It took me a little while to reason out what was so disappointing about the Civilization Online reveal. Clearly it's a very different beast from an actual Civ game, but that's fine; spinoffs happen all the time. And the grand, ambitious concepts they discuss - shepherding an entire civilization from its ancient roots to the modern era, while personally playing a part in its exploration, settlement, technological development, and warfare - are pretty impressive, albeit suspiciously vague and possibly unfeasible.

But what makes Civilization Online seem altogether less appealing than a full-fledged Civilization, is that I'm not in charge. When I lead a civ to technological or cultural revolution, or to diplomatic or bloody victory, none of it happens by virtue of other players, or intelligent agents within my civilization. It's all on me! The leader. The idea of becoming a leader in Civ Online is appealing, but by its nature as an MMO, most players won't be able to accomplish this. The role they'll be filling instead - being a grunt in another leader's army - doesn't sound very fun.

All the same, I'm curious to find out more about the game, if only because I doubt they'll be able to pull off all the features they've described.

When I'm actually playing Darksiders II, it feels pretty good: the controls are tight, and the world (at least, the parts with things in them) is fun to roam around in. The problem is that, when I'm not playing it - which is almost all the time - I feel almost no compulsion to return.

The game's hooks seem weak. I don't care about the story. The dungeons (thus far) aren't exciting, ditto for the world map. Combat feels repetitive. And the equipment system is kind of shallow. Really, when I think about it, what's most appealing about Darksiders II is its presentation: gorgeous graphics, superb art, and an incredibly moody soundtrack. I like "being" in the game's world, but not really any of the things I'm doing in it.

While it's unquestionable that Death's adventure is a mechanical and technical improvement over his brother's, I've yet to encounter an item, dungeon puzzle, or narrative element that really wows me. I'll try to find one, at least for a little while longer.

Progress: Somewhere in "The Drenchfort" (really?).

All too often, I find that a game I enjoy in multiplayer/party settings becomes a tired chore when approached solo. Not so for Mercenary Kings. Going alone, the game transforms from a chaotic free-for-all into a Rambo-esque power fantasy, wherein I wipe out entire installations of bad dudes (and bad robots) with increasingly-ludicrous weaponry.

My newest construction is a submachine gun that shoots homing missiles.

Even with recycled environments and enemies, the game manages to keep up the illusion of variety: every return trip to a level sees a new section unlocked, a new objective to find, or a new boss to fight. Most missions are rapid and tightly paced, expertly encouraging "just one more" run. And there's always, always more crafting loot to collect.

Like a 2D Skyrim, Mercenary Kings' technical shortcomings feel like they don't even matter. This game is damn fun.

Progress: Captain rank.

I was astonished - in a good way! - to discover that Jupiter was still churning out Picross games. None of that wacky cube shit, either -- real, hard-core Picross, now as downloadable chunks of puzzley goodness from the eShop. (I only happened to notice that the sequel to this game, Picross e2, was just released. So there's even more where this came from.)

More Picross! That's cool. Unfortunately I've just run into what may be the achilles heel of this version: I'm up to 15x15 puzzle grids, and there's still no 'zoom' feature. The grid squares are getting pretty damn small, and it's genuinely tough to hit them without accidentally hitting something else.

According to the Nintendo description, 15x15 is as big as the puzzles get, which at least means that this problem won't worsen. But it also suggests a fairly low difficult ceiling. Picross DS got up to 25x20. Come on guys -- just because it's a small game, doesn't mean it needs small puzzles.

The puzzles I've done so far are barely scratching the surface of difficulty; I think the longest one I've done so far was about three minutes. I can only assume that the remaining ... 100 or so puzzles will ramp the challenge considerably upward.

Progress: Finished Easy Mode, 32 Normal puzzles.

Clash in the Clouds? Whatever, man. I could continue not-caring about that with both hands tied behind my back. The real DLC, though; this is very much in line with my particular interests. The Season Pass feels like a much less idiotic purchase, now.

In Gunpoint's opening moments, the game shows off its true intents as plainly as possible: a fall through a plate glass ceiling, an irreverent phone conversation, and cold-blooded murder, capped off by another slapstick fall. There are mature concepts in here, from political intrigue and corporate scandals to absolutely merciless violence. But it would be a mistake to take Gunpoint seriously -- not because you can't, but because it's so, so much more fun when you don't.

The game's story is divided up into sequential missions (although you do occasionally have a choice of missions, you'll have to do them all eventually). Each mission gives you an upgrade point - useful for improving your electric pants, which allow you to vault over and into highrises, and to pounce on unsuspecting foes - and some cash, to spend on new special abilities. Early missions hold your hand through the game's processes, showing you how to infiltrate secure areas, how to dispatch guards, and how to manipulate a building's electrical wiring. This last part is where the game really shines: multiple isolated circuits, elevator call-buttons, motion and sound sensors, trap doors, and a multitude of other components, make for an incredible variety of ways you can hack your way through a building. Later missions will really test your mastery of this ability, and how well you can plot a step-by-step route through multiple floors of armed guards.

On the flip side, though you can get in-game accolades for doing everything "right," there's nothing stopping you from playing however you want. You can try to rush through a level as quickly as possible, evading guards rather than disabling them; or you can systematically hunt down and kill the guards, just because. Almost every level's design is completely open to experimentation, and there are a ton of tools to use however you wish. Protip: link a light switch to an open door, wait for a guard to walk through the doorway, then flip the switch to close it and knock the guard out cold. Gunpoint is chock-full of fun little activities like this.

As for complaints: the story gets hard to follow in its second act, and the ending is a bit anti-climactic (though it could be argued that this just fits the game's noir stylings). The character upgrades never quite feel right, with half of them being forced upon you, and the other half barely useful at all. And visually, Gunpoint only really meets the bare minimum of functionally displaying its mechanics. But its flashes of amateurism can't hide what is, underneath, a brilliantly clever and excessively fun game. It takes the things we love as gamers - side-scrolling exploration, convoluted puzzle-solving, and bare-knuckle action - and puts them all together in a pleasantly unique package.

Better than: Stealth Bastard Deluxe (granted, I haven't finished that game just yet)
Not as good as: Mark of the Ninja
This could totally be franchised: with some high-fidelity graphics and more judicious story editing.

Progress: Finished two playthroughs, 100%

Oh, I like creative games alright. But I just don't ... get Starseed Pilgrim. I mean, I pretty much understand how the game is played (thanks to about fifteen minutes of flailing around, and some internet research). But other than that mystery - that is, once you've figured out Starseed Pilgrim's mechanics - I don't get why I should keep playing it. The game itself, with all its unguided randomness and repetition, doesn't give me any sense of fulfillment.

This is definitely one of those games that isn't "for" me.

Progress: Failed, don't care, gave up.

The biggest mistake The Bridge makes is making itself out to be some sort of Antichamber-esque, reality-defying puzzle-platformer. Its M. C. Escher-inspired aesthetics certainly suggest some brain-twisting puzzle mechanics. But in execution, it's actually much simpler -- in addition to walking left and right, you can rotate the world, clockwise and counter-clockwise, to alter the direction of gravity. You'll use this power to guide your way through some simple obstacles, and move others out of your way. And, there are some additional mechanics later on: color switching, which is cool but underutilized; and controlling an alternate plane of gravity, which again is rarely of importance.

And that's the other problem with The Bridge. Not only is the total puzzle count small, but the number of actually-challenging puzzles is even remarkably smaller. Short games are one thing, but this isn't as dense and solid as something in the vein of Braid or Limbo. It's just short.

The Bridge isn't bad, really. If you like puzzles, there are some in here. But it really underdelivers, both on content and on its alleged premise.

Better than: Luminesca
Not as good as: Closure, Braid, Antichamber
Really could have used: more than one music track.

On the one hand, Luminesca is explicitly early in development. Only two of a planned five chapters are currently available, and if you look at some early videos, you can see how dramatically the game design has changed already. On the other hand, even for having a presumed 40% of its content, there's very little here: each current chapter lasts only a few minutes, and there's barely a hint of challenge, or even intrigue, in either of them. The gameplay mechanics are extremely shallow -- you can move in two dimensions, and you can shine a light in an arbitrary direction, which occasionally activates an item. Sometimes you have to lead a glowing "planktid" toward a switch, guiding it through parts of the level. It's all remedial stuff.

What Luminesca has going for it, though, is its beautiful style - think a more pleasant, but still dark, version of Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet - and how generally relaxing it is. More so than Aquaria or even Ecco the Dolphin, Luminesca's soothing underwater atmosphere has no real trace of stress or strife. Again, this is arguably a bad thing in terms of the game's interactivity, but it makes for an agreeable lazy afternoon activity.

Better than: Dear Esther
Not as good as: Unmechanical
Of course: I'll still plan to revisit the game when it's more complete.

Progress: Finished Chapter 2.

It took me a while, but I finally did "get" the name: light sources create their own little, enclosed bubbles of reality around them. This becomes more poignant in levels with water, where you'll literally float within the light, but cease to exist outside it.

Anyway. Closure's light mechanic is devilishly clever, and the game does a pretty satisfying job of finding new twists to put on it, through all 82 of its puzzles. Some are a bit of a cakewalk (a few levels are, in fact, just an arty show-off where you walk to the exit), but the puzzle design on display here is really top-notch.

What dulls that notch, though, is the game's lack of forgiveness in some excessively complex puzzles. Restarting a level seems easy enough at first, but later puzzles involve painstaking, meticulous setup to solve, which can be irrecoverably ruined with a single misstep, like dropping an item in the wrong place. On a few occasions, it even seems like the game's physics are working against you, as the carefully-planned drop of a box results in said box bouncing off into the nether. If any puzzle game was ever in need of a Sands of Time-style rewind feature, Closure would be it.

The only other disappointment I have with Closure is its story, which I'm not really sure exists. The art style hints at some deeper meanings behind your character, and behind the themes of some levels, but there's no ... well, no closure on these ambiguous concepts; just self-referential callbacks. It's pretty, but seems hollow.

But these shortcomings can only do so much harm to the game's brilliant design and pleasant style. Closure is a fulfilling puzzle challenge, and artistically striking as well. Really, it's nice to have a platform-puzzle game that isn't all happy-go-lucky, for a change.

Better than: Unmechanical
Not as good as: Offspring Fling!
Really, what's up with the character theme: is it about a workaholic dad and a pill-head/insane mom, whose daughter turns to dark fantasy? Seriously, I don't get it.

Progress: Finished all puzzles, collected 7 light moths.