Myst is an adventure video game designed by Rand and Robyn Miller. It was developed by Cyan, Inc., published by Broderbund, and first released in 1993 for the Macintosh. In the game, the player travels via a special book to a mysterious island called Myst. The player interacts with objects and traverses the environment by clicking on pre-rendered imagery. Solving puzzles allows the player to travel to other worlds ("Ages"), which reveal the backstory of the game's characters and help the player make the choice of whom to aid.
Riven: The Sequel to Myst is a puzzle adventure video game, the second in the Myst series of games. Developed by Cyan Worlds, it was initially published by Red Orb Entertainment, a division of Broderbund. Riven was distributed on five compact discs and released for Mac and Windows personal computers on October 31, 1997, in North America; it was later released on a single DVD-ROM in 1998. Riven was also ported to several other platforms. The story of Riven is set after the events of Myst. Having been rescued from the efforts of his sons, Atrus enlists the help of the player character to free his wife from his power-hungry father, Gehn. Riven takes place almost entirely on the Age of Riven, a world slowly falling apart due to Gehn's destructive rule.
Star Wars: Dark Forces is a first-person shooter video game developed and published by LucasArts. It was released in 1995 for MS-DOS and Macintosh, and in 1996 for the PlayStation. The story is set in the fictional Star Wars expanded universe and begins shortly before the original Star Wars film, before flashing forward to a year after the film's events. The game's protagonist and playable character is Kyle Katarn, a mercenary working on behalf of the Rebel Alliance who discovers the Galactic Empire's secret Dark Trooper Project, which involves the development of a series of powerful new battle droids and power-armored stormtroopers.
Guru Logi Champ is a puzzle game by the Japanese developer Compile. The game was released in 2001 for the Game Boy Advance handheld game system. "Guru Logi" is an abbreviation of "Guruguru Logic", "guruguru" (ぐるぐる) being a Japanese onomatopoeia for a rotating motion.
Antichamber is a first-person puzzle-platform game created by Australian developer Alexander "Demruth" Bruce. Many of the puzzles are based on phenomena that occur within impossible objects created by the game engine, such as passages that lead the player to different locations depending on which way they face, and structures that seem otherwise impossible within normal three-dimensional space. The game includes elements of psychological exploration through brief messages of advice to help the player figure out solutions to the puzzles as well as adages for real life. The game was released on Steam for Microsoft Windows on January 31, 2013. A version originally sold with the Humble Indie Bundle 11 in 2014 added support for Linux and OS X.
Eets is a 2D puzzle video game developed by Klei Entertainment and released on March 27, 2006 for Microsoft Windows. It was later released for Mac OS X on December 9, 2010. Both the Windows and Macintosh versions of the game are distributed digitally via Steam. On April 25, 2007 the game was released for the Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Arcade under the title Eets: Chowdown. Eets is a puzzle game with similarities to Lemmings where players must guide a character through an on-screen puzzle.
Boomzap Entertainment is a casual games developer registered in Singapore with a virtual office environment. It was formed in 2005 and has released 50 games to date that are ported on various platforms. Boomzap has developed for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Nintendo DS, Wii, iOS, and Android. Its games are available on games portals such as Big Fish Games, Yahoo!, WildTangent, GameHouse, Google Play, Amazon, iTunes, Steam and others.
The Witness is a 2016 puzzle video game developed and published by Thekla, Inc. Inspired by Myst, the game involves the exploration of an open world island filled with natural and man-made structures. The player progresses by solving puzzles, which are based on interactions with grids presented on panels around the island or paths hidden within the environment. The game provides no direct instructions for how these puzzles are to be solved, requiring the player to identify the meaning of symbols in the puzzles. A central design element to the game was how these puzzles are presented so that the player can achieve a moment of inspiration through trial and error and gain that comprehension themselves.
Q.U.B.E. is a physics-based puzzle video game developed and published by Toxic Games, with help from Indie Fund, a group of independent game developers. The game, an expansion of a student project by the founding members of Toxic Games, was released for Microsoft Windows through a number of digital distribution platforms, first through Desura on 17 December 2011 and then through Steam on 6 January 2012. An OS X port was later released in December 2012 through Steam and Desura.
Mini Metro is a puzzle strategy video game developed by New Zealand indie development team Dinosaur Polo Club. Players are tasked with constructing an efficient rail transit network for a rapidly growing city. The game's visual style makes use of bold colours and simple geometry to replicate the appearance of modern transit maps. The game uses a procedural audio system to generate sounds based on the player actions and transit network, with inspiration from works of minimal music.
The Talos Principle is a 2014 puzzle video game developed by Croteam and published by Devolver Digital. It was simultaneously released on Linux, OS X and Windows in December 2014. It was released for Android in May 2015, for PlayStation 4 in October 2015, for iOS in October 2017, for Xbox One in August 2018, and Nintendo Switch in December 2019. Virtual reality-enabled versions for the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive were released on 18 October 2017. The downloadable content Road to Gehenna was released on 23 July 2015.
Road Not Taken is an independent video game developed by Spry Fox for PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, OS X, iOS, and Android. In a take on the Robert Frost poem of the same name, the game is described as being about life's surprises, both positive and negative.
Albert & Otto is a 2D puzzle-platform game developed and published by K Bros Games. The game will release as four stand-alone episodes, with the first episode titled "The Adventure Begins" releasing on October 28, 2015, for Microsoft Windows and OS X. The game was released for Xbox One on January 10, 2018, and for the PlayStation 4 on January 16.
Clustertruck is a 2016 platformer game developed by the Swedish independent studio Landfall Games and published by tinyBuild. The game consists of nine worlds in which the player must navigate by jumping on moving trucks to avoid obstacles and the ground, culminating in a boss fight. This concept originated from Landfall Games's founder, Wilhelm Nylund, picturing himself leaping across trucks to escape traffic. Clustertruck was released for Linux, macOS, the PlayStation 4, Windows, and the Xbox One in September 2016, followed by a version for the Nintendo Switch in March 2018. While praised for its gameplay, graphics, and original soundtrack, Clustertruck's Nintendo Switch port was primarily criticized for its controls.
Steven Universe: Save the Light is an action-adventure role-playing video game developed by Grumpyface Studios and published by Cartoon Network Games. Based on the television series Steven Universe, it is a sequel to the 2015 mobile game Steven Universe: Attack the Light, and is set before Steven Universe: Unleash the Light. It was released digitally on October 31, 2017 for PlayStation 4, on November 3, 2017 for Xbox One, and on August 13, 2018 for macOS and Windows; and released physically on October 30, 2018 for Nintendo Switch.
Tunic is a 2022 action-adventure game developed by Isometricorp Games and published by Finji. It is set in a ruined fantasy world, where the player controls an anthropomorphic fox on a journey to free a fox spirit trapped in a crystal. The player discovers the gameplay and setting by exploring and finding in-game pages of a manual that offers clues, drawings, and notes. The backstory is obscured; most text is given in a constructed writing system that the player is not expected to decipher. Tunic's isometric perspective hides numerous pathways and secrets.
Untitled Goose Game is a 2019 indie puzzle stealth game developed by House House and published by Panic Inc. Players control a goose who bothers the inhabitants of an English village. Players must use the goose's abilities to manipulate objects and non-player characters to complete objectives. It was released for macOS, Nintendo Switch, Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
The Longing is a 2020 point-and-click adventure game created by independent developer Studio Seufz. Set in an underground kingdom, the player controls the Shade, a creature tasked with watching over a sleeping king for 400 days. The Shade performs recreational activities, including reading and exploring, as it waits out the 400 days in real time. The in-game timer continues regardless of the player's actions but moves faster if the Shade performs certain actions inside its home, such as decorating the walls with drawings.
Tonight We Riot is a beat 'em up game released in 2020 by American studio Pixel Pushers Union 512, and published by Means Interactive, both worker cooperatives, and released for Windows, MacOS, Linux and the Nintendo Switch. The game promotes left-wing anti-capitalist ideals.
Starseed Pilgrim is a 2013 puzzle-platform game from independent developer droqen. Players plant 'starseeds' which grow into plants, each with different growth patterns and interaction mechanics. Players plant these starseeds on floating platforms and on fully-grown plants in order to traverse the game world. The game was developed in Adobe Flash and was released in April 2013 for Windows and OS X. Reviewers praised Starseed Pilgrim's game mechanics and the process of learning their interactions, but criticized the learning curve as steep. The game was a finalist for the Excellence in Design award at the 2013 Independent Games Festival.
