Hollow Tide

Hollow Tide is an atmospheric adventure that trusts you to explore without constant waypoints. You wander a half-submerged town piecing together what happened to the people who lived there, mostly through environmental clues and scattered journals.

There's light puzzle-solving — rerouting water, finding keys, matching symbols — but the real pull is the mood. The sound of lapping water and distant gulls does more for the tension than any jump scare could.

It's not a long game, maybe four hours, but it stuck with me. I kept thinking about one particular room days later. If you like games that leave space for your own imagination, this one's worth it.

What we liked

• Rich, melancholy atmosphere
• Exploration without hand-holding
• Environmental storytelling done right