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THE FOREST (PC)

BY ENDNIGHT GAMES LTD

Games have been neglecting the “survival” part of survival horror for awhile now—you know, the part that makes it scary? The Forest is going all-in on survival, leaving you to fend for yourself against gibbering fiends of the night with whatever you can scrape together during precious daylight hours. Tack on a sort of Lost-meets-The Descent aesthetic and you’ve got horror catnip. Just be careful in those caves.

Perfect for: Umberto Lenzi diehards, anyone who perks up at “resource scarcity”

Playtime: As long as you can stand, really.

TWODOTS (IOS)

BY BETAWORKS ONE

Don’t let the name fool you. While TwoDots is the successor to the well received iOS puzzle game Dots, TwoDots builds upon Dots’ original formula and becomes a puzzle game all its own. The charming Jacques and Amelia take you along through their puzzle-adventure, solving puzzles with the same elegant aesthetic of Dots. Eighty-five levels scattered with tiny secrets make this a no-brainer.

Perfect for: Connect Four connoisseurs, pointillist painters, people named Dottie 

Playtime: 2-3 hours.

AMONG THE SLEEP (PC, MAC)

BY KRILLBITE STUDIOS

Do you remember being so little that even doors left slightly ajar felt threatening? Well this first-person toddler-crawler reminds you that, yes, there are monsters in your closet and, yes, you do need your teddy bear to survive this night. Teeter and totter from defamiliarized suburbia into flat-out hellscapes. With teddy as your guide, nothing can stop you from conquering the darkness, one wobbly step at a time. 

Perfect for: Fussy toddlers, adult babies, people who need their mommies

Playtime: A couple sleepless hours.