Games that are exceptionally well-tested and smooth to play. They may not always be the most original works, but the implementation is strong, offering minimal frustration with guess-the-verb and other common flaws.
A small, confined puzzle world, very tightly constructed. It's the middle game of a trilogy, but worth playing even on its own.
4. Friendly Foe, by Mike Sousa (2003) Average member rating: (2 ratings) Emily Short says:
A small exploratory piece but one in which there is always lots to do.
5. Aisle by Sam Barlow (1999) Average member rating: (329 ratings)
Emily Short says:
Considering that it's a one-move game, it perhaps has an unfair advantage in the implementation department, but even so, Aisle is astonishingly complete in its implementation.
A pleasant walk outdoors, but one with an extensively-implemented non-player character.
7. Worlds Apart by Suzanne Britton (1999) Average member rating: (89 ratings)
Emily Short says:
Huge, ambitious, and showing intense amounts of work: the game experience has been customized with lots and lots of careful tweaks to the parser and other modifications.
8. Lost Pig by Admiral Jota (2007) Average member rating: (500 ratings)
Emily Short says:
A remarkably solid and charming short game about the adventures of an orc named Grunk.
9. Suveh Nux by David Fisher (2007) Average member rating: (230 ratings)
Emily Short says:
A one-room game, but with lots of attention to detail: puzzles have multiple solutions, hints are built in, the magic system is clever and systematic, and there are a variety of amusing easter eggs.
10. Nightfall by Eric Eve (2008) Average member rating: (62 ratings)
Emily Short says:
Ambitiously sized but with lots and lots of help to make the large map manageable; very smooth.
