An excellent game for young children, Gabby's Dollhouse: Ready to Party perfectly recreates the popular Netflix series. It looks great, it offers up a wonderful variety of gameplay and minigames, and it's easy to play – even for kids who are playing a video game for the first time. A rare win in the kids' franchise videogame space.

For detective game fans, Agatha Christie: Death on the Nile is a must-play. Excellent presentation and a varied mix of puzzles make this Poirot-led adventure a joy, whether or not you're familiar with the original novel. Poor lip syncing lets the experience down a bit, but it's a small gripe in an otherwise easy-to-recommend adventure.

Challenging you to make your way up a mountain, Baby Steps is likely to be one of the most divisive games of the year. With its hands-off approach, you're left to find your own fun as you ascend, and struggle with the simple act of walking. Ultimately, it just feels a little too aimless and punishing for its own good.

For a game set in a jail, Back to the Dawn offers an impressive amount of freedom. Coupled with a conspiracy-minded story, and more side-quests you can shake a shiv at, you'll be hooked.

An oppressive atmosphere. An unsettling story that will keep you guessing from beginning to end. Engaging combat. Stunning visuals. A fantastic soundtrack. Silent Hill f has all of these, making it one of the best entries in the series yet.

Designed for 16-bit hardware, Earthion looks and plays like a blast from the past. That's not a bad thing, though, and had Earthion released 30 years or so ago it would have blown my tiny mind. In the modern day it's still extremely impressive, but it's somewhat let down by a lack of modes.

Techland made the right choice turning Dying Light: The Beast into a standalone entry in the series as it might just be the best in the series yet. Taking control of Kyle Crane again is fantastic, especially now that he can tap into the power of his inner beast. But despite this, it remains mostly a tense experience, with a fantastic open world that begs to be explored.

Being a Bad Cat is fun while it lasts in this little sandbox of mischief. There are far better games that let you step into the four paws of a cat, though, so unless you're hungry for some easy trophies, maybe play something else instead.

There's nothing all that special about the gameplay of Platypus Reclayed, but shoot 'em up fans will likely be won over by its wonderful claymation visuals and often amusing weapons.

Henry Halfhead is a novel idea, putting you in control of a half-headed man who can possess the items around him. It's both a sandbox and a narrative experience, although some sections can be as dull as the parts of our life they're supposed to represent.

Don't let its disarming visuals fool you – Formula Legends is a pretty serious racing game at its core. The problem is, the racing on offer isn't all that fun. Add in a lack of game modes, and you're better off picking up any of the recent official Formula One games – they're more accessible and have features such as multiplayer, after all.

If you played Strange Horticulture, you'll know exactly what to expect from Strange Antiquities, and you're in for quite the treat. Revisiting the macabre town of Undermere is a joy, and puzzling through as you help its residents find weird and wonderful antiques imbued with mysterious powers is almost (almost!) as fun as it was with plants.

A co-op only game in the vein of It Takes Two, LEGO Voyagers challenges players to navigate a wonderfully designed world as a couple of small bricks, rolling around while navigating platforms, building structures and solving puzzles. Its controls can be a bit fiddly at times, but overall it's a pleasure to play from beginning to end.

The Devil is in the Details is easily the most ambitious anomaly-hunting game yet, with traps, enemies and entities for you to avoid as you go around watching out for anomalous items. Some of these don't always make the experience better, though, but you can at least enable and disable them as you please.

A macabre adventure about a zombie boy and his human friend, Gloomy Eyes is a single-player game that requires players to switch between two characters. It can be frustrating at times, but its wonderfully creepy art style and some enjoyable puzzles make it a decent way to spend a few hours.

Inspired by Super Punch-Out!!, Baki Hanma: Blood Arena is a fighting game that even devout fans of the franchise may struggle to love. The combat here is dull and frustrating, requiring you to simply mash buttons and dodge or block incoming attacks that are frequently hard to read. And there's little in the way of content and features.

One of the best anomaly games out there, Captured is genuinely unsettling thanks to its onimous atmosphere and the terrifying 'entities' that can pop out at you at any time. A loop doesn't take long to complete, but as long as you're brave enough, you'll be keen to jump into this one again and again.

Bubsy in: The Purrfect Collection bundles up four games that are all varying degrees of bad, with Bubsy 3D being the worst of the lot. It is cheap, however, and has extras that fans of the bobcat will no doubt appreciate. Make of that what you will.

One of the best FMV games out there, Dead Reset blends body horror, timeloops and foreign entities to create a sci-fi narrative that's as entertaining as it is ridiculous. More player choice and input would be nice, but thanks to great acting and high-quality production values, you likely won't mind too much.

With a number of improvements such as a new goalie crease system and NHL EDGE data being used to enhance player behaviour, NHL 26 is undoubtedly a great hockey game. Be A Pro mode still has some issues, though, and you can just tell that the series doesn't get as much love as the likes of EA Sports FC.

Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion builds upon its predecessor in a number of ways, and is undoubtedly better as a result. There's still lots of room for further improvement though, with issues such as drab visuals and a dull open world watering down the otherwise engrossing experience of building your dream mech.

A family-friendly multiplayer game, Splatterbot is very basic but entertaining in short bursts. It's the sort of thing you'll pull out on family get-togethers, and thanks to its simplicity, absolutely anyone can play.

Everybody's Golf is back, and though this latest entry is by a new developer, it's everything you'd expect. The three-button shot system makes a return, keeping the action accessible, but Everybody's Golf Hot Shots still requires a fair amount of skill. The main negative here is that progression is slow, so it'll take a while to unlock things like additional characters.

It's challenging, and it might take a little while for you to warm to its world and protagonist, but Cronos: The New Dawn is yet another brilliant survival horror game from Bloober Team. You'll be on the edge of your seat throughout this tense and atmospheric adventure, hopping between the past and the future while blasting enemies that grow more powerful if they manage to merge.

A seriously slick and polished Survivors-like, Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel should be considered a must-play if you're a fan of the genre. It doesn't try to reinvent the wheel, but with an injection of Norse mythology and a cool quest mechanic, it does just enough to stand out.

Part Ghostrunner, part DOOM, and part Metroid, Metal Eden is a fast-paced first-person shooter that is sure to get your adrenaline pumping with its core-ripping action.

With a striking papercraft style, Hirogami instantly wins you over with its beautiful art. This platformer uses origami to provide you with a wealth of skills and abilities, but sometimes switching between them can prove to be a little frustrating. Still, if you're a platforming fan and you have a bit of patience, there's a lot to like here.

With its sometimes chilling civil war setting and general lack of guidance, Hell is Us isn't a game for everybody. Those who embrace its hands-off approach, however, will likely find it an incredibly compelling experience provding they can tolerate its occasionally frustrating combat. And it's ever so rewarding being a force of good in such a dark world.