The sprawling tower at the heart of Chants of Sennaar holds countless secrets – including a language you won’t understand (at first). Solve intricate puzzles and sneak through forbidden areas to reach the top of the structure, all while deducing the meaning of dozens of pictographic glyphs. Study murals, eavesdrop on conversations or even play a game of hide-and-seek; you never know when you’ll learn a new word!

What we love: The powerful moment when you decode a new set of glyphs and can suddenly understand what the people around you are saying. Having a hero who succeeds through communication instead of combat is a novel – and brilliant – idea.

Quick tip: Can’t decipher the exact meaning of a glyph? Write your best guess in your journal and revise it later when you find more context clues. Getting close enough – like “ship” for the rune that means “vessel” – will help you unlock its translation.

Meet the creator: French indie developers Julien Moya and Thomas Panuel drew inspiration from sources far and wide when crafting Chants of Sennaar’s fictional languages, including bandes dessinées comics from the 1960s, ancient cuneiform and Viking futhark runes.