The noir-ish Framed could be the Device 6 of 2014

Framed is a noir game in which you rearrange the panels of a comic so that a silhouetted PI in a fedora can proceed through the story. The fragmented narrative and cartoon-spy schtick sort of evokes Simogo’s triumphant Device 6, although with a slightly less sinister vibe.

It’s a kitschy game, a thing of novelty that you’d classify as “neat.” But it also shows us the potential for interactive storytelling moving in multiple directions, forcing us to take into account alternate possibilities, instead of the plot moving in a straight line.

It illustrates the way games have potential to tells stories differently from books or film, something they share with comics. The comic artist Scott McCloud has pointed out how the length of the panel indicates the passage of time; how events left in the margins create continuity in our heads. But the interface of Framed actually allows you to dive into those marginalized spheres of thought, which is promising.