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No Man's Sky
Action
October 7, 2022
A science-fiction, sandbox action game with a focus on multiplayer mode. It was developed by Hello Games, a company known for Joe Danger. The game is set in the distant future in the yet uncharted parts of the cosmos, and the gameplay is presented in two forms. We explore the corners of the universe piloting a spacecraft like we do in typical space-sim games. Upon landing on a newly discovered planet, the game switches to first-person view. The devs emphasize the complete freedom given to the player during exploration. While visiting places featuring different animals, plants, or even varying compositions of the planet's atmosphere, we can focus on exploration, gathering raw materials, or fighting against various predators. An important element of the game is the system of the world's procedural generation.
Subnautica
Adventure
May 14, 2021
A sandbox game by Unknown Worlds that combines elements of action-adventure productions and RPGs. As the game’s universe draws inspiration from such novels as Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, at the bottom of the ocean you can find bizarre sea monsters, as well as remnants of futuristic buildings and ships. The player assumes the role of a captain of an advanced submarine, and explores the depths of the ocean. The game’s characteristic feature is the ability to design vessels and determine such things as performance, layout, on-board mechanisms, and materials used for the construction. You begin with rather primitive ships, but as you progress you will be able to construct more advanced vessels, and explore previously unavailable parts of the ocean. While playing, you can freely walk around your ship, and even go outside to explore the marine world on your own.
Observer
Adventure
February 7, 2019
A psychological first-person horror from the Polish developer studio Bloober Team, known best for another horror game, entitled Layers of Fear. Observer is set in a cyberpunk universe, in Cracow of 2048. In the game you play as Daniel Lazarski (starred by Rutger Hauer, known from the film Blade Runner), a detective able to hack into people’s minds. The game’s story starts when the main hero gets a letter from his missing son, who turns out to be a high-ranking engineer working for a powerful corporation. The protagonist picks up an investigation that takes him to the slums of Cracow and forces him to relive dark memories and nightmares of both criminals and their victims. When it comes to gameplay, Observer is a first-person adventure game with survival horror mechanics. Most of the time the player explores grim locations and interacts with characters encountered on the way. An important aspect of gameplay are sequences in which the protagonist hacks into the minds of suspects and becomes part of their worst nightmares.
Astroneer
Adventure
January 13, 2022
A sandbox game by System Era Softworks. Astroneer is set in the 25th century, when the civilization on Earth has developed enough for interstellar travel to become an everyday occurrence. It resulted in a certain kind of gold fever — people started to explore other planets on their own, driven by the desire of getting rich quick. The open world of the game is procedurally generated, and the surfaces of planets and moons are made of voxels. You play as an astronaut equipped with tools allowing them to dig holes in order to find resources and artifacts, which can be then sold or used to create new items thanks to an expansive crafting system. The system allows not only to make and modify useful equipment and vehicles, but also to build bases. The planets featured in the game vary in terms of gravity, resources, and possible dangers. The game features both a single player mode and a multiplayer mode.
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
Adventure
August 15, 2019
A dark, first-person adventure game developed by The Astronauts - a Polish team led by Adrian Chmielarz, the co-founder of People Can Fly. The player is put in the shoes of Paul Prospero - a detective who has developed certain paranormal abilities. The protagonist tries to solve the mystery behind the vanishing of a young boy. The player traverses an extensive, open world - the game is non-linear and the player is free to explore and look for subsequent clues. The game offers many unique mechanics related to making links between different pieces of the puzzle. Walking around the grim areas of Red Creek Valley, the protagonist makes use of his extraordinary abilities, making contact with the dead, experiencing various visions and visiting alternative realities. Utilizing the Unreal Engine 3, the game stands out with its high-quality visuals supported by technologies allowing to convert photographs of real-existing places into digital pictures.
The Long Dark
Adventure
September 17, 2020
A first person survival sandbox game, developed by independent Canadian studio Hinterland. The team includes veteran game developers, who previously worked for Relic Entertainment, Volition, and BioWare. The game takes you into a post-apocalyptic world after a massive geomagnetic storm. With all electronic devices disabled and water and food supplies running low, the player has to struggle to survive the incoming winter. The game’s sandbox mechanics and its open-world structure give much freedom of gameplay, whose biggest challenges are survival and making difficult moral choices. The game features a compelling narrative written by Marianne Krawczyk, the author of scripts for such titles as God of War and L.A. Noire. The game’s unique character is emphasized by its unusual graphics, designed by Hokyo Lima (known for League of Legends).
The Turing Test
Puzzle
February 7, 2020
A sci-fi FPP logic puzzle game by Bulkhead Interactive, a studio founded by the creators of Pneuma: Breath of Life. The story takes place an unspecified number of years in the future, when scientists discover a seemingly harmless alien life form on Jupiter's moons. You play as an astronaut named Ava Turing, whose task is to examine the new species, and who ends up finding more than she expected. The Turing Test is a part of the FPP logic puzzle genre, popularized by the Portal series. There's no combat in the game, and the gameplay is entirely focused on solving puzzles. To do this, you mostly use a special device that allows you to manipulate energy and transfer if from object to object. You also have to operate various mechanisms and intelligent machines, as well as complete occasional platform challenges.
Rime
Arcade
November 14, 2017
A third-person view adventure game developed by Tequila Works studio from Spain, which successfully debuted in 2012 with a post-apocalyptic platformer Deadlight. You assume the role of a boy who is trying to escape a mysterious island that conceals a sinister past. During the course of the game you will solve numerous puzzles, using a magical artifact that allows you to manipulate the environment and time. The title, despite being an action game also includes many platformer elements. The hero travels through an open world, climbs craggy cliffs, and jumps over chasms. Apart from being skilled, you also have to be perceptive, as light, sound, and touch (thanks to the technology offered by PS Vita and DUALSHOCK 4) play a vital role in Rime. The game features a 3D environment, colorful visuals, and a comic book-like visual style.
The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe
Adventure
April 27, 2022
The Stanley Parable, first-person adventure game from 2013, has been extended with new elements. The title is a narrative experiment, in form of a dynamic movie, where player makes important choices. We play the role of the title Stanley - an employee of a large corporation, whose task is to perform the commands that appear on the computer screen.
Kholat
Adventure
May 14, 2020
A first-person survival horror game developed by Polish development studio IMGN.pro. The game's story is inspired by true events that took place in 1959 at the Dyatlov Pass in the Ural mountains, where the dead bodies of nine Russian hikers were found, and the cause of their death remained unclear. We only know that most of them died of hypothermia, and evidence indicates that they were forced to flee from an unknown danger. In the game we explore an open, icebound world, having only a map and a compass at our disposal. On our way to reach the goal, we have to deal with many dangers lurking in the mountains. There is no combat, and the only way to survive is by escaping. A special system called "fear manager" has been developed for the game. Depending on the player's actions, it adequately handles all the factors responsible for building an eerie atmosphere, which makes each new game a bit different.
Among the Sleep: Enhanced Edition
Adventure
May 29, 2019
A horror-style, original adventure production, which is the debut project of the independent Norwegian studio Krillbite. In the game we play the role of a two-year-old child, taking over all physical and mental features of this age. Awakened from sleep by mysterious sounds, we discover that we were left alone in an empty house and, accompanied by our plush teddy bear, we set out to look for our mother. This seemingly easy task is hampered by lush children's imagination, which can only be harnessed by recalling family memories. The action of the game is shown from the eyes of a small hero, and the gameplay boils down to exploring a house plunged in the twilight. Looking for ways to reach new locations, we will also face imaginary monsters, simple riddles and prosaic, children's problems. As we move on a two-year-old donkey, most of our journey is made by crawling and climbing on low elements of the environment.
Manifold Garden
Puzzle
August 18, 2020
An original puzzle game with exploration elements, created by a small debuting team, William Chyr Studio. Manifold Garden takes the players to an irrational world where laws of physics are constantly being broken. The core of the game lies in exploration of unusual surroundings, unraveling its mysteries and rules but also solving numerous puzzles which requires the players to think unconventionally. The game is presented from a first-person perspective and the environment consists of architectonic creations that defy the laws of physics, e.g. never-ending steps or 3D labyrinths. Gravitation isn't always the same here, which means that we can walk not only on ground but also on walls and ceilings. However, in order to discover new paths that lead to new stages we should demonstrate our ability to think out of the box and go beyond clichés. The graphics, based mostly on contours, feature a cartoonish style.
What Remains of Edith Finch
Adventure
July 4, 2019
What Remains of Edith Finch is a unique adventure game developed by Giant Sparrow, which focuses on the evanescence of life. The game tells a set of short stories about the fate of the members of a certain American family that has been cursed. The history told in those episodes takes place over a span of one hundred years in Washington state, a place filled with forests and mountains, a location that resembles a little the cult TV show Twin Peaks. In terms of gameplay mechanics, What Remains of Edith Finch is your typical first-person adventure game. The climate and gameplay mechanics change depending on which family member we are currently controlling. What connects every story told in the game is the fact that in each and every one of them our protagonist dies. Another common ground between them is the titular character of Edith, who tries to discover her family's dark secret and find out why she is the only surviving member.
Gone Home
Adventure
September 6, 2018
An original exploration adventure drama with first-person perspective. Gone Home is a debut project of an indie developer The Fullbright Company, whose members previously worked on a successful DLC for BioShock 2, Minerva’s Den. Gone Home is set in the United States of 1990s. You play as a young woman named Katy, who returns home after spending a year away in Europe. When she gets home, instead of her family she is welcomed by an empty house. In order to find out where have her close ones gone to Katy explores the house in search of notes, documents, recordings and other traces that reveal the game’s story step by step. Despite the relatively low tempo of gameplay and complete lack of supernatural events, Gone Home effectively creates and keeps an atmosphere of anxiety and motivates the player to keep searching for more and more clues. Because of its low budget, the developer decided to base the game on the popular Unity Engine, therefore it offers decent 3D graphics at low system requirements.