Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward and Thomas Was Alone heading to PS Plus in April

After March's strong PS Plus freebie pairing of Metal Gear Solid: HD Collection and Puddle, Sony knew it had to pull something impressive out of its digital library to impress Vita-owning PS Plus subscribers this month.

Rather interestingly, though, the PS Plus curator isn't going down the mainstream über-franchise route with this month's complimentary software.

Instead, Sony is giving you PS Plus subscribers the chance to head, well, off the beaten path. That's right: say 'hello' to macabre Japanese adventure Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward.

In this part-interactive novel, part-logic puzzler, Chunsoft tells the story of nine characters who have been abducted and imprisoned by a masked villain called Zero.

As one of the abductees, you must successfully complete puzzles, and choose whom to trust if you want to make it out alive.

The second game in Sony's April PS Plus 'tag team' is acclaimed indie puzzler Thomas Was Alone.

This low-fi BAFTA-nominated charmer from Mike Bithell involves your guiding a number of characters (represented by coloured rectangles) to a series of exit portals.

As you meet new characters, you'll gain access to abilities such as flotation and gravity reversal.

Thomas Was Alone also takes advantage of the Vita's touchscreen and touchpad. What's more, it falls under Sony's Cross-Buy umbrella, meaning you can buy it on PS3 and play it for free on PS Vita.

PS Plus subscribers will be able to download Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward on April 10th, and Thomas Was Alone on April 24th.