Played but not Beat:

• Kentucky Route Zero - Got through the first chapter, definitely excited to see where this goes, but this isn't really a game. It's more like an interactive season of Twin Peaks. I'm going to take my time and check back with it whenever the mood strikes me.
• Toki Tori 2+ - Make no mistake, this is a full-ass adventure game, on par in terms of scale with HLD, Ori, and Yoku. The wild thing is that it presents itself as some sort of phone game or a Block Dude. Truly bizarre and devilishly challenging, but unfortunately once the world becomes open I lost track of my objective and didn't want to slog through the esoteric overworld and backtracking to hunt down a hidden path I missed 5 hours ago. Some day I'll find a guide and wrap this up.
• Nine Sols - This game is extremely good, however I am not the correct audience. It is truly challenging, both in technically execution of the controls and in the narrative it is telling. It is wickedly difficult in many ways, but if you have the willpower to master combat and the stomach for gruesome brutality, I could absolutely see this being someone's favorite game.
• Night in the Woods - So, this isn't really a game I guess, more of an interactive novel. If I didn't relate to the main character so much I think I'd be more gung-ho to dive further into it but it just makes me depressed. lol.
• Cultist Simulator - After losing my goddamn mind for a month because of Book of Hours, I was super excited to dig into the original in the universe (series? franchise? Whatever Weather Factory is doing lol). Cultist Simulator obviously shares the same DNA, but is a wildly different experience. BoH to me feels like a long backpacking trip. There's going to be some tough segments! You're going to have to plan out each season, make goals for each day, and figure out the exact way you want to explore. The strategy makes for a killer gameplay loop, but it's not why you're here. You're here to stop the progress whenever you need to and observe what's happening right in front of you. A new room unlocks, so you pause and read the description, look at all the paraphernalia, furniture, artwork, and books that lie within, and digest what this all implies in the larger story. This is your library, so take all the time you need. Cultist Simulator is intentionally the opposite. Yes, you can pause and read everything, and you must do so to progress! However, the tone and pacing of the game feels more like processing snapshots of a crime scene while you are actively committing said crime. I'd certainly call it a rogue-like, where you're starting from scratch each time, but every run started from the point-of-view of a character I met in the previous run. Each one ended in a new and inventive way, but I felt like I was learning and getting better every time. It is certainly esoteric in it's subject matter, managing intangible ideas like Dread and Notoriety, and the way mechanics are presented is incredibly evocative and nuanced. It's so well designed and lovingly crafted. If only I was having fun.
• Vision Soft Reset - I got stuck on a difficult platforming section directly followed by a very tough fight, and gave up after maybe 30 attempts. Maybe I'll go back to it some day? The time travel aspect a very cool concept, and well implemented, but the game just feels a little too rough around the edges and flash-y. I really wanted to like this game more, but I think it's for someone else.
• Tactical Breach Wizards - It's very charming, but I think this sort of XCOM/Fire Emblem type tactics game is just something I'm no longer interested in. I really enjoy the blend of cyberpunk wizardry they have going on (witch-hackers, anyone?), and the humor is generally good, if a little too Whedonesque for my taste. Gunpoint is one of my favorite games of all time, so I had high expectations for this, but unfortunately it's not for me.
• Darkest Dungeon - I might dive into this for real some time, feels more punishing than XCOM but I like the combat setup and basic gameplay loop. I worry that there will be a point that the game become unwinnable or soft-locked, and I won't realize it and waste a ton of time.
• Snakebird - Actually just a phone game, but cute and devious puzzle design a la Baba Is You. might never boot this up again unless I'm desperate.