Last updated: Sep 4, 2025 at 3:40:02 UTC
Here's a list of all the voted games in the schedule.
What I'm playing right now.
What's coming up!
System Shock is a singleplayer first-person action horror game and a modernized remake of the original System Shock from 1994. Like in the original game, the player controls a hacker who is arrested after breaching the systems of the TriOptimum Corporation in the year 2072. While the hacker is awaiting trial, a TriOptimum executive named Edward Diego offers to drop the charges against them as well as give them a military-grade neural implant in return for removing the ethical restraints from SHODAN, the artificial intelligence in charge of TriOptimum's Citadel Station. After completing Diego's instructions, the hacker undergoes surgery for the implant and is put into a coma to recover.
The player resumes control of the hacker after they wake up from their medical pod months later to find that the station is now devoid of human life, with its former inhabitants having either been killed or transformed into mutated monsters courtesy of SHODAN, who now sees herself as a god destined to eradicate humanity. The player must scavenge weapons, tools and equipment to survive the monsters and hostile androids now roaming the station while looking for a way to foil SHODAN's plans and escape. Audio logs left behind by the station's former inhabitants reveal details about the story and clues concerning the player's objectives, such as door codes to access certain areas.
If the player is killed by an enemy, they will have to reload a previous save, unless they have activated a respawn unit which will reconstruct their body and allow them to continue from there. Certain areas also contain terminals which allow the player to enter cyberspace, a 3D environment in which the player controls a virtual avatar with the ability to disable security measures around the station by shooting nodes. However, cyberspace contains enemies which will attempt to impede the player's progress by returning fire. SHODAN's current hold over a floor of the station is represented by a security level, which can be lowered by destroying cameras and other security systems. The security level must drop below a certain percentage before some areas can be accessed.
Dying Light is an open world, action horror game. It takes place in a zombie apocalypse environment, similar to the Dead Island games by the same developer. The game is set in the large city of Harran, with influences of ancient Turkey, overrun by a mysterious epidemic. The protagonist is Kyle Crane, an undercover GRE operative sent inside a quarantine zone. His initial mission is to neutralize the rogue GRE operative Kadir Sulaiman, but he can also choose to focus on helping the survivors instead. He can freely explore the city using parkour and freerun mechanics. The game has a dynamic day and night system – during the day zombies are less aggressive, so players can gather supplies, weapons, craft items etc. and prepare for the night, when infested are stronger and more dangerous.
The focus is on melee weapons and just like in Dead Island various materials can be crafted into weapons by gathering supplies. Also borrowed from that game is the stamina bar that prevents the character from continuously hitting. Guns can also be used, but sound attracts others. By progressing through the game the character's abilities can be leveled up in the skill trees agility, power, and survival. There are often large groups of zombies that can be taken out from heights, by pushing them off, using projectiles or triggering traps. Instead of stealth there is more focus on escaping using the parkour mechanics. Unlike games such as Assassin's Creed it requires precise timing and aim to grab ledges and combine slides and jumps into fluid movement.
Progress through the city is furthered by unlocking safe zones where zombies cannot enter. During the day Crane mainly needs to scavenge, locate and save survivors, explore, set up traps and locate air drops. At night the slow zombies become much more agile. They do more damage, can sprint and will chase Crane. Especially the Volatile creatures are extremely fast and deadly, changing the game's pace with more focus on stealth as enemies will easily catch up. The game becomes harder, but experience points are doubled at night. Aside from traps, sound and distractions, UV light can be used to slow them down. There is also a dynamic weather system.
Dying Light offers an online co-op mode for up to four players. In the Be the Zombie mode there is asymmetrical multiplayer where one player-controlled powerful Night Hunter can invade another player's game at night and up to four players can work together to defeat it.
On 9th February the game was updated for free to an Enhanced Edition version for all platforms through a patch. This Enhanched Edition then replaced the default version of the game.
This Director's Cut is a standalone version of Shadowrun: Dragonfall, the expansion for Shadowrun Returns. It is free for owners of Shadowrun: Dragonfall on PC. For mobile platforms, consoles and Windows Apps, it is the first release of Dragonfall.
Next to the content of the DLC it includes five new missions. Three are tied directly to the personal stories of the team members. They are set in new locations as well as within the Flux State with new enemies. The combat system has been revised to fine-tune the cover and damage mechanics on the battlefield. It adds an entirely new armor system as well and the AI has been revised. The interface received an overhaul to make spells, items and abilities easier to access. There are ten new music compositions and it includes the digital soundtrack of both Dragonfall and the original Shadowrun Returns.
Death's Door is an action RPG about the character Crow, a bird and also a reaper of souls. It is an employee at the Reaping Commission Headquarters, a bureaucratic institution that tasks people like Crow with soul reaping while providing commissions on successful retrievals. At the start of the game it has to bring back a giant soul, but after defeating that demonic forest spirit it is attacked from behind and the soul is stolen. Crow cannot move on until the soul is secured, so there is no choice but to help the old reaper that tricked him and collect several other giant souls that may open the titular Death's Door where the soul is now held.
From a central location called the Lost Cemetery, Crow can access different areas leading to the three giant souls it needs to defeat and bring back to Death's Door. The character can be moved around freely and has two melee attacks along with a ranged attack with limited ammo. Eventually five different weapons can be unlocked and they can be changed on the fly. They vary in style, appearance and statistics such as damage, swings, range and swing time. The regular melee attack is for quick hits, while the second one can be charged or a strong attack or is executed following a dodge roll. Ammo for the ranged attack can be found through items or by hitting enemies. Melee, but especially ranged attacks are often used to solve puzzles such as hitting items or setting them on fire from a distance. Many areas require environment based puzzle-solving to collect items and progress. There are many enemies to defeat along with several larger boss fights that require figuring our patterns, dodging and sometimes puzzle-solving to discover weaknesses.
There is a checkpoint and fast travel system through doors. At certain locations a door can be unlocked that leads back to the central Hall of Doors at the Reaping Commission Headquarters. From there Crow can quickly return to any area at any time or choose another door. When Crow dies he returns to the last unlocked door. At the HQ there are characters to talk to, puzzles to solve and the Soul Vault where four characteristics can be upgraded several times: strength, dexterity, haste and magic. Each upgrade requires soul energy collected by defeating enemies. Health can be replenished by picking up seeds and planting them in specific pots. Upon consumption all health is restored, but this can done only once at that pot until Crow dies or leaves the area to return.
The game also contains many secrets and optional collectibles. Over time three additional magic items are unlocked as additional ranged weapons that can be switched on the fly similar to melee weapons. The new magic types often open up additional paths or secrets in previously explored areas metroidvania-style, or allow Crow to pursue a new path or open a new gate that was previously locked or out of reach. There are several characters to talk to and the game contains many humorous elements.
Dragon Age: Inquisition is a role-playing game and the third main game in the Dragon Age series. It is set in the Thedas continent, the same fantasy world as the two previous games. It consists of two large countries: Ferelden (from Dragon Age: Origins) and Orlais, as well as the land inbetween. The story picks up after the events of the supplementary novels Dragon Age: Asunder and The Masked Empire describing a civil war in Orlais between the loyalists of the ruling Empress and a noble faction led by her cousin Grand Duke Gaspard.
After the events of Dragon Age II the Circle of Magi has gone rogue and the mages are at war with the Templar Order seceded from the Chantry. The player's character enters the game world from the Fade, a breach to another dimension caused by an explosion at a peace conference between mages and templars. Many clerics, including their leader the Divine, are killed and initially the player's character is held responsible for that, as the only survivor to come out of the blast. The character has however no memory of what has happened, but discovers powers that are capable of closing rifts as is then referred to as the Herald of Andraste. The initial premise is to close these rifts, with the help of the former associates of the Divine, Cassandra and Leliana, former templar Cullen and ambassador Josephine. Following the Divine's last orders they establish the Inquisition, an independent group to close the rifts and bring those behind it to justice.
True to the spirit of the series the character can be customized for appearance, sex, class and race. The available races are dwarf, elf, human, and Qunari and the classes are mage, rogue, and warrior with three specializations each. To grow the Inquisition experience needs to be earned by completing quests, which allows the player to further define allegiances and pursue romances. A custom party can be defined and each member benefits from experience as it opens up access to better weapons and more abilities. Power points open up new areas and Inquisition points define the influence over the region; each new level provides a perk that benefits the entire Inquisition. The main hub for quests is the Inquisition's war table. The War Council consists of Cassandra (also available as a party member), as well as Cullen, Josephine and Leliana. The latter three advisers can be assigned tasks to complete on their own to progress, unlocking new characters, quests and areas.
The party of four travels to different regions, mainly with the main goal to close a rift and defeat a rival faction, but there are also many sidequests not related to the main story, along with the allegiance towards templars or mages which offers separate missions, and character quests to please specific characters, often for romantic purposes. Each main mission has a recommended level to start and there are multiple difficulty levels. For combat the game can be played as an action RPG, controlling one character while the AI handles the other three, or using a more tactical approach. In the tactical mode the game is paused and orders can be issued. There are also many more details for enemies shown then, such as the HP, strengths and weaknesses. By holding a button the action can be started and as soon as it is released the game pauses again. Even when approaching it an an action RPG you still define the abilities of the other party members through skill trees and you can guide their general approach, such as aggressive or rather relying on defense. Weapon and equipment management through an inventory is also present as well as crafting based on recipes.
Multiplayer is available for up to four players, working cooperatively with quests separate from the single-player game, a first for the series. It is linked through the single-player game setting as the party members act as agents for the Inquisition. Also entirely new to the series is the introduction of optional micropayments to speed up progress, through the acquisition of the Platinum currency. Unlocked or crafted items cannot be transferred between the two game modes.
The Darkside Detective is a 2D point-and-click adventure game set in the fictional city of Twin Lakes. The player controls Detective Francis McQueen who is part of the Darkside Division investigating cases with supernatural elements. He is assisted by his partner Patrick Dooley who is there mostly for comic relief in the buddy cop tradition. There are six standalone cases to solve, unlocked gradually, with three bonus ones after the last one has been solved or unlocked straightaway from the options menu. Cases are often linked to the Darkside, a ghost world reflection of the city. While all cases are built around supernatural events, there is a lighthearted tone with many humorous moments, a lot of satire and various references to pop culture.
Each case consists of a small number of fixed screens linked together. The detective can only move between the scenes, not inside one of them. A single action is used to start conversations with characters, pick up items and interact with the environment. Items are stored in an inventory where they can be combined and are used to solve puzzles.
The game does not have voice acting and uses a retro pixel art style. Saving is available both manually and automatically. The nine available cases are:* Malice in Wonderland: a small girl has disappeared.
Can't play yet, but will be shoved into the schedule when it's possible.
Stardew Valley is an RPG inspired by the Harvest Moon games where you play as the inheritor of an old farm in a small town called Stardew Valley. Leaving the taxing big city life behind, you embark upon a quest to restore the neglected tract through dedication and hard work.
The gameplay consists of keeping the plot of land clean from decaying plants, stones, logs and stumps, planting and fostering new vegetation, discovering new places, combating hostile animals and monsters, earning money and collecting materials in order to create new tools and buildings, joining in social activities and events, befriending and romancing non-playable characters, all while managing the protagonist's energy levels.
There are multiple subplots which the player may choose to impact, for example, one may choose to hinder or help Joja Corporation in outselling smaller businesses in order to control and renew the town which would rid it of its traditions. The game is an open-ended one and there is no official ending. The content changes often as it being updated regularly based on player feedback.
This is a non-exhaustive list, trust me.
Master Thief Garrett is contacted by the Keeper Artemus, who wants him to steal two valuable artifacts. Meanwhile, Garrett learns that the coming of a Dark Age had been prophesied long ago. Gaining access to the Keeper Prophecies, Garrett learns that an ancient book known as the Compendium of Reproach contains more information about the prophecy. As Garrett is trying to solve the mystery, it becomes more and more clear to him that there is a traitor in the order of the Keepers.
Thief: Deadly Shadows is the third installment in the Thief series. The game follows the same design philosophy and gameplay structure that distinguished its predecessors. As before, stealth is the key to successful completion of missions. Avoiding confrontation with the guards, Garrett has to make his way through the levels towards the objective. Shadows and sounds play a large role, as guards will react to suspicious noises, and studying their patrolling routines is essential.
A few gameplay elements have been slightly altered. Garrett can no longer swim, but is able to use climbing gloves that attach him to the walls. He can also flatten himself against walls while standing; if in shadow, he remains completely unnoticeable that way. The player can see Garrett's limbs even if he is viewed from first-person perspective, allowing more precise movements. Switching to third-person view is also possible.
The most significant gameplay change is the non-linear exploration of the City, which has been added to the largely linear missions. In order to access the next mission, Garrett has to explore the City. On his way, he can overhear conversations, steal valuables, avoid or knock out the guards, and even accept secondary missions, which will influence his reputation with some of its factions.
This Special Edition contains:
This Special Edition contains:
Fifteen years after the events of Ridley Scott's Alien Ellen Ripley's daughter Amanda is looking for answers. She is an engineer working for Weiland-Yutani Corporation. When she finds out that the logs from USCSS Nostromo have been located and transported to Sevastopol space station she decides to join a small crew sent by Weiland-Yutani to retrieve the data. Little does she know that the ship that has found the logs reached Sevastopol with a terrifying passenger on board, the one that murdered the majority of station's population and left the survivors cowering in fear.
Alien: Isolation is a survival horror game. It is set on the Sevastopol space station where Amanda is searching for USCSS Nostromo logs. Sevastopol is split into many areas, and a certain degree of freedom is given to the player: areas may have several alternative routes to the goal, hidden rooms and ventilation shafts; also Amanda may (and later needs to) backtrack through the station. As the game goes on Amanda's tools will be upgraded and she will be able to get access to previously out of reach areas.
Amanda is an engineer, so she is able to loot containers and bodies for resources and craft devices like noisemakers, smoke bombs, or Molotov cocktails, mainly used to distract the enemy. Later she acquires a flashlight, a motion detector and several types of weapons to defend herself against humanoid enemies (groups of hostile survivors or androids). However, Amanda is not a fighter, and each encounter should be carefully planned. Many actions take some time, for example to use a medpack Amanda needs to stand perfectly still.
When Amanda draws attention of the alien, stealth is the only way to survive. The alien cannot be harmed, and it kills Amanda in a single hit. In most cases it doesn't follow a predetermined scripted route, but instead relies on its senses to track Amanda down.
In addition to the main story mode there's Survivor mode in which the player needs to escape from a specially designed map fulfilling secondary objectives along the way, while being aggressively hunted by the alien. This mode includes online leaderboards.
Satisfactory is a first-person open-world factory building game with a dash of exploration and combat. The game tasks you with charting and exploiting an alien planet, battling alien lifeforms, creating multi-story factories, entering conveyor belt heaven, automating vehicles, and researching new technologies. The factory-building aspect of Satisfactory has been described as a first-person version of Factorio. Unlike some other open world games like Factorio, the Satisfactory world is pre-generated, i.e. not procedurally generated. The world is 30km^2 in area.
Unpacking is a game about unpacking items and fitting them in a new location after moving. Starting in 1997, each level offers a new location and a new period in the protagonist's life as they move to a new environment with eight periods in total. It always starts with one or multiple empty rooms filled with cardboard boxes. A single bedroom at first, players eventually need to unpack for an entire house with many rooms. Selecting the cardboard box changes the cursor into an object lifted from inside. It can then be placed in the room, such as inside cabinets, on top of a shelf on a desk etc. The box disappears automatically when there are no more items inside. Most items can be put anywhere, but after everything is unpacked incorrect placements are highlighted in red. For instance: a toothbrush cannot be stored on a desk, but needs to be placed in the bathroom. There is some freedom and there is no time pressure, but only when all items are in a correct location is the environment completed. Because there are many objects that need a location, there is some puzzling involved to make everything fit.
Items from boxes are not always in the correct environment, so the player needs to move them between rooms. It is possible to move between rooms at any time, as well as zooming and scrolling, for instance to get a good look at a specific object. Some items can be stacked. It is also possible to rotate objects and sometimes this is done automatically, for instance when moving a rolled up poster towards a wall so it can be hung. After a level is completed pictures (screenshots) can be taken and it is possible to decorate them as well as apply filters. The sped up version of the unpacking process can be viewed again through an animation or a GIF.
This is an updated version of Another World for the 20th anniversary of the original game, five years after the updated 15th anniversary edition. It is adapted for mobile devices offering both touch controls and a virtual D-pad. The backgrounds are reworked for higher resolutions with subtler shades of light, and crisper detail and edges to the polygons and animations. It is still possible to switch to the original graphics. This version also contains remastered sound effects and three difficulty modes.
Two to three years later it was also ported to PC and a variety of console platforms with platform-specific tweaks. On the GOG distribution portal 15th Anniversary Edition was replaced with this version, but both versions are still accessible as a single package.
Blue Prince is a puzzle game that places players in the role of the heir to Mt. Holly, a sprawling, mysterious mansion with an ever-shifting floor plan. At the heart of the experience is a central objective: to find the elusive and mythical "Room 46". According to the game’s premise, locating this hidden room grants the player ownership of the entire estate. However, the journey toward Room 46 is neither straightforward nor predictable, as the structure of the house changes each day, making the search into an evolving strategic challenge. The game is inspired by Christopher Manson's 1985 puzzle book Maze.
Gameplay in Blue Prince is structured around daily exploration runs through the mansion. Each morning begins in the estate’s central lobby, where players are presented with three sealed doors. Choosing one leads to a draft of three potential rooms, and only one of these can be placed. This room becomes part of the current day’s mansion layout. As the player continues, they add more rooms in this fashion, making strategic decisions about which spaces to include based on available doors, room features, and ongoing goals. Once the day ends—either by exhausting resources or reaching a stopping point—the mansion resets. The player begins the next day anew in the lobby, but with only certain permanent upgrades retained, such as blueprint enhancements or unlocked room types.
A core mechanic of the game is the management of footsteps, which represent how far the player can travel during a single day. Each transition from one room to another consumes a footstep, and backtracking consumes additional steps, creating a push-pull between exploration and efficiency. When footsteps run out, the day ends. Another central mechanic involves the use of doors as strategic gateways. Rooms can contain one or more doors, and the player must consider how each room connects to the broader layout. Poor planning can result in cul-de-sacs or dead ends, limiting further expansion and progress toward the ultimate goal.
The mansion is also filled with various items and resources that support exploration. Coins, which may be found in decorative environments such as bars or living rooms, can be used in special vendor rooms to purchase helpful tools. Gems allow access to rare and valuable room choices during the drafting phase. Keys serve multiple functions, from opening locked doors to unlocking specific types of rooms or pathways. The interaction between these items and the environment adds complexity and variety to each run. Players may encounter rooms with safes, locked cabinets, or darkened spaces that require light from elsewhere in the house, creating environmental puzzles that often span multiple rooms or runs.
While the search for the final room is presented as the main goal, various clues and mechanics become apparent to attentive players, with layers upon layers of puzzles and lore, both inside and outside the house.
In Hatoful Boyfriend, the player plays the role of a human girl who is beginning her second year at St. Pigeonation Highschool, the World's best school for birds. On her first day, she meets a variety of different pigeons, whom she will learn about through the year. The first time a new pigeon is introduced, a picture of what he would look like as a human is shown.
The game is a visual novel dating sim. The player reads the story through the dialogue and, every now and then, has to choose from different options or different answers. Some of these choices, like choosing a class to attend, will raise one of the protagonist's stats: Wisdom, Vitality and Charisma. The other choices determine how the story unfolds and how she will bind with the different birds. As the story progresses, it branches until one of different endings is reached. The ultimate goal is to have a love interest develop between the girl and one of the pigeons.
Hatoful Boyfriend can be played multiple times to unlock the different endings. The endings are shown in the gallery, accessed from the title screen. Unlocking the ending also adds files in the archive, also accessed from the title screen. The archive files contain various trivia about the game's backstory.
Return to Monkey Island is a point-and-click adventure and a direct sequel to Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge (1991). It has the original creator Ron Gilbert back at the helm and picks up directly after the events of that game. However, it also incorporates and acknowledges the characters and events from later titles such as The Curse of Monkey Island (1997), Escape from Monkey Island (2000) and Tales of Monkey Island (2009).
This game focuses on the series' protagonist Guybrush Threepwood as he sets out to finally reveal the secret of the Monkey Island. A short prelude explains the ending of the previous game, why this title is told as a flashback and an optional scrapbook available in the main menu is provided with a brief history of the events of all games. The adventure is divided in several parts and starts on Mêlée Island where Guybrush, reprised by Dominic Amato, once again finds himself without a ship and crew to travel to Monkey Island. Mêlée island has also changed, with Carla the swordmaster as the new governor, Elaine advocating social and health issues, and a new pirate leadership refusing to fund Guybrush's venture. Many characters from all titles return in this game, such as Stan the salesman, Otis, Wally the map maker, the Voodoo Lady and Murray the talking skull, but also many new characters. Next to the familiar Monkey Island and Mêlée Island there are entirely new locations such as Brr Muda and Terror Island.
A classic point-and-click interface is used to experience the story, talk to characters and solve puzzles. When hovering over a character or object, usually one or two options are provided: to examine and to interact. Items can be picked up and are stored in an inventory where they can be combined or used in the environment. There is also a todo list as an inventory item where quests are tracked. A separate action is available to highlight all hotspots in the environment. The game can be played in an easy Casual mode or the Hard more with more puzzles. There is also a separate Writer's Cut option with more text and dialogue, available for both modes. Hints are provided through another in-game item, a hint book provided by the Voodoo Lady. The environment is also littered with optional trivia cards stored in a trivia book. Players need to answer a question about the series. If it is answered incorrectly the card disappears.
The game retains its humorous approach, often breaking the fourth wall. The game uses an entirely new visual style headed by Rex Crowle and similar to the one used in his game Knights and Bikes (2019). It aims to resemble a picture book or a pop-up book with exaggerated character features, using 2D and no longer the pixel art of the original two games or the sharp cartoon or 3D look from later titles. The original composers also return with new music.
1802: the merchant ship Obra Dinn becomes lost at sea. 1807: the ship drifts into port at Falmouth with no living soul on board, and all the crew and passengers dead or missing. An insurance investigator for the East India Company's London Office boards the ship in order to determine what exactly has happened. To this end, the investigator uses a magical pocketwatch called "Memento Mortem" which allows to view the moment of any person's death.
Return of the Obra Dinn is a first-person detective game. The player's task is to determine the fate of each of the 60 people that were on board the ship. The player can explore the entire ship, from the upper to the bottom deck (although some locations are initially inaccessible). Whenever the player comes upon a corpse, he can use the Memento Mortem to view the moment of the person's death. This allows the player to hear the last few things said in the person's vicinity, and explore a time-frozen diorama that depicts the exact moment of their demise. Additionally, if the diorama includes any older visible corpses, the pocketwatch can be used to generate an illusory image of these corpses elsewhere on board, which in turn can be used to access their death scenes. In doing so, the tragedy of the Obra Dinn is slowly reconstructed, death by death.
Each discovered death scene is entered into an initially blank log-book. The player's task is to fill in the identity of the deceased person, the means of their death, and (if applicable) their killer. To help in this endeavour, the log-book includes a list of names of all people on board, several group portraits, and a map of the ship; it also allows to quickly review certain details from previously seen death scenes.
Determining the identities and fates of the people on board is not easy, and often requires careful consideration of the clues present in the death scenes. For instance, the player may need to identify the people's roles based on their behavior, clothing or relationships with other people. At other times, he might need to carefully examine several successive death scenes in order to reconstruct a sequence of events. Whenever three people's fates are identified correctly, the game acknowledges this and the correct information is marked as such.
The game uses a graphical filter that mimics retro 1-bit graphics, such as those found in early Macintosh games.
The Alters is a survival game set on a hostile alien planet. It focuses on the struggles of Jan Dolski, a space miner stranded there after a mining mission gone awry. The main premise revolves around Jan’s ability to create “Alters”—alternate versions of himself who diverge from him at key points in his life. Each Alter has a unique set of skills, knowledge, and traits, reflecting choices and paths that the original Jan might have taken. Players use these Alters to perform specialized tasks, solve problems, and keep their base functional under increasingly dire conditions.
Gameplay combines exploration, base-building, and resource management inspired by Satisfactory. Players control Jan and his growing team of Alters to mine resources, construct facilities, and navigate hazardous areas of the alien world. The base itself is a large, wheel-shaped structure designed to stay just ahead of the lethal rays of the nearby sun. Players must power and expand their base by attaching modules and infrastructure, much in the style of games like Fallout Shelter or X-COM.
The game introduces a “Tree of Life” system that lets players view the different paths their character's life might have taken and create Alters from those timelines. Each Alter brings their own expertise and perspectives to the base’s operations, adding depth to problem-solving and interpersonal relationships. Players must manage the physical and psychological well-being of their crew, addressing their needs and disputes to avoid rebellion and conflict.
Exploration plays a key role in the gameplay, with players needing to venture outside their base to gather resources, discover points of interest, and respond to environmental hazards. Anomalous creatures and radiation-rich areas pose additional risks to their missions. The game's day-and-night cycle adds urgency to these tasks, reflecting the slow advance of the sun and the danger it brings.
The narrative explores themes of survival, regret, regret of choices, and the human will to persevere under extraordinary conditions. Players face moral and strategic decisions that affect both their ability to stay alive and the relationships between their various Alters.
In the year 2114, forty-two years after the events described in System Shock, a soldier joins the military organization Unified National Nominate (UNN), receiving the number G65434-2, and is shortly thereafter assigned to the military space ship Rickenbacker. This ship's duty is to escort the Von Braun, an experimental faster-than-light starship, on its maiden voyage. However, the next thing the soldier can remember is waking up in a cryo-tube on the Von Braun. It appears that both ships were infected with something so horrifying that nearly the entire crew was either killed or mutated into monsters. The soldier is contacted by a woman who identifies herself as the only human survivor. His first task is a rendezvous with this woman, for which he will have to traverse the monster-infested corridors of the ghost ship.
System Shock 2 is a hybrid of first-person shooter and role-playing game. In the beginning of the game the player chooses a career for the protagonist in the UNN. This choice grants bonuses to the protagonist's initial skills. Marines specialize in combat, navy officers can repair weapons and hack computer terminals, and OSA agents may begin the game with psionic powers. Notwithstanding this initial choice, the player may choose to learn any of these skills as the game progresses, spending acquired cybermodules to develop the main character in a RPG fashion.
As the hero traverses the corridors of Von Braun, he will have to avoid death at the hands of hostile creatures and robots on the way, acquire a variety of items, and complete missions to unlock new areas and advance the story. The game emphasizes survival rather than elimination of enemies; in many situations the protagonist is underpowered, and new enemies may appear in already explored areas.
Combat is done in FPS style, with both ranged and melee weapons. The ranged weapons can accept a few different types of ammo, each of them efficient against different foes, and can shoot in two firing modes. However, ranged weapons deteriorate quickly as the player character uses them, and will eventually break down after prolonged use.
Healing items, such as medical hypos and medikits, will save the hero's life, while other items will shield him from radiation, cure him from poisoning, or temporarily boost his attributes. The soldier can find armor to wear and implants which will amplify his skills, as long as their battery doesn't run out. There are also some alien items that the player has to research (which usually requires finding specific chemicals in the ship's chemical stores); researching weapons and items allows the player to use them, and researching enemies' organs makes it possible to deal more damage to them.
Apart from finding them lying around, items can be bought from "matter replicators" for nanites, the game's currency. Nanites are also used for cybernetic activities (hacking electronic systems), repairing broken weapons and improving them, healing the protagonist on surgery tables, and, after death, resurrecting him in special chambers found on most levels.
Cybermodules are received for successfully completing objectives or found during exploration. They are used to enhance the main character's attributes: the player can improve his strength, agility, endurance, as well as his cybernetics and weapon skills; psionic powers are also acquired in this way. Psi powers allow the protagonist to move objects from a distance, paralyze enemies, become invisible, etc. A special "psi amplifier" must be found in order to use them, and the hero spends "psi points" each time he uses a psi power.
Like in the first System Shock, much of the background story in the game is revealed by finding messages left by crew members before they fell victims to the mysterious infestation.
Thief is a reboot of the Thief series and throws away most of the lore - there are no Pagans, no Hammers and no Watchers. The game starts when Garrett, a master thief, is on a job with his former apprentice Erin. They run into a mysterious ritual from a faction loosely reminiscent on the Mechanists, and due to unfortunate happenings Erin falls right into the middle of it. Garrett blacks out for a year and awakens in the city which changed to a fascist regime in the meantime. Now Garrett has to use his thieving skills in order to find out what is going on (the common people are affected by a strange disease) and eventually stop the usual conspiracy.
The basic structure is similar to Deadly Shadows: There is a semi-open city hub structured into various districts. Just like in the predecessor, those are divided in loading screens and gradually open up over the course of the game. These can be freely explored until starting a self-contained mission at the designated point. Here lies the main difference to the previous Thief games: instead of sandbox levels, the design is completely modular and can be compared to the Clocktower level in Deadly Shadows. The set-pieces may be relatively open in itself and offer various ways to deal with obstacles or reach the next point of interest, but in the end they result in a choke-point of no return leading to the next area. Movement is also restricted because jumping is only contextual. Rope arrows make their return, but can only be used at a few designated spots. Except for a few minor climbing sequences, the whole game is in first-person.
Garrett can take on guards in direct combat, the system is based on dodging attacks with a designated button and placing blackjack hits at the right moments, but since he is no fighter he usually has no change against multiple enemies. So his main weapon of choice is stealth. It is based on shadows - the light gem in the interface shows how visible Garrett is - and while breaking sight also plays its role, there is no dedicated cover mechanic like in Deus Ex: Human Revolution. However, Garrett can grab onto corners and peek out to avoid running in front of a guard. This means the majority of the time is spent with observing guard patrols, picking a good time to move behind a guard, performing a blackjack takedown and drag the body into darkness before someone sees it. Like in Human Revolution, the takedown is a context based button press instead of a free swing.
In contrast to the previous Thief games there is no loot requirement to beat a mission, but of course there is still plenty of stuff to steal which is directly converted into gold. While the majority of small loot items is just lying around or found by opening drawers, there are also unique items which bring extra money. These are usually hidden and require the usage of a new mechanic: Garrett grabs a painting or book shelf and slowly moves his hand until he feels a hidden switch. By pressing a button, it may open up a secret passage, unveil a safe or disable traps. The lockpicking minigame works similar and requires to find the sweet spot by moving the lockpick around. Safes require the combination which has to manually puzzled out by searching the environment for clues and carefully reading near documents.
Between missions, Garrett can also find much loot in the city by just moving around and keeping his eyes open. However, the most lucrative is to take optional side missions. Here Garrett has to retrieve a certain object - usually it is just a quick burglary within the city, but sometimes they are real self-contained missions. Of course there is a useful usage for money: visiting a shop and stock up on equipment. The obvious choices are depleting resources like Garrett's trademark arrows which can be used for many tasks, e.g. regular arrows for distracting guards or water arrows to extinguish light sources, food items to heal, or smoke bombs. However, there are also various one-time purchases which reward new equipment to interact with the environment, e.g. a razor to cut out valuable painting or a wrench to open up ventilation shafts, or tool upgrades, e.g. a bigger arrow capacity or more sensitive lockpicks. Also available are items which reward passive bonuses. Additionally Garrett has two magical abilities to his disposal: The swoop move works similar to blink in Dishonored and allows to quickly move forward. Focus (similar to instinct in Hitman: Absolution) slows down time and has several useful perks, e.g. faster lockpicking, easier combat or showing all loot in the area. Those perks have to be unlocked with focus points which are also bought with money.
One of the game's special features are the difficulty modes. While there are the usual three standard types - the highest does not allow for kills or civilian knockouts - the player can also add several other difficulty options, e.g. disabling focus, more expensive resources, slower movement, no kills or knockouts, no quicksave or permadeath. Because those reward bonus points for bragging rights, the difficulty can only be changed when starting a new game. On the other hand there are also several other interface related options which can be disabled at any time, e.g. loot glow, prompts when approaching an interactive item, enemy alert indicators, objective markers, mini map or ammo counter.
Besides the main campaign, there is also a challenge mode. This mode re-uses some of the game's mission areas and adds special objectives. The modes are Chain & Gain (there is a timer running out which can only be expanded by collecting loot), Chain & Gain Limited (Chain & Gain with an overall time limit) and Special Loot Hunt (finding as much special loot within a time limit by using the "hot and cold" indicators). The goal is a leaderboards high-score.
The PlayStation 4 version uses the DualShock 4 gamepad's light bar to emphasize the effect of being in the shadow (with a dimmed dark blue) or exposed to the light (with a bright white).
Purple Tentacle, one of the crazy Dr. Fred's creations, drinks contaminated water from Dr. Fred's Sludge-o-matic. He mutates into an insane genius and grows arms, and now he's plotting to take over the world. In an effort to stop him, Dr. Fred sends three friends, Bernard, Hoagie, and Laverne back in time to yesterday, in order for them to turn off the Sludge-o-Matic and stop the sludge from spilling into the river, thus preventing the whole incident. Naturally, the cheap doctor uses a fake diamond over a real one in his time machine, which blows up sending Hoagie 200 years into the past and Laverne 200 years into the future.
Now the player must bring back Hoagie and Laverne, with the help of the time machine's ability to move objects between time periods, and then stop evil Purple from taking over the world.
Day of the Tentacle is a point-and-click adventure game and a sequel to Maniac Mansion. The player controls Bernard, and later also Hoagie and Laverne, being able to switch between them at any time. By using the commands at the bottom of the screen, the character can pick up items, use them on other things, talk to people, and more. Any of the three friends can also send his items across time to another friend.
The game takes place in the same area, but in three different eras, and thus affecting history takes a vital part in some puzzles. For instance, Hoagie can hide an item in the 18th century, and Laverne discovers it in the 23rd century - but by then, the item may have been affected by time and changed its properties.
The CD version of the game contains voice-overs for all the dialogues.