PC & Mac

Bearing the fruit of thoughtful craftsmanship, Rudowski Brothers gifts us with The Trader of Stories - Chapter 2. After spending nearly a Blossoming in the human city of Bark, Little Willow's life seems fairly ordered. She works as a waitress and storyteller in Gofung's teashop, has acquaintances - if not friends - and generally makes do. But amnesia still bothers her, alongside an odd sense of not belonging. Until one day, a tall, dark, and mysterious guest arrives. Will she find the answers she seeks, or will trouble find her first?

For the newcomers to this series: while Chapter 2 is indeed enjoyable as a standalone game, it follows an intricate storyline that is most comprehensively appreciated when its predecessors are played first. This installment of the Big Old Tree that Dreams series follows Bell's Heart; A Grain of Truth; and Chapter One. A useful feature of Chapter Two is that it's mobile-friendly.

The New Year is here and so is Mateusz Skutnik's traditional game!!

Oh where, oh where have my little gnomes gone? Apparently, off to Sardinia! This time, Mateusz Skutnik transports us to the quaint Italian city of Oristano. Following in the typical mode of operation from previous adventures, 10 Gnomes yet again requires some point-and-click scavenging for our titular creatures.

With only one life how long can you survive a barrage of musically synchronized bullets?
As the name implies, Bullet Waltz is a game about bullets that move with music. The chiptune music by Radio Giraffe, works well with the classic arcade style of the game. Every time there's a beat a square "bullet" is shot from the center in a random direction, and the counter in the center of the screen will go up. The flow changes as the song does.

Killing characters at the end of the story, in my opinion, is a cheap way out. Having them die at the beginning takes courage. As the culmination of two years of hard work by developer Armaan, the full version of Rainswept is fully out and available. You may remember a demo of the project that I reviewed nearly a year ago. The story and prospect were something that entranced me, but little did I know that what Armaan had in store would be even greater for the finished product. Perhaps it was just a stroke of luck that created the authentic experience of waiting so long to find the answers to all the cliffhangers. And in this full version, you might finally get to the bottom of all the strange events in the shell-shocked small town of Pineview.

The old year is over, and again we have to find a new one with Mateusz Skutnik!

Finding 2019 isn't easy, but what would you expect from such an important task, after all? Fortunately you don't need to fight 2018 which seems reconciled to its destiny, 'only' jump a lot, and it's a good think that while trying to pass not-so-easy levels (again and again) you may admire dreamy magical lands and fantastic constructions, listening to atmospheric music.

It does not require anything special, you might argue, to open many parenthesis when telling a story. And to that point, I would reply: yes, but it is a true sign of mastery to satisfactorily bring each and every one of them to a close. That is how I would best describe the twisting story in the land of Socotrine, a timeless reality suspended above the life of one little girl in the winding narrative crafted by Centicerise.

Romance and horror has always been a rather passionate combination, don't you think? All too often some innocent girl falls into the trap and awaits some horrible ending. I'm not going to spoil anything too much here, but The Doll Shop comes with an interesting twist: it is you who play as a man who might just play a pivotal role in the story. Add in some more intrigue with the disappearance of a little girl and the beauty of hand-drawn graphics and you're in for another treat by Atelier Sentô. We've previously reviewed two titles by them, Yûrei Station and Sango - Tales from the Coral Cave, but The Doll Shop definitely brings something new to the table.

Love can come in all sizes and shapes - and in this case, literally. Join a racoon for his journey to find his special someone - a crescent lost in a house fire a long time ago. Together with an extraordinary coincidence, this racoon has inherited the ability to talk to these "shape-people" - which bears no explanation other than that they are people that are shapes - from beyond the veil of death. Sometimes his clientele ask to simply pass on a message, other times there is some unfinished business left with spirits still on the more lively side of things. But still, the racoon keep searching for his lost love.

In a debut of a fan-beloved original, Day of the Tentacle, Return of the Tentacle delivers a thrilling, pun and comedy filled point-and-click adventure. Purple Tentacle is back with an ambitious plan to conquer the world, seek revenge, and worst of all, wants to make sure to kill you first! What's more there are the two telltale signs that it's not some lookalike or wannabe. One: he left a note scrawled on purple paper! And two: it's signed at the bottom, "Insincerely Yours, Purple!"

In Doppleganger, you have the (mis)fortune of having to chase after your perhaps insatiable curious cat. It ran straight into a temple full of booby traps and mystical powers, and it looks like you're going to need to follow it in and coax it out. While Schrodinger may have posed the problem of whether a cat in a box is dead or alive, in In Doppleganger it looks like your cat is always somewhere you're not looking! Your task is to journey through this temple and see if you can find your feline friend, with the aid of some unusual platforming mechanics.

You are a henchman in the infamous Gotham City, and unfortunately, a henchman seeking a new job. Dissatisfied with your current boss, you think surely it can't be too difficult to land a new gig. After all, what's the worst they can have you do to land the position? Spit in someone's face? Toilet paper their house? Get reference letters from your previous boss? All nope, nope, and nope, but you're getting warmer. Who would have guessed that your task would be a job interview?

This time, everything starts coming together. The latest Rusty Lake project, Cube Escape: Paradox has arguably the most unique player experience in the series. Accompanied by a short live feature (which I personally recommend watching after finishing Chapter 1 - it contains some spoilers), Paradox blends amazing production value and multimedia elements with the gameplay that Rusty Lake fans know and love. The game is divided into two installments, with Chapter 1 free to play (donations encouraged), and Chapter 2 available for a minute fee.

In the beginning, there was an epic battle between two ancient souls, one embodied as Chaos, and the other as Peace. After a prolonged struggle, Chaos won, and its executioner Darkness shattered Peace into many pieces. And yet, the war was not yet over, for a single shard of Peace managed to escape. In a stunningly beautiful two-and-a-half dimensional one-man indie platformer/puzzle game created by Yasser Reda.

Note: Pinewood Island contains sexual situations, including an implication of an attempted assault.
Would you go to a remote island for a month to get college credit? This might make visiting Pinewood Island seem like a good deal until you find out that the island has no cell phone access, no internet and no boats to take you back. And just when you think things couldn't possibly get any worse, your professor is murdered while you're stuck on the island. Now there's a one month wait until a boat returns and you can leave. How will you spend it?