Hollowtide Isles

Hollowtide Isles is more about mood than challenge. You sail between small islands, poke at ruins, and slowly piece together what happened to a vanished seafaring people. There's barely any combat — the draw is discovery.

Puzzles are environmental and fair. We never hit a wall that felt like busywork; every solution was sitting there if we paid attention. The soundtrack does a lot of heavy lifting, and the hand-drawn art is lovely.

It's a game to play with headphones on a rainy evening. Short-ish, but it stayed with us longer than plenty of bigger titles.

What we liked

• Atmospheric, exploration-led design
• Fair environmental puzzles
• Gorgeous art and sound