Trüberbrook

A charming lakeside.

Score: 7.0
2019

I wanted to love this sci-fi mystery set in 1960’s Germany but the only exceptional thing about the game is its beautiful graphics. The hand-made backgrounds and the quite intriguing – if also very over-the-top – sci-fi plot are enough to make the game worthwhile, but the gameplay is rather sloppy and frustrating.

AER Memories of Old

Anyone there?

Score: 8.0
Ages: 7+
2017

AER is a lovely, atmospheric game of exploration and mystery. The player controls a young woman on a pilgrimage through floating islands. There are some light puzzles on the way, but mostly the game is about the journey, the scenery and the history of this mystical world.

Tormentum – Dark Sorrow

Score: 8.0
2015

Tormentum: Dark Sorrow is a puzzle heavy adventure with very traditional gameplay and incredibly beautiful art style. Every screen is a piece of art. The journey through this dark fantasy is definitely worth playing.

Journey (PS3)

Score: 8.5
Ages: 7+
2012/2015

I suppose pretty much everyone has heard about the sensation that is Journey. It’s a short game with very limited gameplay but it’s been received with high praises almost everywhere. And yeah, everyone is right: it is a great game.

The Cat Lady

Score: 10
(18+)
2012

I used to be a much bigger horror enthusiast when I was younger. In the last decade or so I had turned into a scaredy-cat really. The pop culture representing horror mostly with unnecessary gore and jump scares and the horrible overuse of zombies just made me less drawn to the genre. But recently I’ve found horror again with the help of some surreal and aesthetically interesting experiences, focusing on the psychological dread rather than running away from axe-murderers. And I find things like the TV show Hannibal and this indie game something very artistic and beautiful even in their more grotesque parts.

The Best Games I Played in 2014 – Part 2

Going through the list was a lot more work than I originally thought. I didn’t have a thing written down most of these games and I only started taking screenshots quite recently, so I had to go back to some of the titles just for that. And then I didn’t even have savegames for all of them. Well, these shots should give some kind of idea anyway.

The whole top10 ended up being rather traditional adventures, visual novels or hybrids of them. I did play some other type of games too but I’m not sure I finished any (not that they were bad, they’re just longer). I can’t really anticipate what my top10 for 2015 would look like but at the current rate it’s probably going to have even more visual novels.

My top5 or 2014: