Contemporary

You're interrogating a man suspected of the murder of his wife, but you also have other, more complicated goals. Packed with surprises, most of which will prove very confusing if you haven't been reading carefully, and requires learning-by-screwing-up (though there's a built-in explanation for that, of sorts). Some twists toward the end force you to reevaluate what's come before, but not quite as satisfyingly as other games that have pulled similar twists; the pacing doesn't work quite as well. Still, it works well and keeps you guessing.

In Robert Camisa's Beat The Devil, Lucifer is building an addition to Hell, and you're his betatester. He overheard you mumbling about how you'd sell your soul for a chance with the object of your affections, and, being surfeited with souls already ("Washington and Hollywood provide me with all the souls I'll ever need to buy."), makes you this alternate offer: wander through this Stygian mall and defeat the incarnations of the seven deadly sins, and that date is yours. It's a fun concept, and Beat The Devil gives it an energetic, cartoonish implementation.

You crashed into a tree next to a creepy old mansion. Before you know it, your kid brother wandered off, probably into the mansion. Find your brother and call a tow truck or taxi before the evil spirits of the mansion claim both of you forever.

Christmas Eve! You tell Bob to go home early; tidy up a little, and lock up the office shortly after four. You look on the old brass plate, which still reads “Scrooge & Marley”, probably for the last time.

After visiting the engravers to pick up your package, you spend a few hours simply walking the busy streets, soaking in the happy anticipation all around. Then a simple, but magnificent, dinner at Kettners and a gentle stroll home. Time for bed.

An Act of Murder is a classic country-house mystery: an isolated estate, a small group of suspects, a limited amount of time to solve the crime.

The Inform 7 examples collectively known as Disenchantment Bay were born of a trip that Emily Short made with Dan Shiovitz to Alaska to visit me and Sam Kabo Ashwell, many years ago. 2004, I believe it was. We chartered a boat from the Yakutat Charter Boat Company to visit Hubbard Glacier, and before heading home we scooped up some bits of glacier ice for the creation of fancy mixed drinks once back on shore.

You were celebrating the arrival of the not-quite-second-half of the 21st century with your buddies in your gaming basement when the bad news arrived: Crazy Uncle Scott had finally given up the good fight and passed off into gaming nirvana. He was an unusual man, with a firm belief that the world went to hell in a hand-basket with the arrival of text messages, always claiming that their phones were smarter than them!

Despite the off-putting title, Not Just An Ordinary Ballerina is an absolute treasure for puzzle-lovers. You are a harried mother who has been given an impossible assignment: finding an incredibly rare toy for your daughter on Christmas Eve. The game begins as you arrive in the parking lot of the only mall left that still has one.

Calm down. All you have to do is write a thousand words and everything will be fine. And you have all day, except it's already noon.

Overcome your writers block with no pressure at all from your girlfriend as a motivator.

What should have been a simple task, watching your old flatmate Malcolm get married, becomes an awful lot more complicated when it transpires that Malcolm has disappeared mere hours before the service. You are called in by one of the bride's aunts to sort out the problem. But how can you help? Perhaps the answer to the problem lies somewhere within D'Arcy manor, the bride's family home. The odd characters within may be able to help you. First things first, though - how do you get past the nasty security guard?