102 PCWorld DECEMBER 2020FEATURE BEST GAMES OF THIS GENERATION
figuring out the captain based on his hat and
the fact he’s mentioned by name. Before
long you’re forced to use your best
inductive reasoning though, piecing
together people’s names and relationships
based on clothing, responsibilities, or even
body language.
There have been many “detective” games
over the years, but Return of the Obra Dinn is
the one of the only ones that feels like a
proper mystery. All the clues are there, and it’s
up to you to piece them together and crack
the case. I wish I could wipe Return of the
Obra Dinn from my head and experience it
again. It’s that good (go.pcworld.com/rtrv).
I hope Lucas Pope keeps getting to make
exactly what he wants, with no interference.
It’s rare, the developer who creates a gamewith no obvious progenitor. Even rarer, the
developer who makes multiple games like
that, but between Papers Please (go.pcworld.
com/ppls) and Obra Dinn I think it’s safe to
say Lucas Pope is one of the most innovative
designers in the industry.- OUTER WILDS
I said Return of the Obra Dinn is “one of” the
only proper detective games I’ve played.
Outer Wilds (go.pcworld.com/owld) is the
other. Every 22 minutes the sun explodes in a
violent supernova, destroying everything in
the system. You’re the only one who knows
this is happening, because you’ve lived
through it over and over and over.
It falls to you to figure out why. Why is the
sun exploding? And why are you trapped in
11.