Hollow Tide Expedition

Hollow Tide Expedition is a slow, moody adventure where you explore a half-sunken ruin, solve environmental puzzles, and piece together what happened there. It leans hard on atmosphere, and it earns it with lovely lighting and a quiet soundtrack.

The puzzles are mostly logical rather than obtuse, and the game trusts you to notice things instead of flashing hints constantly. A couple of them stumped me for a while, but none felt unfair once the penny dropped. Controls are tap-to-move with a simple interaction button.

It's best played with headphones in a quiet moment rather than on a noisy bus, because the mood does a lot of the work. Battery use is light, and there's a chapter-select so you can dip back into favourite sections.

What we liked

• Beautiful, moody art direction
• Puzzles that respect your intelligence
• Gentle on battery