I 100% recommend Gemini Rue, it's a bit short for full price at $9.99 but worth that much even if it's not on sale.
Great story and atmosphere, no whacko puzzles. Some pixel hunting but nothing all too annoying.

5 star game, that's for sure. For an indie game, particularly impressive.

I'll get it when it goes on sale then. I considered getting it during summer sale but screenshots looked very pixelated which made me reconsider.

I'll have to check it out soon. Regarding the statement above, I forgot to mention one that I played a week ago: Machinarium

Great atmosphere, but some puzzles that almost guarantee having to look for hints online. And for me, that practically ruins the game as I like to figure things out of my own.

Machinarium is the game that single-robot-handedly got me back into gaming last year after a long break of many years (more than a decade). Prior to Machinarium, I thought that if I ever returned to gaming I'd just mop up 3 or 4 absolute must-play classics that I missed back in the day and that I'd never have to play any new games anymore because they're not worth it. But Machinarium proved me wrong, I completely enjoyed it from start to finish. Then I joined GOG, and now I'm one of the many people with backlogs they can never get rid of, consisting not just of classics but quite a few new games, too.

lol, yeah join the club. The prices are great, so it's too difficult to avoid it.

As for Machinarium, were you able to figure out the owl puzzle on your own?

Yes, I didn't need a walkthrough for this game which is why I am so happy about the game. Having to look up hints really ruins the experience for me, strangely only for point & click adventures and strategy games (RTS and TBS). I think it's a silly ego/pride thing because I've played so many adventures since the early LucasArts titles (Zak McKracken etc) and when I get stuck I start feeling stupid, even if getting stuck has nothing whatsoever to do with being stupid in real life situations. When I was a kid I just asked friends for hints but nowadays I have become strangely stubborn and find it difficult to enjoy the game if I can't figure it out on my own. First signs of senile behavior?? :D

In Machinarium, I got ridiculously stuck at the pipe puzzle (see attached image) for more than an hour and I needed several attempts to get the electric wiring right in the basement at the beginning of the game but other than that it was surprisingly smooth sailing. This is usually not the case, I have a tendency to get completely stuck in almost every adventure which annoys me because I love the genre so much. I'm a calm person but when I get stuck in a point & click adventure, I do occasionally get upset and start using foul language. As if that helps!

*Spoiler ahead"

The owl puzzle was interesting, I was extending/contracting the robot body and coincidentally noticed that the owl was mirroring my movements so I did it even more and then suddenly the rope started swinging up and down. At that point, I realized it's not just an easter egg but the solution to getting that panel piece back!

*Spoiler end*

On the pipe puzzle, I really had no idea myself, I just started clicking random places and got it after a few minutes of trial and error.

As for the owl puzzle, I notice his movement, but in a point-and-click game I usually don't expect something different to happen after doing the same thing a few times with no new reaction. This is what had me stumped.

What other point and click games have you played recently?

This year, I finished Blackwell 1-4, Syberia 1, The Asylum: Psychiatric Clinic for Abused Cuddly Toys, Gemini Rue, Resonance, The Samaritan Paradox, Gomo and The Shivah. Mostly short and moderately easy titles.
Updated list of all games from 2014 here. It's a very short list because most games go into limbo when I'm not motivated / get stuck, plus I don't play even remotely as much as when I was a teenager.

Currently doing replays of:
Grim Fandango, I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream, Shadow of the Comet, Sam and Max Hit the Road, Harvester

Also in progress / still stuck (in some cases since forever) / currently not motivated to continue :
Woodruff and the Schnibble of Azimuth, Simon the Sorcerer 2, Discworld, Space Quest series, Gobliins 1-3, Kyrandia 2: Hand of Fate, Deponia 1, Nanobots, The Whispered World, Syberia 2 (argh...so close to the end, so annoying!)