The supernatural elements here turn a coming-of-age story into a strange, compelling mystery. Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox, PCĪ magical-realist game set in rural Indonesia, this is the story of a couple of high-school students growing up in the late 90s, dealing with other people’s problems as well as their own by using a talismanic notebook to dive into their minds and understand their feelings.

What we said: “This game is as brazenly colourful as a Jet Set Radio fever dream, and even as plastic Guitar Hero instruments clog up the nation’s cupboards, it’s refreshing to play a game that is so unashamedly music-centred.” An ebullient comic-book mashup of a game. All the stylish fighting and leaping around is done to the beat of the music, as the world pulses along to your rhythmic button-presses. This year’s most cheerful gaming dystopia sees wannabe rockstar loser Chai find himself fused with his futuristic iPod and get tangled up in the fight against a corporate megapower. What we said: “The way that its mood can turn so quickly and the intrigue of its sparingly told story kept me hooked.” Hi-Fi Rush Dredge is an artfully subtle horror game that’s also a fun, absorbing seafaring adventure. That is, until you start pulling horrible, nameless things out of the sea alongside your catch. PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox, PlayStation 4/5Īll seems peaceful in the archipelago where you’ve been shipwrecked, as you venture forth with a chugging little boat and some old fishing equipment to make a living. What we said: “Everything from its simple interface to an easily understood tutorial and a fantastically beautiful in-game guidebook makes environmental restoration go smoothly.” Dredge A hopeful vision of a future where the full force of technology is applied towards undoing our mistakes.

Deploy networks of machines to purify water and air, organise your toxin-scrubbing contraptions, and watch as greenery and furtive wildlife make their return. Your job in this environmentalist puzzle game is to restore parched landscapes to teeming ecological richness, and then leave no trace of your presence.

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