Toki Tori 2 is fully built around the idea of being something simple and grand at the same time. And indeed, it manages to surprise you again and again with interesting puzzles, despite only being able to do two things. Unfortunately it can be completely unclear what you're supposed to be doing at times. This is exacerbated by an unclear map that doesn't encourage backtracking. Toki Tori 2 is therefore sometimes slightly too grand to retain simplicity.

Badland turned out to be a pleasant surprise. The game takes you on a special journey through a beautiful world. From the environments and sounds to the deadly obstacles and puzzles, all elements work seamlessly with each other and it feels like one harmonious whole.

In Army of Two: The Devil’s Cartel you shoot Mexican drug-lords for about seven hours straight. This bland task becomes monotonous after a while and having a partner along for the ride unfortunately doesn't really matter. Just like other games in the series, it doesn't manage to escape the bowels of mediocrity.

Got rid of your handheld because you only play games on your phone? A shame, because with Luigi’s Mansion 2 it's proven how refined a game on the 3DS can be. It’s drenched in a comedic vibe, which keeps things fresh while exploring, puzzling and fighting ghosts for the considerable time it takes to complete the game.

There's an astounding amount of things to do in Lego City Undercover. The story that can take player around ten hours to finish, is just the knob of the Lego-block. Afterwards there's much to build, wreck and collect. The biggest downside is that the city, that functions as a central hub to all of the content, is pretty boring.

The fundamentals for a good game are here, but it doesn’t take long for it to become clear that The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct is a rushed cash grab, made to leech of the popularity of the show. It’s graphically dated, a story is practically nonexistent and not a single game mechanic works like it should. It’s outrageous, because the license deserves so much better.

BioShock: Infinite isn’t just one of the best games of 2013, but also of the twenty-first century. The themes and storytelling are unparalleled and are approached from multiple points of view, without being at the expense of the first-person shooter-action. Besides, BioShock: Infinite is a title that gamers really needed after all these years.

Year Walk makes shivers run down your spine like you’re actually up to your knees in Swedish snow. An uncomfortable and mysterious experience that’s worth trying for the unique style alone.

Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 doesn’t hit home in any way,. The hardcore version of the game could entertain the sniper-enthusiast, but a linear design and bad multiplayer makes this a game that has little to offer.

Gears of War: Judgment shines in multiplayer as well as single-player through the way it controls and the typical, but entertaining action. The big downside is that there isn’t much to do in the single-player. The story hardly plays to the strengths of previous installments, which is a missed opportunity. The multiplayer plays great as usual, but seems lacking in content with only four maps. Judgment is an entertaining shooter on many fronts, but a disappointing Gears of War game.

With its appealing looks and tight design, Ridiculous Fishing feels like something unique, but it’s more than that. The game’s concept allows for a great pace of play, while retaining a perfect balance and sharp gameplay. It reaches beyond the ridiculous looking content and blossoms into one of the best mobile games of recent memory.

The single player campaign alone makes this first Starcraft 2 expansion worth the two-year wait. The campaign feels like a complete game, thanks to unique gameplay that’s been tailored for the Zerg. In the multiplayer it’s recognizable for what it is, but it lengthens the life of StarCraft 2 with new units and maps. Heart of the Swarm offers countless new possibilities for new strategies, without it affecting the balance or accessibility negatively. Along with seemingly unlimited amounts of small changes, HotS makes StarCraft 2 better than it already was.

Paradox seems to publish fast multiplayer games with comical settings more often nowadays, aside from their deep strategy games. The Showdown Effect is pretty successful in that respect, but lacks finesse.

The Endless Runner-genre makes perfect sense combined with Sonic. It’s running and jumping without too much mush, with some funny and logical references to the Sonic-world. Despite is being a somewhat lazy game that isn’t special in any regard, it doesn’t do anything wrong. It’s exactly like Temple Run, but with a different look. We still prefer Temple Run though, mainly because it’s free.

Whenever you’ve seen everything there is to see in a game in under half an hour, usually there’ll be few reasons to return to it. Dollar Dash is one of those games. With an emphasis on online gameplay and playing with friends on a couch, it loses all of its appeal when someone gets near. Playing bankrobber has never been this mediocre.

SimCity only partially delivers on its high expectations. It does a lot right and tries to do add something new to the concept, but not to great avail. Despite being able to lose hours upon hours by managing the most complex cities, SimCity will not sit right with the veterans.

Mirror of Fate is a good game. Take Lords of Shadow, cut the playing time in half, limit the third dimension to an optical illusion and what remains is an action adventure game that plays like a dream. The only real concession that was made is a story that hardly adds anything, which makes this feel more like a spin-off. That's a shame, because it was supposed to be the link between Lords of Shadow and LoS 2.

Crysis 3 might look beautiful on PC, but the reality behind those pretty graphics is far less colorful. It simply doesn't run as smoothly as it could and many console-specific choices are too prevalent in the PC-version.

Firemonkeys and Electronic Arts prove that a good freemium game can be released without making players feel like they need to pay to win. Real Racing 3 also shows how pretty mobile games can get nowadays, and that smartphones have become serious gaming platforms. A must buy, although the term isn’t applicable in this case.

As soon as you cut open your first cyborg and crush his blue core, you’ll have seen enough to know that Metal Gear Rising is a stylistic murder fest with an amazingly satisfying balance between brutality and finesse. Platinum Games proves once again to be the master of hack & slash, without losing that intriguing Metal Gear appearance. Metal Gear Rising is a fantastic spectacle, that unfortunately ends too quickly.

Its core mechanics keep God of War: Ascension on its feet, but it doesn’t take many risks in order to impress the player. The story starts off slow and the experience is often tempered by uninteresting sequences. Aside from the great combat and the spectacular images every now and then, the game feels uninspired. Thankfully the multiplayer is surprisingly fun, which somewhat eases the pain of this slight disappointment.

Briquid is a very decent puzzle-game, nothing more and nothing less. It mainly focuses on its challenging puzzles and presents those without too much flair. Briquid simply makes you think, instead of having to play Twister with your fingers, which is fun enough on its own.

Get comfortable and grab a dictionary: word-wizard Maxwell is out on a quest to save lives. Don’t expect an innovative sequel, Scribblenauts Unlimited is the improved version of a known concept.

It’s nice that some games test your intellectual capacity or submerge you in a deep narrative, but games like Serious Sam Double D XXL are the necessary counterbalance. A game that simply offers entertainment that requires zero intellect to enjoy. A nice snack.

The new Tomb Raider might be the best one since the original, because it lets go of the classic formula. The reboot gives us a young Lara Croft who ended up in a thriller in a jungle and responds to that like a human made out of flesh and blood. Unfortunately this direction was dropped in the second act, after which they thankfully restore themselves and make good on an adventure that you will not want to end.

Building a dungeon and fighting for world domination as a bad guy: familiar territory that doesn’t bore quickly. But Impire lacks focus, feels messy and requires lots of patience. Because of this, playing it often feels like a chore. Impire has a bunch of good ideas, of which none are well developed.

Crysis 3 doesn’t do much wrong as a shooter and is constantly entertaining thanks to the nanosuit and the addition of the bow. The multiplayer is also surprisingly fun. Other aspects aren’t as great though. Dialogues are simply terrible and the main campaign is quite short, especially for a game that’s at its best when played slowly. On consoles the game’s framerate also frequently drops significantly. None of these things are crucial enough to not recommend it though. Crysis 3 is just too much fun for that.

Sacrifices have been made that really don’t give Dead Space 3 much to show for. Previous installments knew how to grasp onto players with the harrowing but tight gameplay, but in Dead Space 3 only the latter of these aspects remain standing. Along with the coöp those elements barely save the game, because other than that it feels like an illogical, bland and weak experience. Dead Space 3 is a game that doesn’t know what it wants to be and the player suffers for it.