In the case of Syberia, the game lets you play as Kate Walker, a no-nonsense broker who must finalize an important business deal on behalf of a major toy company. Yet the moment she sets foot in the tiny hamlet of Validilene, Kate finds that she's not working on an ordinary deal, or in an ordinary place. The town is home to one of the world's last great factories for automatons--clockwork robots, made to look like formal gentlemen, that stiffly tip their hats and bow stiffly to greet visitors at the door. Everything in the town is run by these automatons, and as Kate finds out later, they hold the key to finding the sole heir of the factory.

Syberia's beautiful art style and surreal story make for an excellent traditional PC adventure game. Though the game does require Kate to do a good bit of backtracking across different levels, it has a compelling story, good music and voice acting, and superb, artistic graphics. Syberia is easily the best PC adventure game this year.