Video Games
Lorelei and the Laser Eyes by Annapurna Interactive Lorelei and the Laser Eyes is an adventure puzzle video game with richly atmospheric, non-linear gameplay. The game features striking artistic direction, blending film noir with a David Lynch-esque surrealism. Its open-ended design and satisfying "aha" moments make it a must-play for puzzle game fans. Read our full review of Lorelei and the Laser Eyes here.
Starting as a roguelike deck-builder set in a spooky cabin, Inscryption expands into something much larger and more surprising after its initial section. With ARG-inspired layers and a handful of puzzle elements sprinkled in, it’s a bizarre and compelling experience for fans of deck-builders and strategy games. Read our full review of Inscryption here.
The Forgotten City is a mystery adventure where you manipulate events in a cursed Roman city through cleverly designed time loops. The game offers a satisfying sense of discovery and progression, with enough character depth to evoke emotion, making it a great pick for narrative-driven puzzle fans. Read our full review of The Forgotten City here.
Board Games
So Clover! by Repos Productions
So Clover! is a cooperative word-association game where players create clues to connect keywords and work together to guess each other's words. With everyone involved in both clue-giving and guessing, the game keeps engagement high and ensures minimal downtime, making it a perfect choice for parties. Check out So Clover! here.
In Fromage, you are an artisanal cheesemaker in early 20th century France making, aging, and selling your cheese. It's a simultaneous worker-placement game with a unique rotating board, and the gameplay mechanics dovetail nicely with the theme. Check out Fromage here.
River Valley Glassworks is a puzzly tile-drafting game where players collect colorful river glass and carefully place it to maximize points. The game’s mix of drafting and pattern-building creates a fun and engaging experience with high replayability. Check out River Valley Glassworks here.
Remote Escape Room Games
Rise of the Fungi is a delightful blend of performance, craft, and escape game, played with a live host over Zoom. This is a standalone prequel to The Keeper & The Fungus Among Us, featuring adorable puppets, miniatures, and campy musical numbers. Unfortunately neither game is currently being offered, but Headlock Escape Rooms but will add occasional booking slots when they have time. Follow their social media to find out when, and read our full review of Rise of the Fungi here.
Tabletop Puzzle Games
The Medusa Report is the second game in Diorama’s narrative tabletop puzzle game trilogy. (Read our review of The Vandermist Dossier, the first game in the trilogy, here.) We really appreciated the puzzle integration into the narrative, the well-crafted, authentic-feeling materials, and the clever way certain components were used across multiple puzzles. Because of the way the story builds on the previous installment, we recommend playing The Vandermist Dossier first. Read our full review of The Medusa Report here.
Squirrels Gone Wild is a punny game with straightforward yet satisfying puzzles and a few meatier challenges. Its humor, clever callbacks in the meta and bonus puzzles, and accessible hints make it a lighthearted, family-friendly puzzle game worth playing. Read our full review for Squirrels Gone Wild here, and read our review for Spencer’s previous game, Lost in the Shuffle, here.
What were your favorite games of 2024?
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