Curved Space is a decent twin stick shooter which has a variety of weapons, striking level backdrops, satisfying upgrade systems and a cool leash mechanic. Sadly, it’s significantly let down by repetitive objectives, technical issues and level design which is aesthetically, but not practically, interesting. While not a bad game by any means, Curved Space sadly fails to capitalise on its promise despite its solid offering of modes.

It might be overwhelming for newcomers, but stick with it and MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries offers some surprisingly deep and rewarding giant robot combat. The management side might confuse, but stick with it, and you’ll enjoy the ups and down of mercenary life.

A gorgeous virtual recreation of The Search for the Stolen Maze Stone, this game is damn near essential for fans of the Pierre the Maze Detective book series. It won’t be for everyone, but it brings some stunning artwork to life and adapts the concept of the book into an enjoyable game.

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.

A precision platformer with a novel, magnetically charged traversal method, Super Magbot is a quality game. The storyline is a little lackluster but challenging yet satisfying game design makes for a very morish experience.

Fossil Corner was released during the Wholesome Direct showcase and it certainly epitomises that type of game. Built around a gratifying puzzle and a moreish game play loop, it’s a chilled experience that ticks a lot of those dopamine releasing boxes – it’s short lived however. The narrative fades away and repetition sets in. It’ll fill a few nights but past that, it’ll start to grate.

Sniper: Ghost Warrior Contracts 2 is a prime example of sequel done right. A few technical issues that highlight the mid-line entry of the game don’t dampen the experience. The sniping, its core tenet, is where the money is. About half a mile away, in someone’s head. Go and get your money’s worth.

Green Hell is a surprisingly great game which has exceptional depth in its mechanics, an immaculately detailed and immersive world to explore (and die in), with a story that has absolutely no right to be as fantastic and deep as it is. With a wealth of options in modes and difficulty settings, wannabe survivalists will be hard pressed to find a deeper, more rewarding experience. Despite some minor technical flaws and a punishing opening, Green Hell is a game fully deserving of your time and investment.

Chivalry 2 is an immersive, chaotic, gory, hilarious, carnage spilling thrill ride of a game which will have you storming castles like a true knight of old one moment, before bewildering you with someone beating you down with a loaf of bread. It’s a fantastically enjoyable experience which is unfortunately held back by a light content offering and some technical as well as balance issues. While this knight may have taken an arrow to the knee, it battles on to launch a cabbage at you another day.

Strike Daz Cans is cheap in every sense of the word. It might cost less than a large Caramel Macchiato but, as is so often the case with budget Nintendo Switch titles, you get what you pay for. This game feels like a barely functional tin can alley tech demo that has had a start menu slapped on it. It’s devoid of charm or personality and has frustrating, progress halting content. With so many free mobile games providing a better experience than this in the same genre, it’s very difficult to recommend Strike Daz Cans to anyone.

Chicory is the kind of game that reminds me why I enjoy gaming in the first place. It takes innovative, artistically driven mechanics and makes them accessible and intuitive. It combines them with a narrative which is emotionally charged and truly engrossing. This is all topped off with a fantastic world that houses oodles of charm, a top class soundtrack and puzzle design that challenges the player while rarely becoming frustrating.

The grandmaster of difficult action games is back. The Ninja Gaiden Master Collection pulls no punches, nor does it change or cater to modern sensibilities. It’s as classic as it was in 2004, with some crow’s feet doing little to tarnish it. It’s still absolutely nails, but if you’re a fan, you can’t go wrong with Ninja Gaiden Sigma 1 & 2. Oh, and the third game is in there too.

With a different gameplay focus, bright and breezy presentation, a simple yet effective match engine and a long overdue women’s football management mode, We Are Football does a pretty decent job of setting itself apart from Football Manager. However, a cluttered and messy UI, when combined with a frankly overwhelming amount of information to process, served to be pretty off-putting and left me pining for the relative simplicity of FM Touch. If you want to dig into some boardroom minutiae, this might just be the game for you. As it is, there was just a little too much white noise around the good stuff to make this a unanimous recommendation.

Overboard is a 2D puzzle murder mystery, and is infectiously intriguing with a quirky art style. If you love murder mysteries and choice based games, you will have a lot of fun with this short snapshot version of one suiting it’s release on Switch and IOS/Android. Your patience may run short replaying 35 minute sections from the beginning however.

An absolute cluster of poorly written dialogue, terrible technical misses and infuriating puzzle mechanics, Protocol is a dreadful experience that will test your patience along with your capacity to put up with absolute trash to see a somewhat satisfying ending to a story you’re barely paying attention too. You deserve better.

The frame rate can slow down, it occasionally crashes and there are aspects of Necromunda: Hired Gun that don’t live up to their potential. For fans of the 41st Millennium’s most infamous planet however, the fast paced FPS combat, detailed game world and strong narrative that Streum On Studio have created, all steeped in Warhammer 40K lore, will be compelling.

An asymmetric multiplayer espionage adventure, Operation: Tango is a game that demands co-operation and requires good communication. The non-linear difficulty curve can make some puzzles feel out of place but that doesn’t prevent it from being a gratifying, fun frolic through a charming series of missions.

A pale imitation of Call of Duty’s Zombies mode, Aliens is an asset flip, pure and simple. There’s no purpose or intention to the design of this game. It’s a collection of Unity store assets that have been slapped together with no artistic intent or thought for the player’s enjoyment. It’s functional but it’s an abject failure in every other regard.

Tapping into old school horror with several modern twists, Song of Horror is a surprise hit for fans of the genre. A few little face values issues do nothing to ruin the very well crafted filling, for fans and newcomers alike.

Dungeon Escape is a fun 2D platforming game with solid mechanics and a challenging but rewarding series of levels designed to test your patience and your reflexes. Despite its short length and decidedly inconsistent difficulty curve, it certainly merits its existence and will likely give you a couple of hours of enjoyment. It may be an imitation of a superior game, but sometimes, imitation can be flattering.

You’ll need persistence and patience to get the most out of O—O. It’s a tense and challenging retro inspired arcade game that’ll grate on the nerves long before it delivers any satisfaction. A convoluted, unnecessary plot is offset but pleasing yet basic visuals, smart single button game play and a toe tapping soundtrack. There’s glimpses of real ingenuity in O—O. The rest of the game occasionally feels like it’s overtly challenging in order to make the content stretch further.

Stonefly is a strong indie featuring tiny humans in tiny mechs vying with the bugs of the forest canopy for resources. Its tale is enough to drive you through a 10-hour campaign with little embellishment, and its mech-customisation and mineral-gathering systems are satisfying, intuitive, and purposeful. Pacifist bug combat is fast and frenetic, but also plagued with fiddly controls and a few too many abilities to be comfortable.

Lydia is an interactive story telling point and click, the story of a young girl surrounded by substance abuse. The game is short, and from that, the scenes of the narrative can blur and become confusing in which message it is trying to convey. Visually pleasing, and delivers a good atmospheric dark tone, but difficult to recommend for ‘fun’. However, this is an important game in the awareness of substance abuse.

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.

Beautiful Desolation may have some gorgeous pre-rendered backgrounds, but its impenetrable plot, two-dimensional characters, maddening indirect quests, and cryptic puzzles make it very hard to recommend to anyone but diehard fans of obtuse point-and-click adventures.

A fun and simple affair, Aluna hearkens back to classics like Gauntlet and Diablo, but in a much brighter setting. However, any fun in this action RPG is stifled by technical issues on the Switch and just some simply terrible voice acting outside of the main cast.

Handball 21 is a poor imitation of the real-life counterpart it tries to emulate. With janky, inconsistent mechanics, comical goalkeeping AI, lifeless presentation and shallow gameplay, there’s little to recommend to anyone other than the most hardcore of handball fans. The greatest compliment I can give it is that while the game itself made me question my existence, I did at least watch a couple of actual matches of handball, which were far more enthralling than the virtual version. Stick with the real-life sport on this one.