For three hours of entertainment, I’m not sure The Midnight Sanctuary is worth the $9.99. However, it does present an increasingly entertaining story with surrealist visuals, so if that sounds like something you’d like, it might be worth checking out. For me, slogging through 3-D models that could have been traditional visual novel artwork for a story that only kicked into gear in the last thirty minutes just wasn’t how I wanted to spend my day. Still, that ending though, right?

Overall, Star Wars Pinball: Solo Pack is a decent but not great collection of pinball tables for Pinball FX3. The tables mostly have cool visuals, their level designs don’t usually get in the way of the pinball fun, and the sound design certainly makes this table pack feel like Star Wars. However, with a $10 price, Star Wars and pinball game fans alike should probably wait until this table pack goes on sale before picking it up.

If you’re a Namco fan, you’ve almost certainly bought these games several times before. If you’re not a Namco fan, these games will likely fail to resonate with you. The whole Namco Museum collection is very much of a certain time. As a collection, they don’t stand the test of time, and they certainly aren’t worth the price of admission. If you’re a Pac-Man diehard, you’ll find a lot to love with the Namco Museum Arcade Pac. Otherwise, I’d give this one a pass.

I really wanted to like it more than I did. It’s just so full of potential. Each system has so many clever ideas… but the fundamentals aren’t there. This is the first game from HOF Studios and it proves they are a team to watch. But the main measure of a game like this is how much you want to keep going. Do you always want to play just one more turn? When you close your eyes at night, do you see little soldiers marching across a grid? You don’t. Depth of Extinction is clever, but a little shallow.

Fire Pro Wrestling World, for the most part, does what it sets out to do very well. That experience may not be one that’s going to be for everyone. It may even skew more towards those truly dedicated fans or those yearning for a more classic approach. Can it still hold its ground though compared to other contemporary Pro Wrestling titles? Yes, it can, but it takes such a radically different approach than others. It’s definitely good, but it’s definitely different.

Mutant Football League is a darkly charming take on football video games, taking real gameplay mechanics and blending in ultra violence, explosions, fire, lasers, death, dismemberment, and so much more to catch the eye of gamers who aren’t interested in your average game of football. While the graphics feel dated and the gameplay options limited, what you get is over the top violence, solid gameplay, and a ton of replayability with slapstick humor, dark jokes, nasty insults, and all manner of hilarious content. This isn’t a game to play with the kids, but it sure is a great way to spend a lazy Sunday.

Corpse Party: Book of Shadows is, quite frankly, unremarkable. It’s not atrocious enough for me to say that I hated it. I didn’t hate it. If you’re a hardcore fan of visual novels, you might not hate it. However, I certainly wouldn’t recommend that you seek it out.

Storm Boy: The Game’s biggest flaw is its length. The price point, as of writing this, is unreleased, but it took me less than twenty minutes to beat the game, and so I hope the game stays accordingly affordable. I didn’t skip the minigames—sure, I didn’t get lost in them either, but I did play them all until I was bored. Of course, kids might spend considerably longer on it, getting lost collecting shells and feeding pelicans, but it still couldn’t take much more than half an hour.

The unique integration of a highly tribal, ancient-jungle-meets-swamp world into a game that most typically displays elements of traditional fantasy is done masterfully, and I would recommend any hardcore Elder Scrolls fan to lose themselves in its strangeness and beauty. It will not offer you any new gameplay mechanics, unique quest activities or even a new dungeon, and this is where I find that the ESO DLCs truly have room to grow. Until then, we’ll have to settle in and enjoy the exploration and tireless grinding that this new zone greatly encourages.

The Last Broadcast doesn’t really feel like This War of Mine. It feels like an art piece someone built upon the other. A story within the framework of the game. The base game is an all-time great, I’ll say that again and again. The Last Broadcast is a moving story, but one you’ll be through in something like two hours.

As it is, Neverout is probably the best movie tie-in game to a movie that few are probably aware of, which is not saying much. Neverout is a pleasant diversion in VR but one that only scratches the surface of its potential.

While Sundered: Eldritch Edition is not without its faults here, the new additions thanks to the Eldritch Edition are welcome. The new co-op mode is intense and it adds a bit more replayability to the mix here. Sure, the longer you play through the single-player experience, the more it all begins to feel the same, but the graphics certainly don’t hurt your eyes, and the music lends credence to the ancient religious themes throughout, adding depth to the atmosphere as well. If you’ve been waiting to kick start the new year with some 2D metroidvania platforming action and you’re looking for freedom to explore without instruction, Sundered is one to keep your eye on.

All in all, Godly Corp is weirdly compelling. As TR8 Torus Studios’ inaugural effort, it was difficult to step into it with any expectations, but maybe having none was the way to go. A few elements are surprisingly charming, and for those who are Lovecraft fans, they’ll find a fun, brief little home in this time-management puzzler. It isn’t the epic adventure into R’lyeh that we all want, but it’s certainly a fair and distracting peek.

Skyfront VR is a perfectly serviceable, run-of-the-mill shooter, bearing little difference to the ones you’ve played many times before. The developers miss an opportunity here to expand and innovate upon the idea of zero-g arena combat, lending to an overall feel of “been there, done that”. When there are already so many VR shooters available, most of which, for better or worse, try to push the boundaries of the medium in their own ways, one may find it difficult to justify spending money for “perfectly serviceable”.

Sure, there are some big giant bosses to battle here and there, but they certainly aren’t challenging. There are relatively few things that are firmly something I dislike. By the same token, however, there isn’t really anything that stands out to me as something I really enjoyed about it. While JackQuest may be technically proficient it just doesn’t really move the needle in any one direction. It’s the gaming equivalent of what you had for breakfast last Tuesday. You’re pretty sure you ate something, but you certainly don’t remember what it was.

Desolate definitely has some mega aspirations for such a short game. The developers are clearly acting under the influence of some major titles that have dominated the genre and for a game at a $19.99 price point, it delivers … for now. While we were playing, we talked it over as a group and we think the game is definitely worth the sticker price — we all agreed that there was a really good foundation, but there’s a long way to go. More story, more quests, more character customization, and more rewards appear to be on the horizon. The framework for Desolate is super solid, but it’s time to flesh this out before folks lose interest.

For casual players, the game still has much to offer as a strategy map game should. I look forward to keeping my eyes on Stardock. So far, between this and other titles like Star Control, Ashes of the Singularity, and Offworld Trading Company, they have a firm finger on the pulse of the galactic exploration and exploitation genre.

It’s unfortunate that the roguelike genre has gotten so stuffed lately. Caveblazers is a sharply put together game. If I had received it as a birthday present for my Gameboy in the late 90s, I would have played it on every long car ride. It’s tightly made and has a great gameplay loop. It leads itself to some really exciting moments. But after playing through it for several hours, I loaded up the Nintendo store and bought Dead Cells for my Switch.

Necro Mutex wants to be an old-school shooter but it fails to capture the elements of what made those games special and fun. It throws plenty of gore and carnage in your face without ever stopping to consider why. This tactic may satisfy those seeking a cheap thrill, but it didn’t work for me. And when there are already so many classics old-school shooters available, there’s really no reason to bother with Necro Mutex.

Bottom line, if you love old school point and clickers with humour like Monkey Island, then Deponia Doomsday is a decent enough port for your PS4 that won’t give you any control headaches. As for fans of the series, well, I can’t exactly give any insight into that front. So I do highly recommend you play the previous Deponia games before you jump into Doomsday.

Valley is an enjoyable experience that tells a comfortable narrative through brilliant music, exemplary writing, and a creative setting. It doesn’t quite hit all the notes of what we ought to know for a satisfying ending and it is, unfortunately, plagued by a lack of map, lighting issues, and terrible frame-rate drops. Locomotion in the L.E.A.F. suit is often the most fun you’ll have in the game and it is wonderful to be able to take such a simple and heartfelt story with you in handheld mode on the Switch, however, once the game is done you probably won’t be inclined to play it again.

While the aesthetics of the game are decent, like the graphics and the music, this feels and plays like a Flash-based mobile game. Both the mining and game mechanics are a real grind that doubtless will deter most players from digging too deep.

There’s little doubt as to your opponent’s loyalties but the different possible combinations really added a much-appreciated level of complexity to the game. Bow to Blood is a solid game elevated by the procedurally generated levels and the morality system.

Witching Tower has an interesting setup, but sadly misses the opportunity to expand its story and magical world. The focus here is on action and puzzle-solving, but neither of work well enough to carry the entire experience. Clocking in at a length of two hours, even that felt too long, as it’s clear the game runs out of steam. With an extra coat of polish and more time in development, Witching Tower might have shaped into a unique title. But as it stands, this is a dungeon crawler you can afford to miss.

If you’re looking for a challenge, you might find Technosphere Reload is worth your time – however, in its current state, I just can’t recommend it.

If you’re looking for an addictive puzzler to compete against friends and strangers, you really can’t go wrong with Puyo Puyo Champions. Highly recommended!

It’s almost unfair to assign a score to KIDS, because the experience is just so subjective. What you take away from it depends entirely on what expectations you have. Those looking for traditional gameplay elements or a cohesive story with a beginning, middle, and end will be sorely disappointed. But if you’re up to experience something wacky and stylistically unique, KIDS is well worth your time, even if you walk away confused about the meaning behind it all. After all, the point of art is to get people talking, and since I’m here talking about it, that must mean KIDS has done its job.

I understand the interest in placing a game like this on the market, but it just seems too rushed and not really necessary. The game comes off like a bit of a cash grab for the market, and priced at $40, it just seems to be too little for the price tag. It’s ambitious, I’ll give it that, but one year of Early Access really should have ironed out some of these bugs.