OSCAR WORTHY

Finally in our collection of lawyer-adjacent games is Syberia: a title that manages to elegantly bridge the gap between automatons (not robots, please) being charming and nightmarishly sinister. I struggle to think of a game where I've been so captivated and repulsed at the same time.

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As suspiciously attractive American lawyer Kate Archer, your job is to oversee the corporate takeover of a toy factory. It's the sort of setup that is surprising precisely because it's so boring, even if you already know how it ends. No hero, in any form of media ever, has followed their dream of an aggressive buyout of a toy manufacturer. If it wasn't already enough like a Hallmark Christmas movie, Kate's fiancé is cheating on surprising in lots of other ways. The setting, full of ornate Art Nouveau architecture and whirring machinery, is pure magic. And the old school presentation doesn't dumb things down. There's plenty to read and the puzzles walk the classic point-andclick line of being occasionally logical, often obtuse. Some of them slightly outstay their welcome, but the world is rich enough that you'll want to stick around. The problem with most adventure games is t