Rhell: Warped Worlds & Troubled Times

Rhell: Warped Worlds & Troubled Times drops you into a world where everyone’s vanished except for 12 people, and it’s up to you to figure out why. You’re playing as Rhell, a sharp-tongued mage who’s more interested in solving the mystery than being polite about it, exploring nine areas that range from flooded libraries to volcanic factories.

What we love about this one is the rune system. You’ve got 40 runes to collect and combine, up to 5 at a time, and the game genuinely doesn’t mind how you use them. Fancy duplicating yourself and turning the copy into a puddle to hold down a switch? Go for it. Need a car in a hurry? Cast Life on a rock. With over 100 million possible combinations, most puzzle solutions you come up with are probably ones nobody else thought of either.

There’s also a fair bit of heart under the sarcasm. Helping the people you meet along the way can soften Rhell’s character over time, and ignoring them keeps her exactly as blunt as she started. With multiple endings depending on how you play, it’s built for people who like poking around and finding their own path through a mystery, all wrapped up in a deliberately old school 4:3 presentation that’s a nice throwback if that’s your thing.