A delightful refreshing new story for a cosy sim blends with an extremely creative puzzler in Lonesome Village, which features a cute art style and relaxing vibes throughout. With a few patches to address crashing, it could be among the best in the genre. Even with these issues though, the game gets my recommendation with a caveat to save often so you don’t lose your progress.

While the path might be pleasant to look at, the traveller isn’t. While the road can be interesting, it can be equally as dull. While the ability to conjure rain with music should be an interesting hook, it’s used too infrequently. A Winding Path is a short, sincere but decidedly mediocre adventure that’ll leave you wanting more.

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.

A vibrant and violent affair, Warhammer 40,000: Shootas, Blood & Teef is a slice of arcade fun. It’s not aimed at Warhammer veterans, and rightfully so, more for those who like their run-and-gun to be over-the-top. A bit lacking in extra content and polish, but still enjoyable nonetheless. Highly recommend it with friends though.

While elements of The Chant are clichéd or clunky, there’s a surprisingly fun survival thriller nestled between its flaws. Creative monster design and excellent use of lighting (or lack thereof) can make for some nerve shredding moments too.

A Little to the Left has quaint, cosy design married with a multitude of gratifying puzzles and a mischievous cat. If you have an eye for organisation and live for the order of the everyday things in life, this’ll tick your boxes.

Castle Renovator is a game plagued with nauseating technical problems, tedious gameplay design and frustrating building mechanics. There’s no salvaging this mess of a castle, perhaps except in the eyes of those already too deep into the medieval mire.

The Entropy Centre is a masterclass in intuitive, creative and exciting game design. From the first puzzle to the last you’ll be staggered by the imagination on display, and as you rebuild the world around you you’ll have a few chuckles along the way, too. A truly excellent first-person puzzle that deserves to be played by absolutely everyone.

Despite its awkward plot and missing track editor, Kovox Pitch is still worth playing on PlayStation. This a quirky rhythm game with a unique vibe and utilises the rarely used post-punk genre to great effect. While it’s not quite a home run, it’ll keep rhythm game fans entertained for a few evenings.

Despite a few niggles, Modern Warfare 2 is a real return to form for Call of Duty. A masterfully crafted multiplayer experience and an excellent campaign mode that pays homage to its predecessors while simultaneously feeling like its own thing come together in one of the best big budget shooters for years.

Tanuki Sunset is fun to play if you take it as seriously as a Raccoon on a Longboard. The visuals and colour palette pop and there’s a nostalgic but limited soundtrack to shred into the sunset. Those looking for a mechanically sound Arcade game won’t find it here however, with a little too much randomness bouncing off rigidly set challenges.

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.

Aquarist is a fine addition to the career simulator genre, although there are some optimisation issues on the Switch with some ill-fitted control problems and and fiddly mechanics. Behind these flaws though there is a casual, fun game that has a lot to offer.

Confused puzzles, a convoluted story, poor use of lighting and no real scares makes Charon’s Staircase a good reason for taking the escalator instead.

The Pinball Wizard could’ve taken things further with regards to its level design. The game only really gets fun near the end, when you have everything it has to offer. However, for a humble game with a dungeon crawler/pinball hybrid it executes the novel combination successfully. Gameplay doesn’t feel as solid for a pinball game, but as a casual arcade game to play in bursts, it’s worth pulling the plunger.

Saturnalia should be on any horror fan’s radar this year. A twisted story combined with a superb art style, nerve-shredding gameplay and expertly crafted design will have you praising and cursing the creative genius to put roguelike mechanics into a horror game. This Italian town has a horrific history you’ll both love and hate to venture into, but you’ll be compelled to uncover it nonetheless.

New Tales from the Borderlands is a sequel that seemingly forgets everything that made the original so special and shoehorns in a story that simply doesn’t keep you engaged. Whilst it’s visually lovely and feels like it’s a Borderlands experience, it’s all style and no substance. Without heart or humour, this feels like a cash-in, and for a sequel to one of the greatest narrative games of all time? That’s just not good enough.

I See Red promises high-octane and snappy action which, by and large, it delivers on, aside from some mechanical looseness. What slows this violent rampage down to a meek crawl however is the repetitive corridor traipsing, bullet-absorbing late-game enemies and blunted visual style. You’re better off replaying Ruiner to enact bloody vengeance.

Victoria 3 is an excellent addition to the Grand Strategy genre that I think will very much live up to expectations. There are a few issues but it does many more things right than it does wrong. Victoria 3 is a highlight amongst strategy games released this year, and I’m extremely impressed by the developers making peace just as fun and engaging as war. This is a must play for anyone who likes grand strategy titles, but wants to play something a little different compared to its competitors.

A cosmic point and click adventure, Blood Nova crafts an engrossing fantasy-meets-sci-fi world which will hopefully continue beyond this game. Its story is well told, complemented by pleasing art work and excellent music. Its only blemishes are a hand full of puzzles that feel dependent on the player’s comprehension of the game’s complex lore and a tendency to deliver necessary exposition after the fact, resulting in some confusing moments.

The presentation and the fear factor of Yomawari: Lost in the Dark leave a great first impression. The beautifully crafted visuals and moment-to-moment potential horror you face makes it an unnerving experience that’s hard to shake. However, the more you play, the less you’re rewarded with actual reasoning from the story. It’s a gut punch to persevere in the final act. This may be appealing to fans of the series but it didn’t make a new one of me by the end.

Hell is the most apt word in the title ‘One Hell Of A Ride’. Rubber banding, rough visuals, an abrasive structure full of unnecessary padding, aggressive track design and a lack of modes outside of a single player campaign mean this game struggles to get off the starting line. There was potential here, but it stalls and chalks up a DNF.

Trifox is an ambitious and largely successful blend of classic 3D platform and modern twin-stick shooter mechanics. While the difficulty spikes can be off-putting at times and some combat sections can feel a little too much of a grind, some excellent set pieces and a fun, charming style kept me wanting to see what was next. A solid debut effort from Glowfish Interactive.

Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed is a clear love letter to a much-beloved franchise, and it’s IllFonic’s most polished product to date. It’s a great multiplayer title that takes the core gameplay of Prop Hunt and spins it into something all of its own. While it’s unclear how the game will grow and evolve with time, what’s presented in the base package is a ton of fun to play, both as a Ghostbuster and a Ghost. That said, while bots are a nice inclusion, they’re not a substitute for real players.

A strong third main entry in this insane series of brawlers, No More Heroes 3 is both accessible to new fans and daunting at the same time. A lot of it will make sense to fans, naturally, but may put off those just treading water. That being said, the main story is practically standalone, with some of the most colourful and creative bosses outside of a Souls game.

A worthwhile entry into the DC/Batman game series, Gotham Knights can be a fun experience in single-player or co-op with its strengths lying in variety and its four-Knight team. However, its confusing UI, repetitive stripped-back combat, and lack of stealth options leave it unable to reach the glorious heights of the Arkham games.

Lemon Cake is a wonderfully charming career simulation suitable for anyone with a sweet tooth. This game has plenty to offer and plenty of play time to fatten you up with gaming goodness. It has a great pace, soothing music and nothing ever becomes overcomplicated. It’s an easy recommendation to the fan of the casual sim genre.

Return to Monkey Island lives up to the near thirty year long wait with a modernised take that feels fresh, unique and brand new. Nostalgia naturally fuels a major proportion of its endearing qualities, but the new puzzles, the sumptuous music and the glorious performances bring the series back to life in ways we couldn’t have imagined. An absolutely stellar return for a franchise we thought we’d never see again.