With new crafting recipes, a new Royal Tool that makes you feel like Doctor Strange, and new companions to adventure with, while A Rift in Time ends up feeling just as grindy as the original content does, it's more cosy game content that is perfect to pick up and play this holiday season.

The Sims 4 For Rent is a brilliant addition to the other DLC available in the game, with Residential Rentals and gameplay concerning them being something that I'd never want to go back and play without. As per usual, there's plenty of humour and potential for drama, and despite a slightly hollow, but beautiful world with Tomarang, I'd highly recommend adding this Expansion Pack to your collection.

Arizona Sunshine 2 is the closest VR has come to a popcorn action flick, and I found myself loving it for that. It's more than a little rowdy, and a tad rough around the edges, but it also offers some of the most delightful interactive elements of any Quest 3 game I've played so far.

Born of Bread is a lovely little RPG with gorgeous Paper Mario-inspired visuals and a great sense of humour that helps elevate its by-the-books gameplay. I had a lot of fun with it, but also quite a few frustrations with glitches and soft-locking, which is a shame as it’s a real gem outside of those problems.

There are lots of design choices I didn’t mesh with in Frontiers of Pandora. I love the world, but barriers blocked me from fully immersing myself in it, and it’s littered with activities and outposts plucked straight out of the 2010s and planted in Pandora’s soil.

Assassin's Creed Nexus VR feels like the best showcase for what the new Meta Quest 3 headset can do. It's packed full of comfort features to let you tailor the experience so that however you play, you'll feel like one of the Brotherhood. Whether you're a fan of the series or not, this is a great example of what consumer VR tech can do.

Gangs of Sherwood left me in a state of disbelief after seeing how easily I could break certain bosses' programming. The challenge falls far short of what you'd expect from a modern action title too, and it isn't helped by the game's voice acting, level design or balance issues. A forgettable take on a famous legend.

With completely overhauled visuals, a reworking of the original game’s iconic Yoko Shimomura soundtrack, and some welcome quality-of-life updates, now is the perfect time to experience this beloved slice of Nintendo history with a fresh perspective.

Despite some gameplay issues that hold the game back from greatness, it is the evident love and care that has been poured into Realms of Ruin that carries the game high up the list of the best Warhammer games. While it probably won't win over hardcore strategy fans, the Warhammer community will feel right at home in the wastes of Ghur.

Let's Sing 2024 is a must-have for musical families. Its eclectic song selection surprises, delights, and occasionally frustrates, but if you're looking to live your singing superstar fantasy from the comfort of your own home, there's no better way.

A fun tactical RPG for newcomers and veterans to the genre, Persona 5 Tactica is a must-play for any Persona 5 fan thanks to its wonderful cast of new and returning characters, alongside an approachable yet deep combat system. Whilst the story and gameplay aren’t as gripping as its source material, Tactica is still the best Persona 5 spin-off by far. If you’re starting to feel the itch waiting for Persona 6, this latest stint with the Phantom Thieves will help make the holdup a little bit easier and will have you come away smiling.

The Pale Reach is a brief but brilliant stop on an outstanding expedition. It’s side content you can tackle at any time, and it’s easily on par with the rest of the game. For DREDGE fans it’s a must-play, and for anyone else looking to get into the game, it’d be hard not to recommend such an effective dose of frozen fear. I can't wait to see what Black Salt Games is cooking up for us next.

Modern Warfare 3's multiplayer is the shining light of this year's Call of Duty offering and is without a doubt the glue holding the whole package together. Unfortunately, it's hard to ignore the glaring cracks in what should have probably been an expansion for MW2.

Risk of Rain Returns might not be quite as free-flowing as its 3D successor, but it's a brilliant recreation of the original title that started it all. It hooks you and keeps you playing, dying, then playing again.

WarioWare is a bonkers collection of blink-and-you’ll-miss-them microgames that are brimming with creativity and humour. It’s one of the few Switch games that truly makes use of the Joy-Con’s features, and it’s a real laugh with friends. I just wish it had a bit more content - and space to let its ideas breathe.

Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name is a throwback and a step forward, putting a potential end to what came before on the way to something new. As it does so, it is a shorter, but still truly excellent example of everything that has made the Like a Dragon series so great for so many years.

The Invincible might have its minor problems, but they don’t do much to draw from the fact that Starward Industries has proven that the direct adaptation of The Invincible was always destined to be a video game.

Football Manager 2024 is a true return to form for the series. Every addition we have seen feels important, more so than in the last couple of years, whilst the frustrations of FM23 have been left behind. The debate about annual releases will always rage on, but in this case, it’s justified. The narratives that develop throughout a save, the relationships you create with players and the joy of a last-minute winner are as prevalent as ever. Sega and Sports Interactive often tout this series as the most authentic, complete footballing experience - and this year, it's hard to argue.

My Time at Sandrock is a game that you’ll have no trouble getting into if you’re a fan of the genre. If you’re new to cosy games on the whole, though, it’s also one that is easy to pick up and play - making it a great entry-level title for those checking out something slower in the colder months and dark nights.

With a unique art style, gorgeous soundscapes, and a world you’ll want to keep exploring, Jusant is one game I’ll likely remember and regard highly for quite some time.

If we could ignore the bugs and glitches, there's one thing we can say for certain - Alan Wake II is Remedy at the height of its powers. On a personal level, Remedy's games have meant a great deal to me, leading me down the halls of the Federal Bureau of Control time and time again, and to see their work refuse to dwindle with time is truly a sight to behold.

From the moment you fire up Robocop: Rogue City and see his cruiser’s bumper scrape up the ramp, it is clear who the game is for - if you’re a fan of the 1980s classic you’re in for a treat. Otherwise, the poor performance and uninspired gameplay make it hard to recommend the game to someone who isn’t already a fan of OCP's finest. One thing you can’t take away from Teyon is they have delivered a true-to-the-film Robocop experience, but whether you'd buy that for a dollar is up to you.

Overall, Little Goody Two Shoes is a lot of fun, but may not be what you’re looking for if you’re on the hunt for a more traditional horror experience lending more to a slow-burn style of game with a lot of different elements tossed into the mix, from resource management to quests, and mini-games. It's a little unfocused, and while that works for its unique visual stylings, I found myself wishing for more horror than the constant diversions it offered.

Song of Nunu will certainly be a fun and cosy adventure for players looking to get started with League of Legends, veterans of the series excited to see the story expanded, or a younger audience looking to experience a family-friendly platformer.

For hardcore competitive players, the gameplay improvements might be enough to coax them across. As for the regular fans who want the next evolution in UFC games, I'm not so sure they will find enough here to justify the purchase. If you have been away from MMA games for as long as I have, UFC 5 is a fantastic way to jump back in - but UFC 4 might be just as good.

The more I played Super Mario Bros Wonder, the more I fell in love with its whimsicality and endless redefinition of what Mario can be. It’s a glorious reimagining of Nintendo’s most iconic franchise. It takes the ingenuity and innovation that made Mario’s 3D escapades some of gaming’s greatest achievements and finally introduces them into the side-scrolling world. Wonder is everything I wanted it to be, and might be the most inventive 2D platformer Nintendo has ever made.

Endless Dungeon is generally a quality rogue-lite adventure. It’s constantly throwing hordes of enemies at you and feels genuinely challenging. With more variety and better weapons and upgrades it could’ve been an excellent sci-fi romp to replay. It's still a lot of fun at times, but some restrictions hold it back. Descending each floor of the dungeon and reaching the reactor will keep you hooked for a while, but at its core Endless Dungeon’s flaws hold it back from being a truly memorable advancement for the genre. It does more for tower defence than it does for rogue-lites, which certainly isn’t a bad thing, but it never quite makes the impact I was hoping it could.

For the first time in many years, the Metal Gear Solid trilogy is available on modern systems. The Master Collection gives us the experiences we remember with three of the greatest games ever made and includes the majority of the content ever released for those games - including some new content for dedicated fans.