Figment 2: Creed Valley is a story about letting go of the stress that life might throw at you. It reminds you that you’re not too old to play the ukulele and that you too can dance like an idiot. Admittedly, the lack of visual progression is a shame. But the art style is fantastic, with each brush stroke looking uniquely gorgeous. Not only that, but the music feels like its own character, as though it lives in the world. The story itself is an emotional rollercoaster, and by the end, you can reflect back on the great journey you’ve taken.

WarioWare: Get it Together! has some of the best microgames in the series, all of which carry on the zany heart of the WarioWare franchise. The multiplayer modes and weekly challenges add a lot of replayability, making it great for killing a few minutes with friends. But when it comes to adding its own twist to the series, Get it Together‘s constant switching out of characters just doesn’t mesh well with the WarioWare formula that we know and love. That, along with the disappointing lack of much of the comedic dialogue we’ve seen from previous games, hold it back from being Wario’s best. But it still promises a fun time whenever you have a few minutes to spare.

Omno is an enjoyable and visually beautiful experience. While there are some elements of the gameplay that feel lacking and where you’ll feel like you’re taking a backseat, it accomplishes what it sets out to do with its relaxed approach to puzzles and exploration. It will give you an atmospheric adventure to immerse yourself in for a few hours, and maybe as a bonus, leave you with a nice warm fuzzy feeling. And sometimes, that’s just what you’re looking for.

Three games down in quick succession, Voice of Cards: The Beasts of Burden manages to mostly avoid that infamous and known series fatigue. That’s largely thanks to yet another compelling fantasy story and enchanting immersion of a tabletop campaign journey. It’s in fact my favourite story of the trilogy, complete with a new and welcome mechanic that is monster collecting. It just is ever so slightly barred from being great due to more obvious padding and traipsing around until it reaches its wondrous conclusion. Regardless, we have another good entry in this weird little Square Enix series. That voice inviting you to play cards? Trust it. It’s as enjoyable as ever.

Penny’s Big Breakaway is big on ambition, for a studio the size of Evening Star they have turned in a title that is a cut above the 3D action adventure norm, most of the time. At its best, Penny’s is vibrant, colourful and packed with imaginative ideas and mechanics. The use of momentum feels natural and the level design feels intuitive. The overall presentation is excellent and is backed by a banging soundtrack that brings the game to life. That said, there are moments where Penny’s Big Breakway crosses the threshold from difficult/tricky and into frustrating territory. Whilst not bad enough or frequent enough to ruin the experience, it did create moments where I felt I needed to put the controller down and take a break. Overall though, in a genre flooded with competitors, if you are looking for something different, Penny’s Big Breakaway could be just the ticket.

Until Then is a must-play for lovers of narrative-focused games everywhere. The game already depicts living the life of a teenager in the Phillippines in the 2010s beautifully with its thoughtful and authentic writing, combined with a picturesque world. That alone would be enough, but it goes above and beyond, adding breathtaking pixel animation, an intriguing mystery and a palpable geopolitical subplot. The cast of characters is incredibly endearing and you’ll grow to love them all, building to the final emotional gut punch of the game that takes the wind out of you. Joining the plethora of quality narratives in 2024, Until Then is a game you won’t soon forget.

Super Mario Party Jamboree Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Jamboree TV introduces a collection of fun new rule sets, but is brought down a bit due to the camera and microphone games that, for a title released in 2025, should work better than they do. That said, slapping your live reactions into your Mario Party games adds an undeniable layer of goofy entertainment that the series is known for.

Out of nowhere, En Garde! is a surprise hit and a swashbuckling tale well worth playing. Engaging in fights, whether that’s one-on-one or being outnumbered as you navigate an environment, using many obstacles and contraptions is immensely fun. Complimenting all of this is a painterly world, backed with a strong soundtrack, clever dialogue quips and a lot of heart. My biggest gripe with En Garde! is that there isn’t more of it, something I so desperately need. As iron and steel collide in tense frantic battles or as you send your hundredth mook careening down a flight of stairs, one thing becomes apparent: Fireplace Games have made a hell of an unbelievably charming and special game.

Withering Rooms provides a great horror RPG experience with its gameplay. You never stop being a fragile girl trying to leave a horrible dream. But the tools to fight back give you courage and let you battle the undead. Coming up with strategies is genuinely rewarding and adds variety to the combat. Learning from your mistakes and making death painful forces you to pay attention. The story isn’t as strong as it could be and some aspects could use better explanations. However, Withering Rooms is not a horror experience you want to miss if you’ve been looking for a challenge.

Jurassic World Evolution 2, for all the negative things I’ve had to say about it, is not in itself that bad of a game. It IS however, a mediocre Jurassic Park game, one that has passable mechanics that gel with the franchise about as well as a raptor gels with Samuel L. Jackson. Ultimately, you can’t really look past such an enormous missing of the point and it does besmirch the experience. For diehard Jurassic Park fans like me, the Jurassic World Evolution formula is a hard sell, though park management enthusiasts may get a kick out of this still.

Dead Take is a solid adventure for the FMV genre that provides an eerie and moody atmosphere set in the Hollywood hills. What’s there is an intriguing exploration of the powers that be and the dog-eat-dog nature of the film industry, and how it can consume people. It may not contain the deepest or most complex puzzle, nor does it make replayability easy for optional objectives, but you don’t stay for that. What you’re there for is the stellar performances; the likes of Ben Starr, Neil Newbon, Laura Bailey and more giving it their utmost all to deliver you a sufficiently chilling horror experience. There are horrors in that mansion, and though not all in there may delight, it’s a worthwhile and memorable jaunt behind Hollywood’s closed doors.

Simon the Sorcerer Origins is coming out of retirement, and fans couldn’t be happier. There are some great visuals, to the point where the art team truly outdid themselves, and the music is downright fantastic and fits right in with the world. Though the puzzle difficulty isn’t forgiving, and unfortunately, they don’t offer a hint book for those who need it. Chris Barrie, the voice of Simon, voices a bratty kid well, but he’s not believable enough that he could be an eleven-year-old. With all that said, Origins is filled to the brim with a lot of humour and genuine laugh-out-loud moments that made me want to push through the punishing puzzles to find out what Simon would say next. Hopefully, there’s a chance for a remaster of the original two games from Smallthings Studios, and I cannot wait.

The Wild at Heart is a story-rich action-adventure that draws you in and pulls at your heartstrings as we follow two children, Wake and Kirby, as they discover who they are and where they belong. The immersive and detailed storytelling and intuitive gameplay make The Wild at Heart a beautifully crafted showpiece. Whilst some of the gameplay further into the experience can feel repetitive and some mechanics are either underutilised or unnecessary, this is still a game worth sharing with people of all ages as it offers unique experiences for each player. Moonlight Kids have done an amazing job creating this unique and wonderful world and the story within. If you are an avid lover of puzzle adventure games that involve weird and wonderful creatures, coming of age stories, battles against supernatural foes and uncovering secrets, then The Wild at Heart is something you absolutely must experience for yourself.

ATONE: Heart of the Elder Tree is a game with lots of love put into it. The story is emotional, the art is beautiful and original, and the soundtrack is outstanding. It’s just unfortunate that the rhythm game portion doesn’t work quite right on Nintendo Switch. I think it would only take a few small changes for it to be greatly improved, and I hope the team at Wildboy Studios may have the time to implement these in future. The game is already good, but it could be even better.

Bloomtown: A Different Story is a very special game, and one of 2024’s hidden gems. While its premise and combat won’t come across as the most original at a glance, the sheer care and skill at which the developers combine those familiar ingredients, from its fluid animations, engaging narrative, earwormy soundtrack and surprisingly deep combat, all come together in an exceptional package. If you wanted a bite-sized Persona game that you can finish in a reasonable timeframe, or are just a fan of turn-based RPGs in general, Bloomtown: A Different Story is a very easy recommend.

Playing as Babyface with such smoothly animated mocap and fluent combo chains feels powerful. Being able to charge through levels, using everything in sight to bounce off goons like a martial arts master is an unstoppable sensation. Sure, the story isn’t that deep and doesn’t have the budget or quality of larger game studios, but the game compensates with very inventive fights. Midnight Fight Express is the John Wick experience in video game form.

Temtem isn’t just a copycat Pokémon. Incorporating MMO elements and engaging characters into fan-favourite gameplay is an overwhelming success, with an abundance of addicting endgame content. Unfortunately, Temtem suffers from optimisation issues and needs to present its most captivating features at the forefront rather than behind the MMO grind and a slow main story. I can’t deny how much fun it is to play Temtem, it just needs more time and polish to be the best there ever was.

A wonderfully peculiar blend of visual novel, choice-driven RPG, and off-Broadway musical, Stray Gods embraces the theatrical duality of comedy and tragedy and wraps it into a narrative experience that can be at once gut-wrenching and cheeky. Through some excellently written and performed dialogue, incredible audio production, and effective use of player choice, it provides an intimate and personal music theatre experience. While its semi-animated visual style and simplified gameplay may prove off-putting for some, Stray Gods is a unique and compelling love letter to the theatre kid inside us all.

Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne HD Remaster is an extremely important game that paved the way for the Persona series and other turn-based JRPGs. For that reason, it’s important that we give it credit where credit is due; without it and the SMT franchise as a whole, the genre would look mighty different. Though running around in circles and fighting battle after battle with samey demons can be more yawn than yay, Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne is a classic that anyone who values the genre should check out, even if it’s merely to delve into the roots of this complicated, intriguing universe.

Rematch is a wonderful reinterpretation of football with just enough innovation to make the sport its own. Thanks to an amazing gameplay loop and beautiful art style, every match has been unforgettably fun. Unfortunately, some current issues with server performance and limited, restrictive content stop Rematch from becoming a must buy. Still, anyone looking for a hot new multiplayer game like nothing else should keep a close eye on Rematch’s future.

I’m walking away from my time with Smelter really fondly. It’s a wonderful, charming and inventive title that makes for a hell of a debut. Smelter won’t cross many people’s radar but it’s a game I’ll be beating my drum for this year, begging as many people as possible to play it. Smelter is charming. It’s tough-as-nails. At times it’s even hilarious. Most of all, Smelter is just itself – a badass and unapologetic indie guaranteed to give you a good time.

Fae Farm adds a lot of great quality-of-life improvements to the farming sim genre and makes magic with its soft and comfy art style. It’s unfortunate that it falls short in a few important areas such as the interactions you can have with NPCs, because the rest of the game is incredibly solid. It does also take a long time to get going, and those first days in the game will feel a bit like a slog, but once you start uncovering the more fantastical side of the island there is a lot of amazing stuff to discover. If you are looking for a new farming sim to try, especially one with magical elements, Fae Farm might just scratch that itch.

While it’s sporting a new look and name, EA Sports FC 24 is a familiar and altogether solid entry in the juggernaut that is EA’s annual soccer video game series. Picking up the controller for a quick session with mates feels as comfortable and natural as it ever has, with plenty of mechanical depth for hardcore football fanatics to obsess over. It’s a shame that the glitches present at release can be match-ending, and placing microtransactions front-and-centre in a full-priced retail game always feels icky, but the sheer variety and quality of game modes on offer make up for these shortcomings for the most part. EA Sports FC 24 is a true celebration of the world’s game, with plenty of content for longtime fans and newcomers alike.

Farming Simulator 25 is a tough experience if you haven’t done farming before. The tutorial is short and only introduces you to the basics of agriculture, so you’ll spend most of your time making mistakes and fumbling around. But if you stay and learn, you get a comprehensive farming experience. It comes at the cost of everything being related to farming, but you’ll gain a better appreciation for the work that farmers do.

While Song of Nunu tells a story set in a pre-established League of Legends universe, players who have never played the MOBA won’t be lost in this magical journey. There are some issues throughout the game including glitches and framerate, but the musical score and voice acting is superb. A healthy amount of accessibility options also helps to ensure Song of Nunu shines for all gamers. It won’t change the landscape of the League of Legends brand, but it does elevate and diversify, bringing something non-fans and fans alike can enjoy.

In spite of its obscure, overwritten prose and awkward puzzles, Centum provides a chilling and compelling narrative experience that both devastates and provokes reflection. Its stunning environment design builds a universe that extends beyond the screen, while its grossly uncanny characters evoke a base level of anxiety that is at once compelling and horrifying. Recommended for fans of classic point-and-click spookies who don’t mind a bit of skim-reading.

MainFrames is a delight to look at, but less enjoyable to actually play. The charming and cute aesthetics can’t save MainFrames from its simplistic gameplay which struggles to capitalise on its strong ideas.

Let Them Trade is a cute and cosy city builder, where you don’t have to micromanage everything. It’s easy for newcomers to understand, with helpful tutorials and a fun campaign. It also never punishes the players for making a mistake. But, there are areas where it needs to improve, such as explaining some of the upgrades, and better accessibility. Let Them Trade has a unique style to it, with wooden tiles where you can see the grain, and hilarious dialogue (even if it can be too real). There are no repeat scenarios, and each of them doesn’t overstay its welcome, either. It’s exciting to see what Spaceflower will bring to future updates, and what comes next for the cosy city builder genre.