Who’s a good boy? In the fetching puzzler Dogpile, drop adorably animated dogs into a yard; when matching pups touch, they merge to form a new breed. Combine a pair of poodles to make a pug, or turn two Dalmatians into a golden retriever. If the pups overrun the yard, it’s on to the next game of this card-based roguelike—but is there really such a thing as too many dogs?

What we love: The hilarious traits. A furball with the Friendly trait bounces toward its match, while dogs with Zoomy who get trapped under a pile of pooches tumble back in from the top. Just watch out for bad traits—a Stinky pupper earns no bones for a merge. Bad dog!

Quick tip: Grab perk-granting dog tags that mesh with your pups’ traits. Got a deck full of Barky dogs? The Cacophony tag earns you an extra 30 bones whenever a dog in the yard gets barked at. Release the hounds!

Meet the creator: Melbourne-based Foot is a melding of Folly Studio and Toot Games—two indie game studios that teamed up to make Dogpile. Folly cofounders Jessica Shipard and Darcy Smith are behind the delightful word puzzler Gubbins, while Toot was founded by Matthew Jackson, Millie Holten, and a greyhound named Ruby, whom they consider the financial brains of the company.