Sunless Sea stresses a fondness for resource management, vaguely turn-based combat, roguelike principles of calculated disposability, and basic role-playing.

Gnog distills the joy of fiddling with switches, dials, and knobs into a potent liquid and then uses that fluorescent elixir to invigorate a monster’s brain. The result is a collection of orderly puzzles eager to illustrate logic while soaked in giddying medley of spaceships, electricity, and mother birds. If you were ever allowed to peer inside of a candy monster’s skull, Gnog is precisely what you would find.

Nidhogg 2 is the madhouse on top of Nidhogg's foundation. Formidable swords and a low-fi aesthetic are swapped for a gleeful array of sharp objects and a ridiculous style that embraces the 90's grossest toys. Nidhogg's singular focus isn't lost or diluted, it's amplified with a jubilant response to skill and spontaneity.

The folks at 24 Carat Games apparently spent their nights dreaming of slamming Guitar Hero against a side scrolling shoot 'em up because that's exactly what they ended up making with Retro/Grade. And it's delicious.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge – Dimension Shellshock is seated in the halfway point between good and great. On one hand, the Survival mode is better served for parties wanting a good challenge. On the other, TMNT fans should be excited about additional characters for replaying the already fantastic beat-em-up. If you’re looking to replay the single player experience with two new characters or a challenge for yourself and your friends, then Dimension Shellshock is a no brainer.

Zoo Tycoon is engaging, rewarding, and fun, just don't burn yourself out on it too quickly. It isn't so much for the hardcore sim manager, but for those not looking for a tremendous amount of depth, there's a lot to like with what Frontier offers.

Jupiter & Mars presents a sincere restoration of the radical environmentalism that permeated pop culture in the early 90's. Steering its pair of dolphins through a neon post-human wonderland measures against its persistent undercurrent of despair and culpability. Jupiter & Mars lets players smile at what's left while scowling at the wreckage we're doomed to leave behind.

Dragon's Dogma 2 presents a challenging yet rewarding gaming experience. Amidst breathtaking scenery and immersive exploration, the game's combat against colossal monsters is where it shines. An innovative mechanic allows players to integrate friends' customizable Pawns into their team, enriching gameplay with shared memories and strategic depth. However, the game suffers from notable faults such as the absence of fast travel and outdated camera controls. Despite these drawbacks, the dynamic world overflowing with roaming NPCs and unpredictable enemy encounters keeps gameplay engaging. While combat provides unexpected challenges and gratifying victories, the game's performance disappoints, with a lackluster framerate and noticeable choppiness.

Paradise Killer’s gameplay design and execution are simple, though sometimes taxing. There is a lot to ingest before getting to the game’s conclusion, but the style makes the experience unique and worthwhile, which is a huge plus.

WrestleQuest oozes with charm, easter eggs, and sweet chin music thanks to how well it blends traditional RPG elements with a clear love of classic wrestling. It’s easy to look past some of its design quirks because of how well other RPG elements are implemented that respect the player’s time and encourage them to play an active role in worldbuilding. The Switch’s current implementation ain’t the best, but the game sure had me in a cobra clutch for hours.

The Grandia HD Collection lacks any bells and whistles worth gushing over. Rather, it is a perfect excuse to uncover a legacy JRPG series that many would argue has been lost to time. Players may long for higher quality remakes to allow for the most optimal, modern experience available but sometimes, a polished time capsule is all we need to enjoy a game in its purest form.

Life is Strange 2 on the Switch is simply that. Are you a person who has managed to not touch the series or this particular entry yet? Do you only have a Switch? Then this is the version for you. The core game is an excellent narrative adventure full of emotional ups and downs. On Switch it may be inferior to PC, PlayStation, or Xbox but now all players can enjoy the full Life is Strange trilogy wherever they would like.

It brings a relaxing gameplay design that is geared more towards exploration, rather than sci-fi action. In addition to exploration, it has a healthy crafting system, an interesting monetary structure that adds extra motivation, and an endless amount of adventures and secrets to uncover along the way.

Madden NFL 23 proves that content is indeed king, as the modes included drive the experience and do a good job more than not. There are some glitches in the game, especially in some menus featured in some modes, but for the most part, the gameplay has improved considerably in this year’s title for those not to get in the way of the experience.

Hello Kitty Island Adventure from developer Sunblink isn’t going to replace Animal Crossing anytime soon. However, it’s a worthy cozy game that offers simple gameplay that is driven by quests, solid exploration, and a good crafting system, which will keep players coming back for more. It’s a good game, especially for a younger gaming audience. It’s a good way to waste time for older gamers.

Demonschool from developer Necrosoft Games is a wonderful tactical turn-based fighting game that will entertain players thanks to a strong story, good strategy-led map designs, and enough characters to create multiple paths to approach fights. While it needed to be a bit less linear and more user-controlled on the story side of the tracks, it’s a fantastic experience from beginning to end.

In an age when design risks are often squashed by budget concerns, Zeno Clash is a runaway success. There is literally nothing else like it.

Overall Project Winter is a fun community-based game. It is a simple and engaging survival challenge that will test all of your skills. If you want to talk to strangers, work as a team, and trick people then you will love Project Winter.

Beyond gameplay design, and control complaint, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention how absolutely gorgeous Battle Bay’s presentation is for a mobile title. Colorful, big bays that are full of huge rolling waves and detailed ships is what you get with BB. Visually everything about the game is a step up from what you generally get with a mobile title. I played this on an iPhone 7, so it handled all the visuals, including a solid FPS, beautifully. Anyway, Battle Bay is a pretty game, so it won’t fail you in that department.

As gameplay goes, Knowledge is Power is, for the most part, fun. I think the game moves just a little slow in between rounds, as I found myself trying to skip dialogue and get us into the next question quickly, but the animation and the way you can really screw with opponents is clever, as are the variety of questions given. The price tag isn’t bad either, as the game comes in at $19.99, certainly a price worth paying for some good trivia. I would play this game at home with the kids/wife, and I intend to do so during the holiday break, so it does have some longevity to it. All in all, though, and at least in my opinion, this game does a good job of bringing back memories of 3DO’s Twisted, which I consider the best trivia game to date. I know people want to crown You Don’t Know Jack, but Twisted for me.

I want to believe that the Switch is capable of supporting graphic adventures, compelling stories, and riveting experiences that are expected from other consoles. For the case of Life is Strange Arcadia Bay Collection, I cannot help but express concern that this remaster is less of a remaster and more of a port of the original 2015 game, graphical artifacts and outdated loading times included. Yes, Life is Strange is an outstanding game and very easily one of the best written games I’ve played in my lifetime. The Arcadia Bay Collection comes with all the content associated with Life is Strange and Before the Storm. Switch owners should definitely play Life is Strange during their lives. But, if you own other consoles/a PC, then maybe you should consider trying Life is Strange on a platform that makes the game look and feel better than its original. If you already own Life is Strange, then this collection becomes much more difficult to recommend.

Tales of Kenzera: ZAU accomplishes the difficult role of translating a deeply personal concept into the medium of gaming. With a lack of intricate backtracking and complex combat, Surgent Studios’ platformer is relatively simple. But the extraordinary narrative, paired with equally powerful visuals and audio provide an experience that is engaging enough to not commit the sin of forgetting it must also be fun and resonant.

Tortuga: A Pirate’s Tale from Gaming Minds Studios and Kalypso is a solid pirate simulator. It gives you a good dose of action and a large dose of complicated backend elements to keep your intellectual simulator side satisfied. While there are some hiccups with the repetitiveness of tasks and a camera with a mind of its own during battles, the game is still entertaining and fulfilling.

MLB 15: The Show smoothes out some issues that MLB 14 had last year. The graphical portion of the game is the biggest improvement with MLB 15 and something you’ll see right from the start. In addition to visuals, the game’s upgrades and additions in its modes, as well as some unexpected elements, make it a much better experience than last year’s title.

Heading Out is a wholly unique game that defies expectations. More narrative-driven adventure than vehicle-driven roguelike, expect a fascinating black-and-white style and progressive story beats but little else in the way of meaningful longevity.

Gamers may not like the lack of control and variety of gameplay, but the freedom to dictate the character and story might be enough to warrant a go.

Chorus is a gorgeous space flight fight simulator that harkens back to the days of Wing Commander with eventually smooth controls and intense battles. It does have some visible flaws to the narrative and some onscreen issues during battle, but for the most part, it’s darn good.

As another varied entry in the expansive franchise, Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus gives players a gloomy turn-based adventure with enough good ideas and personality to differentiate it from similar titles, while overcoming a few minor downfalls.