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Abzû (Windows, PlayStation 4)

BY GIANT SQUID

Abzû is the next game by Matt Nava, who was previously the art director at thatgamecompany, most notably on Journey (2012). Nava and team trade desert sands for oceans and the many creatures that populate them in Abzû. It all started with a dreamy vision of scuba diving, and has since flowed into an underwater journey full of orchestrated highs and lows, of unknown depths and dangers, where you learn to admire and respect the fish all around you. You can meditate on rocks and watch the fish swim by, learning their scientific names and other details, but you can also join them, clinging to their fins for a ride. There is also magic here, not only residing in the totems and mystical architecture found amid the corals, but in how you repopulate the waters, diving in and out of a dreamland made of icons. Your work makes the waters swim with more and more colors but you continue to dive down, toward the black of the abyss.

Perfect for: Merpeople, marine biologists, scuba divers

Playtime: 60-90 minutes