Forager

In most games, collecting resources is little more than a means to an end, or a bit of a side chore to serve as a distraction from the main game. Forager, on the other hand, makes harvesting those precious goods your main priority, and the game is all the better for it. Things start off simple enough, with players on a tiny island clicking on the occasional tree, rock, or bush to collect wood, stone, and fruit. Before long, though, you’re crafting new buildings and items, which in turn unlocks more harvesting options and more complex crafting materials. After collecting enough money and resources, you can expand your island and continue the cycle, opening up more of the game in the process.

Make no mistake about it, Forager’s gameplay is about as simple as it comes, but it’s also more than a little repetitive. Outside of some basic inventory management and crafting, most of your time is spent just clicking on things to attack, harvest, or collect. In fact, the more you play and the more you build, the less you’re actually needed. Things like mining rods, ballista, and even droids can handle most of the harvesting and defense duties, freeing you up to explore nearby dungeons or solve different puzzles you might stumble across. Admittedly, this means that late in the game, you can’t help but feel a bit useless. But Forager is more about the journey than the ending, and that journey to the end is so surprisingly fluid and strangely addictive, you just can’t help coming back for more.