DreamFeel

Antimatière

This unique first-person puzzle game comes from the ENJIMM University in Angoulême, France which also developed the wonderful Paper Plane game last year.

Somehow all the objects in the world such as people, doors and tvs, have become 2D imprints on the walls. Cleverly the player can move these textures around to solve puzzles, eg: moving a door to another wall to create a passage.

It might not quite do the concept full justice, but it is definitely worth checking out, if not for the wonderful art style, for its originality.

Safe Landing This fiendishly difficult but compulsive game combines the classic Lunar Lander and Space War!

It highlights how one small change or addition to familiar mechanics, ie: gravity, and particularly orbital gravity, can completely change a game.

The sound and visuals, the wholly superfluous Eufloria-like plants are a joy, do their job, and you can think Animals Play Games for this.

Conway's Inferno

Transforming John Conway's Game of Life into er, an actual game this brilliant puzzler from Newgrounds user damned-soul is a finished version of work from a Global Game Jam at the MIT Gambit Game Lab.

Following the Game of Life this game runs a simulation where the status of each square is determined by those around it. Your goal, sadly, is to burn or zombify all the cute, furry monsters by placing fire, zombies and UFOs in the right starting positions.

You might think a game of such little interaction would also be little fun, but the joy, only diminished by repeated wrong moves, comes from slowly watching the repercussions unfold. A charming game.

Januray

Lastly comes this quiet, blissful game from Rich Vreeland, a.k.a. wonderful chiptune artist Disasterpeace. It really is one of those simple, why didn't I think of it ideas.

Catch the increasing snow flakes on the tip of your tongue and create music. Sometimes simple aesthetics can work wonders.