Electrician Simulator
The decision to heavily restrict player actions in what could have been an open-ended environment for consequence-free experimentation is mystifying to me.
Loop Hero
Roguelikes can lay claim to some of the most creative titles of the last 15 years, including Loop Hero.
SOMA
SOMA isn’t as frightening as Amnesia: The Dark Descent, but that metric isn’t measured on a linear scale.
Sid Meier’s Civilization: Beyond Earth – Rising Tide
Rising Tide is the first Civ expansion I’ve played that makes its host game worse overall.
Batman: Arkham Origins
Arkham Origins is a version of Arkham City that’s just slightly worse at everything.
TOEM: A Photo Adventure
TOEM is seemingly the result of a lab experiment to create the coziest cozy game that isn’t a life sim of some kind.
Sunset Overdrive
Sunset Overdrive is essentially a Ratchet & Clank game mixed with Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater and, more unfortunately, Borderlands.
Oddworld: New ‘n’ Tasty
The quicksave makes New ‘n’ Tasty almost automatically a better game than Abe’s Oddysee.
Sid Meier’s Civilization: Beyond Earth
Beyond Earth is a great game, but it’s not great in the same way as its inspiration.
Prey: Mooncrash
While I’m a huge fan of Prey, I’ll be the first to admit that it is not a good fit for a roguelike adaptation.