Whether intentionally or not, Keeper feels like a quiet rebuke to the current games industry and its devaluing of human craft. A towering testament to the joyous, creative and novel search for meaning that games can elicit with a subtle focus on the hands that craft such worlds. Keeper’s surreal journey through abstraction and connection is a wondrous trip through a lighthouse’s looking glass.

BALL x PIT is a fun blend of old-school brick breaker and shoot ’em up games. Its creative ball fusions and frantic gameplay will sell you, but the variety will keep you engaged. It’s still a roguelite with some occasionally exhausting moments and very challenging bosses, but it’s ultimately inventive and full of personality.

Little Nightmares 3 presents gameplay and location design that mimics the style of its predecessors, while maintaining none of the depth or exploration that the horror genre champions so effectively. Till now, Tarsier Studios has steered the Little Nightmares games through caricatural horror to plumb the depths of those life-sized fears. But now Supermassive Games has taken the wheel, and the proverbial ship has veered frighteningly off-course into shallow waters.

EA Sports FC 26 is another confident entry in the long-running series, delivering the essentials with polish and scale. With a staggering amount of licensed teams, players, and global competitions — including women’s leagues — the game remains the definitive virtual football experience. That said, FC26 doesn’t take many risks. Career modes return almost untouched, with some elements even feeling recycled from last year’s release. The absence of a story-driven mode like VOLTA leaves a noticeable gap for players craving something beyond the standard match grind. Still, what FC 26 does, it does very well — and while it may not be a revolution, it’s a finely tuned evolution.

Bye Sweet Carole features a magnetic, magical and also horrific 2D world to explore that takes the conventions of 2D animation and turns them on their head to create a memorable story filled with narrative themes and puzzles that are nailed with pinpoint precision. Without a shadow of a doubt, Lana’s story is one worth experiencing, and it’s a unique horror adventure. However, it’s marred by the sheer scale of a few of its faults, including significant bugs and scarce, unnecessary sequences that take away from the gem that’s there. There’s a magical time to be had here, and I wholly want people to have that… it just hasn’t quite fully found its voice yet.

The new and improved Yooka-Re-Playlee takes cues from other modern platform games like Mario Odyssey, successfully turning a janky and awkwardly designed platformer into a bingeable collectathon that feels more packed with platforming challenges. A full overhaul to the graphics, controls, and UI modernises Yooka-Laylee and makes it appealing to more than just classic Rareware fans, but it comes at the expense of the game’s identity as a spiritual successor to Banjo Kazooie, something that was so central to the game’s original pitch. However, taken as it is, this remake transforms Yooka-Laylee into, if not a masterpiece, at least much less of a mixed bag.

Letters to Arralla adds the thrill of reading someone else’s mail with the joys of being part of a welcoming community. It’s fun to deliver mail with unconventional puzzles while always having help available. This game does need time to truly show its potential, and it does get repetitive after some time. But you won’t find another cozy game that encourages mail crime, and for that, Letters to Arralla has my support.

Dreams of Another is an admirable mess of a game. Its narrative is poorly executed through truly terrible dialogue and performances, it’s incapable of offering a creative alternative to its exploration beyond shooting, and its philosophical musings wouldn’t be out of place on r/im14andthisisdeep. But, for those players who decide to dream this particular dream, Dreams of Another offers an eclectic kaleidoscope of bizarre artistic motifs, a fascinatingly surreal mood and a (possibly entirely unintentional) thematic density that is still worth treasuring amidst the haze of its voxel world.

Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 1 Re-Raptored will be super fun for those who love quick puzzle games with a bit of a story thrown in. It’s also for those who appreciate quirky meta narratives and moments when games “break the fourth wall.” Though it is short, it packs a lot of laughs and match-3 goodness into a small game run, enough so that I’d recommend it to those who love humorous, self-aware narratives and solid puzzle experiences.

A retro-70s recontextualisation works wonders in Agatha Christie: Death on the Nile, adding a delightful stylistic flair to the classic whodunnit. With a charming cast of bougie suspects, satisfying puzzle-solving, and some thoughtful additions to the narrative, this is a unique and compelling rendition of an iconic tale. Despite some janky controls and the occasional frustrating puzzle, this is a solid mystery adventure for Christie fans and newcomers alike.

Digimon Story: Time Stranger makes big strides for the RPG offshoot of its long-running creature collector series. Despite some small missteps in story and side mission pacing, it’s a vast, colourful and exciting world to visit, filled with all your favourite possible digital monsters. For RPG freaks out there, there’s also a lot of involved systems and mechanics that feed into one another and result in some wicked cool, tactile and punchy combat. You’re in good hands with Time Stranger. Come on in and hang with some adorable monsters. The water’s fine.

Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2 feel right at home on the Nintendo Switch. While some additional gameplay tweaks may have been desirable, this still remains the definitive package, with a welcome visual upgrade, more accessible difficulty options and updated controls. Whether this is your first time experiencing Mario’s voyages to the stars or you are looking for a spaceship journey down memory lane, there has never been a better time to check out Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2, now on the Nintendo Switch.

There is a lot to love in Consume Me; ironically, the game’s main issue is that it doesn’t have enough bite. Even still, the narrative is deeply relatable, the art style engrossing, and the minigames are more than enough fun to keep you entertained throughout the entire runtime.

LEGO Party is a great idea executed really well. It delivers a Mario Party-style experience with its own unique game board mechanics, inventive mini-games, and wonderful presentation. Younger players will love what’s on offer, but there’s plenty of solid fun to be had by all ages and skill levels. It doesn’t shine when played single player, but with a few friends on board, it’s a fantastic addition to your party game nights.

CloverPit does what it does well. It’s very clear how much inspiration Panik Arcade has taken from Balatro and Buckshot Roulette, but it’s taken bits and pieces and created its own unique identity. The low-poly art style lends itself very well to creating an eerie atmosphere, and taking the time to put together charm combinations is fun and incredibly satisfying when it pays off. Though the rougelike element and pure RNG might be frustrating at times, and the simple gameplay loop can feel repetitive, taking what you’ve learned from a previous run and seeing it pay off in another feels very rewarding.

I’ve been waiting for a game like Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds. As the true successor to Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed, it brings back everything we loved about the fast-paced, chaotic kart racer: epic tracks that get more challenging from lap to lap, satisfying air tricks that reward you with boosts, all whilst adding more of that patented Sonic charm. With a long road of content ahead, it looks like the game will be a good bang for its buck; I just wish it didn’t include Nickelodeon.

Hotel Barcelona is a messy but ambitious experiment that often feels like it’s trying to do too much at once. Its style and inventive ideas, like Slasher Phantoms, branching levels and absurd characters, show flashes of brilliance, but the clunky combat and overstuffed mechanics make many runs more testing than enjoyable. In the end, it’s memorable for its imagination, but not for being a satisfying or polished experience.

Sushi Ben is an unbelievably vibrant and charming game filled with a creative cast of characters and lovely vibes in the seaside city of Kotobuki Town. It’s got a real sense of place about it as you’re engaging in silly shenanigans and meeting its cast that are well-voiced in both English and Japanese. First and foremost, it is a strong ‘vibes’ game. Still, it’s between a rock and a hard place when it comes to its translation to a flatscreen. The tactility and interactivity aren’t there as much. It’s got a new set of bugs, and it still has a bit of an abrupt, dissatisfying ending. If all else, I’m glad I finally got to experience Sushi Ben and its weird cast of freaks. No one can ever take that away from me.

Blippo+ isn’t for those who are drawn to a game solely for its gameplay. It’s more for those who have an interest in popular culture, sci-fi and what potentially playing with our own ideas of science, entertainment, and opinions can create. As a child of the 90s, I found this to be a nostalgic ride through a lot of visual concepts that are now seen as kitschy and dated, but that really come alive, and seem like fresh, new concepts due to the extent the game goes in making every element of Blippo+ feel like a real world. Blippo+ is an amazing example of world-building done well and will be an exciting ride for those who love unique, strange visual experiences.

Atelier Resleriana: The Red Alchemist & the White Guardian never once feels like it was developed beyond the boardroom meeting of its conception. It fails to venture beyond the foundations that the series has set for itself or delve into the world of innovation and experimentation that the series is known for. Superfans of the series may find something to love here, but for those who don’t care to dig that deep, they will find a mish-mash of boring dungeons, a bland story, mind-numbing levels of repetition, and a plethora of design shortcomings in a setting that requires prior knowledge of the world.

Ghost of Yotei is a confident sequel that grows from its predecessor in smart ways, with a bigger, bolder, more beautiful world to explore every nook and cranny of. Atsu is a strong lead, and her journey of vengeance takes some compelling twists and turns, while Edo Japan provides a true bounty of interesting side quests, charming characters, neat distractions, and wonderful secrets across what feels like a truly epic adventure. With entertaining combat and visuals that are among the best seen, Ghost of Yotei balances its violence and beauty delicately, offering a strong experience from the team at Sucker Punch Productions: an entirely memorable journey, and an action-packed, stunning adventure.

Hades II is hard to put down, and is the most fun I've had with a roguelike in years. Supergiant Games' trademark dedication to beautiful art direction, compelling writing and memorable music has come to the forefront in their latest game, combined with engaging gameplay that expands on its predecessor in exactly the ways that a good sequel should. Whether you've played the original Hades or not, Hades II is a truly amazing experience and sets the new standard for roguelike narrative storytelling and gameplay.

Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles is a successful revisitation of one of the best tactics adventures and Final Fantasy spin-offs to ever do it. Revisiting the haunting and memorable world of Ivalice, you're on the road with Ramza and company again, depicted in a lush art style that pays respect to the original's name. Quality of life additions make it the most palatable but refined version yet, making battles smoother and as aptly challenging as ever. The grandiosity of it all is also bolstered this time, thanks to the fully voice-acted story from a talented cast that helps paint the Shakespearean script you're subjected to and the deeply political world you're situated in. It's so respectful of the original that you can also say to hell with all of this and just also boot the classic version from the menu. It is a classic revisited and not disrespected. It's joy distilled in a perfect package. Crucially, it's Final Fantasy Tactics, in your hands all over again, for the first time in over a decade. The thought is so beautiful it could make me cry.

Much like the first game, Slime Rancher 2 is a really grand time. The expansive world is filled with gorgeous vistas and really clever level design. Uncovering the secrets of Rainbow Island while building your ranch remains a highly entertaining experience. In this regard, Slime Rancher 2 is a worthy successor to the original. But a bigger world to explore without equal developments to gameplay makes the cracks shine a little brighter. Ranching can still feel a little too shallow and wears thin without new challenges to overcome. Additionally, a heavy late-game grind shines a spotlight on how tedious collecting resources can become. This series of smaller problems highlights just how much Slime Rancher 2 suffers from refusing to evolve its gameplay. But, if you adored the first game, another ranching adventure with loads of exciting new content will more than make up for any shortcomings.

Baby Steps surpassed all my expectations and even small grievances to become a thrilling, trying and memorable journey about being better and learning to ask for help. It’s certainly one of the harder ‘one of those’ types of ragebait climbing games, but each step it makes in tackling this niche is as deliberate as the ones you’re making as the clumsy Nate. What’s within is a refinement of the subgenre, providing a layered and surprisingly poignant world and story to explore. Bennett Foddy and co. have made their opus here, and even with every plummet and misstep I made, I had the best experience that in the space I’ve ever had, uniquely hating, loving, loathing and delighting in it. If the devs are reading this, I hate you guys. But also, I bloody love you.

Arctic Awakening’s intriguing premise is quickly buried under a slushy heap of mediocrity. Its mystery is undercut by poorly conceived writing, the character dynamics and performances leave you colder than its wintry landscapes and whatever visual beauty that can be found in its intermittent spectacle is often dashed by raw survival mechanics and sluggish pacing. In more assured hands, this could have been a familiar yet effective 4-5 hour narrative adventure, but in its current state, you’d best leave it buried in the snow.

All in all, Wobbly Life is a fun time due to the silly physics creating wacky moments. While you can play solo, it does feel better with friends. There’s variety in job types and missions, though most come timed where it’s either too much or too little. While the graphics are admittedly simple, it does offer unique customisation to make your Wobbly unique. The 1.0 update brings more jobs and missions, this time, in space, which lends to the sci-fi genre. It’ll be exciting to see what RubberBandGames expands on next.

Wander Stars is an incredibly cute love letter to the classic anime series. It takes the extreme style of Dragon Ball’s bombastic combat and playfully turns it into a turn-based RPG, fully embracing the camp hyper-stylised nature of its inspirations. It also tells an unexpectedly emotional tale with diversity in its cast of characters. A delightful treat for the Cheez TV kids (and the furries).