Strange Antiquities (PC, Switch, £14.99)
Verdict: An easy sale
Step aside, Fiona Bruce. It's time for an Antiques Horrorshow of the sort provided by this, the sequel to 2022's brilliant Strange Horticulture.
Strange Antiquities deposits you, once again, in the creepy old town of Undermere.
But, this time, instead of running a plant shop, you have been put in charge of an antiques store and its various strange knick-knacks. There are glowing things, runic things and even blood-spattered things on your shelves. Your job, of course, is to sell them.
Which brings us to the meat of the game. The town's weirdo inhabitants enter your shop in search of occult paraphernalia that will help them in their everyday lives, from lifting curses to gaining the blessings of the snake god.
The customer is always weird: The strange inhabitants of the town come to your antiques shop, seeking occult knick-knacks that will help them in their everyday lives
Something for everyone: The aim of the game, in Strange Antiquities, is to match the occult items on your shelves to the eccentric customers who come a-calling
You have to work out -- using the clues your customers have given you, the literature at your disposal and the testimony of your own senses -- which mysterious items fit the bill.
And so Strange Antiquities becomes an exercise in gentle detective work, which gets more complex as you go along. If you guess wrong, you get another go, then another go, and then, eventually, you have to play a little dice game to reset your guesses.
All of which will sound very familiar to anyone who played Strange Horticulture. These are practically the same games, only with different wares, yet Antiquities may do a better job of bringing the outside world -- and its growing horrors -- into your little shop.
Although you spend practically all your time behind the same counter, you'll feel as though your horizons stretch much further.
And if, for some reason, you don't find yourself charmed by this funny, sinister, relaxing game? Just put this pulsating stone under your pillow at night. That'll sort you right out.
Little Nightmares III (PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, PC, £34.99)
Verdict: Little different
Perhaps the best thing that can be said about Little Nightmares III is that, yes, it is a third Little Nightmares game. And that's slightly more of a compliment than it sounds at first.
After all, the first two Little Nightmares are some of the most singular experiences in horror gaming. Their main characters are strange, ragamuffin children. Their worlds are a mix of Tim Burton movies and charnel houses. Their mood is morose, while their gameplay is bouncy and fun.
And this third entry recreates all that to a tee -- which is no mean feat, given that it's the first not to be made by the series' creators, Tarsier Studios, but by the British developers Supermassive Games. This is a continuation of everything that made Little Nightmares great in the first place.
Except it's probably too much of a continuation. There's nothing here, really, to distinguish Little Nightmares III from what came before, to the point that you start to wonder why it exists.
One answer could be the new cooperative mode. You get to choose between two characters at the start of the game -- the bow-toting Low and the wrench-swinging Alone -- and someone else can control the other over the internet. But, despite their superficial differences, the two characters play so similarly, and the co-op is implemented so patchily, that I'm not sure it added anything overall.
Which is a shame because there are hints here -- especially during a level set in a gruesome carnival -- of what Supermassive could achieve if they let their imaginations soar. In fact, let the future of Little Nightmares be guided by its opposite: big dreams.