So Wand Wars may not be the perfect game for playing by yourself, but if you grab a couple of your muggles – I mean, friends – to play along with you, there’s plenty of fun to be had.

Overall, The Purring Quest is an enjoyable 2D side-scroller made for a good cause.

Despite the control issues though, Masquerade: The Baubles of Doom is still very much an enjoyable game.

Whatever magic was left lost in the early 2000s, doesn’t resurface here through CTU. You’re still better off buying a used copy of Swat 4.

There is a surprising amount of content crammed into a deceptively small package, and despite its setbacks, there are plenty of thrills to be found in Corridor Z‘s tight, zombie-ridden corridors.

It is by no means revolutionary, it isn’t going to transcend its genre, but it is going to entertain a lot of magical yuri fans. If you count yourself among them, go buy this game.

Even those who have never played Snake but like simple arcade-like games will enjoy this one. Pick it up for a lovely, no-stress experience.

The point-and-click sections seemed lazy and rather poorly thought out; and they’re drawn in black and white, a strange choice for an otherwise beautifully colourful game.

I like the ambition of this game. I like the idea behind the game (we need more interactive stories). I even like elements of the execution of this game. But unfortunately, overall, this is a failed experiment. We need failed experiments, however, to pave the way for the successes. So here’s to Deer Man for trying, at least. Now, on to the next one.

In an age where every genre and cult-classic is getting the revision-treatment, Lastfight offers up a unique and nostalgic take on a formula that has been sorely missing this past decade.

If you’re desperate for a new rogue-like, having exhausted all of the more popular choices, you may get a bit of enjoyment out of Virtual Rogue, but for everyone else, there are much better titles out there.

If Cubikolor was about half its asking price on the store, then it may be worth picking up if you’re looking for a new brainteaser to sink your teeth into. As it stands though, there are plenty of other games available that offer a better and broader challenge – and in some cases, at a much cheaper price.

While The Beggar’s Ride does a lot of things quite well, and has some creative and interesting ideas behind it, it just doesn’t do enough for me to get past its one huge flaw – the terrible controls.

Dear RED – Extended is a good idea and uses a really cool mechanic that could have a lot of promise. Unfortunately, that mechanic requires a deep and stimulating story, which just isn’t the case here. Had Dear RED been a little more polished with a more immersive narrative, it could have been something really special, but as it stands, I’m sorry to say that I really don’t think I could recommend this game to anyone.

While it does offer a campaign mode and a similar “zombies” mode, both are completely unaware of what makes shooters fun. Or maybe it’s just that they don’t care. Like a student that has potential but continually turns in bad reports, NotCoD feels irritating to play.

Overall, A Little Lily Princess offers a great experience to fans of the visual novel genre.

At just shy of £8 I find it very hard to recommend Brick Breaker, even if you are a huge fan of the genre. Grab it in a sale, but it’s not worth full price.

Despite its shortcomings though, She Wants Me Dead is a charming platformer that offers plenty of challenge in a neat package. For the average player, there may not be enough content to warrant the asking price, but for those that enjoy beating records and completing speedruns, it’s a perfect title.

The Descendant: Episode two – “Into the Storm” was a great addition to this series, and although episode three’s release date hasn’t been announced yet, I’ll be waiting patiently for it.

The pixel art is strong, wiry, and grainy. The FM Synth soundtrack creates an effect like watching an 80s action movie on a dusty VHS cassette. The cherry on top is fast-paced dodge-and-destroy gameplay against a rogues gallery of killer robots.

Crazy Pixel Streaker offers a fair amount of variety and content for a simple, but surprisingly difficult co-operative brawling experience. There’s depth, but it’s shallow, and replayability suffers due to the deliberate difficulty; but ultimately, in short bursts there’s great fun to be had.

Pac-Man, Galaga and Dig Dug are classics for a reason and I can’t help but recommend this collection to everyone.

I absolutely recommend picking up K Station if you love a good mystery and you love solving puzzles.

Long time fans of This War of Mine will definitely love the challenging and heartwarming moments that this DLC adds to the main game and newcomers, after a little practice, should come to enjoy it as well.

It has good intentions and elements of suitable design, but it’s mostly fluff.

The relaxing atmosphere and music makes this a title worth playing for a more laid back gaming session, but if you like something a bit more challenging and action-packed, then Professional Farmer 2017 is probably not for you.

For the moment though, Ice Lakes is a recommendable game, but only to fans of ice fishing, wherever the hell all of you are.

Despite its flaws, I had a lot of fun with Pharaonic. The beautiful world and reaction-based combat are genuinely enjoyable. However, the lack of enemy diversity, the tedious backtracking and the questionable checkpoint locations seem like design missteps.

As it stands, Stories of Bethem: Full Moon is a rather average adventure game that plays it a little too safe.

Funk of Titans feels like a free game you’d download from the app store to kill a few hours and then delete the same day.

If you enjoyed Dynamite Fishing: World Games on mobile then no doubt you will like it here, although I would argue it’s better suited to the former.

While The Warriors maintains a great atmosphere through a reconstructed moody New York, it is ultimately very dated. The combat remains fun and accessible, yet never as intuitive as other fighting mechanics that came after it.

It’s fun because it is good. It’s fast, sharp, intuitive, and an absolute blast. For the price and the replay value, it’s a steal.

Disappointingly, despite the name, Sky to Fly does seem to prefer a leisurely jog to actually sprinting. Even with a fully upgraded air-ship, the gut feeling that you are stuck in second gear never subsides.

Into the Belly of the Beast is quite a hard game to explain and is something that is best discovered through playing – and I thoroughly recommend that you do.

With a high replayability factor, hours of entertainment and an intriguing concept, it’s certainly a game that draws you in more and more the further you dive into it.

As easy as it is to rip into such an unpolished indie title, I still want to express that I have great respect for the effort from Jamie, but it just doesn’t amount to much unfortunately.

As it is, Of Carrots and Blood is an entertaining and energetic, if not short-lived, twin-stick shooter that is enjoyable in short bursts or with friends. However, the repetitive nature of its gameplay and the lack of diversity or variety really hinders the overall experience, and results in a title that is ultimately underwhelming and one that fails to distinguish itself as anything but mindless arcade action.

Hero Defense – Haunted Island is a great example of a game that makes micromanagement fun.

There really isn’t much else to discuss about Knot; it’s an okay game in its own right. Ultimately, it is a simple puzzle game with some enjoyable gameplay that never expands beyond its original premise.

Spy Chameleon is a novel, entertaining and creative title that is well-designed and fully captivating.

Ultimately, its value depends on your patience and capacity for high repetition. For me, I wasn’t terribly keen on The Deed: Dynasty, but I can see these developers heading in a promising direction, and I hope to see more of what they have to offer in the future.

For all the eye-rolling curses, however, when a stage comes together with just the right amount of clever construction and fair fights, one can see the promise inside Wind-up Knight 2.

I did enjoy my first hour or so with Raining Blobs but after that it became obvious that there really wasn’t anything that kept me wanting to come back for more.

If you liked Space Invaders but find it to be a bit too “retro”, then Hyperspace Invaders II could well be the perfect game for your pixel-destroying frenzy.

Even with a few minor missteps Renowned Explorers: More to Explore improves on an already spectacular game. By itself Renowned Explorers had few weak points mainly with its eventual, repetition of content. In More to Explore this is fixed while adding the campfire, which provides even more wacky adventures and events for the already charismatic characters to go through.

Despite the lack of originality on display, each mode is quite a bit of fun. Bringing a few friends over and throwing on a game of Blade Ballet is far from a bad idea. Actually, I dare say it would be a fine choice.

Green Game: TimeSwapper fails to introduce anything new, in terms of gameplay, to help differentiate itself from being just another generic puzzle game.

What Lies Beneath features frustrating puzzles, confusing voice actor swaps, and all around unnecessary changes – but still manages to squeeze in a bit of interesting storytelling.

Ultimately I recommend Lion Quest as a sale title. Although I don’t see myself returning to it to find hidden keys, gems, or to grind out high scores in the arcade mode, I most definitely will keep it installed as a relaxation tool.

Momentum requires pixel perfect movement and precision to the point of insanity. The only option for progress is through trial and error. Over and over and over.

It’s an interesting mix between butt-kicking horde fighting and resource-managing tower defence that challenges you to find the right mixture between the two.

Panda Love bears little worth. It’s hard to justify paying the small fee for it on Wii U seeing as how you can play it for free online.

Repetitive level formatting is a curse many roguelites have to contend with to some degree, but it rarely strikes as soon as the one hour mark.

If you feel that static/simplified tower defence games are a bore… then maybe Infinium Strike is what you’ve been looking for.

Claire: Extended Cut is a title that fails to live up to the greatness that obviously inspired it.

There is no doubt that Hack, Slash & Backstab contains all the ingredients to make a very fine solo experience, but it’s just far too tough to do anything other than frustrate you.

Sky Force Anniversary is a great modern shmup that unfortunately pads its content by pushing players to the max. Not only that, but there are implementations, such as the specialties, that feel arbitrary. Detractions aside, I liked the game quite a bit and the addition of co-op and Remote Play was a godsend. Sky Force Anniversary didn’t evolve the genre, but it created something moderately pleasant in our modern architecture.

The difficulty [of Shiny Gauntlet] is often too much to bear and rarely encourages you to come back and try again.

It’s a typical bullet hell game that doesn’t do much more than the bare minimum. It’s got a beautiful aesthetic, great sound, and a fantastically appropriate soundtrack. A solid upgrade system and ship selection will keep you going for a while, but that flame will burn out.

Pizza Express is one of the most intense, complicated, and truly fun management simulators I’ve ever played and truly came out of nowhere! I love its art style (apart from some hard to read pixel text) and retro feel, along with its loveable characters and overall entertaining story and gameplay.

Bears Can’t Drift!? is gorgeously designed with multiple brightly coloured levels and smooth character animations.

Avadon 3 proves that the classic RPG isn’t, and nor should it ever be, dead; as long as we have people like Jeff Vogel creating these involved and terrific worlds full of choice and enjoyment the genre will never leave us. Some people may scoff at the visuals or at the lack of a soundtrack; others may be put off by the sometimes poor UI or the intrinsic slowness of it all, but even those things add charm to something like this.

I, Zombie [feels] almost like a flash game, nothing more than a momentary distraction.

Playing Tetraminos with a couple of friends is without a doubt some of the most enjoyable split-screen action that I have experienced in a number of years.

One mark of a great game, for me, is how well it can pull you back after a crushing defeat, and this one’s got quite the lure.

If you’ve stared at music visualisation algorithms for hours on end wishing they could have depth and place you squarely in their 3D space in some kind of magical VR land, then Dimensional Intersection is exactly what you’re looking for.

Working out the real from the fake, the safe from the damaging is all just part of the game’s mystique, and [hackmud] is almost entirely player driven; nearly everything has been built by other players.

It’s strenuous trying to enjoy a game that has four difficulty settings that can all be worked around in the same fashion.

I’m sure that The Hive is a game that many experienced RTS lovers will enjoy due to its compelling story and fantasy world, but it simply isn’t a game that’s suitable for newcomers to RTS games – and that’s where it falters.

Put simply, Farabel is tough. To some, it may seem unfairly so, although the strategy and tactics required to actually make your way through the game are enticing.

Space Hulk Ascension is a love letter to the source material. Not a single pixel does not show the passion and respect that the makers must have for the original board game.

You can expect well made puzzles, gorgeous graphics, as well as a really interesting story line that will have you on the edge of your seat.

The biggest problem with Last Will is the amount of technical issues that plague it; it barely touches the line of what is acceptable in a game’s technical performance.

If you’ve got some mates, hopping into local multiplayer will ensure Axe, Bow & Staff is at its most rewarding and enjoyable.

There are great concepts at play here in terms of the weapons and gameplay, but Ironguard is unfortunately let down by pretty much everything else.

If you enjoy score-chasing, levelling and some seriously hard enemy waves towards the latter halves of your games, Castle Invasion: Throne Out is a neat little package.

Woodle Tree 2: Worlds is nothing more than a shallow stack of primary colour blocks with no logic or merit to its haphazard construction. And though it pains me to lob such harsh words against an indie game, this one, unfortunately, has earned every one of them.

Hopiko is a solid, action-packed platformer that will push your limits in ways that its traditional counterparts could only dream of.

Ascension is at its best when you allow it to wow you, let it win you over… It requires as much patience as the developers had, but it rewards you. With that, Nobunaga’s Ambition: Sphere of Influence – Ascension is a staggering accomplishment, and a pretty darn good game, too.

It isn’t without its faults, but altogether the cast of Duke Grabowski, along with its hilarious story, make it a great addition to the point-and-click genre.

By in large, Pankapu’s first episode shows a lot of promise. Its story and world are genuinely charming, and platforming through stages with tight controls is an utter joy.

It’s just a shame that Horse Racing 2016 is not in any way fun to play, and sadly the only enjoyment I got out of it was the bemusement of how bad it truly is. There are much better ways to spend a tenner, so do yourself a favour and keep a wide berth of this one.

If The Devil You Know is a hint towards what players can expect in episodes three and four, we have much to look forward to.

[WinKings‘] stunning visuals and audio give you a pleasant experience, and the gameplay is very much suited to playing casually with friends. You will be left wanting more, but I do not recommend going to the single player to get your fill.

Leviathans offers some nice new features, but does not add enough worthwhile content to Stellaris to recommend purchasing alone or to justify the price tag.

Not only did Lady and the Painter have a fantastic and interesting story, it had enjoyable and engaging, exciting combat, beautiful artwork and an ending that will have players begging for more.

Zero Hour has even more excitement, character development, and story details and is a truly great way to end an amazing series.

End of the Mine is an impressive experience for a Kickstarter game from a developer that is only just starting out. There are still a few minor issues that need fixing – I encountered a few crashes while playing – but I would definitely recommend giving it a go as more patches are released.

Beastiarium sets out to combine horror and story, yet feels completely disconnected from both. In the end, so little story is actually delivered cohesively and it so rarely feels even tense.

Octocopter: Super Sub Squid Escape‘s initially funny concept is lost in its boring and repetitive execution.

Cosmic Leap could have been an excellent little game with a timeless and endearing art style and solid platforming levels. Unfortunately the controls just haven’t allowed the game to get off the launchpad.

There’s a good game in Motor Strike: Immortal Legends somewhere. The problem is the enjoyable parts of the game – mainly being its combat, gets stifled by little variation and repetition. Whilst playing with friends is a fun distraction, it doesn’t make up for the other problems the game has.

Glass Masquerade is a unique and enchanting jigsaw puzzle game that I would highly recommend to anyone looking for something they can unwind with.

At its core, Rocket Riot is a standard, though well made, twin-stick shooter. There is a lot of content in the form of levels, characters, and challenges, but it’s still not enough to keep the game interesting for long periods of time.

You can have a good time going 1v1, but it doesn’t feel as intense. With Magnet Knights, you really have to go all in to get the most bang for your buck.

I think it’s fair to say that Townsmen isn’t going to be the deepest or most engaging game that you’ll play this year, but for me, it still manages to tick the two most important boxes that make me like it regardless.

Tales of Cosmos is a game which, with a little more thought and attention could be a joy to play. Its frustratingly obtuse puzzles and repetitive space travel eclipse the game’s enjoyable moments. Appealing as Tales of Cosmos may initially be, it remains disappointingly flawed and is best left to drift through the aether.