DREI (iPAD)

BY ETTER STUDIO

In this co-op stacking game, you wage war against both gravity and a stranger’s touchscreen clumsiness to balance different shapes on top of each other. Simple, right? But each shapes has a unique sound and color and they talk to each other in 18 different languages. Progress unlocks new phrases for you to use to your partner, one of which, we’re hoping, is, “Please stop knocking things over.

Perfect for: Jenga junkies, patient physicists, multi-lingual musicians 

Playtime: Till your partner gets frustrated and floats away, or forever, if alone 

STICK IT TO THE MAN (PLAYSTATION 3 AND VITA)

BY ZOINK!

You’ve been pining for a game that allows you to practice telepathy via a pink Sticky Hand attached to your forehead, and by gum, it’s here. This is a hand well worth the wait. It will not only read people’s minds; it’ll peel off elements from the construction paper-looking environment, swing you from platform to platform, and cause everyone in the game to think you’re utterly bonkers. But don’t let getting pursued by medical professionals, the FBI, and an inexplicable UFO keep you down.

Perfect for: the tinfoil-hat crowd, Paper Mario/Psychonauts mash-up advocates, actual telepaths

Playtime: A few hours, after which your brain can reach out and take over for you

SUPER MARIO 3D WORLD (WII U)

BY NINTENDO

In a proper Mario game, there’s a moment that hits wherein you become convinced that you haven’t played a single videogame that mattered since the last time you played a Mario game. This is normally within the first ten minutes or so. In Super Mario 3D World, this will occur shortly after you turn into a cat and scamper through a tunnel from one gold-and-aquamarine block of land to another, shimmering in the distance. You will think: this is different. And you will be right. 

Perfect for: Explorers, wanderers, acrobats, children, the elderly, people, cats

Playtime: A childhood or two