Black Jacket is an addictive, well thought out and stylish gem of a game. I was very pleasantly surprised at how involved I got with the narrative, with each memory uncovered making me yearn for even more information. Overall, the developer has done an excellent job of elevating a simple game of Blackjack into something genuinely special. If you like card games, then Black Jacket should definitely be on your list of games to play this year.

I went into Call of the Elder Gods with a little trepidation, because I’ve played quite a few narratively focused puzzle games of late, and I feared I was a little burnt out. Thankfully, it’s a worthy sequel. Call of the Elder Gods is filled with some genuinely well-designed brain teasers, and a plot that eventually had me hooked, further fuelling my desire to solve the central mystery. If you’re looking for a new puzzle game to challenge you mind, this is a call you’ll want to take.

Ultimately, ‘Outbound’ frustrated me because I truly wanted to love it. Its key art was charming, its core concept appealing, I truly was all in on a title that could be a calm port in the storm of a crazy world. And in its first area that potential was being realised imperfectly, but with charm. Flaws unfortunately stack up, with each area pushing the initial issues to their natural breaking points and the initial fun of the survival crafting loop turning into a crushing grind with little in the way of reward. There is fun to be had here for the patient, and perhaps with friends, some welcome life can be injected into the abandoned world. Right now though, it’s hard to recommend this one for the average camper.

Directive 8020 is a solid sci-fi yarn let down by some early snark-filled writing. The plot is serviceable in showing you some gorgeous locations full of people you may or may not want to save, and a bevy of monsters you’ll get bored hiding from. If you’ve enjoyed the studio’s previous work, then rest assured that Directive 8020 may well be worth checking out.

Like a long Family Guy skit or an Asylum movie, it’s not even the quality of the humor itself – it’s the sheer audacity of coming up with this stuff and committing to it in a finished product. Priest Simulator: Vampire Show is not a balanced, polished or ambitious videogame, but the sheer absurdity of the humor and player freedom make it a fun experience – even though the actual gameplay is pretty damn janky and repetitive. Keep this one for a rainy day, or when you’re looking to try something absolutely ludicrous. Priest Simulator: Vampire Show is not a great game, by all means, but the sheer levels of insanity on display are worth, but only if you like absurdist humor and don’t get offended by certain… less than favourable views of religion.

While WILL: Follow the Light can very much look the part, it simply didn’t hold up for me when it came to the actual gameplay and narrative. The story felt fragmented and poorly delivered, even though a late game twist and a heartfelt message about the time we have and the choices we make felt genuine. While narrative ‘walking-sim’ fans may find some enjoyment and a few bright ideas, it’s not quite enough to make this sailing trip truly worth the journey.

Mixtape is a coming of age story about friendship, change and growing-up that – depending on your age and the expectations you come in with – may be just be your favourite game of the year. As an old grey-beard that grew up in the nineties, and was similarly…rebellious, it certainly hit all the right notes with me.

When the timing is right, Dead as Disco can be a joy to play, with an accessible and addictive combat system, a bright and imaginative art-style and perhaps more importantly, the music chops to match that artistic vision. There’s still a lot of work to be done of course, but with the add-your-own-music feature bringing potentially limitless content to enjoy, Brain Jar Games are potentially on their way to a number one smash hit. [Early Access Score = 70]

If you are a fan of narrative games, then I think you will like Wax Heads. There is nothing out of the ordinary here – but the story is engaging, and the art style is fantastic. Unfortunately for me, I did find some of the gameplay tedious, and there is a lot you need to remember and take in to fulfil your role as a star employee. I appreciate the hard work that has gone into making the game, and what the creative team have tried to achieve here, but for me it just didn’t hit all of the right notes.

All in all, TerraTech Legion is definitely one of the most addictive and original bullet heaven/survivors-like games out there, and an excellent title for handhelds as well. A fun driving model, a deep and incredibly rewarding vehicle-building system, with plenty of challenging content to play for dozens of hours. It has a few balance issues, and it may lack the ludicrous depths of some of the best bullet-hell games, but its unique gameplay loop and deep build variety make TerraTech Legion pretty much a must-play for fans of the genre.

Bus Bound, to me, is the kind of game that proves that a bus driving simulation game can be fun, rewarding and enjoyable, even if the act of slowly manouvering such a vehicle is not something that excites you in the slightest. But a satisfying yet relaxing driving model, precise yet somewhat forgiving rules of the road, and a very lively and great looking town to explore and evolve to your liking turn the game into a very enjoyable experience. Not a massive amount of content as of today, but with a lot of player agency and even a 4-player online co-op mode, it’s definitely one of the finest vehicle simulation games I’ve ever played. Bus Bound is the bus simulation for bus enthusiasts and newcomers alike, and thus far my surprise hit of the year 2026.

Saros is a ton of fun to play, especially if you prefer a character leveling system to a ‘git gud learning patterns’ one. It is stunning to look at and has an excellent soundtrack. An emphasis on its weak story wastes some solid acting performances and an incredible art style. By the end of my 14 hours, I felt a tinge of disappointment at how close Saros was to being incredible.

As someone who mostly cares about the core mechanics above all else, I’m pleased to report that Invincible VS lives up to my lofty and possibly unreasonable expectations. The combination of IP authenticity and gory combo focused combat is a mix that for me doesn’t really get old and is incredibly fun. Fans of the show will absolutely want to get their hands on this, if for no other reason than to further immerse themselves in the universe.

The Last Gas Station is a solid game that pushes the grind a bit too hard in the latter half. Hopefully, a post-launch patch helps, as this is an enjoyable experience otherwise.

While not as groundbreaking of an evolution as last year’s game, MotoGP 26 pretty much does everything right. It tweaks both the simulation and arcade riding styles, it adds more options to career and multiplayer modes alike, and offers plenty of content and customization options. It has a few technical issues that are atypical for this series, and it may still lack the incredible depth and variety of the licensed F1 games. Yet, MotoGP 26 is a fine step forward for an already excellent racer, even if its iterative nature makes it a less essential upgrade than last year’s game.

Aphelion is a thoroughly enjoyable sci-fi adventure of loss, desperation, survival, and importantly, hope. Despite a few very late-game wobbles, this is one mission for humanity you should undertake.

There is so much content in this game, and if it’s your jam, you could easily spend hundreds of hours breeding, training, racing and amassing huge piles of gold. If you like checking tasks off endless lists, then maybe it’s the game for you too. I can see why it has been popular on mobile, and even desktop – and I’m sure the VR version would be great fun to try, but I ended up pretty bored and going through the motions just to get through the story. Rival Star Horse Racing is a very nice looking, non-challenging way to spend a few hours, but I think I’ll release my (hilariously named) horses into the wild and go back to the city where I belong.

I very much enjoyed my time with Moomintroll: Winter’s Warmth, and for those looking for an adorable and charming way to spend a few hours, I would heartily recommend it. It is visually stunning, enjoyable to navigate and play and made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. If you are into cosy, story-driven puzzlers, then I would definitely encourage you to check it out.

At its best, Kiln’s robust pot creation and genuinely raucous multiplayer are a great base for a game that needs more content and polish in both performance and gameplay to truly live up to its potential. Despite this, every multiplayer match I played managed at least one moment that made me smile or laugh. The pot creation made me both proud of my pathetic creations and jealous of everyone else’s talent, and the general vibe just made me want to stick around. This is one work of art I hope gets finished and not merely abandoned, but it does need a little more time in the oven.

SIGONO’s newest adventure tells the story of environmental struggles that naturally become personal. After what seems a long life yet lived and having nothing to show for it, you’re invited to look back again and understand. Sometimes they’re happy thoughts. Sometimes, it hurts so much you’ll want to crawl up in a hole and die. Sometimes, retrospection gets all too real. OPUS: Prism Peak’s answer to this middle-aged conundrum is to look back, walk straight forward, and be nicer to yourself. It couldn’t have worded it in a nicer, more beautiful message.

If you’re looking for a story-driven title in an interesting world, then Tides of Tomorrow is probably going to be for you. Just don’t expect too much challenge along the way. When it comes to saving a dying world, what choices would you make?

A tremendously well-crafted gameplay loop, great art-style, a splendid soundtrack, and plenty of content to lose dozens of hours in – with more promised to come in future updates. I would have liked a bit more original art and mechanics, instead of mostly re-treading designs from Vampire Survivors, and a few balance changes and late game choices hamper the long-term playability a little. Still, Vampire Crawlers is one of the best roguelike deck-builders on the market right now. It’s fast, charming, addictive and tremendously well-crafted. Poncle has done it again.

A significant upgrade to the first game in almost every single way, Hades II takes the already really high bar and brings it even further up. Fifty hours in and I still can’t seem to put the game down. Hades II is an absolute must-play for pretty much everyone, fans of the genre or not.

MOUSE: P.I. For Hire was worth the wait. The team at Fumi Games has matched their fantastic artwork with solid gameplay, great writing, and fantastic audio. Shooter fans are eating Gouda with this one… Ah, hell, I already used that one.

With weighty platforming and crunchy, satisfying combat, this is a world full of heart and incredible detail presented with an eye-catching art style. It’s backed up by a punchy soundtrack that elevates every pixel on display. REPLACED oozes style and imagination, and it’s almost everything I wanted it to be.

PRAGMATA is a fantastic video game. Solid gunplay, excellent variety in its hacking, incredible visuals, and an enjoyable story work together to create what I hope is a new IP that we’ll see a lot more of in the future.

People of Note tries to do a lot – a video game-musical, with turn based combat, a world of musical references and plenty of dungeons and puzzles. Some of that is pretty great. Alas, the gameplay felt to me like a track stuck on repeat, and the story didn’t quite have enough going for it to be truly worth the journey. This is one album I won’t be playing again any time soon.

Grime II is a phenomenal video game. Every aspect of it is a huge improvement over the original. If you have some patience and love a good Metroidvania, Grime II is the best one I have played since the Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. I cannot recommend it enough.