Downwell is an elegantly designed game, where almost every mechanic is working two jobs to give this deceptively simple game a huge amount of depth

A game that makes amazing use of the controller, to craft an emotive story about siblings right there on the analogue sticks

A game that uses difficulty as a way to ♥♥♥♥ the player into its world - but uses in-world options to let the player modulate the challenge

A truly amazing roguelike platformer, which mixes random generation and authored level design to make brilliant stages every time you play.

Jonathan Blow's follow up to Braid shows the designer perfecting his puzzle design craft. Every puzzle means something: find out what in the full review

A landmark indie game, and a bold display of Jonathan Blow's puzzle design prowess. Find out how he made this game in the full review, below.

This War of Mine makes you think about your morality, as you choose how far you'll push your survivors in this cruel, desolate world.

By letting you choose to be good or evil, simply through the way you play the game, Undertale explores morality in a really interesting way.

This game, about a border patrol agent who checks passports, forces you to face your own morality in a fascinating way (and one that's unique to games)

20 years on and this game still has loads to teach game designers: specifically, in crafting unique enemies that force the player to think on their fee