DrawRace 2 isn't just everything a sequel should be – it's more. DrawRace was a solid foundation, but what RedLynx has created here goes far beyond what is usual – or even exceptional – in the industry. It's an essential purchase, a game shot through with brilliance, and one that will live with its players for a very long time indeed.

Super Mario Maker's greatest achievement isn't in the pleasing snappiness of its creation, but how it fosters a deeper understanding, and appreciation, of good level design. There can be few finer ways of marking the series' 30th birthday than that. [Nov 2015, p.104]

Arranger's cheeriness and playfulness thus works its way into every facet of its design, from the craft of its puzzles to the personality of its world and its inclusive embrace. This year has already supplied a pair of best-in-class puzzle games in the shape of Animal Well and Lorelei And The Laser Eyes; now they need to shift over and make room for one more. [Issue#400, p.112]

As vivid and memorable an evocation of a place as any hyper-detailed triple-A fantasy universe. [Issue#377, p.106]

Crucially, it's everything a racing videogame should be: a relentless, unwavering and phenomenal assault on the senses.

Once again, Criterion still manages to stand out and offer something fresh, setting a new standard in open-world driving games with - that word again - a seamless feast of quality. [Dec 2012, p.98]

In feeding constant surprise, engaging wit and sharply pitched challenge during its course, Plants Vs Zombies proves again PopCap's incredible knack of taking an established game form and making it all its own. [May 2009, p.94]

Stealth games are only as good as the flexibility of their encounters, and in that regard Black Flag is the most generous Assassin’s Creed game to date.

For the first time, Bungie has successfully remedied two of the most frequent criticisms of Destiny: that there isn't enough to do, and that its endgame is overly focused on raiding. [December 2018, p.102]

Where Frostpunk was painfully intimate, the sequel takes a bird's-eye view, but this distance serves it just as well. [Issue#403, p.100]

Battlefield 1 is better than its predecessors in almost every way. [Christmas 2016, p.102]

Its sheer assuredness in mechanics, spectacle and often situation are unlikely to be surpassed for some time.

There are whole essays that could be written about the depth of the tuning mechanics. [December 2018, p.110]

This is a game about stories that has a knack of producing really good ones - when you're doing well, and especially when you're doing badly. [March 2019, p.120]

A fairytale comeback. Extravagance was one of the signatures of the graphic adventure: extravagance to bring them in, and a cracking story well told to keep them. Both tenets of the Broken Sword series remain intact here, and that's all the devoted fans could have wanted. [Christmas 2003, p.94]

Arise has embedded itself deep in our skull. [Issue#418, p.110]

Added depth and nuance are the guiding principles for this spectacular follow up. [Nov 2009, p.100]

It's this beautiful mess of strategic genius and personality defects that elevates Wild Bastards to the pantheon of truly great hybrid roguelikes, managing to do for the FPS what Spelunky did for platforming, and Slay The Spire for deckbuilders. [Issue#403, p.116]

Rez Infinite is 15 years old, and the best VR game of 2016. [Christmas 2016, p.116]

Its finest tactical espionage action yet. [Oct 2015, p.104]

Unforgettable. [Oct 2015, p.108]

Minor gripes aside, Rock Band with four players in the same room is quite something to be a part of, a game not only an evolution of the genre but of the social side of gaming itself. [Jan 2008, p.80]

Huge in scope and strong on detail, IX has ironed out the kinks that have made the series less palatable outside Japan, and with Nintendo's support, IX is sure to have the wider impact that the series has craved. [Aug 2010, p.92]

Games have mastered action – the amplified and instant reward – but Papers, Please finds satisfaction in the tedium of bureaucracy, and twins it with genuinely human stories and an underlying, dread-filled tension. It’s rare to play a game about something, about a time, a place and a theme, and for a game to embody those ideas from meaning right down to mechanics.

Its thesis - that a multiplicity of cultures leaves a society profoundly enriched - has never seemed more urgent and vital. [Issue#390, p.130]

No other GTA has felt so trim and robust while making good the promise of a living, breathing action world. [May 2009, p.86]

The present console cycle is expected to last nearly a decade, and there will inevitably be developers advocating the need for more sophisticated tools. But just like Machu Picchu, the Pyramids and every other engineering marvel of antiquity, Uncharted 3 will stand as a reminder to future generations of gamers that enough problem-solving imagination can turn any old trowel into a magic wand.

To play New Horizons is to retreat to a fairer, kinder place, where even the supposed bad guy is a philanthropist who gives you interest-free loans you can pay off at your leisure. Animal Crossing has always been a pleasure; never has it felt quote so essential. [Issue#344, p.110]