[Android] Strange House (2011)

How:
Looked for the "best" escape-the-room game for Android out of curiosity and just picked the most popular free game with a nice icon.
Pros:
- Nice graphics and mood
Cons:
- No music
- Figuring out puzzle solutions earlier doesn't work (e.g. typing the correct telephone number before letting the character reach the same conclusion)
- Some aggravating pixel hunting
- Gameplay is very clunky and the need to precise tapping soon gets annoying

[PC] Mystery Legends: Beauty and the Beast (2011)

How:
Read about it possibly on Adventuregamers.com forums, tried the demo and enjoyed it immediately (purchased from BigFishGames).
Pros:
- Excellent voice acting
- Superb graphics and animations, totally on another level with respect to any other HOG/light adventure I've ever played
- Nice puzzles and hidden object scenes
- Some light arcade sequences (e.g. playing darts)
- Backtracking is not painful at all
- Overall very enjoyable light adventuring with well integrated hidden object elements
Cons:
- Some hidden object scenes are used many times

[PC] Dark Parables: Rise of the Snow Queen (2011)

How:
Played the demo from BigFishGames after reading about it somewhere (possibly just browsing through the website after playing some Mystery Case Files episode).
Pros:
- Very nice in-game animations
- Voice acting
- Abundance of cut-scenes
- Generally better graphic quality with respect to previous episodes
- Story is somewhat interesting and connecting to previous episodes
Cons:
- Quality of cut-scenes is very inconsistent and generally mediocre
- Very similar to previous episodes of the series, with the usual arbitrary collection of medallions, shields and goblets to collect, statues to activate, and doors to open
- Graphics quality feels heterogeneous (e.g. some items are evidently re-painted photos, some characters are cartoony while others are more realistic)
- The children sound way too mature for their age (having a little child scream "Help, detective!" is quite unnatural)
- Very little variety in puzzles
- Voice-overs,  although abundant, are generally mediocre

[Browser] Duck Quest (2013)

How:
Read about it on Adventuregamers.com monthly indie feature.
Pros:
- A cute little game with C64 inspired graphics
- Nice music and sound effects
- Very good animations and cutscenes
Cons:
- The duck moves very slowly

[Browser] A small talk at the back of beyond (2013)

How:
Appeared in Adventuregamers.com monthly freeware feature.
Pros:
- Nice atmosphere
- Good parser
Cons:
- Too short
- Very few puzzles

[PC] The Visitor 2 (2012)

How:
Visited Screen7 website after finishing The Visitor, found out about this second episode and downloaded it.
Pros:
- Very good puzzles
- Very good pace and rather lengthy
- Fun and rewarding
- You get to play as a laboratory slime!
- Nice animations, a good improvement over the first episode
- Nice setting
Cons:
- An annoying reaction puzzle at the beginning of the game (avoiding to get ran over by a car)

[PC] 11-11-11 (2011)

How:
Probably heard about it on Adventuregamers.com monthly freeware feature and downloaded it right away.
Pros:
- Very cool graphics and cutscenes, in general very good production values
- Nice story
Cons:
- Way too dark
- Just a few puzzles
- Very few interactive items
- Some interface glitches

[PC] Spaceman in Space (2012)

How:
Got to know about it by following Francisco Gonzales on Twitter, downloaded it when he announced the release.
Pros:
- Amusing little comedy with moderately challenging puzzles
- Very nice graphics and animations
- Humorous sound effects (all made by voice, for example when the spaceman walks he says "left-right-left-right...")

[PC] The Visitor (2011)

How:
Probably read about it on some best-of AGS list and downloaded right away.
Pros:
- Very good puzzles
- A simple and fun story
- Great attention to detail (everything has a description)
- Some well done red herrings
- Nice and coherent graphics overall
Cons:
- Very few, unbalanced sound effects
- Very sparse animations
- Clunky character design

[PC] Dark Parables: The Exiled Prince (2011)

How:
Tried the demo and liked it, bought it right away on BigFishGames.com, together with other two episodes.
Pros:
- Neat graphics
- Good pace and well integrated cutscenes
Cons:
- Heavy on the HOG side
- Overabundance of inventory items and collectables (jars, tiaras, potions, etc)
- A lot of backtracking
- Boring and repetitive music