Post Script
The key ingredient for greatness: is it a mystery?
Bedrooms often help you restore energy. Finding snacks has a similar effect, and there’s a full meal in the dining room
W hat we might call the ‘open-plan’ investigation game is perhaps not common enough to qualify as a genre. The likes of Return Of The Obra Dinn and Outer Wilds still feel more like offshoots of the puzzle and the adventure game, albeit with a focus on observation and deduction. 2024’s Lorelei And The Laser Eyes steps farther into puzzle territory, its exploration gated by explicit lock-and-code conundrums. If the movement such games represent isn’t cleanly defined, though, it has been impactful. We struggle to think of any style of singleplayer game that has shown such consistent hunger for innovation in recent years, and delivered as many uniquely rewarding experiences.