Best of 2012 (Top 5):
The Fabulous Screech has a traveling show, and you have one very expensive ticket to see it, given to you by someone you love. Jonas Kyratzes returns to the Lands of Dream in this short but extremely potent little narrative/point-and-click adventure about love, loss, and perspective.
A somewhat steep difficulty curve can't hide the polish and enchantment of this interactive art/hidden-object adventure. Young Sellar Dore runs away from home and the constant fighting of her parents, but years later, news of a devastating earthquake prompts her to return home... as long as she can earn the money for her ticket by tracking down the important items other people have lost in this surreal fantasy world.
Would you like to learn numbers? Of course you would, and Frog Fractions is just the game to teach you. With upgrades, maths, and some major hidden surprises, this is the best retro edutainment game you'll play all day. AND NOTHING MORE. Certainly not a parody game you don't want the kids to play. Nope.
It's always great when Japanese developer, Yoshio Ishii, gets experimental, and his RPG, Parameters, is certainly that. It looks like an Excel Spreadsheet, and plays like a computer hacking scene from a 1980s action movie. Abstract, but very addictive, Parameters won't be for everyone, but those looking for something a little different should find it quite compelling.
You can't look around. You can't check your inventory. You can try weeping, but expect Australian comedian John Robertson to taunt you if you do. ("Is there anything as sad as tears only you can feel but nobody can see?") If you're going to escape from this YouTube-based puzzler, you'll need to think outside the box. Actually, that won't help you either. You're not in a box. You're in the Dark Room.
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