Wales Interactive are best known for their FMV games – and are now venturing into a new genre: science fiction survival horror. In Dead Reset, we take on the role of Cole, a surgeon with amnesia who wakes up in an operating room and is immediately asked to perform surgery. Groundhog Day After the first interaction with the patient, it becomes clear that something is very wrong here. No one wants to explain to Cole what is actually going on, where we are, or what exactly is to be operated on. Yet everything feels strangely familiar. What happened here? Wales Interactive tackles one of the most difficult story formats imaginable here—and masters the challenge remarkably well. The story unfolds piece by piece, linking different narrative strands and rewarding players who play through the game multiple times. If you want to find out more about the story, you have to play more often—and that's exactly what works so well this time around. Immersive survival training As is typical for Wales Interactive, the motto here is: choose your destiny and make wise decisions. Every decision has consequences—and these cannot be undone. Who can you trust? Which actions are morally justifiable? Despite fewer rooms and scene changes, the game manages to build constant pressure and palpable tension. Particularly noteworthy this time around is the work of the makeup and SFX artists, who have done a truly impressive job. Without giving too much away, gore fans will definitely get their money's worth here. Who can you still trust here? Although the possible endings are somewhat limited in comparison, the options during the game are all the more diverse. In hardly any other FMV title did you get such a strong feeling of experiencing completely different game content—depending on decisions or which supporting characters you work with. A new standard Dead Reset sets new standards for Wales Interactive. A dense atmosphere, compelling characters, and suspense that lasts until the very end. You have to like the FMV genre—but if you do, Dead Reset is definitely a good choice.

Serafini Production is releasing one game after another these days. Low and Don't Watch tell stories whose endings reveal the backstory to the other announced installments, with Don't Watch focusing on another phenomenon in Japanese society. Social criticism as a game In Broken Lore Don't Watch, we accompany a young man who falls into the socially critical phenomenon of hikikomori, a development in which young people isolate themselves socially and do not represent a noticeable part of society. The reasons for this are manifold, but often go hand in hand with social pressures such as success, wealth, honor, and social status. Less is more As in its predecessor Low, the game focuses on minimalism. The emphasis is on atmosphere, individual narrative elements, and above all, what is not said or shown. Once again, Serafini Productions has succeeded in creating an oppressive and uncomfortable setting that guides you in the right direction while giving you enough time to process everything you have experienced. Meta level and pixel look As is often the case, the pixel-look mini-games are a fundamental component, providing further insight into what is not directly stated in the story itself. Visually, this creates a clear boundary between what is and what could be, or what was. Everything new — or not? The game series is definitely on the right track to establishing its own genre with its own characteristics. This installment also features hidden endings that reveal the connection between all the games in the Broken Lore universe, so it's definitely worth playing through multiple times. One major criticism of the games is the playing time, which, as before, is around two to three hours. Easy to play, easy to consume, but long-lasting enjoyment – that's how Broken Lore Don't Watch can be summed up for those who are looking for games that stimulate thought and don't focus on action and fear.

The games developed by Serafini Productions have been a mystery for years. Confusion with studios that were constantly embroiled in scandals and repeatedly delayed release dates did not bode well for the launch of the Broken Lore series, which tells a core story with small, short stories marked by self-discovery and guilt. A twisted story Broken Lore Low takes us to the small town of Kirisame Mura, where aspiring singer Naomi is trying her luck in the music industry. She is accompanied by her boyfriend, the music producer, and, of course, the competition she has to beat. But it quickly becomes clear that something is not right here. Less is more The game focuses less on jump scares and animations, and much more on telling the story and providing background information through lighting, atmosphere, and tone. Although the content seems very minimalistic, with only two to three hours of gameplay, the game (and its sequels) manages to convey a lot while showing very little. Most of the story is told through what is not shown or visualized. Very coherent in itself At first glance, the scenes and graphic changes are very confusing, but nevertheless very coherent. This is evident, for example, in the rough pixel retro graphics. These elements tell of leaps in time, backgrounds, and further lore that fundamentally differ from the basic game. What is unexpected is that mini-games can be skipped to avoid frustration and focus on the story.  Rebuild the wheel When searching for new horror games, it's difficult to find something new that captivates you. However, Serafini Productions presents a different, simple concept that offers low barriers to entry but has a lasting impact. Easy to play, easy to consume, but with long-lasting appeal—that's how Broken Lore Low can be summed up for those who are looking for games that stimulate thought and don't focus on action and fear.

After a long wait for the latest offshoot of the Dune universe, Funcom is back with Dune Awakening. After Spice Wars, expectations were high as to whether an MMO could succeed after a real-time strategy game. In the spirit of the developer's predecessor, many of the game's mechanics are reminiscent of Conan Exiles, although much has been revised and improved. The journey is the destinationl As usual for Funcom, you are introduced to a story right from the start, which is both a tutorial and a game guide and gives the player enough opportunities to develop themselves. While a survival story is told at the beginning and the player is guided through all the instructions necessary to survive in the game, the guide turns into an exciting story that is immersively dependent on the player's decisions and respects the rules of the original book to the greatest extent. Story or Survival One of the biggest criticisms of the game here is the story. Contrary to current opinions, according to which the game only follows the main story and doesn't tell much else, you have to explicitly search for story fragments. Side quests, explorations and looting passages provide a lot of additional information that explains the world, the mechanics and life and history in Dune. So you have to actively search for background information if you are not familiar with the world of the original book. However, these story fragments are well woven into the environment of the individual missions. Packets and Paces Getting into the game is self-explanatory and easy - the farm and lot system is difficult enough not to be boring, but simple enough to keep players happy. I can speak from experience myself, as my base was wiped by a sandstorm and I had already lost everything to the sandworm. Even in these scenarios, the situation is not hopeless and you can work your way back to your last level in just a few hours. To summarize, Dune Awakening is really worth the money - and not just for Dune fans. It's fun, very intuitive and the pace of the game is also very good. A clear recommendation for MMO fans.

Hand-drawn 2.5-D platformers are now a dime a dozen. However, it is more difficult to find real gems among those that remind you a little of Paper Mario. Ruffy and the Riverside is different. And very different. Very different. The game revolves around Ruffy - we don't know what exactly Ruffy is, but he is referred to as a bear several times in the game - who has completed his training as a painter. Or more precisely: He flips. He flips pictures. This means that Ruffy takes the contents of a picture with a magical movement and flips them onto the target. And enchants the target into exactly what he has captured. Riddles, Puzzles, Action And this also explains the game concept of Ruffy and the Riverside. Transferring one object from one material or content to another opens up completely new possibilities for creating puzzles and riddles, and these are great fun in Ruffy and the Riverside. A full, vibrant world, somewhat reminiscent of the Nintendo 64's Banjo and Kazooie, invites you to start a new experience at every turn. Is that not too much? With a huge, colorful map with lots of events, sub-levels and puzzles, you could almost think it was all a bit too much. Personally, I always complain about empty, loveless worlds in which not even the grass is varied. This is definitely different in Ruffy and the Riverside. Despite my initial overload and the feeling of being overwhelmed, you find your way around the game extremely quickly and intuitively. Although the map is full, it is still clearly laid out and a few quest overviews and collection screens make it easy to keep track of everything. Just give it a try Although the game is an indie title, it's easy to forget that this is a small team when you look at this completely crazy mix of genres, and luckily the game has a demo so that you can get an idea of this very image-heavy game for yourself. Steam dies have a demo available now.

Copycat is a narrative-driven indie game developed by the Australian-Ukrainian duo, Spoonful of Wonder. Released on May 29, 2025, for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, following its initial PC launch in September 2024, the game has garnered attention for its emotionally charged storytelling and exploration of themes like abandonment and grief. A Heartfelt Tale of Loss and Belonging In Copycat, players step into the paws of Dawn, a skeptical shelter cat adopted by Olive, an elderly woman mourning the loss of her previous pet. As their bond deepens, unforeseen events lead to Dawn being replaced by a stray lookalike, forcing her into the harsh realities of life on the streets. The narrative delves deep into the emotions of love, loneliness, and the quest for belonging, offering players a poignant experience that resonates long after the game concludes . Emphasis on Trigger Warnings It's crucial to note that Copycat addresses sensitive topics, including pet abandonment and grief. The game includes content warnings to prepare players for its emotional depth. As highlighted by Safe In Our World, the game is particularly impactful for those with close relationships to pets, and players are encouraged to approach it with mindfulness. Artistic Storytelling and Design The game's design masterfully captures the world from a cat's perspective. Through dream sequences, players experience Dawn's fantasies of being a wild feline, juxtaposed against her domestic reality. The use of color theory, camera angles, and a nature-documentary-style narrator enriches the storytelling, immersing players in Dawn's journey .

If you’re a fan of classic psychological horror games like Silent Hill or Resident Evil, Post Trauma by Red Soul Game is a hauntingly nostalgic trip that will feel both familiar and refreshingly new. In an era flooded with action-horror hybrids and open-world survival titles, Post Trauma takes a more focused and deliberate approach—emphasizing atmosphere, puzzles, and psychological dread over brute force or spectacle. A Glimpse Into the Darkness At the center of Post Trauma is Roman, a middle-aged train conductor who awakens in a disorienting and seemingly abandoned alternate reality. The game never dumps exposition on you—instead, it slowly feeds breadcrumbs about Roman’s past and mental state through scattered notes, surreal imagery, and subtle environmental storytelling. This narrative style is both understated and charming, encouraging players to piece together meaning rather than being handed a plot on a platter. Puzzles That Challenge, Not Frustrate One of the most satisfying aspects of Post Trauma is its puzzle design. The game doesn’t hold your hand, but it never feels unfair. Instead of giving in to modern trends of oversimplified gameplay, it leans into the old-school mentality of "look carefully, think creatively." You’ll find yourself cross-referencing clues in notes, examining your surroundings for hints, and even drawing diagrams to solve intricate mechanisms. But despite their difficulty, the puzzles are logical. Each solution makes sense in retrospect, which keeps the challenge grounded and rewarding. It’s the kind of cerebral engagement that fans of 90s horror titles will recognize—and newcomers will appreciate for its thoughtfulness. A Modern Take on a Retro Aesthetic What truly sets Post Trauma apart is its art direction. The game exudes the visual tone of late 90s horror classics, complete with fixed camera angles, grainy textures, and dim, flickering lighting. Yet it’s all rendered with modern fidelity—meaning it’s more homage than imitation. Environments feel detailed and alive, dripping with atmosphere and a lingering sense of dread. Every hallway, every blood-stained door, and every sound in the distance contributes to a world that feels suffocating, isolated, and utterly compelling. Even the character design and animations, with their slightly uncanny realism, play into the theme of unease without falling into parody. It’s a balancing act that Post Trauma handles with surprising elegance. A Love Letter to Horror, With New Stories to Tell What makes Post Trauma shine is not just its deep roots in horror gaming tradition, but how it uses those roots to grow something new. The game respects its inspirations but isn’t beholden to them. It dares to be slow, quiet, and eerie in a time when horror often means explosions and jump scares. And at the center is Roman—a character you come to care for not through cutscenes, but through fragments, clues, and quiet moments of vulnerability. If you’ve been yearning for a horror game that challenges your mind as much as your nerves, Post Trauma is more than worth stepping into. Just be sure to take notes… and don’t trust every mirror you see.

Another highlight for the year 2023 is the real-time strategy mix Last Train Home, which lets you replay the battles of the Czechoslovak Legions and the associated Trans-Siberian Railway. You play the story from the perspective of the occupants of the train. The train is the hub of the story, where goods are stored, the wounded are cared for, skills are improved and the crew is divided into individual positions. The respective battles are fought on the open field of the respective travel stops, as is familiar from real-time strategy games. There is no clear tutorial for getting started, all instructions for controlling the game are displayed as extra boxes on the side, so it is advisable to have some experience in real-time strategy titles such as Command and Conquer or Men of War. A high difficulty level is selected by default, but this can optionally be downgraded. The game offers beautiful, long-lasting story-like depth with lots of tactics and management. The maintenance of the train, the mood and health of the crew so that they do not abandon the journey, and the planning of goods and resources all have to be done at the same time - it seems difficult, but it is not. Although the game is very challenging, it is all the more rewarding when your own way of thinking and tactics lead you to your goal. Last Train Home is aimed at somewhat experienced players, but beginners who like a challenge will also enjoy it. The mechanics are comparable to classics such as Command and Conquer or Men of War. For all skeptics, there is also a demo to try out on Steam. Steam Link ( +Demo )

When one thinks of the name Wales Interactive, one automatically thinks of interactive movies that belong to the genre of full-motion video, that is, video games whose individual scenes are actual movie shots that are influenced by the player. The most famous ones are actually known by Wales Interactive, such as Late Shift or The Complex. The cinematic story told is definitely a genre that you have to like to play. There are not many interactive plot options, and you can only get involved in the scenarios that the story gives you from the script. And this is where the biggest challenge lies. In fact, The Isle Tide Hotel was produced after the Covid-19 pandemic and allowed the production team to become more diverse again in setting and option design. The story is basically very simple: A father searches for his kidnapped daughter, and the clues lead him to a mysterious hotel where strange things are going on. However, any further information would already be a spoiler, because this is exactly where Wales Interactive venture into completely new thematic worlds. While previous interactive films dealt with end time scenarios or threatening situations, The Isle Tide Hotel is very mystical, interpretative and above all profound. Because if the previous parts were more about psychological questions, like which person they would rather sacrifice in relation to another group of people - the well-known trolley dilemma - this part focuses mainly on philosophical questions like "Who am I?" "What is my purpose and my sense in life?" without patronizingly pointing the finger. Many things are possible, every decision has its consequences, and you have to decide for yourself which path you want to take. These chosen paths have a whole scope of consequences and lead not only to different endings, but finally to completely different storylines again, which had been sorely missed at Wales Interactive due to the pandemic limitations. So if you are interested in interactive movies in general and like to take several playthroughs to get behind every secret, The Isle Tide Hotel is the best choice. Wales Interactive are back with renewed strength.