My friends know I love, love, love tabletop games, but rarely play digital games. For one thing, I have poor reflexes, speed, coordination, and dexterity, which cuts down entirely swaths of games; and I don’t get very excited with resource-management games.
I do, however, enjoy well-made mysteries and puzzle games, and sometimes even excel at them. I particularly enjoy the ones that have a narrative and some good graphics. Recently, I worked my way through the following, with great enjoyment:
Alchemy Mysteries: Prague Legends (Jet Dogs Studio): Not too hard on normal settings, perfect to while away a few hours and strike a good mix of challenge and brainlessness. Some pixel-hunting and occasional glitches, but nothing terminal. You can also play on advanced mode for more limited access to clues.
Tengami (Nyamyam): Beautiful and oddly relaxing, based on Japanese paper art. Pretty quick to move through, but so pretty.
The Room and The Room 2 (Fireproof Games): Boxes within boxes which you have to open. Best balance of challenging versus feasible in the bunch. Completely addictive, beautiful, logical. I can’t wait for No. 3.
Monument Valley (ustwo): The adventures of a princess on a quest in an Escher-inspired landscape. Sweet and clever, stylized art, a bit like Tengami.
I’m still working on the last three:
Last Voyage (Semidome): Visuals reminiscent of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Very attractive but some puzzles require more reflexes than I have. Yes, they are minimal, but I’m just that clumsy.
The Guides (Kevin Bradford): A cryptography game? I have not figured out that one yet. It may be too smart for me.
DEVICE 6 (Simogo): Combination of puzzle and choose-your-own-adventure ebook. I loaded it but have not gotten very far because it’s hard on my eyes (it’s on my phone).
The Reef 