The Sexy Brutale

This macabre, darkly humorous adventure is extremely clever thanks to it's Groundhog Day-like time mechanics. If you've ever told yourself “If I'd known then what I know now,” this game is for you. It grants you a luxury rarely enjoyed in real life; the chance to address complex problems repeatedly until you get them right. That's the good news. The bad news is, here when you don't get things right, innocent people die. The challenge of The Sexy Brutale is having the patience to keep living the same day over and over, putting what you learn to good use. The knowledge you gain stays with you when the clock resets at midnight; items you've found do not. That means remembering where things (and people) are, and understanding complex chains of cause-and-effect. Oh yeah, and the clock's constantly ticking, so if you miss a critical event, there's nothing for it but to start the day all over. Fortunately, the characters, music, and environments are great, so revisiting them isn't painful. But frustration's bound to arise when the interface fails to give you the feedback you need to progress. It's easy to get totally stuck because of an action you failed to spy or a conversation you failed to overhear, and there's nothing in-game to help you on your way. That said, if you do get through to the end, you're in for an unusually poignant story that rewards you for putting your brain and your skulking skills to the test.