Poppy Playtime

A first-person horror game that is mostly a puzzle game. The central tool is a pair of extending grab hands, which lets you pull levers across a room, carry power cells, and connect circuits — and almost everything you do in the factory is a mechanical problem solved with that one versatile device. The horror is used sparingly, which is why it works. Long stretches are quiet exploration and machinery, and the threat arrives at specific moments rather than continuously, so the tension is built by the possibility rather than by pursuit. That structure means the game is genuinely about the puzzles for most of its length, with the fear functioning as punctuation. It runs in a browser without a download, which is the main reason to play this version — the puzzles translate intact and the atmosphere survives the compression better than the visuals do. It needs a keyboard and mouse, benefits from headphones, and wants a moderately capable machine. A couple of hours of content, best played in the dark, and considerably more thoughtful than the genre's reputation suggests.