zerosix

Certainly one of the most hypnotic games to be released this year. "Easy to pick up, hard to master" defines the surprisingly intuitive mouse controls. It doesn't take much effort to complete each stage (at least initially), but you'll nevertheless find yourself pushing for that elusive 100% completion. The joys here are similar to those of shmups or other lightshow puzzlers. It's a sublime feeling when hand and waveform enter harmony, color combos explode, and numbers ascend. Shooting aliens in the face doesn't quite compare. Priced at $6.99--the cost of an upscale meal at McDonalds--this is an absolute steal.

Dear Esther is a somewhat beautiful, somewhat tepid mixture of "doomed romance" and Ballardian psychology. That is, the island appears to be a representation of masculine Inner Space, haunted by loverghosts and cryptic prose. Cool. But the developers never push the human element or the weirdness far enough, leaving us with a lavishly detailed but paradoxically empty experience.

It's the year 3000, and you've just scored a job rolling around in a digital petri dish. On your first day, you take some acid--purely for the visual experience, not the ego death. Flowers bloom. Explosions decorate the eyes. Enjoy.