LIFELIKE

Lifelike is a meditative game exploring a microcosm of interacting particles where shapes, frequencies and sounds make the meat  of this exceptional game. Guiding a bundle of light you touch ,collect and interact with other particles or beings producing soothing melodies or respect their decision to interact with you the way they want to. It's as much about immersing yourself into this wonderful world as it is about the ease and elegance of the game mechanics and discoveries of any particularities of movement or interaction that awaits you. All this bright bioluminescence washing over you is accompanied by an incredible game soundtrack by the inimitable Loscil introducing new melodies with each track/level to accompany new forms of interaction, making  Lifelike a highly immersive experience.

SUPERLIMINAL

Superliminal

This is a game about perspective and our perception of it that uses a lucid dream as a concept as much as it is a mockery of modern attempts to solve individual problems by exploring the depths of the subconscious. Yes, there’s a good bit of the Stanley Parable and Portal in it, but it’s to be expected since all three explore the hopelessness of the human condition. There’s so much that makes Superliminal a unique gaming experience. You manipulate perspective and objects by placing objects above or below you to make them bigger or smaller in order to solve spatial puzzles in each room. The game designers experiment with game’s mechanics and other physical aspects of its world as you progress making you confused and disoriented, and this is also part of Superliminal’s charm. No amount of stale dialogues or seemingly awkward treatment of subjects and philosophies can change the fact that you’re partaking in a unique gaming experiment treating gaming, happiness and life.

KNIGHT QUEST

I love it when game makers are brave enough to tackle board games that have existed for centuries and combine them with other gaming genres. Knight Quest is a unique endless runner-chess hybrid. Your knight piece  prances around evading or taking other moving chessboard pieces against an endless chessboard or 45 different levels collecting keys and treasure chests along the way.To make things real, your piece has to wait for its turn to make a move and thus those who like chess but are not particularly good at it would feel as if their skills at playing chess have significantly improved. This game makes people feel good about themselves, it amuses them and has a high replay value. Another instant casual gaming classic.

APE OUT

Finally a game drummers and lovers of drums will truly enjoy! Though not necessarily a rhythm game, Ape Out follows a large ape fleeing his cage and killing guards in a facility built for biological research in a bloody beat 'em up classic. A steady-paced swinging drum chops are backed by anything you do on the screen, and so the sounds of glass breaking,foot tapping, splashing the guards against the wall or smashing things, and of bombs ticking all  add to the drum phrases that leave the player mesmerised and driven. I haven't been this impressed  by any gaming music in decades.The fact that Matt Boch decided to make the ingame music entirely around solo drumming is enough reason to try the game. The gameplay itself is never dull or repetitive, as the walls and guards are randomly generated with each try. Add the aviary perspective with extremely high walls and exceptional stylized graphics that remind me of beebop and hardbop mid-century jazz coverart and book covers of beat poets and you have a unique piece of gaming history well worth you 15 euros. Highly recommended!   

GRIS

This is the most visually astounding and satisfying game I've ever played. Although less expansive than its 3d counterpart Journey which is a personal all-time favourite, GRIS leaves you completely in awe of what the game designers achieved. When you play a game and its visual component beats everything else you've ever seen in a game the gameplay comes second.It's as if the designers in this game had over 500 years of art and design experience collectively - it's daunting how immersive  admiring someone's artistic achievement can be, as it completely affects the gaming experience itself. You seem to foget you're actually playing a cleverly designed platform game.This is what Dali\s Dysney movie should have looked like.