Webcomic xkcd has been around for over a decade, and to celebrate the release of his new book, creator Randall Munroe has created a very simple piece of platforming interactive art. But venture beyond the small playing field, and you'll find a much bigger world than you thought that's full of surprises.

The president is having a birthday party, and it's up to you, little mouse, to explore and find everything you need to make it the very best! Talk to a wide variety of colourful characters, find decorations, food, presents and more to get the best ending in this simple but oh-so-cute game.

One morning, Spider the Fox woke up to discover that the giant tree in the middle of the floating island in which she and her family live had dropped a seed! A seed that could be used to grow a brand new sky-island! Now Spider's leaving the nest and setting out on a journey to collect the things she'll need to make her very own home in the sky. Run, jump, and plant dozens of vines, explore the world, and help Spider find her way in the wide, whimsical blue yonder!

In this fantastically retro explorer platform you play as our pink haired hero who was drawn to this strange cavern filled with spikes and mystery. Search for a way to activate the statues and discover the drive that pulls you ever forward in this gem by Sophie Houlden.

As a curious blind kitten in search of your friend, you must travel across town and use your senses and sound to reveal obstacles and make your way around, in this simple but gorgeous little experimental platformer made in just 72 hours.

Nitrome goes underwater in this exploration-based action game as you control an alien looking for parts to fix its satellite. The twist? You're piloting a submersible with a very unique control scheme, and with upgrades scattered about the ocean to discover, the end result is a fiddly but creative game that needs patient and a delicate touch to appreciate.

You're an army of one against a horde of undead. Shoot through the hordes, explore the terrain, and rescue what few survivors you can find to swell the ranks of the living. Another fantastic entry in the Decision series.

A lost princess. A knight with a sword. A horde of enemies between them. This fast-paced, surprisingly challenging brawler game suggests you do what comes naturally. Slash, dodge and bomb your way into the history books.

Help the monstrous Nosferatu find his prized treasure that has been mysteriously locked away in his haunted mansion. Explore his castle, find keys to progress, and enjoy a good laugh or two in this short exploration game.

Rebuild, upgrade, and explore in this unique top-down survival game with a medieval setting. The kingdom is overrun with the walking dead. It's up to you to rescue survivors, build defenses and end the zombie menace once and for all.

The world can be a lonely place. When the world is a monochromatic wasteland and you're the only one in sight, it can seem a lot lonelier. But when you stop and listen, the wind fades away and the world begins to speak. That's how it works in Faint, an atmospheric exploration game by Lesingevolant. Use the arrow keys and your headphones to navigate the character through the desolate world. With two endings, you even get double the playtime.

It's easy to immerse yourself in this beautiful, atmospheric audio-visual adventure by Connor Sherlock, but your time is limited. You have only 20 minutes before The Rapture Is Here And You Will Be Forcibly Removed From Your Home. So what do you do? Run! Use [WASD] to move and your mouse to look all around. Explore until your curiosity is rewarded with discovery. Or stand around and wait. It's up to you.

The night is dark and full of terrors. You are one of them. You cannot see, but you can hear, and though they may hear you coming, they will not be able to stop you. Because he deserves it. Jord Farrell presents The Hunter, an intense, challenging, and intensely challenging, unique top-down stealth-based horror adventure, originally developed as part of the "you only get one" Ludum Dare 28 competition, now expanded and refined for a final release.

A expansion of both the gameplay and quirky game-world of the Ludum Dare original, Leaf Me Alone (Expanded) by Mark Foster and David Fenn, has players explore all corners and all seasons of a pixelated forest. Though like most Metroidvanias, a little more direction would be helpful, all in all, this is the refined half-sequel, half-remake those charmed by the original have been waiting for.

You're on a journey to collect 33 pieces of a fallen star which starts out simply enough but soon throws you into an extraordinary quest that tests your wits and precision platforming skills. Some levels will bend your brain while others will mess with your mind. Use [arrow] keys and [space] to navigate and activate special abilities with other keys, doing whatever you must to prove your devotion and gather the star pieces for your loved one.

You're trapped in a big, box-like room. You have nothing that can help you escape. The best you can do is explore and hope you find something interesting. But don't worry, for such a minimalistic game, Box Life sure is full of fun secrets.

Why is it that something bad always happens to space research missions? You play Captain Robert in this narrative-driven exploration game, made for Ludum Dare 27. After waking up from a bad bump on the head, you'll need to explore your ship to discover the fate of your crew and piece together all the mysterious things going on.

zillix returns with another Ludum Dare entry: exposure. In its post-competition form, this game has you traveling the land of SOL in search of orbs to place in strange holders. As you travel further, you discover more about SOL and its conflict with NYX. And standing in the background is a giant stone golem. What is its role in this land. And what is yours?

Terra Coda is an adventure game originally developed by Zillix for Ludum Dare 19, now re-released in a polished form, wherein you live and relive the life of a time-skipping alien organism trying to escape from disaster. It's a game that throws you in at the deep end, but one that very much evokes the thrill of discovery.

Want to feel free? Take a break and play I Feel Free, a Metroidvania-esque platformer where you start out as just a mere blob, but build yourself up to something greater. Similar to a shorter version of K.O.L.M., you can travel around the caverns collecting upgrades that allow you to access new areas, and maybe even experience freedom from restlessness.

A retro metroidvania platformer by MNWS, The Ruins of Machi Itcza will have you feeling like Pitfall Harry. The purely exploration gameplay is tempered a bit by slow character movement, but overall, the game captures the archaeological feel of rediscovering something ancient and mysterious.

An instant-classic riff on 90s blast-processing platformers, Ripple Dot Zero is an action platformer by Pixeltruss that has just the right mix of dystopia and penguins. Expansive levels to explore, secrets galore to uncover, and an awesome chiptune soundtrack make Ripple Dot Zero does great at making something new made out of something familiar.

The scores have been tabulated and the results are in: the overall winner of the minimalism-themed Ludum Dare 26 72-hour Game Jam is Leaf Me Alone, a retro Metroidvania-style platformer by Mark Foster and David Fenn. Now, "minimalism" and "Metroidvania" aren't two words that usually go together, but Foster and Fenn has put together a wonderful little world for a pixelated-blob-type-thing to explore, if one that could use a little more direction from time to time.

This sleepless young prince is a puckish, mischievous sort who wants to play pranks on everyone in the castle. You can join in by exploring every room using keyboard commands, to find and use objects until you've racked up every trophy and achievement to be had in this point-and-click puzzle adventure from Black Square. What to do and where can be arbitrary at times, but for those who love the artwork and the searching about, The Prince Edwards proves to be charming and handsome indeed.

October 25, 1888. The Wyoming Territories. The scientist has returned from his first excursion through the Worldgate, and brought with him a strange hexagonal component. But there are still worlds to explore and answers to be found. Worldgate 2: Contact continues the story of William Buchanan's well-received point-and-click adventure. Its puzzles are satisfying and its twists are proving ever more intriguing.

Ahoy there! Pirate Pat wants to loot Atlantis! Guide his pirate submarine beneath the waves. Avoid jellyfish, collect treasures, and find the Crown of Atlantis in this enjoyable action game. Explore a wonderful undersea world while solving the mysteries of Atlantis!

October 21, 1888. A scientific excavation discovers a perfectly spherical chamber fifty feet into the solid rock of the Wyoming mountains, filled with mysterious devices. Who made them? Are they safe? In any case, it's time to explore. Worldgate is a new point-and-click adventure game by William Buchanan, developer of the Free Will Cycle series. Improved navigation of his CHARM engine, and a cool sense of sci-fi atmosphere, make it another fine release from a developer on the rise.

A simple errand takes a turn for the surreal when our hero, forced away from the video game console and out of the house, stumbles down a hole into the middle of the earth where he is, of course, tasked with tracking down magical gems. The same thing happened to me the other day. A little bit retro, mixed with a healthy dose of metroidvania and high-difficulty platforming, and Kodachrome is a weird but appealing little challenge.

Shards of light fall from the sky over a cold, lonely, frozen land, and it's up to you to reunite them... or remain alone yourself. A melancholy but absolutely gorgeous bit of platforming exploration married heavily to interactive art, the game is simple and straightforward but well worth experiencing to take in the creative talents of the team behind it.

A game you can beat in five seconds? That's not a coffee break game, that's a thinking about taking a coffee break game. Fortunately, Nolan Labs' action/exploration game 100% Complete features more than just a few seconds of gameplay, though if you want to get technical, you can reach the end simply by heading right and using the door. If you want to actually accomplish something before winning, though, you'll need to get to exploring. Yay!

We all love metroidvanias! But would we still love them if, instead of controlling a scifi bounty hunter, or a badass vampire slayer, we played as the alphabet? Answer: Yes! And ASCIIvania, an exploration platformer by Gharding3, is the proof! ASCIIvania is clearer documentation, a map screen and a mute button away from excellence, but its still a fun time.

Costis doesn't remember how he got here. He doesn't know why the world keeps changing around him. And he certainly doesn't know the man in black who seems to be following him. But every little boy knows when it is time to explore, and so he will. For better or worse... Blackwood prologue is a platforming piece of interactive art by Blake Mann, that takes you inside the mind of a kid who just might find his future in his dreams. Marvelously atmospheric, even evocative, the dream logic nature of the game means, inevitably, more questions will be raised than answered. But as the title says, it's just the prologue...

Dreams can't hurt you right? Sequester puts that to the test when a deceased sister comes to call on her little brother in his dreams. She's stuck in limbo and she doesn't understand why but she knows that it's not where she wants to be. While you may not think a little kid is a suitable choice don't be so quick to judge! Taking on death itself, it's up to you to guide this nimble young lad and help him rescue the soul of his sister.

In this surreal and visually stunning game that showcases just what Unity can do, you play a moth trapped inside an attic who wants to escape and be with its true love... the moon. Resurrect other moths to help you move obstacles and eventually find your way out in this short but lovely game that marries exploration with simple physics puzzling.

This sequel to Lucas Paakh's William and Sly is a vast, richly layered feast for the eyes. While gameplay remains much the same, there are also marked changes (improvements as far as most players will be concerned): no more darklings or boss battles yet plenty of exploration, item gathering, and questing. Gaining helpful abilities involves your platforming and puzzle-solving skills to add just the right amount of gameplay into what is a sumptuous work of interactive art.

In this short yet beautifully artistic puzzle platform adventure decisions become turning points after two basic choices: evolve or destroy? Guide Cadence, the title character, through a series of decisions, each determining how the story continues. Several puzzles are based on those choices and there are two endings to choose from as well. Love's Cadence is as much a thought-provoking poem as a game and should be appreciated for how its graphics, narrative elements and game play coalesce into a melodious composition.

Yoshio Ishii of NekoGames is back with another stress busting, eye pleasing simple discovery game borrowing from the same formula as Ouka. This time, though, you're looking for the delicate, many-floreted chrysanthemum—petal by petal. Use the mouse to scroll about the soothing charcoal grey backdrop and figure out the rule that will bring all the petals back to form the lovely mum. Like a lovely vase encased in flowery bubble wrap, Kikka is both beautiful and gratifyingly fun.

Danger Dungeon is a fun little exploration-based action RPG from InsaneHero. There's a huge world to explore, with some cool pre-rendered 3D graphics to look at and a ton of ways to customize your character to your play-style. Some aspects feel a little rushed: particularly noticeable is how your CPU allies have the kind of AI that flits back and forth between "useless" and "suicidal". Overall, though, it makes for a fun love letter to old-school dungeon crawlers and should satisfy anyone looking for a little fantasy action during their coffee break

In the beginning, there was the void, and unless you put your puzzling skills to work in this little experimental game, that's all there will ever be. Use a series of powers, unlocked as you play and experiment, to shape the world around you and turn it from an empty void into a space teeming with life and drama.

Pedro and the Pearls of Peril is the kind of game that's likely to have appeal to multiple demographics. First of all, there will be those in the mood for a good action-shooter, with some shades of Metroidvania and a masochistic edge of difficulty. Then there will be those who'll be convinced once they see the name of Robot Wants retro-maven Hamumu on the title screen. There will be those Cub Scouts who just happened to stumble over the game on the Boys Life website, and are intrigued by what wacky new adventures Pedro the Mail Burro has gotten himself into this time. And last, but not least, there is the not insignificant group of gamers who have a thing for alliteration. Never count them out.

Minecraft creator Markus Persson's entry into Ludum Dare is a first-person dungeon crawling exploration adventure. Escape from your cell and explore a surprisingly large series of connected dungeons, discovering new items and abilities, and searching for valuable treasure. An unforgiving death system and lack of a map may prove too frustrating for some players, but for a game made in just 48 hours this is one surprisingly big and fun adventure.

In this platform adventure game that spans multiple dimensions, help the robotic hero complete his quest and return home. Anyone who's played the classic SNES game Earthbound will feel right at home with TransDimensional. There's a certain air of irreverent weirdness about the proceedings that makes TransDimensional feel like something special. At around 20 minutes long, it doesn't require much of a time investment and fans of platformers are bound to have a good time hopping between dimensions.

Developed for Something Awful's GameDev VI Challenge, the retro metroidvania platformer Psychopomps puts you in the shoes of Anubis, who has overslept. In his absence, his fellow soul ushers have gone missing and evil spirits have grown powerful. Explore your environment and shoot down your enemies as you rescue your friends and right the matter of directing souls.

Scuba is a 2D, side-scrolling game of exploration, diving, mining, and crafting in the tradition of Minecraft and Terraria. Control your diver-character as you collect 10 types of resources above ground and underwater. Combine items in your inventory to craft parts that will eventually help you make an engine to get home. Scuba's random world generation gives you a different game environment each time you play.

Once upon a time, there was a girl named Raven Locks Smith. She lived in the city of Dull, and although she loved her motivational-speaker parents, she wished for something more. One night, as she considered her boredom, a dream came to her and told her of a life changing tome that could be found near the Mountains of Oddness. Soon she walked there, and found it to be a most interesting place... And so, in this new point and click adventure game by Jonas and Verena Kyratzes, set in the same universe as their earlier The Strange and Somewhat Sinister Tale of the House at Desert Bridge, you help Raven search through the quite unusual Land of Dreams in search of The Book of Living Magic, a point and click adventure. Highly recommended to all lovers of classic adventure games or fantasy worlds in general.

You may have always wanted your own set of wings, and TwofoldSecret is going to grant them to you as you help their protagonist take to the sky in his crumbling, surreal dreamworld. In this explorative platformer, search the ruins of a dreamland for items of significance and discover the significance between his surroundings and what lies within them.

Twenty years after nuclear confrontation wiped out the planet known as Earth, Cosmonaut Laika receives a distress bark from the ruined surface. Armed with your trusty swap-gun, a rainbow shooting device that lets you switch places with pieces of the world around you, you land upon the planet to locate your companions. Every dog has its day, and today is the day you... Escape from the Puppy Death Factory! Brought to you by Arthur Lee and the fine people at Adult Swim. A fun, if deceptively challenging, puzzle platformer.

An excellent metroidvania style puzzle platformer that's easy enough to jump straight in, but has a ton of hidden secrets for experts to find (especially if you want the best ending)... along with a few locked doors that just beg for further expansion. Legend of Kalevala has that perfect mix of old and new, alien and human, story and action.

About as epic as any game about snails can be, Snailiad will take hours from you, and you'll be glad to see them gone. It's action-packed and adventure-filled, completely unlike the lives of real snails, who mostly sit around hoping they don't become escargot.

What's more important... the truth or happiness? Sometimes you can't have both. In Thomas Brush's latest platformer adventure, you play a robot named Skinny, woken up from a pleasant dream by his Mama, who insists she's being terrorized by a little boy named Felix who only wants to steal from your friends and hurt the ones you love.

Everybody's favourite emotionally tortured little robot is back in this sequel to 2010's K.O.L.M., a Metroidvania style platformer about a lonely little robot with one very dysfunctional family. Picking up right where the original left off, having escaped the claws of his Mother, will our hero finally find out where he belongs, or will he be unable to escape his family ties?

Well it finally happened. After years of cheating, fighting and swirlying, you've been expelled, and your parents aren't happy. The only thing standing between you and juvenile detention is St. Frost's School for Slackers, Troublemakers and Idiots. The students are a mixed bag of violent sadists and amiable dunces, the teachers aren't much better, and the last new student had a nervous breakdown after two months. But hey, you ruled one school before didn't you? How different can this one be? It's all about doing the right things for the right people... So is the premise of Wasted Youth, the new open world adventure-RPG from GPStudios.

With smooth, easy to use controls, sumptuous detail and pop-culture style humour, A Knight's Quest is a lovely diversion that won't necessarily extend your cerebral capacities, but rather will entertain, amuse and remind you of the importance of respecting your mother and helping others, even if it's simply in the pursuit of milk... that costs well over $650.00. And that's the low-fat variety. Without diamonds in it.

Where do all the bugs go? What happened between early testing of a game and final release? Jonas Kyratzes may make you wonder with this experimental platformer. Recruited to test an early build of Jonas's new game, you wind up falling through the cracks into a strange place you were never meant to see.

Go underwater in Lucas Paahk's stunning new exploration-centric sandbox game about one lovely fish and one big, beautiful ocean. Collect tokens, run races, perform acrobatic tricks and uncover secrets in a truly stunning oceanic environment. Though lacking any sort of story or overarching goal, Azurefish provides a relaxing, atmospheric experience that you can really sink yourself into.

When the Sun and the Sea have a falling out, it's up to you to dive into the ocean and retrieve the Idols hidden beneath the waves, carrying them all to the mountaintops where they rightfully belong... or so you think. Gregory Weir's latest experimental platformer is short, dreamlike, and surreal, and worth a play despite suffering from some tedious avoidance/platforming sequences.

Way back in 2003, XGenStudios released the first version of Stick RPG. A semi-remix of the flash dating sims that were gaining popularity, it focused on humor and role-playing elements rather than scantily clad anime girls. Whatever its inspirations, the tale of a Stickman trying to make it in an unfamiliar world was quite fun and quite well-received. And so fans eagerly waited for a promised updated sequel. And waited. And waited. And years later, Stick RPG 2, a huge open-world RPG, has finally been released. Was SRPG2 worth the wait until "when it was ready"? Unambiguously, yes.

Wooly the Mammoth has stolen your hat, and in order to get it back, you're going to need to get some epic questing going on, exploring a huge, non-linear environment, completing side-quests, collecting keys, and shooting cute but evil monsters in the face with your laser. Whimsical and with wide-appeal, this is certain to be another major hit from jmtb02!

In Blue Knight, you control a human sent to purge a planet for future human colonization. This retro-looking platform shooter has you jumping and shooting your way through a large world, collecting powerups and facing off against various bad guys on your way to the final boss.

You play a plucky astro-pilot in this retro-styled action adventure game, with an ill-defined though doubtlessly heroic agenda, who keeps crash-landing onto planets with hostile, labyrinthine space bases, losing your steadfast feline companion in the process. Cat Astro Phi is a nice, short action game with retro appeal, and even players who aren't the targeted allegorical Internet Citizen will find something to appreciate.

Classic metroidvania makes a comeback in this expansive, multi-ending platformer/adventure game from Zillix. When your father finally dies, leaving you with the knowledge of an ancient family treasure, you set out in search of it unaffected by the taunts and hatred of your fellow dwarves. But an unexpected tumble drops you into a whole new world of possibilities. Will you be the hero, or will you bring the darkness? More importantly, who can you trust if not yourself?

Help a little robot get his life together in this melancholic Metroidvania platformer from Tony (Antony Lavelle) of Armor Games. Explore an ominous facility under the purview of your disappointed computer mother, gathering upgrades and fighting fellow robots. Worth the initial weirdness for a quiet gem of an experience with a surprising amount of depth in its simple design.

Toxers is turn-based exploration game where you have to save your city from the mutated bugs that have appeared in the wake of an ice cream factory explosion. You'll visit 17 different areas killing bugs, rescuing survivors and completing missions. Escape from the city won't be easy, especially with Bugzilla blocking the only route out of town.

From Louissi, creator of Catapult Madness and Neon Rider, Planet Noevo is a combination arena shooter, base defense and survival game where you play as a stranded space colonist trying to survive on a hostile alien planet

Track down nine bodies in a brain-bending maze of unreal proportions brought to you by Ian Snyder. The premise is simple, and so is the gameplay, but the otherworldly design and lack of narrative combine to create an oddly meditative experience where the only real meaning is the one you give to it.

When an expedition goes wrong, stranding a young boy deep inside a series of caverns lit only by strange crystals, he thinks he's alone in the dark. He's wrong. This retro pixel adventure mixes light puzzling with a creepy narrative and atmosphere that combines for a slow-moving but unique experience that's definitely worth a look.

Apples in the Tree is primarily an exploration game with a little bit of point-and-click thrown in. What might seem at first like something that will only appeal to people who wear 'Nightmare Before Christmas' hoodies soon turns into a game that looks great and has a lot of depth.

Good ol' Uncle Whatsisface has disappeared, according to a letter from a British consulate in Africa, and it's up to you to solve the mystery of Finders Seekers: Mystery of Stonecliff. Easy, right? Well this little point-and-click escape adventure might have you thinking "What the...?" more than once.

Flock Together is the latest game from John Cooney. It tells the story of a little girl whose pet sheep, somehow, gets tied to a balloon and floats toward the sky. Your job is to follow after it by tethering yourself to different birds. You start off with only three ropes tied to one weak dove, but it won't be long until you'll be soaring.

Ah, another perfect day. Sitting on a cliff. Letting the breeze blow through your bright pink hair. Then you hear the distant rumble of some kind of black hellspawn chasing your boyfriend. Well, just put out your hand and fly away with him in [Together], One Mr. Beans's entry in our 8th Casual Gameplay Design Competition that took third place overall. It's an experimental game of exploration and heart gathering with a loose narrative threading it all [together].

When an earthquake leaves Jack the only survivor of an expedition in Mexico and strands him underground, he'll have to find his way out alone. Unfortunately, in addition to having some bad luck, Jack also doesn't have any legs, forcing him to find different ways to circumvent things that would barely slow you down in a typical platformer. Made in a month for Something Awful's Game Development Competition and inspired by Super Metroid, You Have No Legs is by turns frustrating and challenging, but undeniably creative and worth a look.

e7's minimalistic and gorgeous presentation accents its simple and engaging gameplay as you pilot a little probe on an alien planet in an effort to deactivate a bomb threatening to destroy Earth. Fling yourself from the surface of the Jello-like crust on the planet's surface and battle laser-wielding robot alien defenses using only your kinetic energy.

The Dreamerz is a point-and-click adventure game where you play a cute little astronaut who is tasked with collecting "dream spheres" filled with "dream ingredients" to fix a "dream machine" on a little planet oozing with wonderment. And if that sounds trite, treacly and unappealing, you are in for a very pleasant surprise. The Dreamerz is not a cotton-puff excess about the power of dreams. If you find yourself put off by that sort of syrupy exhibitionism, then The Dreamerz is the game for you.

Defying your Elders, you and a small group of like-minded people dare to brave what lies outside the safety of Sanctuary 17. Why are you in hiding? Why do the Elder oppose your efforts? And why do robots roam the halls, striking down anything that crosses their path? Find out in this tricky almost-roguelike from Twofold Secret.

Sometimes atmosphere is everything. Coma, a delightful exploration and adventure game by Thomas Brush, brings such an abundance of atmosphere to the exploration game table you might just want to clean out your refrigerator to save the leftovers.

Before I played the Submachine Network Exploration Experience, I didn't know just how involved fans of the series were in discussing its mysteries and mythologies. Like the various alternate reality games involved in the marketing of Lost, although not really a game at all, the Exploration Experience gives fans of the series the chance to delve into the Submachine world like never before.

A long time ago, your friend dove into a deep pool and never came back. In this experimental little game, you explore a series of underwater caverns in search of him, uncovering notes left behind to guide you. You can only hold your breath for ten seconds at a time, so you'll need to move fast and keep an eye out for air pockets or your search will come to an abrupt end.

It's bigger, badder, and, yes, REDDER than other platformers. A retro-styled adventure of space exploration set in your browser, REDDER offers a big map to explore chock full of challenges. Collect the gems you need to escape and make your way back home... or settle in to stay with the scenic vistas, strange environments, and hostile red robots. We won't judge you.

Where We Remain is a quiet game. It is also an action adventure game of exploration in a randomly generated world. You're a lost youth stranded on a haunted island in the Aegean Sea, searching for your lost love among the ruins of a wasted civilization stalked by mysterious spirits. Find 10 possible power-ups to help you complete your quest while avoiding the mysterious spirits that populate the island. You'll also discover that there's more to the island than initially appears.

If you're searching for a fun and chipper exploration game to kill a little time with, good for you! Searching is one of the key components of exploration games, so you're already off to a good start. After that, the fun is in what you do with what you find. In Little Rocket, you get to explore a small universe AND solve puzzles along the way! Aren't two-for-one bonuses lovely?

Colour My Fate does indeed have a message, but a rather lighthearted one. The world is still bleak, but perhaps love has mellowed our little hero a bit. There is still fun to be had in this strange little world, and the visuals and music will still haunt the player long after the game is done. And, perhaps, we will find the true meaning of Christmas within.

Got a hankering for some exploration? Cluster Lander is an exploration game and workout for your reflexes that lets you wander through mysterious terrain, fighting turrets and finding keys, all in the hopes of picking up the coordinates that will let you continue your quest to explore the galaxy!

Following Footsteps is a unique and oddly charming game created by Ming-Yee Iu for our recent Game Design Competition 6. While the game didn't win any prizes, it set itself apart through its creative take on the Explore theme and innovative gameplay. Follow in the footsteps of an intrepid explorer, hoping to get your grubby mitts on the gold he lost over a century ago!

YAWWN! It's a brand new day, time to go out exploring! Level Up! is an RPG-like platformer by Nifty Hat all about exploring the world and discovering your past. In an odd world where the Squarians and Roundians are in a constant and bitter battle, your goal is to collect gems and exchange them for tools to help you restore your memory.

Who wants to go on a treasure hunt? Everybody? That's what I thought! Then grab your green backpack and safari hat, and dive into The Fabulous Explorationsland, a new adventure game from StefanT, and one of the top entries in our sixth Casual Gameplay Design Competition!

Fantasy of the Sord is a classically styled adventure game and a finalist in our 6th Casual Gameplay Design Competition. In answer to the call of the competition, Klint Honeychurch has taken the theme of "exploration" and given us a sweet little nugget that harkens back to the early days of console gaming; a time when a flurry of pixels was as well-designed as the high-polygon count, 3D models of today.

Taking home first prize in the Casual Gameplay Design Competition is no small feat, but David Shute's deceptively simple game of exploration does it with just a few small worlds. A short platformer that may stay with you a long time, Small Worlds offers detailed and surprising environments for you to reveal in your search for... a little peace and quiet.

From developer Lucas Paakh comes a journey into the fantastic with William and Sly. Take on the role of an agile fox in a fantastic world, working to uncover all of it's secrets and find out the reason why a network of teleportation runes has suddenly stopped working. With a massive map to explore, achievements to earn, and powers to acquire, William and Sly is almost more experience than game.

Proo, a mischievous but good-hearted little girl who accidentally crash-lands her father's spaceship on a bizarre planet, must relearn basic skills like walking and jumping in order to navigate an enormous and beautiful world. With rising plumes of energy that can lift you to new heights, streams of red-hot lava that cascade into underground pools, and adorable pixel art, Pieces fulfills in ways most unexpected.

Kava-what? Is it a Pacific island drink of shamans and storytellers? No, Kavalmaja is the latest game from the brilliant Tonypa. A departure from his usual explorations of the abstract, Kavalmaja is a tile-based, Zelda like exploration game, except you have a wacky, randomly generated name. Unlike Zelda, it strips away combat, re-emphasizing the flow of the maze.

Aquanaut is a game of underwater exploration that puts you in the driver's seat of a small submersible pod on a mission to discover hidden treasures. Using your mouse, click and hold to guide the pod around a colorful undersea world. Navigate through dangers of the sea, up and around rocks and structures and, with a steady hand and a little luck, you will find the treasure chest at the end of each level.

Have you ever wondered about what happens to all the bling that gets lost in the Bermuda triangle? Wonder no more! Treasure Seas Inc. is a business that makes its profit looting the submerged caves of a remote archipelago. This game will have you driving a cruiser around, submersing a sub, and looking for treasure. Treasure buys upgrades that allow you to explore further. It's like Metroid at the waterpark!

Orbita puts you in control of a cute little guy with a trapezoid-shaped head. Venture around the planet, visit different perilous locations, and solve puzzles to discover the three batteries that power his ship. Yes, it appears that the little guy's spaceship runs on Duracells.

Imagine the wandering ball of Within A Deep Forest encased in metal and set loose in your browser, and tell me you don't want to get into that Sky Tower. Bug Bug is the latest game to be released from Aqui Griffin's studio, a re-release of a game entered into our "ball physics" game competition in October with crucial improvements.

SpaceCab is an online flash game created and hosted by Sporkle. This tough little game has you piloting a round spacecab through dangerous terrain to rescue lost miners from aliens. Navigate through tight tunnels, uncover secret pathways, and scream/curse every single time you crash. It's a jolly romp in space, bring the kids!

Flyguy is a delightfully interactive Flash piece that is full of surprises. Use the arrow keys to navigate the flyguy around the environment and uncover the entertaining vignettes that await you. Created by TVM at Trevorvanmeter.com. Not a game, but fun just the same.

Can you torque the talk? In this unusual Flash adventure game your spacecraft crash lands on an alien planet, and to escape you must observe the culture and learn a new language to communicate with the inhabitants of this alien world. Remarkable in its originality and design, as well as its gameplay.

This is simply amazing. Someone that goes only by the name of Voxel, has created a 3D version of the original Metroid game in Director! By taking the Metroid tileset, he built a utility that allows him to convert 2D sprites to 3D sprites, and then he uses those to build the levels of the game.