Definitely a case of the whole being greater than its parts, Candy Box is a curiously addictive browser-based RPG developed entirely by French programmer "aniwey". What starts off as one of the least interesting video games of all time gradually branches out into all sorts of oddball directions, skillfully mashing a variety of rarely-combined mechanics and weird minigames into an ASCII-art-illustrated adventure that keeps you interested until you've peeled away every layer and seen all the game has to offer. Even though the referenced memes are goofy and dated, and even though the English translation ranges from charmingly weird to outright Frenglish, the end result is something that keeps you tapping and poking and prodding until you've eked out exactly what's going on in this extremely original puzzle box.

You can play Candy Box for free here: http://candies.aniwey.net/