Games?

Here is a ranked list of games that I personally recommend. I will update it as more games are played.

1. 20

   The Roottrees are Dead (2025)

   A deduction game that perfectly balances the freedom of clue-exploring and plot interventions.

   Detective / Puzzle / Genealogy

2. 19

   FEZ (2013)

   A nice puzzle-platformer with many secrets and squares.

   Puzzle / Platformer / Exploration

3. 18

   Animal Well (2024)

   A dense exploration game full of secrets and unique mechanisms.

   Puzzle / Exploration / Metroidvania

4. 17

   Baba Is You (2019)

   A star of puzzle games. Almost purely problem-solving.

   Puzzle / Logic / Rule-bending

5. 16

   Hollow Knight: Silksong (2025)

   A Metroidvania masterpiece with extremly exquisite art.

   Metroidvania / Action / Platformer

6. 15

   Inscryption (2021)

   A genre-bending card game with puzzle-box structure, unsettling atmosphere, and many surprises.

   Card Game / Puzzle / Horror

7. 14

   The Case of the Golden Idol (2022) & The Rise of the Golden Idol (2024)

   I view them as one game. One of the origins of word-puzzle deductions.

   Detective / Deduction / Puzzle

8. 13

   Pikmin 4 (2023)

   The Pikmin series is its own unique type of game.

   Strategy / Adventure / Nintendo

9. 12

   Lorelei and the Laser Eyes (2024)

   A stylish puzzle-box mystery game with dense symbols, documents, locked doors, and recursive clues.

   Puzzle / Mystery / Art-house

10. 11

    GWENT: The Witcher Card Game (2018)

    A competitive online 1v1 card game with 10% luck, 30% skills and 60% deck building (.. my rough estimation).

    Card Game / Strategy / Competitive

11. 10

    Leaf Blower Revolution - Idle Game (2020)

    A deep (and actually strategic) idle game with strange goals.

    Idle / Incremental / Casual

12. 9

    Factorio (2020)

    A time eater. I almost missed a train in my undergrad due to this.

    Automation / Strategy / Simulation

13. 8

    The Messenger (2018)

    The game where I got my Steam avatar.

    Platformer / Action / Metroidvania

14. 7

    Super Metroid (1994)

    Even as the one of the ealiest ancestors of metroidvania games, its brilliant mechanism map design and fun of discovery makes it the best among the Metroid series.

    Metroidvania / Exploration / Classic

15. 6

    Disco Elysium (2019)

    A unique RPG with a lot of decision making, and a solid core of thoughts.

    RPG / Narrative / Detective

16. 5

    Terraria (2011)

    A 2D sandbox adventure with digging, building, crafting and exploration. Started playing it since high school.

    Sandbox / Adventure / Survival

17. 4

    Baldur's Gate 3 (2023)

    A landmark modern RPG with deep choice, party dynamics, exploration, and tactical combat.

    RPG / Story / Strategy

18. 3

    TUNIC (2022)

    An adventure-puzzle game about discovery, hidden knowledge, and understanding the manual.

    Adventure / Puzzle / Exploration

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