There’s a reason why playing the Minecraft soundtrack to any 18-34 year old male will evoke That’s So Raven flashbacks of long nights spent in front of the computer.

My brother and I would trade off on our old laptop, each cave and cliff a new mystery to investigate. If we liked them enough, we’d build castles and hideouts there that only the two of us would ever see. We yelled the first time we found diamonds and again when we lost them to a lava pit.

Everyone who’s played this game carries a litany of their own stories and experiences, exemplifying video games’ ability to create uniquely meaningful narratives for each player. Narratives that you’ll remember and revisit as you launch Minecraft yet again in search of new memories.

Easily the game of the decade, if even just for its cultural impact, and it was created without the Defense Department-size budgets that plague modern AAA game design. If you don’t like Minecraft, you probably have no imagination, dear god please fix your overstimulated brain. Actually, this game might help with that.

Eurojank in the best possible way, Infra has some truly unique ideas. Its puzzles are all set in the context of the real world - repairing switch boxes, setting up a water treatment plant, and other engineering problems are seamlessly integrated into the levels. A pretty interesting backstory of corporate corruption and greed underlies these puzzles, though it's perhaps a bit overwritten near its end. It also commits the dire sin of being about 2 hours too long.

Still, I haven't played anything like this before and probably won't again. Despite my minor complaints, you can tell the developers really gave a shit about putting something new into the world. Glad the Euros still have their magic Source engine touch.

There's an unspoken trend I've found myself following that I'll call the Pick Up Phone quotient. It's simple - the frequency with which I pick up my phone during a game tends to correlate inversely with how engaging it is.

From its opening scene, Hyper Light Drifter kept me glued to its lightning-fast gameplay and mysterious atmosphere. I can confidently say my phone did not leave my pocket until the credits rolled, only then coming out for more research on the game and to listen to its incredible soundtrack.

See, HLD's developers understand that less context often makes a more interesting game. Nothing here is spelled out for you, but you're given just enough information to speculate on what happened to the world and its residents. Hyper Light Drifter triumphantly exemplifies the value of restraint. Nothing here overstays its welcome, something I find rare among the modern games designed to keep you circling their whirlpools for months on end. And unlike those games - games which, as you might guess, tend to have a high Pick Up Phone quotient - I finished Hyper Light Drifter eagerly wanting more. Absolutely worth your time from start to finish, and I can hardly wait to see what the developers create next.