For the next few days, we’ll be unveiling our 30 best games of 2021 bit by bit. Here’s number 9. 

#9: Unsighted

Platforms: PC, Xbox Series, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch

In this rather peculiar search action 2D pixel-lavished title from Studio Pixel Punk, time is against you. See, in the future of Unsighted, your main character is an android who is on borrowed time, having to finish her quest before time runs out. She also has to deal with a village full of androids that are also on the clock, from her mission handler to her shopkeeper friends.

While the game is a solid and fast-paced 2D Legend of Zelda-style title, it’s the cast and the ticking clock premise that gives all your actions weight. Do you blaze through the game to get to the finish line? Or do you spend time exploring and powering your character up while risking everyone else’s lives? Do you give the time-adding resource to the shopkeeper so she can supply you until the quest is over? Or save it for yourself since you’re the one doing all the work?

At the end of it all, Unsighted teaches us that you can’t truly save everyone. At least on the first or even second playthrough since there are new game+ options. While it’s grim in narrative, we applaud the developers for sticking to their guns and letting us feel more weight in what we do and how we do it. After all, being a hero means making hard choices.