A competent action adventure with a focus on stealth and platforming, Steel Seed is a fun enough romp through futuristic giga-architecture. It’s unintended glitches and unresponsive combat bring it down, and the overall package isn’t all that compelling when better examples exist elsewhere.

With a terrific hand-drawn style, an intriguing premise (inspired by a rich vein of criminally under-represented folklore), and solid controls, Tunche does a lot right, but it’s also a game that saves too much of its good stuff for the later stages, which is likely to drive away many looking for more instant gratification. With a more gentle introductory curve in the early stages and more rewarding incentives for progress, Tunche could be the next Castle Crashers, especially if you can rope some mates in. As it stands, it might be too much of a slog at the start to stick with, in order to see the good stuff further in.

A rough start that continues for hours may put some off, but if you love the Jurassic franchise then this could be for you. The stealth isn’t translated well from VR but it’s serviceable albeit one-note. However, the presentation and music compliment the franchises ethos exceptionally, making it a competent Jurassic experience.

Despotism 3k has a solid strategy resource management core and some excellent, creative text dialogue events oozing with humour. It also has one of the most punishing and demotivating RNG event simulators that can break each of your runs without mercy and will happily kick your progress to the curb. It’s a decent game, but just like its real life despot counterparts, holding onto ultimate power will always be impossible to enjoy when a Cthulu monster decides it doesn’t appreciate your delusion of grandeur.

Sumptuously animated, Greak Memories of Azur draws you in with its high-end artwork. However, the game is an exercise in frustration and bad design choices. A central mechanic of three characters controlled by one player with no co-op option, hinders platforming and renders combat nigh on impossible. I’m out here trying to forget Azur.

Rubber Bandits has nearly all the components for a great party game, whether playing with friends in your house, or playing online with strangers. With multiple game modes, characters to choose from and tactics to employ, this game could be a lot of fun. The only thing holding it back currently is the input delay, reaction times, and the sheer frustration of playing online. There is a diamond in the rough somewhere here, it may just take some digging through the dirt.

Whilst there isn't much gameplay to get stuck into, Urban Myth Dissolution Center has an engrossing mystery worth experiencing. Hypnotic visuals and decent writing may not make the game feel any less slower but it's perfect for those wanting a macabre visual novel to get lost in.

The potential behind Way of the Hunter is there to give the likes of the Cabela series a run for its money. It’s just marred with a few too many technical issues that prevent it from being a fun and immersive experience overall. Stuff it and move on to the next quarry instead.

Ultimately, while 8Doors: Arum’s Afterlife Adventure is a competent enough addition to the Metroidvania genre, with a decent story and acceptable gameplay, it doesn’t do enough with its potential to rub shoulders with the giants of the field. If you’re mad for these types of games, you can do much worse. However, if you’re only interested in something more unique, this probably isn’t interesting enough to do the job.

Attempting to punch above its serfdom beginnings, Rising Lords serves up a competent yet disappointingly hollow strategy experience. The tutorialisation will ward off many potential banners and despite a charming board game aesthetic, it struggles to consistently demonstrate its knightly qualities. With some time and reinforcements, there’s hope this young lord can achieve their lordly status, but it’s not quite yet.

Swapping clubs for running and swinging, The Cub is an okay platformer that rides the coattails of Golf Club Nostalgia’s wonderful aesthetic, soundtrack and satirical ingenuity. The frustrating controls and basic gameplay mean this fledging doesn’t develop as strongly as its forebear did. But, there’s enough still running through this cub’s DNA to make it part of the pack.

As a movie, In Sound Mind may have been an interesting and quirky, if slightly derivative, story of introspection and psychological understanding. As a game though, it simply doesn’t have the depth of mechanics to hold you through its 5-6 hour runtime. Sporting awful combat and stealth sequences, boring level design and inconsistent presentation, In Sound Mind activates too few of the adrenaline-controlling brain areas. Instead, it peaked some interest which slowly faded out the longer I played. You wouldn’t be out of your mind to play it if you’re a psychological horror fan, but you’ll potentially be in two minds of whether it was actually fun to play.

Battle Brothers has remarkable freedom that’s rare to see in the RPG genre. It truly feels like your decisions and actions have weight and that the responsibility for your band of warriors rests in your hands – quite literally on the Switch. That’s backed up by a deep turn based battle system that’s deceptively strategic. Unusually long load times and a frustratingly steep learning curve, compounded by a lack of an adequate tutorial, means that some players will bounce right off this game however, never getting to experience its best aspects.

The console versions of Cloudpunk then are, at the time of writing, buggy and a little broken in places they shouldn’t be, but if you’re lucky enough to power through without any major issues, you’ll lose hours to the fantastic narrative, terrific central character performances and gorgeous neon-soaked visuals.

The Callisto Protocol is a good game that falls short in almost every department of being a great one. Predictable story, gratifying-yet clunky combat mechanics and a lack of variety hold back what is an otherwise visual and audible spectacle. Dead Space has cast a long shadow since its release in 2008 and The Callisto Protocol can’t emerge from the depth of its superb darkness.

When you get over the niggling feeling of what seems like a mobile port, Dustoff Z is quite fun. It has an element of grind to it, sans microtransactions, but treat it like a simple-minded arcade game and you’ll have a blast.

With an interesting take on the core gameplay of asymmetrical horror and a clear love for the franchise, Killer Klowns From Outer Space: The Video Game is dreadfully unbalanced and unforgiving for solo players. Whilst the game has great art direction, the animation and overall movement feels dated. If you like the franchise or indeed Illfonic’s asymmetric outings you can probably dig this, but otherwise it’s not all too memorable.

Born of Bread would grab your attention if it was in the shop window of a bakery. It has all the hallmark elements for a warm and inviting paperlike RPG, though its contents are lacklustre with a basic story, systems that punish your exploration and a combat system that needs a little tinkering. However, the heart of the game and all-around pleasantries do make it at least half a baker’s dozen.

An incredible simulation of the game of basketball, which might as well be a free-to-play mobile game with so many microtransactions at times. If you can resist the temptation to pour money in, it’s the best sports sim on the market by a fair distance. Unfortunately, this is the worst game in the franchise for attempting to exploit that temptation. Wait for a heavy discount to make any further outlay a more palatable decision.

A bitesize RPG with some incredibly gorgeous pixel art, Artis Impact has a quirkiness and charm that will either win you over, or frustrate you beyond belief, but it’s odd systems and largely unrealised combat system will exasperate regardless.

Amidst the sea of rogues and Survivors, Devil Jam rocks up with its effort. With solid gameplay, colourful visuals and a neat beat mechanic, it can be fun. But it doesn't offer much in terms of substance, and is subsequently more for the hardcore genre fans only.

Some quality acting performing a fun script that features colourful, interesting characters is gambled away with some drab presentation, a few glitches and some out-of-touch design decisions. FMV game fans will still get something out of Vegas Tales but it’s an ‘also-ran’ in a genre that’s improving with every passing month.

Weird West sadly just isn’t as unique, strange or compelling as its setting and ideas suggest it should be. A decent twin-stick shooter with solid but repetitive combat, a limited sandbox and inconsequential decision making undermine the potential for an awesome gun slinging adventure. Sometimes, declaring yourself weird just ain’t enough, you’ve got to have the stones to commit to the best duels of the wild west.

The seemingly strong foundations of Arctic Awakening's opening give way like an icy lake with one too many cracks. Where the narrative struggles with inconsistent performances and an underwhelming concluding chapter, the music and visuals elevate and lift the experience far beyond its basic walking simulator beats. Even if you may take a freezing bath or two along the way, I'd still recommend daring the trip across the Arctic for the sights and sounds alone.

Simplistic but fun mini-games can’t quite match the quality of the music they’re accompanying in Teenage Blob, a unique split EP music/game that’s over before it really hits its stride.

Overall, Stellaris: First Contact in a tough one for me to judge. There are excellent elements of this DLC, but there are others which need further fleshing out to really bring out the full potential of their mechanics. For hardcore Stellaris fans, there is fun to be had here and the new content is welcome, but it isn’t a must have DLC and can be skipped over if you don’t feel a particular affinity for these new additions to the game.

The World After is a product of a very interesting time in video game history, set and produced during a pandemic. Combining sci-fi trappings with the French countryside in a hybrid of FMV and point-and-click adventure gives this game an entirely unique thematic feel. There’s questionable narrative decisions leading to an anti-climactic story arc but for fans of FMV games, The World After will fill an evening or two.

A much better shoot-’em-up than the first game in this series, Super Destronaut DX-2 looks like Space Invaders and plays like Twin Bee. It only has a few hours of content but there’s enough variety here so that those hours feel like they’re well spent. Score chasers might find some longevity but there are much better titles in this genre to spend your time with.

Redacted comes off as trying too hard in all the wrong places when the core of the gameplay is right there doing all the hard work making it a decent game. It's a rougelike with a rough exterior that once you crack through the dizzying first several hours, you'll have a lot of fun experimenting with mutated destruction.

An interesting experiment that many players will find too taxing, Untold Stories shows what unique things can be done when telling stories through the medium of gaming, but ultimately fails to deliver on its own narrative.

Though it’s pretty derivative, Devil Slayer Raksasi is a notable take on the roguelike. Its directly overhead camera perspective is novel but serves really to draw you too far out of the action, and its randomly earned drops leave it straddling the line between roguelite and roguelike. The real problem is that most of its other elements have been seen before and in better games.

Windbound is a fun sailing game set in a world that’s different every time you play, but it’s a frustrating and punishing survival game at the same time. It’s highly likely to not be the game players expect it to be. Without any story or narrative to anchor it, the player is left adrift at sea without a raft.

Easy Delivery Co. is a laid back low poly vibes based game, until it isn't. The core gameplay loop of delivering packages, whilst thinking about your resources, is a fun couple of hours. However, the gameplay becomes stagnant as no real progression is felt until you've almost beaten it. There's an iceberg to delve into post-game, probably found on message boards, but none of it is earned in-game.

Neoverse is a deck-building roguelite with some impressive systems and lots of room for intricate strategy, however its presentation, lack of modes, narrative or personality really make it feel a few cards short of a full deck.

Fans of the original Beyond Blue will get something from After The Storm - so long as they go into it with the right expectations. This isn't Beyond Blue 2. This isn't an improvement on the original game. It's set in the same world, with the same characters, with a similar focus on preserving the oceans. But this is a very different game viewed from a new perspective and while it falls short of meeting the quality of the original, the game still has enough saving graces to save it from the depths entirely.

More entertaining than your average tycoon game, Ravenous Devils leverages a famous penny dreadful theme, namely Sweeney Todd, to give it a unique, dark tone. It’s a shame that this long pig pie is part-baked with a number of frustrating glitches that upsets its flavour. It also fails to turn its theme into anything mechanically interesting. Still, you’ll easily lose a few evenings to this game before its recipe becomes stale.

Charming pixel art, level design and world make Outrider Mako an eye-opening prospect, but once you enter this Yokai realm and start making deliveries, it’s repetitive structure and chaotic combat underwhelm.

Walking your patrol as a rookie in The Precinct will fill you with wide-eyed hope thanks to some great arcadey Police gameplay, packed with chases and satisfying arrest work. Much like a disillusioned veteran, however, over-exposure to the same shallow mechanics, predictable story and lack of consequences will have you eying up retirement sooner than you may have envisioned.

Star Overdrive shines when you’re on the board, delivering fast, fluid thrills. But clunky on-foot sections and weak combat drag it down, leaving a game that’s half brilliant, half forgettable.

Your Personal Chill Apartment works best as a tool in your daily life, rather than a game in the traditional sense. Reward yourself with new products for your apartment as you go through your daily life and create the quiet hub of your dreams. With lovely visuals and ambient music it's a relaxing, enjoyable experience, but the lack of depth or replayability will mean this is a one or two hour effort that offers little outside its core mechanic.

Flame Keeper is a truly accessible rogue-lite for anyone new to the genre, or someone who does not want an unforgiving time. Whilst currently incomplete and with some technical issues, Flame Keeper is fun with visually appealing details and offers an addictive gameplay loop.

An homage to the original GTA games, Rustler is a fun medieval twist on what made those 90’s smash hit games so enjoyable. Unfortunately, many aspects of GTA 1 & 2 that have aged poorly also rear their ugly head here which makes Rustler feel dated and clunky in comparison to its modern day peers.

From a solo player's perspective, Phantom Squad is a frustrating and unbalanced trial of patience that doesn't pay off enough to make it worth it. Rope in a couple of friends to squad up though, and the game completely transforms into an intense, intricately designed and frantic sandbox to have a blast in. Just make sure you don't go it alone, this unit was meant for a team, not an individual.

A fun 'all ages welcome' pick up and play NBA title, that does away with the excess and offers a light-hearted, enjoyable enough take on basketball. It's asking price leaves a lot to be desired, mind.

Broken Lines is a decent amalgamation of XCOM and Peaky Blinders: Mastermind. Despite its multitude of flaws and unappealing visuals, there’s a bit of fun to be had navigating this squad through this alternate WWII universe. While it’s trapped behind enemy lines, there’s hope the squad can mend the broken to ultimately survive.

Whilst reminiscent of classic, isometric battlers, Dog Duty doesn’t make it easy to get into. There’s fun when it’s in full swing, but the wind up to it just won’t be worth it for casual players.

Sporting dystopian atmosphere in an interesting Cyberpunk world, Memory Lost occasionally finds its violent groove with fast-paced action and engaging combat. However, the lack of quality storytelling and frustrations in the consistency of its mechanics means it'll malfunction like a badly inserted augment. Memory Lost won't be remembered fondly by everyone, but there'll be a view who'll find peaceful remembrance in its chaotic brand of violence.

It’ll scratch an itch for a niche subset of JRPG fans, but its almost complete lack of an engaging narrative or characters, alongside repetitive areas, means Metal Max Xeno Reborn left me very underwhelmed. If not for its systems-heavy combat mechanics and solid Monster Hunter-esque gameplay loop, there would be very little here for me to recommend.

Solving puzzles while a disgruntled goblin is getting irate that you’re cheating because you’re taking off body parts, can be fun. Helheim Hassle certainly made me laugh quite a few times. But a repetitive gameplay loop, a tiresome numbers of puzzles, some frustrating controls, and a world that I felt no compulsion to explore or continue in, left me wanting a lot more than just a few lols.

There are a number of technical issues which blight Forgotten Fields but there’s nothing here that couldn’t be addressed over time and with patches. The core of the game, featuring a very human and relatable story mirrored in a literary fantasy one, shines bright enough that those who can forgive a few glitches will find something unique and interesting here.

Lushfoil Photography Sim didn't quite end up being the photography escape I was hoping for. With a few bugs, a side step from photography to pick up collectables and a full photo album halting my progression, I couldn't help but lose my zen whilst trying to get lost in the game's stunning locations. The photography mechanics are perfect, with some particular attention to how holding a camera feels with the DualSense, as well as the levels being gorgeous themselves. However, I couldn't really get over the hurdles that took away from the photography experience.

Crossfire: Legion is an accessible RTS with a decent foundation to become a great game, but it’s held back by a lackluster campaign, poor pathfinding and shallow strategic systems. A stellar voice cast, excellent graphical performance and primitively fun gameplay can carry you quite a way, but not enough to reach the best of the genre. Hopefully, there’s more to come.

While it started as a solid ARPG, Trinity Trigger quickly began to disappoint. Its charming world didn’t matter because I didn’t care about anyone in it. Its combat had a solid base but a lack of variety in its encounters made it bland. Worst of all, Trinity Trigger’s final third rushes towards an ending that felt unearned, with an awful final boss that highlights how poor the party AI is.

Trolls vs Vikings: Reborn delivers dozens of levels and spruced up visuals that offer plenty to fans of the tower defence strategy genre. Unfortunately, the hangover of its mobile design leads to lengthy grinding for upgrades and a lack of depth in its gameplay variety, which taken together shudder its momentum. A decent tower defence that's been nicely packaged together, it's neither the best nor the worst in the genre.

Lasting a few fun hours, Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion is a simple but effective Zelda-like adventure in a colourful veggie-filled dystopia. However, this salad dodger’s gameplay is derivative of dozens of other better games, and it doesn’t really do anything to explore its novel concept.

Gangs of Sherwood is a fun combat-focused action game that can be enjoyed with your own gang. That is if you don’t mind basic-level design, enemy AI that doesn’t present a challenge and sometimes stiff gameplay that can be frustrating. Robin hasn’t quite stolen from the rich and given the goods to the player, but they won’t be robbed blind either.

Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town continues the same charming cutesy aesthetic as its predecessors, although at times feels discombobulated in organisation. A decent enough farming management addition to the genre, the game features a depth of gameplay but is light on narrative. Prepare and expect to be in it for the long haul if you want to see any real results from your hard work.

A creative adventure puzzle game that leans into what makes LEGO so great, LEGO Bricktales is a fun and imaginative title. The PS5 version is a little unstable right now, crashing often in certain areas, making it feel a few bricks short of completion. With a patch though, this could be the most creative LEGO game to date.

If you like the Trails and Ys games, Tokyo Xanadu is Persona as if made by Falcom. That might be right up your street. On a good day, it means fun combat and likable characters, but on a bad day, it’s a painfully generic story peppered with some of the dullest corridor-crawling in the genre.

A few quirky characters and some turn-based battles struggle to hide that Starbites is a very middling JRPG far more concerned with silly banter than a compelling plot. It's passable salvage, but there's better out there if you know where to look.

One moment it’s cute and funny and the next it’s dry and drawn out. A peculiar mix of engrossing visual novel and average dungeon crawler, Undead Darlings ~no cure for love~ will please those who have the patience to push through its moments of drudgery. For everyone else, a purer form of each genre might be more entertaining.

You likely won’t want to replay it to see the multiple endings, but for a single play through, Whateverland is a charming, charismatic if rough around the edges point and click adventure. It stumbles a number of times before the credits roll but with multiple solutions to puzzles and quirky characters to get to know, this game is a perfectly fine way to spend a few evenings.

Biomutant had bags of potential but squandered this at release. The developers have now had a year to to come out swinging with fancy-pants graphics and dozens of wholesale changes the game needed. It could have been Biomutant 1.5. Instead, the game is still let down by all the same questionable game design, pointless side-quests and ghastly amount of narration that makes you want to blow your face off. The PS5 update brings framerate smoothness to make combat feel and play better – it’s really this new version’s only saving grace. Unfortunately, that’s not enough to improve upon our original verdict.

For a new IP a bit rough round the edges, there’s plenty to like with Penny’s Big Breakaway and her excellent array of platforming Yoyo moves. But hewing too close to the Sonic formula means it rarely feels unique or essential.

Monster Jam Steel Titans 2 is less of a monster truck racing game and more a celebration of the most famous of the colossal vehicles and the bonkers things they can do. Almost every game play mode feels underdeveloped, you can wrestle with the handling and lose, and the tutorial is very poor. On the other hand, you can race around a dog bone shaped race track in a truck shaped like a shark. It’ll please its intended audience but for everyone else, there are alternatives worth exploring.

Grit and Valor - 1949 makes a strong first impression thanks to its setting and the thrill of acquiring the high ground to massacre mechs. Past the initial adrenaline hit however, it fails to sustain a meaningful level of excitement due to a misfiring reliance on meta-progression and underwhelming strategy depth.

If you liked the Baldur’s Gate or Neverwinter Nights games from the 90’s and have been hankering for something similar and traditional yet modernised, Tower of Time delivers just that. You will need to have some patience with its slower segments to see it through to the top/bottom.

A charming bubble popping puzzle games that replicates most of what worked back in the 90’s, Rusty Spout Rescue Adventure is a fun if limited game. There’s nothing wrong with emulating the classics but when a game does this without bringing anything new to the table, it’s hard to see it as anything but inessential.

A competent, accessible, family friendly yet unusually dry quiz game, Papa’s Quiz offers up a few hours of party fun before the whole thing becomes stale. It won’t be challenging Jackbox for the party game crown but would fit right into a playlist of party games with friends and relatives.

Hirogami has a bright world to explore and some interesting gameplay ideas to fold over. However, the art of it all is a little lost when the developers' over ambition doesn't come to fruition in the game. It plays old, feels like it too, and despite being a throwback to the PS2 era, it doesn't have the tact and precision to pull off this nostalgia trip.

It’s not perfect and there is not much variety but when you do play it, you can’t help but enjoy it for what it is. I guess it must say something if I enjoyed playing this more than I did the Avengers game.

Not the deepest of racing games, but then it doesn’t claim to be. Can’t Drive This has one core concept, and it does it well. It’s just a bit lacking if you have no one else to experience it with.

Not Tonight 2 takes the pain and misery of a post-Brexit world into an America on its knees. It’s bolder than its original and provides terrific alternate ways to enjoy its fairly generic core mechanic, but it’s nowhere near as ‘political’ as it thinks it is. Turning America into Arkham City isn’t satire, and fans of the original may feel a little disappointed it doesn’t hit as hard as it promised it would.

By design, Postal: Brain Damaged is a relic of an era that passed about 20 years ago. It captures some of the best of the 2000s through lightning quick, buttery smooth and challenging gameplay, but also soils itself by relying on tired old tropes for comic relief and some rough edges with balancing. Postal Dude has a penchant for pissing himself and this Postal entry unfortunately can’t escape the dregs of his urine, but when did a little pee stop him causing havoc?

Odd design choices and an unsatisfying yet incredibly demanding gameplay loop mar a game that boasts the cutest plant people in video games. A crafting and survival sim with added base-building, Drake Hollow is not compelling enough to justify the demands it makes on the player or the lack of reward even when you manage to do what it asks.

Paper Ghost Stories: Third Eye Open is a sweet ode to Malaysia but not very good at delivering impactful gameplay moments to support it. It's a number of ideas not fully realised with a subtle story of familial struggle, all whilst under the guise of a supernatural child's tale. It will click extremely well for some but not everyone.

Delivering a delicious protein of a cooking game sandwiched between an engaging story and retro horror presentation, Happy’s Humble Burger Farm succeeds at points. The horror and wider gameplay sully the burger with spoilt toppings, but the core of this sandwich is still worth a try.

The Invincible crash lands out of excellence as it’s overall technically flawed. However, the contents of the story, the themes it explores and the general art direction make for a great sci-fi title. If you can get over the less-than-stellar controls and bloated plot, you may just witness a shooting star, but maybe don’t make a wish on it.

A symbolic exploration of the afterlife steeped in Peruvian culture, Arrog doesn’t do enough to put its story in the context it needed. It’s certainly pretty at times and there’s an interesting message about life and death buried deep in the figurative imagery for those that go looking for it, but compared to its peers, it struggles to tell its tale effectively.

Compared to many other “games as toys”, The Block feels limited. It’s an interesting, tiny city builder that challenges you to make use of finite space, but it fails to capitalise on its unique hook in any meaningful way. That said, if you’re looking for something to play after a rough day to work, there’s a satisfying vibe to the game that’ll fill an hour.

A decent enough sequel with plenty of work still to do, Wet Dreams Dry Twice sees Larry learning about the modern world and his place in it, whilst longing for the love of his life. To say I’m surprised I didn’t despise every second is an understatement, though there’s not quite enough under Larry’s bed sheets to warrant a return visit.

While it's impossible to recommend Extremely Powerful Capybaras over any of the giants in the genre, it could act as a competent "my first auto-roguelike-bullet heaven" game. It's light on content and the repetitive nature may grate on some, but the colourful art style and inclusion of co-op are a saving grace, and I could see if added to the rotation for family game night.

Biomutant is an ambitious animal populated open-world with so much to do most players could spend 60-70 hours exploring without seeing everything. However, size is its downfall. The player will get lost and bogged down in the morass of thousands of side quests, thousands of superfluous items, before they realise there’s not much plot to hang it all from. Add a number of glitches at launch, no lock-on in combat, and a narrator that will drive many players to distraction, and sadly Biomutant does not live up to its lofty ambitions.

A card-based choose your own adventure game that emulates your favourite board games, Foretales has a novel gameplay idea that sadly gets a little too repetitive to hold your attention for the multiple playthroughs its story options offer. It’ll make for a warm and comforting couple of sessions play and there’s a lot of scope for an expanded sequel, but what’s here may leave you wanting even after just one playthrough.

Grim Guardians: Demon Purge is flawed in a lot of the ways it sells itself on. As a Metroidvania, it’s a really weak attempt, but as an Arcade Action Platformer it’s astounding. It just didn’t lean into one or the other enough. If you’re not a fan of Gal*Gun, most of it will go over your head, but fans may love this. Though as an entire package it just does okay.

I really wanted to like Bear and Breakfast more than I did. It isn’t a bad game, it’s just lacking the polish that could make it exemplary. With some simple quality of life improvements like faster movement, and cooking and crafting from the box, we could have a much smoother game on our hands. As it stands, it’s a little too jarring — much like waking up at one of the rooms I built for my visitors.

Set in a picturesque village inspired by real world French Brittany, Broken Pieces is an adventure thriller game with a great foundation. The premise, visuals and soundtrack are all interesting and make a great first impression. The execution of everything else however is a bit rough around the edges. With questionable combat elements, convoluted puzzle mechanics and a story that feels incomplete, Broken Pieces feels a little too much like its title.

A compelling and atmospheric story of twin girls exploring a haunted village is marred by its gameplay. Had Fatal Frame II Crimson Butterfly Remake been a more straight forward third person combat adventure I may have enjoyed it more, but I found the first person camera-based combat disorienting, cumbersome, frustrating and repetitive.

Mythic Ocean is a choice based visual story game. With 3-5 hours per run, you build relationships with Gods in order to choose which God can create a new world. It is up to you how the world plays out based on your choice of interactions with each God. It is not a game that punishes you with any danger, and brings a relaxing explorative tone to the player – but it is a hands off experience. Sometimes this is at its own detriment, with no cues or indications of what to do at times which can lead the player swimming in circles. This game is short and sweet, but does try to make the most of a lot of potential it has.

Alex Kidd in Miracle World is a good upgrade, with a loving nod to the Master System classic upgraded with terrific visuals and a wonderful soundtrack, but not much else has changed. It’s oddly easier to control when played in the original visuals mode, whilst new Alex feels somewhat floaty. Regardless, the ruthless difficulty – when not using infinite lives – will polarise modern gamers, and the padding to extend the game time feels like exactly that and little else.

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl doesn’t bring anything new to the table, instead offering a certainly competent if not hugely exciting brawler with a confusing roster of characters cynically chopped up seemingly for future monetisation and very little to actually fight for in terms of unlockables for the fans. The fundamentals are here, and the Sports modes are terrific fun, but there isn’t much else to get too excited about when the content included is this lacking.

Krzyżacy – The Knights of the Cross has a unique deckbuilding mechanic that I hope can be built on within the genre and an eye-popping art style that deserves appreciation. It stumbles in almost every other design decision and awkward approach to story and characters, but avid card players and anime girl appreciators will have found their niche title.

A brief, pacey and regularly unsettling pastiche of Steamboat Willie, Bad Cheese will unfortunately stop short of sending a shiver down your spine. For fans of teen-horror, it’s still worth a few hours of your time, but its rigid structure and lack of real depth will prevent it from joining the horror classics.

Pathway is a serviceable roguelite built around the fun idea of tailing Nazis across the desert in a jeep. However it lacks personality, character and narrative worth getting invested in. Its combat will satisfy for a time but quickly becomes too familiar for genre fans, and too dull for anyone else to jump aboard.

Under the guise of cute charm, Robotry! instead reveals an unfairly punishing logic-platformer. When (and if) it clicks, it can be fun. But the frustrations outweigh the good times, and can only be recommended for the hardcore masochists.

Tattoo Tycoon is a tycoon game where you can run a tattoo shop and it's fine. Amongst what's currently being released there's every chance it will get a little lost in the shuffle and unfortunately, it's not doing an awful lot to make itself stand out from the crowd. Try it on PC where it's meant to be played.

Redemption Reapers is a passable strategy RPG with a focus on tight squad-based tactics that’s probably too simple for genre veterans. Its campaign is disappointingly dull and does nothing to pull your attention away from its forgettable squad and stilted animations.

Before We Leave is as close as I’ve ever come to sticking with a city builder and, for that, it deserves enormous credit. The non-violent nature of the gameplay is also to be commended. However, it’s all still just a little too dizzying for me and, if you also struggle with the level of micro-management this type of game fosters, then this likely won’t be quite streamlined enough to change your mind.