indie art meets time-mechanic puzzler

Check out Braid.

An indie game that is worth every penny, it strikes me as somewhere between Mario and Prince of Persia- not quite combat oriented, actually- but time-manipulation and platforming play a huge role in-game.

The art style makes the entire game feel like something of an interactive painting- the story is a bit disjointed, in my opinion- but the culmination of in-game walls-of-text and the final level's "deeper meaning" are something of a mind-blowing conjunction.

It's super-artsy and (if youtube comment threads are anything to go by) radically interpretable. There is no one specific meaning, really.

It probably takes a certain appreciation of the combination of story, art, and puzzles to find the game as likable as some critics- but the forgiving nature of the game (in case of error, rewind!) and the polished design should present a solid base upon which to build an enthralling experience.

Amnesia: The Dark Descent.

Equal parts horror and survival thriller.

[ This ] is Yahtzee Croshaw's review. In synopsis: You wake up in a castle and are slowly going absolutely insane because of the almost-eldritch-horror quality of the castle's inhabitants. Light and darkness play significant roles, and the immersive quality of the audiovisual synergy was enthralling.

I will admit that this game was absolutely terrifying- but not when I started. It seemed as if this was your standard Silent Hill sort of survival horror. In Silent Hill, though, you have the opportunity to fight back- in Amnesia, you have no such luck. Your only option is to run away as fast as you can and hope the monster doesn't find you.

To be completely frank, it's not exactly my cup of tea- I'm not much of a horror guy.

To quote Yahtzee: "Amnesia's not a perfect game, but it's almost unmatched as a constipation aid."