I’m not a fan of the system at all. But, if you can round-up a few amigos, order in some food and drinks, and pop this sucker in, I can guarantee you’ll be jumping up out of your seats in excitement and screaming with laughter more than any other game you can think of. This doesn’t mean I forgive it for being so shallow mode-wise, but what is there is damn good.

Evil Dead: The Game needs some polish to take it to the next level, as there are some areas that could do with some quality-of-life improvements, and to fix some of the weird physics. Currently, there is an issue with the game having limited content, which could factor in towards its longevity, but as it stands, Evil Dead: The Game is incredibly fun and is a well-crafted multiplayer idea that could jump from being good to great if they support this game in the future with patches and content updates. With the developers already proving to have a track record with supporting titles in the past and saying they plan to support this game for a long time, Evil Dead: The Game can only improve and get better with more content and mechanics that the developers will hopefully add to the game to take it to the next level and become THE asymmetrical 4 vs 1 horror game.

Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising is a fair stab at bringing something for the fans, a game that did not have enough time to be fleshed out, so had to bulk the journey out with its stamp collection, but overall, it’s a fair game, nothing too good or bad, just a game that I did enjoy for the most part, but tries to hinder that enjoyment with some questionable and generic quest padding.

While Rogue Legacy 2 is more of a refinement than a revolution, it nonetheless stands out as another must-have Roguelike, which is impressive given the ever-increasing supply of quality titles in the genre. Even if the plate is currently full, this is another tasty dish that is worth savoring when the craving comes calling again.

None of the collections have skewed negatively for me yet, and although a couple of them I didn’t particularly register with, that continues to be true. I’d say these remarkable bundles are must-plays as long as you understand that balance and don’t get turned off by the odd dud.

This is a quality cooperative experience that I wholly recommend for people who enjoy solving ingenious puzzles with a like-minded friend.

Despite those flaws, anyone looking for an entertaining mix of turn-based action will have a fun time with it. Just like the Saturday morning cartoons that inspired this game that you all enjoyed as a kid; they might not be the best TV shows, but they did the job of providing happy entertainment. Sometimes that can be enough to be satisfied for the day, and Implausible Industries has created something similar to that emotion with their game Research and Destroy.

It might not be a title you cherish forever, but I guarantee it will leave a bit of itself with you. An interesting twisted take on a classic, with accessible mechanics, and a powerful soundtrack that annoyingly still hasn’t yet become available for purchase.

It might be another roguelite, but Revita is a great addition to the already expanding catalogue of great roguelites. I personally do not play that many, but among the majority of the major players in the genre, Revita brings a well built and solid implementation of the roguelite design into a fun, addictive, and challenge 2D twin-stick platformer. Its distinct health currency mechanic adds a layer of strategy to build a risk-reward system on top of the genre’s foundations and the mechanic helps the game stand out from others. The only downfall is that after a few hours the room design becomes repetitive, as there is only so much that can be done on a 2D plane, but the constant unlocks help Revita to be a great package met with a good soundtrack, solid action and a well thought out game design.

It’s a real shame that the best way to play (with someone else) seems to have been given the backseat to a more solo-focused experience, even though the games are far too shallow to hold any one person’s attention for long.

Teardown is a demolition fan’s wet dream, a sandbox of beautiful carnage that also happens to be a great puzzle game.

Unfortunately there’s not enough here to justify itself at all – nothing that mixes up the already wonderful gameplay, nor any story purpose, nor extra benefits/modes/items to care about. I only hope that this doesn’t dissuade the team to move on to other things because I would love more Textorcist – there isn’t anything else out there to scratch the same itch. The problem is that, with how fun those first set of big baddies were, we now expect each fight to be pumped full of creative ways to push the player, to always one up the previous encounter, and that’s just a seriously hard target to meet.

Wobbledogs hooks in the player with its bright, colourful visuals, and its cute critters that easily charm their new owners. Wobbledogs is not for everyone. It is a niche title that requires a specific type of player, a very casual and family-focused player, to enjoy its mostly passive gameplay. Apart from the minimal interactions and early game unlocks, there is little gaming to be done here and is more about watching from the outside to see how these dogs go about their life. This is a pet simulation, and an inexpensive one at that, with a price tag of £15.99. In that aspect, it delivers a solid experience. Its excitement comes from what mutations are going to happen next, it is how the game pulls at the hearts of its players to adore their freaky wobbledogs. The whole gut flora concept is quite a bespoke and detailed mechanic, and seeing that come to fruition through these digital animals, from their infant stage to death, makes it fun. Although, it is probably best to play while doing something else, as there can be a bit too much downtime to keep a player’s full attention.

In the end, Nightmare Reaper is one of those indie games that should be classed as a gem. This is a wonderful labour of love with a lot of character, an addictive title that is happy for players to rip and tear through its nightmare dream to a banging soundtrack and rapturous combat. This is a bloodstained fountain of gratification that only the best daydreams offer.

TowerMancer leaves a lot to be desired, which is just so annoying because it feels like they almost had something great, something you wouldn’t be able to pull yourself away from. It has an underlying addictive quality but it constantly works to push the player away with repetitive levels, fixed-path victories, and non-stop griefing. I really do hope to see another iteration from the team with a wider variety of everything – level setups, hazards, rooms, options. It could be a fab little time waster, but in its current state I think most people are just going to come away aggravated, disappointed, or both.

It is not on the same level as other retro-inspired shooters, such as DUSK, but one thing I always say is that not every game has to be the best, just as long as the player found it fun, and with Kingdom of the Dead, I found it entertaining from beginning to end. Kingdom of the Dead is worth checking out for people who want to step away from complexity for a bit and just shoot something without having to think much about it. Sometimes life needs simple things to have a good time.

It is a promising start for this huge expansion, with a varied selection of tracks, some straightforward, some complex. It does seem weird the order they are in when it comes to the cup progression, and I do question why we need tracks that are designed as openers in the old games. If Booster Course Pass Wave 1 is the opener, I’d imagine as we get further into the release schedule, those selected will begin to showcase the bigger, larger and more complex tracks, and that makes me stoked. The expansion itself is easily worth it for Mario Kart fans. We are talking about doubling the number of tracks that were in the original Mario Kart 8 Deluxe release, meaning that we get to experience the fantastic Mario Kart 8 gameplay across a whole game worth of new tracks. With the price being as cheap as it is, it is a no brainer that Mario Kart fans should pick this up. A good first wave, so let’s see what Booster Course Pass Wave 2 brings.

When it comes to video games, it is more than just a way to learn, it also has to have other elements to make it a good game. This is where Never Alone: Arctic Collection falls short; there are issues with controls and glitches that make this more irritating than it should be. I like what Upper One Games are doing here, but Never Alone is a great informative piece mixed with an imperfect video game hampered by mediocre controls and awkward glitches. Should this stop you from playing? No, but just be wary that this journey through the Alaskan winter might not be as cool as one anticipates.

I’ve likened TUNIC to Fez, a similarly brilliant game that also shattered expectations, hid riddles in a new alphabet, and had an entire community rally around some of the larger secrets. I believe we’ll see the exact same here. The difference, however, is that TUNIC seems to be available to everyone, not just puzzle-minded nerds like me. As already mentioned, it’s a game of two halves. How deep the fox hole goes entirely depends on what the player wants to extract from the experience and I think that is just excellent. Not only is it one of the biggest surprises you can expect this year but it sets a new bar for design and minimalist storytelling, allowing players to slowly pick away at the world as new manual pages slowly drip-feed enticing clues about the true nature that lies beneath the cutesy surface. Like Pony Island, Doki Doki Literature Club, and Frog Fractions before it, TUNIC is going to be opening many people’s eyes to what a video game can do.

Ghostrunner: Project_Hel offers a nice addition to the base game, upholding the original game’s amazing soundtrack and visuals. The expansion brings an extra couple of hours of that addictive live, die, repeat puzzle and action format that somehow the developers have managed to make work without frustration. The impact this time around is not as awe-inspiring as the surprise hit of the main game, but Project_Hel takes those foundations and adds a little twist with more combat-based scenarios to find solutions to, but does nothing to push the initial design forward that was formed in Ghostrunner. More of the same, then, although, not a negative on this DLC, since the original was not a lengthy game either. This is one for the fans, giving those more of what they were asking for until the sequel arrives.

Dying Light 2 goes bigger in all areas and tries to be ambitious with its story, but does not quite hit the mark. Like I said in the beginning, it was never about story that made the original a cult hit, it was the stuff you could do within its sandbox, and when it comes down to that, it still is a terrific time being in the world of Dying Light.

It’s not your normal everyday game, so I’m not judging it like one. I’m sure many, if not most, people simply won’t ‘get’ it. But if you’ve already seen images of it and it looks like something you’d enjoy, I have no hesitation recommending it whole-heartedly. Hell, you could even play it with a friend or partner, valentine’s day is coming up! I bet you’d all end up in hysterics. As for me, I’m hoping beyond hope that the subtitle ‘First Date’ indicates there’ll be more to come from this ludicrous entry. Simply put, I’m a sucker for Sucker for Love.

Reverie Knights Tactics features straightforward mechanics, which might leave mega fans of the genre wanting more depth, but overall, while Reverie Knights Tactics brings nothing new to the genre, it is a fun challenge for people who enjoy tactical games.

Don’t get me wrong, it might have the odd ‘scourge’ attacks, which are revamped levels up to the teeth with powerful monsters and dangerous threats, and a few unlockable wave-based combat trials (a stretch goal that was reached), but it really doesn’t do anything we haven’t seen before. However, bringing it all together with a solid design, satisfying controls, and being the cherry-on-top nostalgia-fest that it is really seals the deal. A splendid example of the phrase “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.

The Kids We Were is a simple game that is fully invested in its narrative. There is not much of a game to play here, meaning it is not for everyone; mainly fans of heavy stories or visual novels will enjoy this time-traveling, heart-warming adventure. It touches on serious topics, treating them with a good conscience, and does so while throwing in the fascination of time travel and the whole idea of “what if you could change someone’s future for the better?” The voxel graphics might not totally fit with the themes, but the music and script make up for this, which allows The Kids We Were to tug on your heartstrings with its satisfying conclusion.

GTFO oozes amazing atmosphere and tense gameplay, it is well designed with a philosophy taken from old game design about learning while playing to let players discover how to overcome the game’s challenging missions. This game delivers on making players feel isolated, stuck in claustrophobic environments surrounded by the deadly sounds of monsters awaiting their next snack. GTFO stands out as a unique cooperative horror experience due to its gameplay design, one that I am fully relishing, even after countless deaths and failed runs.

If Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl came out twenty years ago it would have been a smashing success, ignoring that many of the characters within didn’t exist back then. But that’s not the case, and even though I did enjoy it for what it is, I can’t recommend it when the alternatives are so incredibly superior in its current state. I’m sure with a passionate team and a dedicated community it could do really well, but with a haemorrhaging player base and the blaring shortage of anything to keep people in the game in a world dominated by season passes and constant loot-box unlocks, I just don’t see that happening.

As a complete package, Danganronpa Decadence is a brilliant collection of three very well-produced adventure visual novels. It is a shame about V3‘s performance in the last case, but overall, these are some highly recommended stories. Expect to fall in love with the characters, be shocked at the many great surprises, and be gripped by suspense over what is around 100+ hours of gaming. If you are fans of visual novel adventures and have not checked this series out yet, then you seriously need to pick up Danganronpa Decadence.