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Hello-hello and welcome to another Bite-Sized post, where I share teeny tiny games that can be completed in under 3 hours.

GOROGOA

Now I am puzzled as to why I didn't start Bite-sized with Gorogoa, considering it is one of the most influential games in my personal gaming experience. Gorogoa was released in 2017 after several years of development by a single developer, Jason Roberts, also known as Buried Signal. It was his first ever published game, and even though I played it all those years ago on release, I still think about it regularly. When someone asks me about the most unique games I've played, a few come to mind, but first and foremost, undoubtedly, Gorogoa.

It is an elegant puzzle game comprised of several sets of illustrated panels. You can combine and rearrange the panels to solve the task at hand and move the story along. The mechanics of Gorogoa are simple and easy to learn, but the ways in which you need to use them pleasantly bend your brain. It's zooming in and out of these little paintings, putting them on top of one another, moving them around to uncover hidden illustrations, being, in part, a creator yourself. This game also tells you a story, so it's not just a set of escape rooms or progressively more complex puzzles. I highly encourage you to give Gorogoa a try: it is fairly short, otherwise it wouldn't be on this list, but it is worth every penny. Truly one-of-a-kind experience.

NUTS

Another game I think about pretty often because of how absolutely wild of a ride it was — NUTS. You play as a recent university graduate that's been sent into the wilderness of Melmoth forest to observe native squirrels as a part of a surprisingly well-funded research. During the day you set out from your little caravan and into the forest in order to place a bunch of cameras around the supposed squirrel paths. During the night, you peruse all the footage you were able to record, see if you managed to capture something relevant to your current task, and report back to Dr. Nina Scholz who's also a part of your research effort back in the institute. Seems pretty simple, right?

Wrong! With every Nina's call the plot unravels a little more; the impeccable haunted atmosphere of being absolutely alone in the woods on a mission you don't even quite understand starts flooding you. Why do we need to track the squirrels anyway? And why are they so weird? Is there someone out there? I don't want to spoil anything beyond that, but this game was one of my highlights in 2023. I loved it.

The game has bold, somewhat acidic color palette, and at first I thought it wasn't my cup of tea, but having played it, I can say that the game is actually beautiful, and you get used to the colors very quickly. If you are in the mood for a story that gets progressively more and more insane, this is the game for you.

A Short Hike

A Short Hike is probably the more well-known of the bunch, but I have played it fairly recently.

Claire is staying on Hawk Peak Island with her aunt, ranger May. Hawk Peak is a charming place: very picturesque, peaceful and relaxing, with just one problem: no cell service. Clair is anxiously expecting a phone call, so the only way for her to have a chance to receive it, is to climb the island mountain where she'll be able to catch some signal.

I honestly love games where the main problem is something simple and unpretentious. I have saved so many worlds that the idea of helping a kid get a phone call seems very appealing to me. Surprisingly, there is a lot to do around the island: you can meet a bunch of people, collect shells, learn how to fish, soar through the skies, help runners before their marathon, stumble onto illegal campers and buy yourself a hat. I think, the key to thoroughly enjoying this game is to take your time and hike slowly. I love how A Short Hike is written, and I love its heartfelt story. I might have shed a tear or two, or more. Can't recommend this game enough.

Papetura

I am always in awe of games with handcrafted elements, and Papetura is always on my mind in this regard. It is a short adventure game handcrafted entirely out of paper. Every scene, every flower, every creature. It tells a story of Pape and Tura who try to confront the dark fire creatures that threaten to burn down the world. The game includes light puzzle elements but zero dialogue: the entire story is told through animation and sound design.

Papetura is a stunning testament to human creativity and skill; there is a 'making of' video from the developer, absolutely fascinating. There is another paper game in the works by the same dev, called 'Pirofauna' with a similar concept, and I am very excited for the demo, whenever it is coming to Steam.

Assemble with Care

In Assemble with Care you play as Maria, a travelling restorer of antiques, who arrives in the town of Bellariva and sets up shop. While Maria is proficient in restoring old things that have long lost their luster, and more often that not, function, here she has to do something more than just fix things that don't work. Each item locals bring to Maria is a memory of times long gone, a memento of someone who is no longer here, a love story, or a bitter reminder of paths that separated. By restoring cassette players, old watches, game consoles and cameras you will hear stories from people's lives and more often than not help them reconnect with their past, with people around them, or even restore relationships.

I absolutely LOVE Assemble with Care. It is a beautiful, well written game full of soul with really enjoyable puzzle mechanics. The game is fairly short, but I'd love to play it for 20 more hours.

Glass Masquerade

I love jigsaw puzzles, but I do not have enough space in my apartment to spread out all the pieces and then spend weeks completing the entire thing. So, I play Glass Masquerade instead, and have been for many years now, come to think of it! The original puzzle design for all 4 installments is shards of stained glass, but later games allow you to choose between a few assembly modes: from shards, hexagons, some other geometric cuts, or you can randomize and receive a new type for your puzzle pieces every time. This franchise has dozens upon dozens of beautiful puzzles that are divided by themes: there are plenty of DLCs for the first three Masquerades, with the fourth having been only recently released, but I have no doubts it will get DLC puzzle packs too. You can change difficulty or enable a timer if you like to see how quickly you can deal with a puzzle. Whenever I have no mood for anything and just want to listen to music or to a podcast, I pull out Glass Masquerade and just relax. I honestly hope these games never end.

That's it for today! Let me know if you've tried any of these games, and also if there are other small games that you enjoy (￣ω￣)

As usual, stay tuned here and on the Lair's YouTube channel not to miss out on anything.

Thank you very much for your time. Take care.