Hollowreach

Hollowreach is more about mood than action. You wander a deserted seaside town, piecing together what happened to the people who left, by reading notes, solving light environmental puzzles and listening to a wonderfully understated soundtrack. It's slow in the best way.

There's no combat and no fail state — the game trusts you to explore at your own pace. We found ourselves lingering in rooms just to look at the lighting, which shifts as the in-game day passes. The puzzles are never cruel; they're there to make you look closer at the world.

It runs entirely offline, and because it leans on atmosphere rather than online features, it never felt like it was missing anything. A perfect late-night, headphones-on kind of game.

What we liked

• Beautiful, moody atmosphere
• Fair, observation-based puzzles
• No connection needed