Rime

If you don't mind having your heartstrings tugged, you'll have a grand time with this imaginative, sometimes sad, beautifully crafted indie escapade. Rime is a cross between a 3D platformer, a puzzle game, and a poetic adventure. It provides us with fun ways to jump and climb and run around the island looking for new paths and secrets that unlock fun little extras in the main menu. It also delivers a heaping helping of contextual puzzles, some simple, some surprisingly sophisticated. But they're never so complex that a little determination and investigation won't reveal what needs to be done. Among the most straightforward yet most satisfying puzzles are those that involve shadows and the movement of the sun around the earth on both a massive and a tiny scale. These clever conundrums rarely fail to initiate a ripple of delight when solved.

Most players should have no trouble establishing a strong bond with the boy, who displays admirable courage and determination in the face of isolation. That he doesn't resort to any sort of traditional weapon-based violence to defend himself just makes him more likable. The game's designers take a long time to reveal what's really happening on the island, and it's easy to miss important narrative clues along the way, which means some players might finish without fully understanding the story, which would be a shame. But if you take your time working through each level, do your best to find most of the hidden items, and take a moment to think about what everything you're seeing might mean, there's a good chance Rime won't only satisfy your itch for good puzzles and platforming but charm your heart, too.