Video game review: 'The Vanishing Ethan Carter'

"The Vanishing of Ethan Carter" (Nordic, $20, PC) is a ghost story. Or maybe it's a game about the mind's powerful ability to fool itself. In both execution and play, however, it's a tale about what's missing. It's a search for a boy, one whose family appears to have a mysterious and murderous history, and it unravels with a patience and exploratory nature that will challenge players and test the narrative conventions of gaming. There is no designated order to this nonviolent game; its puzzles are random and need to be stumbled upon. This is a darking, extremely rare game in which the player controls everything, including the pace and even what story is told. It's a massive departure from most mainstream games. The game's success is nearly 100 percent reliant on the inquisitiveness of its players.