Video Games We’ve Been Playing Lately
If you know us, you probably won't be surprised that we like puzzles.
When we're not running Looking Glass Adventures, we like to play games that bring you that same sort of feeling that escape rooms provide.
Here are a few indie games we've been playing lately.
Baba Is You
Baba is You starts off easy but the puzzles do increase in complexity. The good news is that you can learn as you play!
Genre: Logic / Puzzle
Playtime: 15–25 hours
Difficulty: 5/5 (but starts off easier with each challenging increasing)
Best for: Puzzle fans who like a challenge
Baba Is You looks simple and that’s the beauty of it.
The game's rules are physical objects that you can move around the level. Change the words, and you change the rules.
Suddenly, "Baba Is You" can become "Baba Is Rock," or you can change what counts as an obstacle, what you can walk through, or how you win.
It's incredibly satisfying when a solution suddenly clicks.
Our verdict: 5/5
Frustration level: High but quick levels so it’s easy to walk away and revisit again.
Just-one-more-level factor: Extremely high
Creature Kitchen
This is an all around cozy and fun game! If you have a little bit of spare time give it a try!
Genre: Cozy / Adventure / Puzzle
Playtime: 3–4 hours
Difficulty: 2/5
Best for: Cozy gamers who like something a little different
Creature Kitchen is about cooking for some wildlife inside and outside of your cabin.
You'll hunt for ingredients, discover recipes and figure out how to find new creatures. It's quirky, strange and surprisingly cozy.
It's not particularly difficult, but that's part of the appeal. It's more about exploring, experimenting and enjoying the bizarre little world you've been dropped into. The task oriented challenges are strangely soothing in their familiar nature.
Our verdict: 4/5
Weirdness level: High
Cozy factor: Surprisingly high
The Witness
The Witness is much more time consuming but it’s a masterpiece!
Genre: Exploration / Puzzle
Playtime: 20–30+ hours
Difficulty: 4/5
Best for: People who like figuring things out while exploring
The Witness puts you on a mysterious island filled with hundreds of puzzles which don’t look like puzzles
The puzzles start out simple- ie draw a line from one point to another. Then things get considerably more complicated.
The island itself becomes part of the puzzle, and the game rewards paying attention to your surroundings. You'll probably get stuck, walk away, explore somewhere else and suddenly realize what you've been missing.
It's beautiful, peaceful and very satisfying when something finally clicks.
Our verdict: 5/5 (perhaps one of the most brilliant puzzle games to date)
Frustration level: Medium → Very High
"OH!" moments: Lots
Chants of Sennaar
A very unique game and we loved the art style!
Genre: Adventure / Puzzle / Exploration
Playtime: 8–12 hours
Difficulty: 3/5
Best for: Mystery fans who enjoy deduction and translation puzzles
Chants of Sennaar takes place in a world where different civilizations speak completely different languages. The catch is, you don't get a translation guide. You have to figure things out yourself by observing conversations, symbols and behaviour.
Slowly, complete nonsense starts becoming understandable and eventually you're able to follow entire conversations.
It's clever, beautiful and incredibly satisfying without being an enormous time commitment.
Our verdict: 5/5
Difficulty: Moderate
"I figured it out!" factor: Excellent
Currently Playing: The Incident at Galley House
This has been a lot of fun so far and we can’t wait to see how it ends
Genre: Mystery / Logic / Investigation
Playtime: 8-10 hours
Difficulty: 3/5
Best for: Mystery fans who like keeping notes
This is the one we're currently playing, and it's definitely the game that's had us reaching for a pen and paper.
The Incident at Galley House puts you in an abandoned mansion decades after a series of unexplained deaths. A mysterious machine lets you view glimpses of events from the past but you need to figure out the time, room and people involved to access them.
So you're piecing together timelines, tracking characters and comparing events.
"Wait... they were in the study at 8:15, but where did they go next?"
We're still playing, so we're not going to say too much more. No spoilers!
Our verdict so far: 4/5
Note-taking required: Yes
Why We Love Indie Games
What we love about these games is that they're all so different.
They don't need enormous budgets or hundreds of hours of content. They take one great idea and build an entire experience around it.
And sometimes that's all you need.
If you're a puzzle person, a mystery fan, or just looking for something a little different to play, hopefully one of these gives you something new to try.
And if you've played an indie game lately that you loved, tell us about it! Maybe it'll make our next list.
If you’re looking for great games in Toronto—whether tabletop or escape rooms—come check us out! At Looking Glass Adventures, we pride ourselves on creating immersive, fun escape rooms with puzzles that actually make sense. We’d love to have you join us for an escape room (or two!) with your friends, family, or team.
www.lookingglassadventures.com
