Who needs bajillions of colors, seriously? The games below illustrate that all you need for a visual presentation are a few well-placed shades of gray (or orange and black, for the last one) and you've got yourself a visual style!

ButaVX: Justice Fighter (Windows, 7.6MB, free) - A short but wholly enjoyable RPG that plays out with comic-style cutscenes and action sequences. ButaVX's favorite ball has ended up in the wrong hands. In order to retrieve it, he has to go on an adventure to find the Sword of Justice. Explore the village, head out into the wilderness where you'll encounter discarded cell phones as enemies, and return to complete your quest. Although the setup is standard RPG fare, the manga-influenced action shots and overall art style really pull you in to this pencil drawn world. You'll be sad when it's over!

Umbrella Adventure - The Castle of Cake (Windows, 48.7MB, free) - Just as you wake up, you find your stash of cakes has been stolen. Great. As you head out into the rainy night, you pick up an umbrella that can, eventually, be used for all sorts of things. Work your way through this inventive adventure platformer, smacking enemies and soaking in the surprisingly deep monotone atmosphere. There's a lot of jumping and other action skills required to beat the game, but there's also a fair amount of Metroidvania-style exploration, too.

Home (Mac/Win, 1MB, free) - Home is a brief tale of an old man's daily life. Shuffle back and forth in your room, taking care of your basic needs such as food and rest as the bars at the top of the screen begin to deplete. Talk to the nurse to keep your happiness level high. But... what happens if you let something run out?

Note: All games have been confirmed to run under Windows Vista and are virus-free. Mac users should try Boot Camp, Parallels, or CrossOver Games to play Windows titles, Linux users can use Wine. If you know of a great game we should feature, use the Submit link above to send it in!

If you could rotate the world and change gravity, things like golf, juggling, balancing a spoon on your nose and standing upright after you've been laying down for three hours would be easy. Attracting Twist teases us with that concept by giving you control over the direction gravity flows, allowing you to move the game world and change where things "drop". Using this ability, your goal is to shoot your way to massive chain reactions as enemies slowly spawn near your ship.

You control a turret sitting near the bottom of the screen. Aim and fire using the mouse, charging each shot for a brief second before releasing it. Rotate the game world with the [A] and [D] keys, moving not only the ship but the direction gravity pulls particles as well. Each time you destroy an enemy it bursts into pieces. These pieces can destroy other enemies which will, in turn, burst into particles of their own. By spinning the environment, you can affect where these shards go, taking out as many foes as possible and creating huge chain reactions.

Enemies come in a variety of colors, and each one has its own personality. Orange squares like to appear and disappear all the time, while blue squares zoom around the screen, red squares go ka-boom, etc. Power-ups and game-altering events also occur, such as temporarily increasing your rate of fire, freezing enemies, messing with the visual presentation, and lots more. These are executed with superb style and make the gaming experience a lot more epic.

Attracting Twist comes with several modes of play to suit whatever mood you happen to be in. Challenge mode is all about conquering level after level of increasingly difficult enemies, while Relax and Extreme modes are exactly the way they sound. Each mode comes with several levels of difficulty, so no matter how casual you are, you'll find something that fits you just right. After racking up points and completing each level, you get to visit a store to upgrade bullet size, spread, rotation speed and health. The upgrades feel a bit tacked-on, but I'm not one to argue with a game allowing me to super-charge my character.

It's a bit stark for an arena shooter, but Attracting Twist plays more on the concept of shifting gravity and forming combos than pure arcade reflexes. Even still, moving the screen and changing gravity doesn't have as dramatic affect as you would like, lending a somewhat muted feeling to the entire game. You can shoot. You can nudge exploded enemies with gravity. And... that's all. It's fun, of course, and the number of game modes and stylish visual presentation really help out, but in the end, you're left with the feeling it could have been so much more.

Play Attracting Twist.

True to its mobile gaming promises, this week's Mobile Monday is filled with pick up and play, put down and go away titles ideally suited for gaming on the go. The only exception is Catan, a game you honestly won't be able to put down and walk away from for a while.

Catan - The First Island - If you haven't heard the name "Settlers of Catan", you probably just crawled out of your goo-filled storage tank connected to the power plant on the outskirts of the machine city. The award-winning strategy board game pits you against other players (or computer AI) as you fight for land and resources, but really, it's far more intricate than that. An excellent translation of the board game onto iPhone, and a great introduction to the legendary game for any newbies out there.

Dark Nebula - Episode One - Tilt control taken to the extreme, Dark Nebula is an extremely well-made space-themed arcade game of avoidance similar to the classic Labyrinth maze game. Move the shiny little disc by tilting your iPhone, working your way across twisted landscapes trying to collect capsules and avoid numerous obstacles. The controls are spot-on excellent (though I wish the game had a calibration feature... we're not always sitting straight up when playing iPhone games) and the game has the wonderful ability to pull you in.

Skullpogo - Have pogo stick and skull face, will get game. Originally a free downloadable game, Skullpogo makes its way to the iTunes App Store with facelifts and improvements all over the place. Build combos by jumping on pigs, zombies, bats and other critters with your pogo stick. Power-ups appear from time to time to spice things up, and if you jump off the top of the screen, you get a nice mega-stomp-type move. Three different control schemes let you choose the method most comfortable to you. Definitely one of those "can't put it down until I do just one more round" games!

Boombrigade - If tower defense games gave you more control over combat, they would be like Boombrigade. Spawn, upgrade and tweak various units on the field, each of which has one job: destroy the invading creeps. Tap and drag to set walking paths for your soldiers, making sure they loop back to keep your fort nice and cozy. Surprisingly challenging, if a little awkward to learn to play at first.

NOTE: Games listed may not be available outside of North America. Prices are subject to change and are therefore unlisted. Please see the individual game pages for purchasing info.

Lots of movies, books, TV shows and games try to scare people around Halloween. Instead of shocking you with things that jump out and go "BWAGGA BWAGGA!!!!", let's get a little more disturbing with a few adventure games that will make you question your sanity. Without further stalling for time and taking up valuable page space... Let's. Get. Scary.

Heartland Deluxe (Windows, 24MB, free) - A dark adventure/room escape game with a movable, panoramic landscape. As reporter David Lawson, you are summoned to the apartment of local nutcase RJ Coombs. When you arrive, no one's there, and as any good journalist would do, you begin to snoop. Piece together clues left in the apartment with the simple point-and-click interface.

The White Chamber (Windows, 358MB, free) - Billed as a point-and-click horror game, The White Chamber features a host of puzzles and multiple endings based on how well (or how poorly) you do. While there is the requisite amount of things-bursting-out-of-things scenarios, for the most part The White Chamber is actually more disturbing than it is scream-like-a-girl scary. This isn't to say there's aren't moments of genuine fear, but The White Chamber thrives on putting you in situations that are uncomfortable and bizarre, all of which tie into the game's overarching themes. (Credit goes to Dora for that blurb!)

Unbound (Windows, 29MB, free) - From the same author that created Heartland Deluxe, Unbound is an adventure game in the same style as the above (it's a sequel, actually), only this time around things are much darker and more disturbing. Dr. Nicholas Powell has gone missing in the aftermath of the mysterious Project Caterpillar. Howard Fielding, the only surviving member of the research team, is being held in an abandoned government facility and interrogated by agents. Howard has the answers they seek, but he's keeping them to himself. Something has been awakened in his subconscious, and it won't remain hidden forever...

Note: All games have been confirmed to run under Windows Vista and are virus-free. Mac users should try Boot Camp, Parallels, or CrossOver Games to play Windows titles, Linux users can use Wine. If you know of a great game we should feature, use the Submit link above to send it in!

It's more isometric puzzle adventuring with Tangerine Pop Game's release of Grave Shift 2: The Sewers. Our courageous bearded pal finds himself in the kingdom's sewers after the first Grave Shift, and now the White Warlock is setting traps to keep his loot safe. Move through the dank environments pushing blocks, smacking enemies with a shovel, gathering keys and collecting treasures as you go, all in the name of giving King Krump extra gold.

The grid is on a slant in Grave Shift 2, so even though you use the [arrow] keys to move, they don't correspond directly to where you walk. Pressing [up], for example, moves you northeast, while [down] moves southwest, etc. Tap the [spacebar] to use your handy shovel (when you find it), and toggle the help bar with the [B] key. The controls are usually the biggest point of contention for "slanted" isometric games, but if you're having trouble wrapping your head around it, simply turn your keyboard clockwise until it feels natural.

Locked doors, blocked passageways, buttons, levers, colored gates and swarms of monsters all have to be dealt with, but you've got the tools for the job. Many objects can be pushed by nudging against them, and you can use them to trap enemies, hold buttons, or just get them out of the way to collect the shiny things behind them. Monster generators can be destroyed by sliding blocks on top of them, which comes in quite handy when you're sick of swatting giant spiders. Food and potions keep you healthy and strong, so be sure to grab them if you're in a spot of trouble.

Analysis: Grave Shift 2 captures that old school isometric adventure feeling surprisingly well. The addition of enemies and health bars gives it a more arcade-style feel, but you don't have to be a twitch gamer to take out a slow-moving mummy with a shovel. The action and puzzle elements are balanced very well, leaving you free to shove blocks and wander the sewers looking for stuff to solve.

Apart from the "awkward for some" control scheme (which is unavoidable when you try and use a keyboard with this sort of game), the only other rough spot in Grave Shift 2 is the game's tendency to hide exits, switches, and other key items amongst the clutter. Sometimes you'll wander back and forth feeling lost as to what to do next, only to realize there was an exit you missed because it was barely noticeable. The game isn't timed or anything, so exploration is encouraged, but I'd rather see an exit but not be able to reach it than to stumble across it by accident.

Isometric games are a beloved genre for me, and Grave Shift 2 delivers exactly what I enjoy. Puzzles, exploration, and a bit (but not too much) action to keep things lively. With two worlds to explore in this one game, you'll be perfectly content to stay in the sewers for a long time.

Play Grave Shift 2: The Sewers.

It's RPG madness on Mobile Monday! Ok, by "madness" I mean two role playing games. That's kinda mad, though, isn't it? It's like wow, geez, why not just throw a bajillion RPGs at us.

Undercroft - A truly remarkable retro-styled first person role playing game by Rake in Grass, creator of Archibald's Adventures and Larva Mortus. Set in the requisite fantasy world, you create characters, assemble a party, and venture into the world. Rumors of a great evil are spreading in the city of Dolbrad, and as a group of adventurers, it's your job to check things out. Turn-based combat is handled well with the touch screen, as are inventory/stat management and moving about the world. With 20 hours of gameplay, half a dozen character classes to use, 750 items, 60 enemies and tons of unique environments, you really couldn't ask for more from an iPhone RPG. Oh, except for a free Undercroft Lite!

Hi, How Are You - A 3D, cel-shaded puzzle platform game that's as quirky as its name implies. You are a little guy who happens to have been turned into a frog, and in order to reverse the curse and win back your true love, you have to work your way through over 30 levels of puzzles, traps, and enemies. Hop around the 3D world using highly-customizable controls. Touch every square you run across in order to move to the next level. Very intriguing game filled with gorgeous artwork and music. A free Hi, How Are You Lite is also available.

2 Minute RPG - Hours upon hours of gameplay, deep plotlines and bags of loot not your thing? 2 Minute RPG does exactly what it promises: delivers just about everything you could expect from a role playing game in exactly two minutes. Slide around the overworld defeating monsters with a touch-based attack system, gather items, venture into dungeons to recover lost items, and earn as much gold and experience as you can. It's... well, it's everything you could want in two minutes' time!

NOTE: Games listed may not be available outside of North America. Prices are subject to change and are therefore unlisted. Please see the individual game pages for purchasing info.

Eufloria, formerly known as Dyson, is a real-time strategy game built around the concepts of simplicity, ambience, and gentle pacing. It plays like an evolved version of Risk or Galcon, where sheer numbers and a good strategy are all you need to dominate. Eufloria isn't about warriors battling over blood-soaked soil. It's a slow, organic game that uses plants as its inspiration, challenging you to expand a seedling empire one asteroid at a time.

In Eufloria you are given control over creatures who live in an interstellar ecosystem. You expand their habitat by finding asteroids and sprouting Dyson trees, a plant that grows roots to the core of each asteroid and spawns seedlings. The more trees you plant, the more seedlings you have to defend your territory and wage war against the enemy.

Eufloria can be played entirely with the mouse, and ordering your seedlings around is as simple as can be. To deploy troops, click on the center of an asteroid and drag the mouse outwards. A green arrow appears that can be adjusted to send out a few or all of your seedlings. It's always nice to overwhelm your enemies with swarms of attackers, but don't leave your asteroids vulnerable, or you'll find out how frantic Eufloria can get in a pinch.

There are a handful of modes to unlock, but if you like, you can click the "unlock features" button to give them a try right away. The main game is a good place to start, though, as it gets progressively more difficult and introduces key concepts of the game at a gradual pace. Skirmish arena mode is a more battle-oriented mode that pits you against swarms of baddies bent on taking over your lone asteroid. Dark matter is the same as the story mode of the game, only now everything's dark, mysterious, and quite a bit more dangerous. There's even a slot to utilize community-made levels and mods!

Analysis: Instead of worrying about gathering resources, which soldier types to train, which buildings to construct, or which branch of your technology tree to research next, Eufloria makes everything simple. No tech tree. Two buildings. No resources. One kind of unit. Well, the last two aren't true in the strictest sense, but you get the picture. Eufloria is about ambience, not stat tracking, and it accomplishes this with extraordinary style.

As time passes, your Dyson trees get better at their jobs, producing units at a faster pace and releasing flowers that can grow enhanced Dyson trees that spawn better units. You can even grow enhanced defensive trees that drop laser mines. Yes, laser mines! This and a few other concepts are explained in the manual included with each download. It isn't necessary to read to understand the game, but I found the extra information came in quite handy.

Eufloria is not a "GRAAA GET YER WEAPONS MEN, WE SHALL BLOODY THE FIELDS WITH THE SEVERED HEADS OF OUR ENEMIES TONIGHT" kind of game. It's a game of careful thought, slow planning, a few snap decisions, and a lot of waiting. It's one of those titles a lot of people just won't "get", as it's not your typical gaming experience. If you leave your adrenaline-filled, twitch-gaming mind behind, Eufloria is a beautiful experience that will really grow on you.

Windows:
Download the demo
Order the full version

Mac OS X:
Not available.
Try Boot Camp or Parallels or CrossOver Games.

Digging games and shooting games go together like eggs and peanut butter. I'll let you sit and ponder that one for a while, then feel free to come back and play the harmonious selection of games below!

Excavatorrr (Windows, 1.2MB, free) - One can never have too many digging games. Excavatorrr by Hempuli and Noby is a visually simple game where your goal is to find treasure by digging underground. Carry a few items with you as you maneuver through the passageways, such as bombs, ladder kits, and dynamite, to help you deal with the various obstacles packed in the dirt. You'll also have to contend with enemies, although it's usually better to avoid them whenever you can. Make it to the bottom, nab the golden idol, and truck it back to the surface to win.

GunFu Deadlands (Windows, 6.7MB, free) - Think you've got what it takes to survive the wild west? Well, unless you have a time machine, you'll never know, will you?! You can, however, see if you've got what it takes to survive in a wild west-themed arcade game by Christiaan Janssen. Move with the [WASD] keys, fire with the mouse, and use bullet time to slow things down for a few seconds. Take out all of the baddies to move on to the next level. You can't go charging into gunfights in this game, as one shot sends you packing. Take it slow, watch the enemies move, and make good use of bullet time and your jumping ability.

Angry Gorilla Machine Monsters (Windows, 2.7MB, free) - A simple shooter by Andrew Brophy with a presentation many games wish they could emulate. Move with the [arrow] keys, fire with [Z], and see how long you can stay alive. Enemies are random, so every time you play you could see something new. The gameplay is really basic, with no power-ups or other bonuses to keep you interested in playing. You'll get several great runs out of the game, though, and the audio/visual package really is something you should check out.

Note: All games have been confirmed to run under Windows Vista and are virus-free. Mac users should try Boot Camp, Parallels, or CrossOver Games to play Windows titles, Linux users can use Wine. If you know of a great game we should feature, use the Submit link above to send it in!

Injected with adrenaline, heavy metal, and buckets of (tiny, pixelated) gore, Juggerdome is a gritty top down arena shooter from Con Artist, creator of Crush the Castle. You are the lucky prisoner chosen to pilot the Juggernaut, a killing machine outfitted with upgradeable weaponry. During each round in the arena you must not only survive onslaughts of machines and armed prisoners, you have to entertain the crowd, too.

Use the [WASD] keys to move the Juggernaut around the arena and the mouse to aim your shots. Two weapons can be equipped simultaneously, controlled with the [spacebar] and mouse buttons, but you have to keep an eye on their respective heat bars, otherwise they won't fire. A non-firing gun is about as useful as a spoon in the arena.

Levels are divided into weekly shows, as if this were a serialized bout in the good ole Flavian Amphitheatre. Each show has a challenge you must complete in order to move on to the next. Seeing as how your alternative is, well, a gory death, staying alive sounds pretty darn good. Sometimes you have to kill a certain number of enemies or stay alive a given amount of time, while other goals are more creative and task you with sitting on control points for a certain amount of time.

After each show, take the cash you earned and upgrade your Jugger as you see fit. New weapons are always nice, as are helpful pieces of gear that make your machine tougher, faster, and more resilient to various kinds of attacks. Depending on your playing style, spend your cash however you like. Just make sure you get the Burninator. That thing rocks.

The chief drawback in Juggerdome is its control scheme. Two weapon slots means two separate keys for firing. One is comfortably tied to the mouse, easy since you're already aiming with it, but the other one is bound to the [spacebar]. It's pretty cumbersome getting used to the awkward controls, as most of the time you'll be moving in one direction, firing in another, and trying to use the [spacebar] to access that secondary weapon for more firepower. Once you play a few matches and can upgrade your weapons, secondary fire becomes much less of an issue, as it's a simple matter to equip a "use sparingly" weapon here and save the big guns for the mouse button.

Despite its awkward control scheme, Juggerdome delivers a solid arena shooting experience. Hope you don't have anything against squishing innocent pixelated humans.

Play Juggerdome.

Oh, oh this is just... it's great! I mean, it's just astounding! Such a collection of awesome games! I mean, I just... I'm enthralled here! I can't believe they can actually co-exist in one article! Isn't there some rule against that in, I dunno, physics or something? Too much awesome in one space can't be good for... uh... something in the universe. Right?

Hook Champ - Video game characters love grappling hooks, and we love to help them swing around with them. Hook Champ is all about swinging through a series of caves as quickly as you can, nabbing coins and dealing with a variety of obstacles along the way. After completing a stage, visit the shop to purchase new items and upgrade existing equipment, then head back and do some more grappling! What adventures won't do for treasure!

Boxhead - The Zombie Wars - Yes, it's the Boxhead you are hoping it will be, the one by Sean T. Cooper. Yes, you're still trying to stay alive as long as possible against an onslaught of various zombie and zombie-related foes. Yes, you still unlock cool weapons, both offensive and defensive. Yes, it's just as awesome on iPhone as it is in Flash. No, I will not do your homework for you while you sit and play Boxhead.

Gomi - From the creator of Trace comes a game that combines the likes of Rolando, Katamari Damacy, and something strange and wonderful I'm not quite sure of. Roll around gravity-independent masses of land, gathering increasingly large objects to clean the gunk off and make the place beautiful once again. Complete the goals for each level and open up new places to explore. You can even unlock mini-games and character customizations! It's all much more exciting when you actually play, as this is one of those sugar-cheery titles you have to play to believe. The free Gomi Lite is also available.

Soosiz - Soo-what now? Soosiz. A curiously curious platformer with a penchant for messing with gravity and direction. Perform the usual platform game abilities such as stomping on enemies' heads, but if you leap towards a piece of platform above your head, you'll find everything rotating to match the new orientation. Just the right amount of familiarity and creativity in this overlooked game.

NOTE: Games listed may not be available outside of North America. Prices are subject to change and are therefore unlisted. Please see the individual game pages for purchasing info.

From Amanita Design, creator of the famously brilliant Samorost series, comes Machinarium, a game so well-conceived and implemented it can confidently launch as one of the best point-and-click adventures of all time. Machinarium is nothing short of a playable piece of art. Similar to Samorost in style and gameplay, you play a lone robot thrown out of the city working his way through desolate mechanical slums. Solve puzzles, find and combine items, and encounter loads of creative characters in your quest. Machinarium is one of those rare games you can't praise enough.

Get your cursor ready, you'll need it for this game! Everything is handled with the mouse in Machinarium, all you need to do is click on objects and the robot does the rest. You have to be next to the hotspots in order to use them, so when your cursor turns into a moving pair of feet, click and our hero will waddle in that direction. You also have the ability to change height, a skill you'll need to reach some out-of-the-way objects later on.

You can't die in Machinarium, so feel free to explore all you like. If the robot can't do something, he'll shake his head "no" when you click. And, yes, it's really cute when he does so. Sometimes he'll even give you a clue in the form of a thought bubble if you try and do something that isn't (yet) possible. Little bonus touches like this are what give Machinarium such personality, and they help push along the gameplay, too.

An hour or two into the game, Machinarium suddenly opens up and presents a less linear world for you to explore. The first handful of puzzles take place one after another, each leading organically to the next. At a certain point, however, you find yourself standing in a central hub with things to do in every direction. From here on, Machinarium is more like a traditional adventure game and less like a point-and-click puzzler.

Analysis: It's obvious everyone at Amanita Designs poured their heart and soul into this game. The proof is in the music, the artwork, the puzzles, the gameplay, the interface, the story, the pacing, the animations, the character desi— you get the picture. A fine example of how the studio went well above the norm is the in-game hint system. If you're heroically stuck on a puzzle and just can't figure out how to solve it, move the cursor to the top right corner of the screen. Click the TV icon and you'll be thrown into a mini-game. Using the controls on the right side of the monitor, you move a flying key up and down in a side-scrolling world. Fire your weapon to take out enemies, avoid the walls, and make it to the lock at the end of the stage. Key + lock = comic-style sketch of how to solve the level, step by step. The only reason I can think of why Amanita did that was because it's awesome.

Each area is packed with visual detail, from intricate backgrounds to fluidly animated characters. Machinarium's world is not a still piece of scenery, it's a living, moving environment loaded with personality. There's so much to look at it can be difficult to know where to start. Somehow, though, you always catch wind of a puzzle on the screen and can manage to discover what needs to be done.

Hotspots in Machinarium, as in any point-and-click game, can be a sore point of discussion. A fine balance has to be found between cleverly hiding the next move and turning the game into a pixel hunt. Machinarium finds that balance well, though there are a few moments when you narrow your eyes because you clicked near the right place, not on it. Proximity determines which objects you can interact with, leading to a fair amount of walking back and forth, moving the cursor around to see what's there. It's all about experimenting and trial-and-error, but because the game world is so full, your curiosity is always tickled, no matter what you end up doing.

As far as length and difficulty are concerned, Machinarium (unsurprisingly) gets them just right. You rarely need the "one hint per puzzle" thought balloon, and even if you resort to the lock and key mini-game you'll slap your forehead when you see the solution. Give each puzzle your best shot before resorting to a walkthrough, as it's especially rewarding to figure out the solutions on your own. Expect a good six hours from Machinarium, more or less depending on your skill.

Machinarium is a magnificent game, and that's all I really need to say. You'll be hooked the moment you see the robot store an item in his belly.

Windows:
Play the Flash demo
Order the full version

Mac OS X:
Play the Flash demo
Order the full version

Linux:
Play the Flash demo
Order the full version

Do you like your hidden object games with a little less fluff and a lot more, well, hidden objects? Little Things is the answer. Sitting pretty next to Pure Hidden, Little Things is a hidden object game that doesn't fool around. All you do is find items, from sheep to elephants to ping pong paddles, by running a magnifying glass along a field of tiny pictures. It's a visually impressive game that delivers exactly what the title promises: lots and lots of tiny little things.

The premise of Little Things couldn't be any more straightforward. Each level starts out as a picture. That picture is then turned into a collection of small objects. Your cursor becomes a magnifying glass and you set out to find a small number of items listed in the corner of the screen. When the object is in your sights, click it, smile triumphantly, and move on to the next item on the list!

Completing stages within a certain amount of time earns you puzzle pieces that unlock new pictures to complete. You'll need to solve a short four-piece picture jigsaw-style mini-game before earning the new levels. You can also earn badges that function as achievements of sorts, little trophies awarded when you perform certain activities or reach a milestone.

If you're having problems finding an item, the in-game hint system automatically kicks in after some time without activity. If the spotlight still doesn't help, it gradually narrows itself until you can't help but find what you're looking for. If you don't like having the hints on a timer, turn them off in the options menu. You can always click the hint button if you're stuck, allowing you to be stubborn and find that last teacup all by yourself if you so desire!

Analysis: Like its style-related cousin Pure Hidden, Little Things doesn't fool around with intricate scenery, contrived storylines, or other gameplay gimmicks. It's an object finding game that does an excellent job at hiding objects and letting you find them.

It's hard to overlook the spectacular audio/visual package in this game. Sure, it may not be varied or have required teams of artists years to create, but the music is nice and soothing while the graphics exude a sleek, polished feel. They set a brilliant mood for the game and are easily one of the strongest parts of the whole presentation.

If Little Things has any drawback, it's that it can be a little too narrow in its focus. Some stages feature a laundry list of items, others task you to find several of a single item, and, really, that's it. New images appear every time you collect a number of puzzle pieces, and leaving the game and coming back offers up different pictures for you to complete, but the gameplay doesn't change. For this reason, Little Things is best left as a coffee break-style game where you play for a few minutes and then go about your day.

Simple, relaxing, rewarding, and beautifully designed in every respect, Little Things is a reminder that casual games don't have to get more complex in order to stay entertaining.

Windows:
Download the demo
Order the full version

Mac OS X:
Not available.
Try Boot Camp or Parallels or CrossOver Games.