The Hollow Atlas

The Hollow Atlas is a quiet exploration adventure where you sketch your own map as you go. The island rearranges itself in small ways, so a shortcut you found yesterday might not be there today, and figuring out the logic behind that is half the game.

There's no combat. Progress comes from solving environmental puzzles and reading the notes left by someone who came before you. The hand-drawn art is gorgeous and the ambient sound design does a lot of heavy lifting for the mood.

It respects your intelligence — puzzles rarely spell out the answer. We got stuck twice, walked away, and the solution clicked in the shower. That's a good sign for this kind of game.

What we liked

• Beautiful hand-drawn world
• Clever, non-obvious puzzles
• A calm mystery that trusts the player