Any time I hear any variation on the word “Niko,” I just hear Roman from Grand Theft Auto IV going, “Niko! My cousin!” And then I get really upset about bowling. It is, as they say in the parlance of our time, A Problem. But perhaps NIKO: Through The Dream can help me get over it. It’s a first person puzzler so minimalist, clean, and free of corners that it looks like the world has been scrubbed clean with an Apple iSoap. The aesthetic is a soothing one, though, and it makes way for some brain-ticklingly Escher-inspired locales. There’s a certain element of aged majesty to them, though. An alluring mystique that hearkens back to the likes of Myst and – more recently – PS3 megahit Journey. Oh, and there’s a little hooded figure in there that may as well have been lifted straight from Journey. So that’s a thing too. Rather beautiful trailer below.

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