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MOUNTAIN (PC, MAC, LINUX, IOS)

BY DAVID O’REILLY

“Welcome to Mountain,” Mountain begins. “You are Mountain. You are God.” In this mountain simulator, you transform into a mountain created from the very depths of your mind. You may recognize the creator of this game as the same animator who brought everyone’s favorite potty-mouthed alien child to life in Her. The concept of this game is to become one with the slow and immovable. Designed as a windowed background game, you pop in to observe weather patterns and life cycles unfold like the mountain god you are.

Playtime: About fifty hours, give or take a lifetime.

Perfect for: Ents, strong and silent types, Buddhists, zen gardeners

WOODEN FLOOR (PC)

BY PHEENIX93

House of Leaves has never been made into a game, but Wooden Floor takes a solid crack at it. Doors can open onto entirely new rooms the second time through. Objects seem to abide by their own arbitrary laws of physics. And everywhere through your (largely silent) exploration of Wooden Floor‘s stately house there’s a sense of dread. Nothing big initially: a scrawled note here, some glowing eyes there. But over time, it’s enough to drive you all the way to one of the game’s two endings in a panic.

Playtime: A tense 45 minutes.

Perfect for: People who wished Gone Home was a horror game, Escher acolytes

THE LAST NIGHT (BROWSER)

BY TIM & ADRIEN SORET

With its moody, bleating synths and rain-drenched cyberpunk setting, The Last Night is like the polished, pixel-art Blade Runner game that never was. (This is not including the polished Blade Runner game that was, in 1997.) It pulses neon and melancholy, and—oh, did we mention it was created in 6 days? Like Titan Souls, among others, it proves that games with a short gestation can still linger in the head.

Playtime: Five minutes or so.

Perfect for: Replicants, the replicants who love them, Netrunners