Scarf tries to win attention with its creative puzzles and attractive fairy-tale art style. It indeed does have those qualities, but if I were to describe this platformer with just two words, I’d say it is simple and charming.

Championship Edition DX+ was brilliant, because it was deep enough to satisfy hardcore high score chasers, but also offered straightforward fun even to casual gamers. Championship Edition 2 is so fast a lot of people will be overwhelmed by it. [12/2016, p.46]

Unexplored 2 is an incredibly ambitious and beautiful game that will captivate the player with well thought out survival systems. However, its lackluster story and lack of polish will be a major hinderance for anyone who wants to become a wayfarer.

The problem with the new Super Meat Boy is that it’s not the old Super Meat Boy. We have waited a decade for the sequel and it turned out to be an autorunner, which is not necessarily a welcome surprise. Two buttons is all you need, which makes CMBF very easy to grasp, but limited control over the protagonist can be maddening, especially that the game is even harder than the original. Having said that, the developers managed to squeeze a lot out of the simplified control scheme, and while I understand the game disappointed many fans, I still recommend it to those of you looking for a serious challenge. [02/2021, p.58]

First hours with Banished are very enjoyable, but when the town starts functioning like clockwork, the game loses its appeal, because it's short of features – there’s no campaign here, no scenarios. [04/2014, p.68]

I played the hell out of Warcraft II back in the day, so 20 hours I spent with this tribute to Blizzard’s masterpiece were a pleasant journey to the past. If you enjoy traditional real-time strategies and don’t mind cover versions sounding almost the same as the originals, give Loria a try. [01/2019, p.77]

A simple but effective roguelike. [01/2016, p.75]

Cyanide Studios surprised me by making a game that’s genuinely worth recommending. What kept me from giving it a higher rating were some technical issues that I encountered. [01/2015, p.58]

It could have been a really great sandbox for one evening. It’s a shame the developers decided to extend it by over a dozen completely redundant hours, because they had fresh ideas for around one fifth of the campaign and made the rest of the game repetitive as hell. [12/2016, p.48]

The freedom to move around the city and the ability to use powers that everyone would like to have as a superhero are this game's undeniable pros. It does not overwhelm you with activities though so those who enjoyed training assassins and renovating shops in Renaissance Rome will probably be disappointed. [July 2011, p.72]

Concrete Genie’s huge potential wasn’t fulfilled the way I would have wished. It’s wonderful to look at but visual prowess doesn’t go toe to toe with providing lots of fun gameplay-wise. The good fun lasts for two hours after which it starts getting tedious. [12/2019, p.60]

Cute visuals and crude humor make this a pleasant game to play if you’ve got nothing else to do. [11/2015, p.67]

Duels of the Planeswalkers is an invaluable tool for learning how to play Magic: The Gathering. [10/2014, p.64]

Infernally fast vehicles racing and blowing each other up on numerous, well-designed tracks where distinction between floor and ceiling is often purely formal. If you still remember Rollcage fondly, you will probably turn a blind eye to average visuals, annoying music and some AI problems to simply enjoy the sensation of speed. [01/2019, p.79]

Warframe is worth your time, especially on PS4 with its limited array of games. [02/2014, p.56]

Due to quick levelling up and relatively small map Mutant Year Zero feels smaller than it actually is, but still don’t expect more than 12-15 hours of moderately engaging gameplay that unfortunately slows down towards the end. [01/2019, p.80]

On paper, Pacer has everything a racing game needs, including a multitude of game modes and customization options, decent physics, nice sense of speed, and a lot of varied, visually attractive tracks. In reality I got bored pretty quickly due to its lackluster career mode, questionable AI, and overall derivativeness. [02/2021, p.63]

The protagonist doesn’t have a believable motivation, while the enemies, the environments and the gameplay mechanics lack variety. Other than that Death’s Door is a really decent action RPG – it’s pretty, technically polished, rich in optional content, and welcoming of inexperienced players. [10/2021, p.68]

An interesting, solid genre hybrid that could use a greater weapon variety and would benefit from adding more content. [11/2021, p.76]

The latest entry in the Far Cry series brought many little joys, great performance by Giancarlo Esposito and beautiful tropical environments. Alas, it is annoying and disappointing in too many aspects. The story should have been approached more seriously, Yara is not a believable world and some of its areas are empty, while the gameplay suffers from copy-pasted assets and bugs that shouldn’t pollute a game from such an experienced developer. Overall, Far Cry 6 is a letdown. [12/2021, p.26]

Mobile AC is an all-around decent game but there’s just not enough fun in it to play longer than a couple of hours. [08/2016, p.74]

Apparently the devs ran out of money and couldn't polish the game the way it deserves. SoulCalibur V had a big deal of potential – a lot of great characters and a cool fighting system – but simply feels unfinished. [March 2012, p.54]

After initial delight and ten hours of fun Anno 2205 became a bit boring. [13/2015, p.40]

Alone in the Dark is a mid-tier title that successfully blends together elements of survival horror and adventure games, dripping with atmosphere but full of discouraging bugs. If you’re able to turn a blind eye to the noticeably limited development budget of this reboot, it can be really enjoyable.

There are moments when Death’s Gambit is a really good game that intelligently copies Souls and the likes, but to truly enjoy it you need to accept it as a collage of inspirations which doesn’t allow original ideas to shine. [11/2018, p.74]

Another Assassin’s Creed game that you can either buy or ignore sight unseen depending on whether you grew tired of the old formula. Some innovations (e.g. the grappling hook) are a welcome addition, some (like two playable characters and their development system) feel forced and not really thought through. The brightest aspect of Syndicate is London, which might be the most spectacular city in the series. [13/2015, p.42]

With its simple but very stylish visuals and enjoyable combat mechanics Bladed Fury is a surprisingly enjoyable indie game you will finish in one evening. [02/2019, p.45]

The potential of both Syndicate as a franchise and Starbreeze as the developer was not fully used. The co-op mode and the video post-processing are great but the game as a whole is a disappointment. [April 2012, p.52]

If you have a lot of free time (50-60 hours seem like a reasonable minimum) and are in no hurry, if you enjoy very complex, immersive games, if you’re willing to overlook numerous bugs and glitches and don’t mind a bland story – Medieval Dynasty is for you. Even though the constant backtracking might be a pain, I personally found the game’s slow pace relaxing rather than annoying and enjoyed my time with it. Plus there are a lot of options that let you simplify the experience and lower the difficulty level, so you don’t need to be a hardcore survival games fan to have fun with Medieval Dynasty. [12/2021, p.40]

Apart from wonderful visuals Seasons After Fall has little to offer – it’s just another indie platformer built around one idea (a good one, at least). [12/2016, p.58]

A hybrid of The Room and Amnesia that looks great thanks to Unreal Engine and offers a surprisingly realistic physics model. [10/2014, p.69]

A surprisingly fun game full of nuances related to numerous fishing techniques and choosing gear suitable for specific conditions. [11/2018, p.75]

The only game that offers all four Grand Slam tournaments also boasts interesting controls. I expected better animations though and the AI also needs some tweaking. [March 2012, p.61]

It has potential to absorb you for long hours and I can recommend it to everyone who likes games that are intellectually demanding. [02/2014, p.59]

The story is very shallow but even more disappointing is the fact that the Arcade Action mode is single player only while it seems perfect for co-op. [April 2012, p.58]

Not a game that will go down in history of electronic entertainment, but it provides lots of fun, especially in multiplayer. [06/2014, p.62]

It’s an easier, modest cousin (or clone) of Darkest Dungeon which doesn’t add much to the genre and uses the unique setting as it’s greatest strength. [12/2019, p.72]

Thanks to its unique setting (mythology of the East meets Däniken) and off-the-scale panache Asura's Wrath is a very interesting experience, but there's just not enough... game in it. Gameplay is very shallow, repetitive and easy. [April 2012, p.59]

The writers created a great setting, had a good idea for the plot and prepared excellent dialogues, but at the end of the day Nobody Wants to Die resembles an impressive technology showcase more than a proper game. I had fun, but the gameplay’s limited formula and modest length of this adventure are significant drawbacks.

It would have been nice if the developers could decide what game they want to make. On one hand, we have a failed attempt to tell an engaging story. On the other hand, series of puzzles would benefit from a higher difficulty level. Valiant Hearts is disappointing, but still not bad. [Sept 2014, p.56]

Unstoppable Gorg differs from other tower defense games and offers enough content and variety to provide a couple of fun evenings. [March 2012, p.63]

Life Is Strange drifted away from exciting teenage stories towards serious narratives commenting on our reality. Alex’s ability elevated interactions to a new level but its potential feels unrealized. The game is also short and the story only livens up by the end of it. [12/2021, p.46]

Despite its weak story, repetitive gameplay, and unvaried combat, Drake Hollow is a surprisingly enjoyable co-op survival game for casual players, especially those who love cute creatures but were disappointed by Ooblets. [13/2020, p.40]

The multiplayer mode is still excellent but I can’t stand how much this game as a whole is stuck in the previous generation both in terms of design and form. [12/2016, p.62]

Before I wrote this review, I spent 30 hours with Back in Action and I don't even know when this time flew by. I regret that the remake is not as complex and deep as the original game by Sir-Tech but some things are just gone and will never return. [April 2012, p.64]

The idea behind Dice Legacy is great, however the developers focused on unnecessary elements and, as a result, created an engaging city builder but a poor roguelike. [12/2021, p.48]

The developers did what they could to avoid the word “solitaire”, but that’s what Shadow Hand is at its core. It’s not just a solitaire though, it’s a hell of a solitaire. [02/2018, p.52]

While listening to panicked screams of our soldiers, profanities, demands for support and evacuation or reports about casualties, we can really get the feeling of sitting right in the middle of the war chaos. And also – the crushing feeling of being unable to help. [12/2019, p.82]

By finding extraordinary in completely ordinary situations (there are no supernatural elements in The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit, and there are actually no real adventures either) Dontnod reminded me why I fell in love with the studio. [09/2018, p.54]

Battle for Azeroth offers everything you could expect from a World of Warcraft expansion, but its scale is visibly smaller than Legion’s and there’s no truly new quality here. All that doesn’t change the fact that the charm of this extraordinary MMORPG appeals to me almost as strongly as 13 years ago. [10/2018, p.42]

Metal Gear Online has a great potential, but the developers need to improve and rebalance the game to make it shine. Playing it right after it was released felt like driving a supercar on a road ridden with potholes. [13/2015, p.56]

A very decent debut game. The developers tackled same serious topics (interpersonal relations, modern technology’s place in human life) and got away with it, even though the story feels rushed due to the fact that the game takes ca. 3 hours. [02/2018, p.53]

A Souls-inspired roguelite set in a techno-biological world, where your weapon is a symbiont and you develop your character by mutating – all that in a Nordic mythology coating and seasoned with humor. Sounds weird, but it works, at least until it gets repetitive. [12/2021, p.52]

MotoGP 14 is without a doubt both the best game in the series and the best product in Milestone’s portfolio. Still I recommend checking out the demo first. [Sept 2014, p.60]

The DLC does exactly what it should be doing – it pulls Warren out of homogenous industrial interiors and transports him into a new, completely different environment (which actually shows how much the game could have gained from more varied levels in the first place). It also loosens up the atmosphere but I felt it does not go far enough with crazy. I was disappointed with its length (ca. 3 hours in my case) and the fact that it does not scale well to New Game+, as my level 90. Warren felt much too powerful for the most part. [02/2018, p.54]

Semblance’s ace up the sleeve and key mechanic is the ability to deform environment, and in my opinion it does not work ideally in a puzzle game. I often felt like I was cheating, as if I forced a cubic block into a round hole in a kids’ shape sorter, and it fit, because it was flexible enough. This feeling often robbed me of satisfaction one should derive from solving a puzzle. [10/2018, p.50]

I could spend a lot of time pointing out this game’s flaws but I don’t have the heart to do it. It’s an enjoyable hack’n’slash and the fans of Finn and Jake finally received an adaptation that’s not extremely hopeless. [06/2014, p.68]

It’s a bold first step on the new terrain for Ubisoft. The game is enjoyable, offers some interesting mechanics and lasts for long enough, but is bland as a whole. The characters lack personalities, the city could use more distinctness and the story is instantly forgettable. [07/2014, p.46]

A short and simple walking simulator that’s worth your time not only because of unique, surreal visions it presents, great visuals and phenomenal music, but also because it tackles a difficult and rarely brought up subject of religion. [09/2018, p.58]

A beautiful, creative and incredibly frustrating platformer. It’s a shame that the most interesting gameplay mechanic – the ability to affect the environment by changing the time of day – plays second fiddle while it should have been the foundation of the game. [11/2018, p.80]

The Deathinitive Edition improves very little, but Darksiders II is still a fantastic game definitely worth checking out if you haven’t done so 3 years ago. [13/2015, p.59]

Complexity of gameplay mechanics and really decent immersion make up for the game’s repetitiveness and very slow pace. Despite its flaws I spent almost 20 hours with Take On Mars and didn’t even notice when all that time flew by. [04/2017, p.43]

It’s ugly as sin (upscaled 800 x 600 resolution) and there are no animations but this indie rougelike/puzzle game is addictive as hell. [02/2014, p.63]

Eastward is pretty and at first glance seems to have everything a good RPG needs, but its boring story and drawn-out conversations between clichéd characters made it harder to enjoy. [12/2021, p.58]

A worthy tribute to UFO: Enemy Unknown/X-COM: UFO Defense, but far from perfect. If you feel that your inner hard core gamer is not dead yet, give it a try and have fun. [Sept 2014, p.64]

The developers failed to deliver on their promise to move the game to Unreal Engine 4 and therefore once again the visuals are at most passable. What’s more important though is that Train Simulator is still, well, the best train simulator. [13/2015, p.59]

The game can be infuriating but I formed a weird attachment to it and retried time after time while mumbling profanities under my breath. [04/2017, p.45]

I love Broken Swords and this one returns to the tradition of the first two games, which are the best in the series. If only this new sword were longer... [02/2014, p.64]

I appreciate the game’s originality, appealing art style, replayability and combat mechanics that leave some room for tactics. I find randomizing the difficulty level irritating though. Sometimes you get to fight softies, sometimes the same level greets you with enemies that kill you with a single punch (hello, permadeath!). Loosing simply because you were unlucky and had to face an impossible dungeon does not feel great. [03/2021, p.39]

After whopping 10 years spent in Steam’s Early Access, 7 Days to Die still feels unfinished, which makes it quite difficult to evaluate. My reason tells me to tear this game apart for tons of bugs and pretty much non-existent optimization, but my heart wants to give it a high rating. After all, I spent over a hundred hours in it and had fun for most of that time.

This technically superb tribute to Destruction Derby could use some more insanity (especially in terms of unimaginative, repetitive arenas and challenges) and a broader color palette. The default driving model (with active assists) is both believable and satisfying and the destruction model is very detailed. [09/2018, p.60]

The Final Station’s gameplay is divided into two parts that fit together rather loosely. The first one is travelling from station to station by train and it offers almost no challenge. The game shows its true colors when it makes you leave the train and turns into a wonderfully creative and perfectly balanced 2D shooter. [12/2016, p.73]

The expansion introducing 12-a-side PvP battles in space lets you modify your starfighter heavily and offers a solid arcade gameplay that works great as a part of a bigger game. [02/2014, p.65]

Letting players quit online matches without any repercussions is an unforgivable and incomprehensible decision by EA Sports and completely kills the multiplayer mode. Apart from that it's a fun game. [May 2012, p.56]

You can point out various Battlefield’s shortcomings, but DICE is excellent when it comes to designing maps and Naval Strike once again proves that fact. [06/2014, p.71]

A good, solid shoot’em up that neatly copies from the best representatives of the genre but is accessible even to beginners. [06/2014, p.71]

The biggest strength and simultaneously the most notable weakness of Dark Side is the fact, that it’s the first King’s Bounty all over again. It’s still fun, but how much longer? [Sept 2014, p.66]

It’s a museum piece and a reminder why we used to love old point’n’click games (and hate some of them). If you’re not a diehard fan of such style, this is definitely not a game for you. [07/2014, p.61]

The developers decided not to tamper with core gameplay and most of the additions they introduced feel forced and water down the experience instead of enhancing it. It’s a solid platformer but it failed to surpass the original Guacamelee! [11/2018, p.84]

An interesting tower defense in space, but also a one-trick pony. [Sept 2014, p.67]

Diluvion is neither especially pretty nor polished, it can be frustrating and its low budget is obvious, but despite all that I stayed in the office after hours to play it not because I had to, but because I wanted to. Leisurely exploration of a silent, atmospheric underwater world is surprisingly enjoyable. [04/2017, p.54]

A solid remaster of Neighbours From Hell and its sequel, fun if you’re up for some corny humor. [13/2020, p.60]

I wish the developers did more with the idea of the magic marker, but Curse of the Brotherhood makes up for its shortcomings with wonderful visuals, vivid world and a likeable protagonist. [Sept 2014, p.69]

It’s an enjoyable game for a younger audience or in small doses. If you play it for hours you will get tired of it, because in the long run its gameplay gets repetitive – and that is Doodle God’s biggest flaw. [04/2017, p.55]

There’s a lot of love here, both for the genre and the main character – and that love is contagious, especially since Heroki is surprisingly polished for an indie game. However I have no idea why someone decided that assigning movement and aiming to the same analogue stick is a good idea. [10/2018, p.62]

PC version of Injustice is decent, but visuals and the code responsible for online multiplayer could use some tweaking (lags occur sometimes). [02/2014, p.71]

Jet Kave Adveture is a fun, vibrant, varied platformer that brings to mind animated movies. It is also easy and its cartoon violence is very mild, which makes it great for young players. Seasoned gamers may find it not challenging enough, but still Jet Kave Adventure made me realize how much I miss such titles on PC. [03/2021, p.48]

Last time I had so much fun with characters built of handful of pixels was probably in the Lemmings era. [02/2014, p.71]

The concept behind this 3D platformer (you play as a candle that can burn for merely 10 seconds to illuminate the environment) is interesting, but I found the narrative to be unnecessarily pretentious and the amateurish execution did not help either. [04/2018, p.50]

Don’t let the title fool you. For something called The Survivalists, the game’s survival-related mechanics are shockingly lenient. The only aspect you need to pay constant attention to is hunger, but there’s plenty of food. Low overall difficulty level doesn’t have to be a flaw though. If Don’t Starve Together is too stressful for you and your friends, The Survivalists might be a great choice for co-op. [13/2020, p.66]

It won’t beat The Witcher 3, replace Baldur’s Gate or overshadow Divinity: Original Sin, but it does offer 10 hours of solid, straightforward RPG fun with a strong emphasis on tactical combat. [01/2017, p.50]

Hoa’s defining quality is simplicity. No complex gameplay mechanics, no elaborate story, no need to grow a third hand to push through challenging parts. That’s why I would recommend this beautiful, rather easy platformer primarily to young players. [12/2021, p.66]

A challenging survival game with a dark atmosphere and intriguing story. It’s much better than its price suggests, but can be really frustrating when the random factor (implemented to intensify tension) goes rogue and causes almost all the systems in your base to malfunction within half a minute. [04/2018, p.52]

It could have been a relaxing game about playing golf on the ruins of our civilization, but its whole sporting aspect is subpar (due to poor physics, among others), sometimes frustrating, and makes it harder to appreciate the story. However, Golf Club: Wasteland definitely has its unique flavor and the in-game radio station is fantastic. [12/2021, p.67]

Works better in small doses on touchscreen. After a couple of hours on PC it becomes repetitive and boring. [CD-Action 09/2013, p.69]

New visuals look great without completely ditching the distinctive style of the original Pharaoh, more fluent animations add to the positive experience, while the gameplay is still demanding and addictive. Overall, Pharaoh: A New Era lives up to expectations for remakes of classic games, but Triskell Interactive should have worked much harder on the interface, as its new version makes the game harder to enjoy.

Extended Edition is addictive, but owes it to the brilliance of Ensemble (the developers of the original AoM), not SkyBox, who basically put their name under someone else’s work after introducing changes so marginal that you might not even notice them. [07/2014, p.70]

All Star Battle might not win any new fans for the franchise but will make existing ones happy. [07/2014, p.71]