Games: Limbo, Xbox Live Arcade; 1,200 MS points (approx £9.99)

Like Xbox Live Arcade cult hit Braid, Limbo from Danish indie developer Playdead delivers a haunting, artful riff on the platform puzzler. Already a contender for the best download-only title of the year, the game is an insightful experience set in a bleak dreamscape.

Players assume the role of a young boy venturing through the afterlife realm of Limbo to rescue his deceased sister from the edge of hell. Similar to an old silent movie, the game is presented entirely in greyscale, with visuals that consist of silhouettes, warped static effects and grainy filters.

As the boy navigates the realm's dense forests and metallic structures, players must overcome a series of physics-based puzzles involving shifts in gravity, manipulation of weighted objects and manoeuvring environmental hazards. Each puzzle is taxing and some can have you wracking your brain for minutes on end until the solution finally clicks.

Although the game is artful, it is also shocking at moments. The world's various hazards, such as bear traps, enormous boulders, rusting buzz saws and thrashing pistons are all standing by to crush and dismember the boy.

Some flashes of violence feel over the top, but these moments are few and far between, never detracting from the finesse and ingenuity of the puzzles, or the visual flair that fleshes out the game world.

This article was first published in the Scotsman, July 31, 2010