#kspicks

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SUNDAY PLAYLIST PICK: PATATAP

Are you secretly a musical genius, minus the ability to, you know, play music? Patatap might convince you. It turns your phone or tablet into an instrument, which we all know is easy enough to strum away on. Created as a simulation of synesthesia, each sound blossoms into a symphony of minimalist pastel visuals. Talk about feeling the music.

Perfect for: Guitar-puller-outers looking for a new trick, anyone who read A Mango Shaped 

Playtime: As long as the muse moves you.

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SUNDAY PLAYLIST PICK: SHOVEL KNIGHT

One of the big early Kickstarter hullabaloos, Shovel Knight hearkens back to a simpler time—one of 8-bit side-scrolling and sharpened shovels. The throwback aesthetic is purposeful, too, inspiring comparisons to the diamond-tight controls of DuckTales as well as the brutal design choices of that era. The end result is exactly the kind of throwback that we can really dig into. (Sorry.)

PLAYTIME: Medium

PERFECT FOR: Retro game lovers, William H. Macy's character in Mystery Men, shovel enthusiasts

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SUNDAY PLAYLIST PICK: TWO DOTS

Don't let the name fool you. While TwoDots is the successor to the well received iOS puzzle game Dots, TwoDots builds upon Dots' original formula and becomes a puzzle game all its own. The charming Jacques and Amelia take you along through their puzzle-adventure, solving puzzles with the same elegant aesthetic of Dots. Eighty-five levels scattered with tiny secrets make this a no-brainer.

PLAYTIME: Short

PERFECT FOR: Connect 4 connoisseurs, pointilliste painters, people named Dottie

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SUNDAY PLAYLIST PICK: HEAVY BULLETS

FRACT OSC with guns meets the procedural generation of Spelunky, topped with the musical stylings of Samurai Gunn's doseone? Count us in. With only six bullets to make it across eight levels, Heavy Bullets ranges from total insanity to tactical maneuvering as you move through its neon-soaked levels. There's more content planned for the future as well, but good luck beating the game's current offerings.

PLAYTIME: Short

PERFECT FOR: Devolver Digital diehards, neon annihilators, and cyberspace cowboys.

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SUNDAY PLAYLIST PICK: GLITCHHIKERS

While Fear and Loathing attempted to get at The Greater Reality of All Things via a drug-induced haze, many of us have likely found our minds wandering while engaging in less chaotic affairs. Glitchhikers taps into that moment — the 2AM drive home after you swore you would leave by 8, where your eyes begin to droop and you wonder if those lines in the road are actually as straight as they appear. Like a good book, your mind begins to fill in the gaps between the explicit and the implied, something that quite literally exists as blackness on an open, unlit road. Let Glitchhikers take you on that ride again (for free), though now in the comfort of your own room where falling asleep has much less fatal consequences.

PLAYTIME: Short

PERFECT FOR: Those who practice transcendental meditation, aspiring hitchhikers, and lovers of a night drive.

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SUNDAY PLAYLIST PICK: WAYWARD SOULS

Self-described as Secret of Mana meets Spelunky, Wayward Souls is a beautifully executed game that indeed recalls both of those while offering something more than the sum of it's pre-described parts. Random levels and a variety of characters to choose from means that full completion is much harder to attain that your typical mobile game, but as you start to see the all the possible combinations of Wayward Souls' inner workings, you'll find it hard to resist coming back.

PLAYTIME: Short, but delivers replay value in spades.

PERFECT FOR: Those looking for Souls on-the-go, spelunkers, and loot fanatics.

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SUNDAY PLAYLIST PICK: MONUMENT VALLEY

Never has Escher been rendered so wonderfully. Recalling other perspective-bending games like FEZ, The Bridge, and Echochrome, Monument Valley challenges the player with puzzles that warp the space time continuum to a beautiful effect. Progressing through the game feels like being escorted through an art gallery, and with a run time just shy of three hours, it makes for the perfect weekend snack.

PLAYTIME: Short

PERFECT FOR: Those who like to distort the rules of space and time, those who always want to touch the paintings in museums, and those who want to show their friends games are art, literally.

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SUNDAY PLAYLIST PICK: ELISS INFINITY

There are a lot of "remakes" and upscale versions out there these days, but Eliss Infinity isn't one that you should skip over. Though the premise is simple—separate or combine planets, drag them to color-coded portals—the game finds endless variations on the form. Its bright, pastel colors and sprightly, spacy sound design make the game a delight to behold even when it ratchets up the difficulty toSuper Meat Boy levels.

PERFECT FOR: Puzzle fiends, multi-touch masters, Galactus the Devourer of Worlds

PLAYTIME: Minutes, which can become hours