Rain World

Rain World is utterly confusing. It’s a gorgeous 2D platformer in which you play as something called a slugcat who has to survive as the prey of a simulated ecosystem. Between rooms, you’ll have to fend off and escape predators you can’t really hope to defeat in outright combat. Along your journey though, Rain World tells you essentially nothing. There is little in the way of a UI interface or tips that will guide you to survival. Rain World is the video game equivalent of being thrown to the wolves. It will begin as a miserable time, but if you’re patient with Rain World, you’ll find a lot to love about its hands-off approach. Eventually, it instills in you a confidence: it doesn’t communicate mechanics or direction to you because it trusts you to experiment, divine what it is you need out of the experience, and chart your own path to safety. You can try to survive Rain World’s beautiful and harsh apocalypse for $12.49, and you can pick up its lone expansion, Downpour, for another $10.49.