

Content:
A psychological horror game set in a calm, unsettling atmosphere. Ghost writer Juliette Waters confronts an evil curse and an evil family cult with her microphone and the voices of the dead.

Opinion:
Sylvio is very good in one aspect: it gets under your skin, with an intriguing story and the constant threat of fear, because the sound is a mechanic in this game. However, other elements certainly distract from this experience for many and the game lacks the finishing touches but it offers something unique to the horror genre. And the soundtrack is something I still enjoy listening to from time to time.

Developer:
ULTRA ULTRA

Content:
En, along with the artificial intelligence London, is on a quest to find the palace, a mythical place where it is said that the dead can be brought back to life.

Opinion:
ECHO is a game with a compelling central idea, a top-notch sci-fi storyline, and some excellent stealth mechanics. It also requires that you understand its rules and play the game at the pace it sets. The clever use of AI creates unique challenges, but the lack of variety in the environment and the consistently same enemy type means the game gets a little too boring for many. Still, I would recommend everyone to at least give it a try.