Bishoujo games, also known as gal games, span a wide range of quality and themes. Today, they are so ubiquitously known that games which parodize the genre have arguably surpassed them in popularity. But were all of those surgically-chosen clichés in Doki Doki Literature Club any good to begin with? In a post-irony age, one almost sleepwalks into forgetting just how potent and meaningful they were, and can still be.

This isn't just writing, it's prose poetry. Every word—many of which I needed to look up in a dictionary—was carefully written to accurately describe intimate scenes, imbue characters with personality, and use symbolism delicately. It's also virtually typo-free. The music fits like a glove always, swelling and receding on cue to perfectly evoke the intended mood. It is truly a pièce de résistance. Sometimes the art is merely serviceable, but it really levels up to depict extraordinary moments, including gorgeous animations for each route. On a mechanical level, it contains a satisfying web of choices, branches and endings, and you'll want to pursue all of them.

It's ever tasteful and authentic, never vulgar nor thoughtless, making it such a pleasure to immerse yourself in the protagonist's shoes for hours at a time. It is a seamless, loving dance between player and fiction.

Somehow, Katawa Shoujo is a free game. The Steam version has no adult content, but you can download a patch on the developer's website to add it back, which I recommend. If you're a fan of visual novels or curious to give them a try... Run, don't walk.

One of the best qualities of an indie game is being able to tell that an actual person made it, often for no other reason than to surprise and delight as they saw fit.

Of course, that only applies to the good ones. But I Made a Game with Zombies in It! is one where a guy said, ♥♥♥♥ it, $1 game that's stupid and insane, hell yeah, and it became the best-selling Xbox Live Indie Game of 2009. Today, you can play its remastered version for absolutely free.

In terms of gameplay, it's a little mid, but a highly memorable presentation makes surviving through the 13:37 self-referential rock song worth it.