20) The Silent Age

The Silent Age gameplay video

Ex-military janitor Joe witnesses a shocking omen from the future. As he struggles to understand what is happening, he will become involved in a time-traveling plot upon which hinges the fate of humanity itself.

“The future depends on you hanging your laundry!”

A satisfying time-travel narrative is notoriously difficult to pull off, but The Silent Age does it better than most, with its meticulous plotting, marvelous art style and engaging characters. 

Hint: use the dustpan to sweep the government conspiracy under the rug.

19) The Chzo Mythos

5 Days A Stranger gameplay video

He watches across the years, planning, waiting. Some of his servants are humans, others…once human. You may yet unravel the ancient conspiracy of which Chzo is the malevolent, beating heart. But take care when walking the divide between centuries…or you will truly know the King.

The Slenderman before Slenderman.

Yahtzee has no hesitation in criticizing his work on these games, but he doesn't give himself enough credit. The Chzo Mythos is a centuries-spanning saga of pain, isolation and mind-bending horror that stuck with me long after I played through it. Very few horror games have the ability to actually scare players. This is one of those few.

“Oh, this place is so getting a negative review on TripAdvisor.”

18) Machinarium

Machinarium gameplay video

After rescuing himself from the scrap-heap, plucky robot Josef discovers a plot by three nefarious criminal robots to blow up a tower in the city. He must foil them back and rescue his girlfriend Berta before it’s too late!

Hint: the solution is to remove the motion blur.

This is worth your money for the art design alone: the surreal robot world of Machinarium is rusted and dusty and brown and broken down, but life and beauty thrive in its hidden cracks and corners. Little Josef's odyssey from the scrapheap to the heart of the city is a wordless thing of wonder.

Society is falling apart due to a dumb timekeeping system.

17) The Curse of Monkey Island

The Curse of Monkey Island gameplay video

Obstinately incapable of achieving fame and fortune after two games, Guybrush Threepwood finds himself racing against time to rescue Elaine Marley, the love of his life, from the clutches of the zombie pirate LeChuck. And he is followed by one very important question: what really happened in Big Whoop?

“It’s more diamond now, than ring…”

The original dev team may not have worked on it, and it may be a little less haunting than its predecessors, but you could still do a lot worse than the third entry in the Monkey Island series. The game is dripping with personality: a cartoonish sense of comic timing, a zany setting, and the reliable goofy antics of the lead character, Guybrush Threepwood.

Fun fact: piracy was a great sector for diversity hires.

16) I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream

I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream gameplay video

The Cold War is gone. Civilization is gone. The future is gone. They have become obsolete with the birth of the ultimate supercomputer, AM. All that remains are six humans. Playthings for AM to torment until the end of time. Unless they can find a way out.

Hint: looking at the jackal is not the solution.

This voyage into madness is one of the most skin-crawling things to come out of the genre. The original short story was already a hideous portrait of human despair; the game forces you to become an active witness rather than a passive one. Battling AM's attempts to crush your soul is a mind-twisting effort.

Who does, my friend? Who does?

15) The Samorost Series

Samorost gameplay video

The Gnome may have no words, but with your help, he will become a hero nonetheless. A voyager to strange worlds, a rescuer of strange things, a battler of strange dangers.

Pretty sure you qualify as an ant for that anteater, buddy.

Eschewing verbal dialogue and puzzle clichés, the Samorost games craft surreal and fantastical environments that look like nothing else in games, and populate them with creatures and puzzles of fairytale logic. The results are nothing short of magical.

THE FIRES OF HELL! Aren’t they adorable?

14) Sam & Max Hit the Road

Sam & Max Hit the Road gameplay video

Happy-go-lucky anthropomorphic dog detective Sam and his violent anthropomorphic rabbit partner Max are charged with investigating strange goings-on at a nearby carnival. Their sleuthing will take them on a terrifying adventure of inter-species love, villainous country western singers, and a spell requiring hair restoration tonic.

How about we throw this whole *world* in the Hall of Oddities?

This adaptation of a comic book is buoyed by witty dialogue, quality voice acting and an all-round mastery of goofy charm.

He’s going to be disappointed.

13) Grim Fandango

Grim Fandango gameplay video

In the afterlife, the dead have to earn their way to paradise. Stuck in a dead-end job, skeletal travel agent Manny Calavera is determined to find a way to the Land of Eternal Rest, no matter what the cost.

Manny Calavera plays it cool.

LucasArts's best works show a spark of creative abandon that is still ahead of its time. Case in point: Grim Fandango, a delightful marriage of Aztec mythology and film noir. Following protagonist Manny Calavera's journey to redemption in the afterlife is by turns a hilarious and charming experience.

“Is that…a corpse?” “I WONDERED where I’d left that…”

12) Full Throttle

Full Throttle gameplay video

As anti-grav technology renders combustion engines obsolete, a struggle breaks out over the destiny of the last true motorcycle manufacturer left in the United States.

One of the first portrayals of a leather daddy in mainstream video games?

Another display of LucasArts's wild creativity at its height, Full Throttle mixes biker gangs, a futuristic setting, and a tale of corporate espionage to create an inimitable story.

This guy gets it.

11) Gemini Rue

Gemini Rue gameplay video

An interstellar war has left the Gemini System in the thrall of organized crime. But that’s none of Azriel Odin’s business - he may be an assassin, but all he’s looking for is his missing brother.

“Like it? Here’s another! *grunt*”

Gemini Rue's pixel art scheme gives it a decidedly old-school feel, but don't mistake that for creative laziness. This is an excellent sci-fi yarn exploring themes of identity by way of a crime story in deep space.

There’s an exclamation mark in there, can’t you read?