11 Games for a Dry January

It's the start of a new year, and for video games that means a dearth of new releases. Well, not a total dearth, but unless you like remasters, DLC packs, or a game that mostly involves smacking zombies around with a 2x4, you're plain out of luck. Fortunately, there's another option. Maybe you spent most of 2014 playing big hitters like Assassin's Creed and Shadow Of Mordor. Maybe you just couldn't resist the lure of a finely crafted Destiny raid. Or maybe you're just new to this whole video games malarkey (in which case, welcome!). Whatever the reason, what better way to get through a dry January than revisiting those lesser known gems from 2014? Check out some of our favourites below.

Super Time Force

8-bit visuals? Check. Chiptune soundtrack? Check. Old-school side-scrolling gameplay? Mega-check. Yes, Super Time Force may stick to modern indie-game tropes, but thanks to the addition of some neat time-travelling mechanics, it's more unique than you might think. Or, as we put it in our 8/10 review, Super Time Force is "a really funny game that puts an innovative twist on the side-scrolling shooter."

Valiant Hearts: The Great War

If you're craving something with a little more heart to it, check out Ubisoft's Valiant Hearts: The Great War, a compassionate look at the struggles of World War I. While the focus is on specific characters rather than the conflict as a whole, Valiant Hearts does an admirable job of illustrating the horrors of war, matching a well told story to some clever puzzles and beautiful 2D visuals.

The Talos Principle

A mix of Portal, Myst, and the best of puzzle games, The Talos Principle not only challenges the mind with its brain-bending puzzles, but asks you to think about the very nature of humanity along the way. Plus, it has lasers. Many, many lasers. And, as we all know, lasers make everything better.

Nidhogg

Forget 8-bit, Nidhogg harks back to the simpler visuals of the Atari 2600, but brings them bang up to date with some stellar local multiplayer action. Part fighting game, part tug-of-war, Nidhogg pits two sword-bearing fighters against each other in a 2D side-scrolling arena. Kill your opponent and you can progress to the next area, get killed, and you're pushed back. It's a simple premise that's easy to pick up, and highly competitive.

Monument Valley

As a visual statement, Monument Valley is up there with the very best that video games has to offer. It's absolutely stunning, particularly if you're lucky enough to own a retina-display device. More than that, though, Monument Valley plays to the strengths of mobile, offering up a series of intuitive touch-based puzzles that work just as well in small bursts as they do for a longer sitting. There's even a wonderfully serene soundtrack to back up those joyful pastel-hued puzzles.

Towerfall Ascension

Four-player archery might not sound like the most exciting of multiplayer experiences, but Towerfall Ascension is more than its simple premise might suggest. The action is frantic and strategic all at once, with combatants trying to lay waste to their opponents by picking arrows out of the air, firing deftly placed long-distance shots, and going in for the kill at point-blank range. A wide range of modes and some well-designed battle arenas keep the action flowing thick and fast.

This War of Mine

Like Valiant Hearts, This War of Mine takes a deep and somber look at the horrors of war, this time placing you in the role of a survivor trying to live in the ashes of a war-torn country. It plays out a little like a dark version of The Sims, with you having to manage food and shelter for a group of survivors, making tough choices for them along the way. Yes, This War of Mine is heavy going, but few games deal with the consequences of war in such a sincere and eye-opening manner.

Pix the Cat

At the other end of the video game spectrum is Pix the Cat, a full-on neon blast of arcade goodness staring a bunch of cuboidal cats. It's like a cross between Snake and Pac-Man Championship Edition, with the titular cats collecting eggs that hatch into ducklings that follow them around, thus making the enclosed mazes smaller and tricker to manoeuvre around in. High score chasing is the goal, with deposited ducklings racking up points for the leaderboards. There's also an excellent four-player mode if you fancy getting competitive.

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter may have grabbed headlines for its stunning Photgrammetry-based visuals, but it was its expertly told murder mystery story that impressed critics. What starts as a simple collect-the-clues adventure game turns into a a captivating piece of storytelling, one that you'll want to play through a few times in order to pick up on all the little details you may have missed the first time through.

TxK

There's nothing quite like a high-score chasing arcade game to chase those winter blues away, and they don't come much more arcady than TxK. A modern take on the Tempest 2000 formula, TxK matches vector graphics and eye-searing colours to simple but madly compelling gameplay to great effect. Just be wary if you're not into pumping techno beats: TxK's soundtrack is a non-stop four-to-the-floor party.

Threes

Threes is perhaps the ultimate mobile game, a brain-teasing puzzler that you can play for 30-seconds, or spend hours chasing high scores in. With just a swiping motion as your only means of control, and simple match-two mechanics, Three's barrier to entry is extremely low, but there's masses of depth lurking behind those cutsey-coloured number tiles. Give it a try, but be warned: once you start sliding those tiles around, it's so very hard to stop.