We accept our bias without apology: paper is one of humanity’s greatest technologies. There’s nothing quite like the delicate crumple as you turn a page in a magazine, or the way a blank page bends to your own designs. Newfangled Games’ puzzle adventure celebrates this tool of creativity through a delightful combination of intricate paper-folding and wide-eyed storybook wonder.

Combining creativity and geometry, elevating mathematics into something of beauty, origami requires discipline. It’s fitting, then, that Paper Trail’s protagonist Paige should be a budding astrophysicist, who dreams of going to university and experiencing life beyond her village. Her mother and father are worried about her ambitions – though their concerns seem to stretch beyond the usual parental fears of the dangers that may await her in the outside world. In any case, the story begins on the night that Paige decides to run away and pursue her dreams, in spite of her parents’ wishes, as a destructive storm strikes the sleepy village – giving her the opportunity to break free and embark on her journey.

The game’s hand-crafted aesthetic draws inspiration from screen printing and watercolours, combining flat and fluid art styles to create a 2D world with depth. In motion it’s like exploring a collage that has yet to be fixed in place, evoking feelings of potential and opportunity. Moving from page to page is engaging, harking back to the tactile nature of storybooks with pull tabs and popups. There’s a keen attention to detail that elevates each beguiling environment: a giant water lily flourishes in a swamp, aglow with the promise of new beginnings; elsewhere, vermillion lanterns pierce through the gloom; the glint of dust among ruins reflects the fragility of the past, while illuminating the present.