It's easy to get a kick out of seeing how high the scores can get, but the game is as much about the gambles you take and the planning along the way. There's a deceptive simplicity to Balatro due to its roots in poker, and it uses that to its advantage to reel you in while regularly finding new ways to surprise you.

Bug Heroes 2 has a steep learning curve, but mastering that curve reveals a strategic shooter with deep class specialisations and a satisfying online arena.

Alan Wake 2 is a bold and confident follow-up to its original, and worth the wait in every way. Remedy has crafted something timeless that will be talked about for a long time and has unexpectedly become the game to beat in the survival horror genre. Surreal, tense, funny, absurd and nerve-wracking all at once, Alan Wake 2 is a game all of its own and one you really should experience.

Dungeon crawlers aren't to everyone's taste, but you would be hard pressed to find a better one than Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls - Ultimate Evil Edition on consoles. This is the definitive version of an already great game, and it truly excels on the PS4.

Despite a surprising amount of repetition within the single-player campaign, Far Cry 3 is a wonderful shooter with lots of secrets to discover and a huge game world to explore. Taking place in a stunning environment and featuring a compelling narrative, as well as an excellent cast of characters, Far Cry 3 offers hours of enjoyment, something which is greatly extended thanks to its competitive and co-operative multiplayer modes.

Silksong won me over. As someone who didn't have strong feelings towards Hollow Knight, I'm glad I gave the sequel a chance. It's easy to label Silksong as brutal, but it's much more than that. Pharloom may be hostile, but fittingly so and makes for an incredibly rich and rewarding place to explore. Hornet is a delight to play as, and even though the game made me work hard, I never lost my motivation to progress.

Trials Evolution takes the original's winning formula, improves the presentation, adds new game modes, multiplayer content and caps it off with an unbelievably deep level editing suite, giving the sequel near infinite replay value. Far from a lazy follow-up, or a quick cash-in, Trials Evolution takes a massive leap forward, proving beyond any shadow of a doubt that Xbox Live Arcade releases can hang with the best of them. The clue is in the name, this is a sequel that has well and truly evolved.

Quite simply, the beautiful game is back with a sports car and twin sister in tow - there, we couldn't resist.

If you're new to the series, it's an absolute must to experience this wholly unique game, and thankfully there's more than enough excuse for older fans to step foot once more onto the USG Ishimura.

While Split Fiction doesn't necessarily break new ground, it's an entertaining ride and delivers a polished co-operative experience with an infectious level of enthusiasm. As the end credits rolled, my colleague and I agreed that we wouldn't have minded at all if the game had been extended by several more hours. It's to the game's credit that it never threatened to outstay its welcome, and felt fresh throughout.

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 touches on huge progressiveness on the outskirts of its story, but similar to the big-budget retellings of the wall-crawler, it could go so much further. We've seen Spidey do New York so much before, and it's a total undeniable classic. But with great power, comes great responsibility. A responsibility to push forward culture, representation, opinion, and acceptance. Marvel's Spider-Man 2 has made a great start, but we have so much further to go.

Like Ocarina of Time before it on 3DS, Nintendo once again proves that it has a deft hand at reviving its classics, preserving their timeless essence while making them easier than ever to revisit for new and old audiences alike.

Personally, I was left with mixed feelings – but I should also add that I don't have nostalgia for the original game like so many do, and Rebirth feels like a game specifically designed for fans of the original in the passionate way many of the moments, arcs and locations are depicted and fleshed out here. I enjoyed spending time with the core characters, the world-building is impressive and the soundtrack is truly superb. I had plenty of fun with the battle system as well. However, I found the narrative pacing poor and the open-world elements often tedious. The game is stuffed with minigames yet their quality is inconsistent, and there were late-game segments that I found to be a slog.

While we hesitate to call it a game-of-the-year contender, the Vita needs more titles like Velocity 2X, a game that's equally effective when experienced in short bursts on the move, or in the kind of marathon sessions that tablet and smartphones cannot compete with.

Playing Okami HD is a joyous experience, but it is sad to see that after six years it is still one of the best examples of its genre. Okami HD is fantastic, and hopefully this re-release will inspire a new generation of game designers to play, enjoy and then scoff, "Ha, I bet I could do better".

The action on the court is fast, fluid and accessible, but with enough depth and detail to keep you hooked for the long haul.

Mario's best handheld game in years, and even when put up against his acclaimed console offerings, it's yet another sublime adventure crammed with surprises and smiles every few minutes. It's also perhaps the first 3DS title that makes the screen an integral part of the game rather than an eye-catching afterthought.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown is a wonderful game, which, despite being based on a near 20-year-old release, feels somehow fresh and stands apart from its rivals. It's deep, engaging, intuitive and inclusive, and is likely to invade consoles and PCs for quite some time.

In closing, Guild Wars 2 is a staggeringly ambitious project that makes a bold statement about the future of the MMORPG. It is living proof that a game of this manner can thrive outside of the subscription business model and the genre's established conventions.

When the teams hit the field and the game kicks off, there's little to choose between FIFA 13 and the latest PES. A wealth of online and offline game modes and a rich supply of extras, however, ensures that FIFA 13 picks up another trophy in the most closely contested virtual football season to date. Like a Manchester United team chasing its 20th league title or Gareth Bale charging at a frightened right back, EA Canada is showing no signs of slowing down in its pursuit of the perfect football sim.

With its non-linear structure and surreal tone, Majora's Mask 3D sometimes doesn't feel like a Zelda game at all, but it's those who know the series best who will get the most out of its demanding dungeons and its many entertaining side-quests. And with a number of smart improvements that make its frustrations easier to bear, the 3DS version is by far the best way to experience it.

Pillars of Eternity is a masterclass in role-playing game development, recapturing the essence of the genre's past triumphs and repackaging them for a universal audience.

This isn't just a worthy sequel to Titanfall, but one that improves upon the original while adding a superb single-player campaign. The latter combines fast-paced action, pilot acrobatics, heavyweight Titan warfare and a surprising amount of heart in one of the most enjoyable solo storylines of the year...It's a masterful piece of work.

Super Mario 3D World on the Nintendo Switch is the definitive version of an already stellar game. More than seven years after the original release, Mario's Wii U adventure hasn't aged a bit – oozing creativity and providing platforming thrills at nearly every turn. Bowser's Fury is a nice little companion, and although not quite as consistent, it combines with 3D World to form an outstanding package.

Dark Souls is intentionally stubborn and mysterious throughout, and seemingly resists your efforts to improve, but that's all part of what makes it so enjoyable.

Fez is ultimately a game about games much in the same way Hugo is a film about films. Fez can be very demanding to get the most out of it, but without ever actually asking anything of you. Do not play Fez to beat it, but play to explore and get lost in its puzzles and pixilated world.

For those who haven't played Limbo before, or for those who simply want to play it again while riding on the bus, you can download the iOS version with confidence that it is just as creepy and well-crafted as on any other platform.

Fans of the series will be delighted at just how much Eidos Montreal has gotten right with this prequel, from the dark cyberpunk visuals to the open-ended puzzle solutions. It tells an epic story full of twists and turns, set atop an incredibly challenging gameplay experience.