Hollowreach

Hollowreach is one of those games that doesn't explain much and trusts you to wander. You explore a faded, half-abandoned world, solve environmental puzzles, and slowly piece together what happened. It's melancholy in a good way.

Controls are a virtual stick and a context button, and after a few minutes they fade into the background, which is exactly what you want in an exploration game. The puzzles are more about noticing than grinding — the moment things click is genuinely rewarding.

Performance is smooth and battery use is moderate. It looks gorgeous on the flagship but still runs fine on the older handset with a couple of settings dropped. This was my favorite surprise of the batch.

What we liked

• Rich, understated atmosphere
• Puzzles that reward attention
• Runs well even on older phones