adjacency (2017) is a 2D abstract puzzle game where you click shapes to move colors around into other shapes. It looks like a perfect mobile game, honestly, something you can zone out to while listening to podcasts.

Has a good selection of customizable options depending on how you like to play. Like, you can turn on/off the score and par, depending on whether you feel anxious or emboldened by seeing how you stack up against the computer.

60 total puzzles; I played maybe 5 before ditching it. Love the ambient background music! (Available as a separate download, too.)

Price: $2.99

Available for Windows, macOS and Linux. I played the Mac version.

Go Morse Go! Arcade Edition (2018) is a Morse code party game! Play as a cute bunny cheerleader and tap out letters to win!

This was super cute and fun, but it'd definitely be MORE fun with friends. It's super easy to win against the CPU unless you mess up a lot (like me). I played about 15 minutes on championship mode and had a great time.

There's lots of options to adjust play to make it easier or harder. The standard timing is one second for long and half second for short, but you can go longer or even do a custom timing. There's also two difficult levels (JV and Varsity), four game modes, and multiple outfits and animal characters. Plus adorable art and fun background music!

I don't think there's an online player version, but if you happen to be stuck at home with three other people who are all Morse code nerds, you might want to check this game out.

Price: $1.99

Available for Windows and macOS. I played the Mac version.

Orion Trail (2015) is an adventure/interactive fiction game that's basically Oregon Trail but set in space! And it's just as difficult to NOT die as the original game!

So, you play as a spaceship captain trying to fly across the galaxy to a particular space hub. You pick your crew, who each have different skills (science, fighting, diplomacy, etc.), and you have to manage your resources while making your way through stars, planets, meteors, aliens, etc. Your resources are: crew members, food, fuel, and hull pieces. Get to zero on any of your resources and you fail the mission.


At each stop, and sometimes between stops (and away missions!), you have encounters where you can either gain or lose resources through basically random chance. You choose an action, and then the probability engine randomly selects an outcome. You can try to win the outcome by picking an action where you have extra skills, but it's not guaranteed you'll win. And if you lose, you lose a LOT of resources.

On my first mission I ran out of hull pieces and my ship exploded. The second mission I kept running out of fuel, had to send an SOS signal, bartered to re-fuel with my BLOOD, ran out of HP and died. On my third time, the ship exploded again.

I do think it's a LITTLE suspicious how the probability engine spins, slowS down, then SPEEDS UP again to round a corner and pick some other square than what it originally looked like it would stop on. Also, super frustrating when I loaded that thing up with skill points but still managed to crit fail MULTIPLE times in a row.

Still, I definitely enjoyed playing this! I really like the retro pixel art, the scifi setting, and the funny dialogue. Played about an hour and didn't manage to live to the end ONCE. The only thing I'd want changed is the stars/planets you stop at; they mostly don't have names or interesting descriptions, and that part could've been flushed out more.

Price: $9.99

Available for Windows, macOS, and Linux. I played the Mac OS version.

The Whisperer in Darkness (2014) is a visual novel game based on the H.P. Lovecraft short story of the same name. It's basically just a retelling of the story, set in modern times.

Since you literally don't have ANY input except for slowly moving a pixel person across the screen, which honestly could've been left out with no loss to the story, I don't think this is actually a "game." There are no dialogue options, no plot choices, no actual interaction except for moving the pixel person.

As an art form this is an interesting concept; as something I spent almost an hour reading I can't say I was that excited about it. (I don't like Lovecraft.) I liked the art and the old school style font, and I appreciate the unique delivery of a short story, but it was VERY boring.

Not really recommended unless you want to try out reading a short story via video game. I vaguely remember these sorts of things from my 1990s childhood, and I don't think I liked them then, either...

Price: $2.99

Available for Windows, Linux and macOS. I played the Mac version.

Content notes: Screamer-style art panel at the end, though there isn't actual screaming.

Oxenfree (2016) is a supernatural thriller adventure game starring a group of teens who try to have an illicit beach party on what turns out to be a hideously haunted island. You play as Alex, a junior in high school who recently lost her brother. With you are Jonas, Alex's new step-brother, Ren, Alex's childhood best friend, Nona, Ren's crush, and Clarissa, Nona's friend and Alex's brother's ex-girlfriend.

So basically the gameplay is entirely talking and walking, with some clicking and scrolling. There's not really any puzzles, though there IS two trivia mini-games that depend on having paid attention in the earlier part of the game.

There's also three ways you can choose to play your interactions with other characters: friendly, mean, and neutral. Picking one way over the other changes certain plot developments and generates different endings, so there's some replayability. I, of course, chose to play the friendly route.

Though it's a thriller, it's not a horror game. It's spooky, but the character design is slightly cartoony-- and tiny-- so it's not as scary as it might've been if they were hovering super close to the camera, as it were. There are a lot of blinking/juddering/shaking movements, which I think you can turn off or dampen. There's also a subtitles option, which I turned on.

I think originally this game was made for a console, e.g. something you play with a controller. The PC/Mac port has some playability issues. First, walking is VERY slow. There are no options to go faster; you can't run or dash. (This might be the same as the console version.) Since basically the entire game is just walking from one place to another, and then backtracking, it feels a little like playing in molasses. ( More words and one image )

I really liked the story, the characters, and the setting, but I don't recommend playing it on PC/Mac if you can help it.

Price: $9.99

Available for Windows, Linux, Mac OS, Playstation, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox. I played the Mac OS version.

One-Eyed Lee and the Dinner Party (2019) is a puzzle/visual novel game set in a fantasy world where spirits exist and, sometimes, merge with living humans to become...something else. One-Eyed Lee is a something else, and Beracus is the doctor trying to figure out how to change him back. Or at least make him less volatile...

Beracus and Lee get tipped off about a whole heap of spirits in an abandoned bunker-- only to become trapped inside with a family of living skeletons. You (playing as Beracus) must solve puzzles, talk to the skeletons (whether they like it or not), and keep Lee alive to get out of the bunker!

I had heaps of fun playing this game. The art is fantastic, Beracus and Lee have a very interesting partnership, and the bunker-skeleton family setting was great. It starts off uncanny, as a post-apocolyptic bunker without an apocalypse to go with it, and then gets super creepy by the time you leave and find out wtf really happened.


The puzzles are solved through finding clues (e.g. clicking on everything), talking to the skeletons, and matching clue to mystery in a specific order. I'm not sure if it was just my computer or if it's part of the game, but there was a small amount of lag between hovering over a clue and the highlight turning on, which mean I had to go a little slower than I usually do. Also, the highlight was a dark red color, which was a little difficult to see even for a non-colorblind person like me. (The whole bunker is heavy on red/orange tones.)

Side note that you can click on objects multiple times, and some of them lead to funny interactions! Or new clues! So that's cool.

Because you're also talking to people, you have some choices on how to proceed through the puzzles. For instance, there's some tricky situations where you could lock yourself out of a set of dialogue cues that change interactions between Beracus and Lee. Or you could leave behind an item that would come in handy at the very end! There are 8 total endings, so it's worth going back and trying different routes to try and get them all.

To make it easier to get the different endings, the game has a History option (to read back through the text), a Skip option (to zoom past text you've already seen), and a Back button if you immediately regret choosing a specific option. There's also a Journal tab, which keeps short notes about the story/clues, and even gives a few subtle hints on where to go next if you're a little stuck.

It took me about 3 hours to get all 8 endings; I used some hints from the dev (on the Itch.io page) to figure out what I needed to do at the end, and made sure to try different options than I did the first time. The last part is very tricky! I did notice that once I got the happiest ending, the loading screen illustration was also happy! When I got the bummer ending(s), it was super sad. Such a nice little touch in an already detail-filled game.

Great characters, good writing, humorous moments and spooky ones, too: I really enjoyed playing this and highly recommend checking it out!

Price: $4.99

This is apparently the first of a series of games the dev is planning on making with Beracus and Lee, and I can't wait to play them!

Available for Windows, Mac and Linux. I played the Mac OS version.

cityglitch (2017) is a puzzle game set in sci-fi (/fantasy?) world with little pixel people and animals. Pretty difficult! Controls are point-and-click, and you can only move in straight lines. Art style seems heavily influenced by vaporwave. It's turn-based, and there are things trying to kill you or block your way, so you have to time your moves with their moves to get to the exit. Luckily the puzzles themselves are pretty contained, only 5x5 grids, so you're not trying to move across huge platforms.

I played about 10 levels/10 minutes before quitting; there are a total of 95 levels, so a good amount of play time available. Would be really fun as a mobile game, I think!

Price: $2.99

Available on Windows, Linux, Mac and mobile. I played the Mac OS version.

Data Loss (2020) is a puzzle game where you play a hacker trying to infect an evil corporation's computers to steal their money. It's fast-paced and fun, with an old-school design like a 1990s computer.

To find the computers to infect you need to switch between two modes: Search and Infect. Search will briefly pop up nodes; Infect will then let you click on the nodes to, well, infect them. However, once you switch from Search to Infect, the nodes turn invisible, so you'll need to remember where they were in order to click on them.

Complicating the game play is: a timer, limited moves, and a scanner which will suck away your time if it intersects with either your Search or your Infect actions. Because nodes are connected, sometimes you hit a node that goes further than you expected, and the scanner finds you when you meant to dodge instead.

Running out of either time or moves without completely infecting every node will take away money from your bank. Go into a negative balance and you're out of the game and have to start all over.


Also, the further along you get into the corporation, the more penalties pile up. You might lose some moves, or un-infected node prices rise higher.

Things that will help you win: finding a special green node adds 15 seconds to your timer and slows down the scanner, leftover time/moves gives you bonus money, and you can buy upgrades to either dodge the scanner, infect nodes faster, or get more money at the end of the round.

But! Buy too many upgrades and you'll be more prone to running out of money when you inevitably have un-infected nodes the next round.

So you basically have to have a decent memory for where the individual nodes are, be fast at clicking, and figure out the scanner pattern to dodge it enough to finish the level. It took me about half an hour before I was good enough to make it to level 10 (out of 25), and I think the more I play the better I'll get at it. (Update: I played again after writing this review and got to level 15!) I really liked it, and I could see getting sucked into a couple hours' worth of playing.

Bonus points for customizable colors so red/green colorblind players can adjust to something easier to see.

Price: $3.00 CAD

This game is still in development.

Available for Windows, Mac and Linux. I played the Mac OS version.

Jam and the Mystery of the Mysteriously Spooky Mansion (2019) is a point & click reverse whodunnit set in a haunted house. You play as Jam, a tween detective with ambitions higher than her mystery-solving capabilities. At the start of the game, you've already captured the villain and now you need evidence to prove what villainy he was doing.

Explore through different rooms clicking on things to find "clues," solve easy puzzles and put together "solutions" to solve the "crime." These involve picking up both clues and interactive elements, and figuring out which element interacts where (it's not always obvious). It's a short game and not hard to play-- the fun comes through the dialogue, the spooky atmosphere, and Jam and Alexandre (the villain) interacting.

There are 16 different endings, 15 through presenting evidence and 1 secret ending that I stumbled on accidentally. Once you present one solution, you can go back to that exact moment and present the other 14 combinations, no need to backtrack. All the endings lead to very funny dialogue, usually with a wham shot because of the demon.

Cool things: the default font is in the style of a 1980s computer game, but you can adjust it to something easier on the eyes (like I did). Also comes with a spoiler-free walkthrough/hints, including an endings checklist to make sure you get all the clue pairings.

Took me almost an hour to go through everything, and I really enjoyed it. I'd love to play a sequel game!

Price: $2.00

Available for Windows, Mac and Linux. I played the Mac OS version.

Mon-Cuties for All (2017) is a virtual pet/simulation game in early alpha release. It's got super cute pastel colors and adorable monster pets, which is what drew me to it.

You play as a farmer/monster pet...caretaker? You can personalize your player character: body type ("male/female/androgynous"), complexion, hair and eye color. Apparently the monster color palettes are randomized, which is kinda cool.

The goal is to get the most monsters, I guess? To tend to the monsters you play a clicker mini-game, which then strengthens the bonds between you and your monster. Then you can enter a "monster show," which is just a mini quiz game where you can get points to spend at the store. The stronger your monster friendship bonds, the more points from the quiz game which means more money to spend at the store. And that's it, basically.

The clicker game is a little buggy. I kept getting booted back to the menu from clicking too fast; once I slowed down then it worked fine. There's also no tracking on how bonded you are with your monster, how close they are to evolving, etc. Also no back buttons on some screens.

The quiz questions are...ridiculous. They're monster/pet/video game themed, but you wouldn't find the answers from just playing the game so most of it is guessing. And since each question is timed to about 30 seconds, you don't have time to Google the answer, either. At least they repeat, so eventually you'll find the right answer.

I played about 20 minutes before completely giving up. It's an adorably designed game, and I love the graphics! But, as it turns out, I HATE clicker games. I just don't enjoy the main game mechanics, so I ditched it.

It's a cute idea, though!

Price: $1.00

Available for Mac, Windows and Linux. I played the Mac OS version.

Still in development (technically "on hold"), but purchases will only receive current version v0.5 build and not any updated versions (?). Updates and changes to the game are planned, including going to 3D graphics rather than 2D and using an entirely different game engine. I look forward to seeing what the new version looks like!