The dozens of video games The New York Times reviewed this year included anticipated blockbusters (Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree) and smaller gems (Ultros, Neva, Mouthwashing).

But there were hundreds of new releases in 2024, including these five indie games that are worth checking out before the ball drops in Times Square.

Reviewed on the Switch. Also available on the PC.

For some reason — trauma? trepidation? — there has been a dearth of pandemic-related art to rival Bo Burnham’s “Inside,” the comedian’s lyrical look at mental deterioration caused by isolation. Two strong entries finally arrived this spring: the movie “Stress Positions,” about the pot-clanging, Lysol-spraying New York of 2020; and 1000xResist, a 10-hour game where something deadly has spread but immediate answers have not.

In the darkened school hallways of the game’s opening chapter, your character encounters students and teachers who allude to something dreadful. The most feared symptom is fluid discharge from the eyes. Why is crying so bad? Metal and silicon shed no tears, and this is a society of clones.

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“They’d come home weak and tired and go to bed,” she said. “It’s a day until they feel back to normal, and then it’s time to go back to dialysis again. I didn’t want that regimen.”

In at least 12 of the 19 states where Acadia operates psychiatric hospitals, dozens of patients, employees and police officers have alerted the authorities that the company was detaining people in ways that violated the law, according to records reviewed by The Times. In some cases, judges have intervened to force Acadia to release patients.

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