Desta is a turn-based dodgeball strategy game with heart and style, now on PC
Enlarge (credit: ustwo)
The studio behind Monument Valley, one of the best mobile games ever made, made a Netflix-required mobile game in 2022 that you almost certainly didn't play, let alone see. Desta: The Memories Between is now out on PC and Nintendo Switch, and I highly recommend you seek it out if you lean toward coming-of-age stories, turn-based strategy, dreamlike surreality, or nailing someone in the face with a perfectly angled ball.
Desta is a college-age British youth who's anxious about returning home to a widowed mother, friends left behind, memories of their late father, and a lot of unresolved feelings. You guide Desta through anxious dreams that are, very conveniently, expressed as grid-based, turn-by-turn dodgeball fights. Can you resolve the guilt of falling out of touch with your best friend from high school by pulling off the perfect bank shot off their dome, catching the ball on the rebound, then hitting them again? In Desta, you can, and I swear it works.
It helps that developer ustwo brings all its powers to bear on Desta's dreamy visuals, evocative soundtrack, and wonderful spoken dialogue. You could ignore the narrative if you wanted to get straight to the increasingly complicated battlefields—the story bits are short and direct and easy to skip. But I'd bet that you'll get pulled in.