Hollow Vale Journey

Hollow Vale Journey is a gorgeous little adventure that trusts you to explore without a giant arrow pointing the way. You wander a hand-drawn valley, solve environmental puzzles, and slowly piece together what happened to the place.

The controls are simple tap-to-move and tap-to-interact, which suits the unhurried mood. Puzzles range from gentle to satisfyingly tricky, and I never felt like I was hunting pixels or being tricked. The whole thing is guided by a lovely, subdued score.

It's fairly short, maybe a handful of hours, but every minute is polished. This is the kind of game I'd recommend to someone who says they don't like mobile games.

What we liked

• Beautiful hand-drawn world
• Puzzles that respect your time
• A calm, memorable atmosphere