Farming World has some value as an educational tool for young teenagers interested in farming, but as a game it lacks the personality and depth required to actually make it fun.

The instances where Coast Guard works well can be fun, just not fun enough to justify the mediocrity or frustration of the rest of the game.

There are plenty of other games out there with more interesting puzzles and a more mature storyline. If your kids have a particular penchant for pests though, this might be a decent game to play with them.

With attractive graphics and a well-produced soundtrack, Beyond Space does its best to feel AAA, but once the game gets going it all starts to fall apart at the seams. When the game backs off and lets you blast things, it's a fun diversion, but it's let down by the woeful storyline, and the simple fact that there are many other games out there that do it better.

Maybe you need to be a lot more into cars than I am to get something out of CMS2014. Objectively though, it just doesn’t seem like a whole lot of fun.

Overall then, Manipulated is only worth the small amount of money it costs if you’re willing to play through a couple of hours of puzzles for a slight twist and the small amount of payoff which comes from it. The puzzles aren’t particularly tricky, and the platforming and combat is completely unnecessary.

In the end, it’s just some weird design decisions and the abstract nature of a surrealist game mixed with the obtuse nature of classic adventure games that let Between Me and the Night down. There is certainly some promise here, but it’s just far too frustrating to play, and the lack of a mid-level save is crazy in a modern game.

BeatBlasters III is short lived, but even in that small amount of time, the action became a bit repetitive. There's not much of a sense of progression other than moving forward through the barely explained story.

The Technomancer is yet another valiant attempt at an ambitious RPG, but there are other recent games out there which have done it so much better.

Despite a lack of depth, the game has a frantic quality to it that has the potential to be entertaining in that tablet-game sort of way. But it’s not enough, unfortunately. I can’t shake the feeling that two intoxicated game designers worked out TransRoad: USA on a beermat during a drinking binge in their local pub. The concept lends itself well for a management sim but it hasn't been developed into something that actually works well enough to be enjoyed beyond a few days. As it stands, TransRoad: USA is more of a proof of concept than an actual game.

I love Surviving Mars, one of my favourite management games this year, but while this expansion adds lots of little things, it doesn’t add anything significantly new, or even successfully realize the ‘race’ it titles itself for — I’m sad to say, it feels like a pricey update.

The potential is there, but Darkout just hasn’t reached it yet.

Bridge Constructor has its moments of frustration; sometimes you’re just doing it wrong.

I hate to say it because there is a good deal of potential in the The Saint, and its obvious that the solo developer has put a great deal of effort into it's spooky atmosphere, but it is not worth playing in its current state.

The game is just too complex for its own good which is a shame as there is fun lurking just around the corner. Fix combat, explain things a little better and chip away some of the needless aspects and Thea: The Awakening would be a much better game.

Had it been released as a good sized piece of DLC for Beyond Earth, it might have felt completely different, but as it stands I cannot help but feel a bitter aftertaste in my mouth.

The Weaponographist has the small advantage of being light, mindless and easy to pick up. It would be tempting to recommend the game for those impatient or uninterested in more intricate Roguelike mechanics, but it is exuberantly padded and becomes increasingly difficult in the later stages.

Mordheim: City of the Damned had the potential to be an interesting and challenging game. The progression system is deep and filled with interesting choices and options, and the Warhammer Fantasy Universe provides sturdy groundwork to create your own tale on top of. But the gameplay is monotonous, the technical issues are annoying and the game is among the most frustrating I’ve played in some time.

It was a well built, but rather boring, strategy experience. I can't stress enough that it's not a bad game, it's just not one to look at for the true thrills of battle other strategy titles can offer.

If I was twelve again I might had enjoyed the game more, but as it is, Leisure Suit Larry Reloaded falls well short.

While less tiring than real world politics, Shape of America's first episode fails to capture the intrigue, tactical ambition, and most offensively the platform for in-game debate that should make you feel good about getting the upper hand on your climb to power. When I start the game out as a waiter, I want to feel good when I beat a senator at his own game. I want to feel good when I talk my way through corporate and political big wigs. I want a sense of accomplishment, not a quick payout and a pat on the back. Shape of America's biggest flaw may be that it portrays politics as a machine with barely any emotion; and while that may be true to a point, at least the real thing has the thrill of debate and discussion.

While its art style is pleasing to the eye, the low resolution appearance of the textures, even when the game is played on the pre-determined "High" visual quality setting, make models and other assets appear blurry and indistinct. The minimalistic nature of the options menu makes it effectively impossible for players to rectify this through further increases and tweaking. The message is clear: Either accept mediocrity, in all areas, or walk away. Given said options, walking away may well be the only viable solution.

Ironcast certainly is a little bit of fun, initially. But as you grind your way through mundane turn based battles, one mission feels like the next.

It lacks a lot of polish. With upgraded visuals and better controls and some adjustments to the dull combat system, the game could have been really good.

Alien Spidy is a platformer that features challenging level design and nice visuals, but the gameplay is not there to back it up. The scoring targets are often too hard, and are made worse by the poor movement controls. There is potential for a good game here, it just lacks the overall quality needed, which is a shame.

You'd expect a game with this kind of play time to be a narrative experience pumped out of a game jam, but there's little-to-no reason to add this brawler to the growing list of multiplayer options. And while a lot of OutRage: Fight Fest's faults don't necessarily rest at the feet of the developers, they'll certainly feel the effects. This is a multiplayer-only game, and unless you have a large group of friends to sync up with, the lack of a community has a distinctly negative effect on the gameplay experience. All the music, flashy lights, and simple but recognizable art can only take it so far. Any potential favor earned by foregoing monetization was burned before its day showed up on the calendar. There's a possibility, however slight, that a turnaround happens. Again, the foundation remains solid enough, but built on top of it is a Lincoln Log cabin for an audience of a handful.

I expected better from Wolfenstein: Youngblood. After loving the last three outings, I had every right to assume that, despite being something different, Youngblood was going to be a well made experiment to switch things up. I was expecting a gripping narrative, a likeable cast, and thrilling gameplay. What I got was pure disappointment on every level. The one positive I can give Wolfenstein: Youngblood is that the more open map designs (it is co-developed by Arkane Studios, of Dishonored fame) are a welcome addition to the series. Beyond that, I can only say I'm thankful that this retails at $29.99 instead of full price but even that lessens the disappointment only little.

I respect that Micro Machines World Series is an ambitious game that attempt some legitimately cool ideas, some of which bring it pretty close to being a really cool game. I do believe that there was a legitimately high amount of thought that went into this game, and it’s a shame that most all of these good ideas are ultimately fruitless due to the nature of the game itself, buckling under its own design. Perhaps if there was a more lively online community it’d be worth finding a group of friends to develop some tactics and strategy with, but as it stands this is a title that’s going to be disappointing for most.

No Time to Explain is insanity at its finest and funniest, with plenty of ludicrous scenes throughout the game. But the fun and fast paced gameplay is brought down by imprecise controls and hideous boss fights designed to test your patience. There’s a good game somewhere in here, it’s just a shame that I have to suffer to find it.

There is no accounting for this Quest’s missing element – company. Even bad games can be fun alongside the right sort of people.

Being a simple office worker in a private security firm / robotic takeover is a fairly original premise, but it’s not one that can make up for some pretty standard gameplay.

If this was a typical five or six episode ordeal like the main Walking Dead series, Give No Shelter would be a welcome down-episode that could be used to develop characters further and build up an impending threat the group will face. Instead, it’s a very brief, underwhelming episode with little character-anything other than a little backstory on Sam.

There’s little doubt that seasoned foragers will find the survival aspects easier to manage but for those people, there are more satisfying experiences on offer elsewhere with survival components as the main selling point. Despite a story that was beginning to heat up, The Wild Eight ultimately leaves you feeling cold.

As Dark Quest: Board Game stands at this particular moment, it is, quite simply, a boring game to play. There’s not much going on, and the pretty aesthetic is not going to keep you playing it for more than an hour or so (unless you really force yourself) or listen to podcasts in the background while you wait for something in the oven to finish cooking so you can, at last, have something of more substance to consume when you finish playing.

EMPYRE: Lords of the Sea Gate is a game that I really, truly wanted to love, but ultimately let me down in more ways that not. Glitches aside, it doesn’t do anything offensively bad, it just doesn’t really do anything all that cool either. I love the idea of a pseudo-steampunk turn-of-the-century waterworld, but the game fails to use that creative setting to tell a meaningful story or explore much of the world’s possibilities. With a serviceable but unremarkable story, basic writing, and combat that doesn’t often outreach “fine,” this is a title that's destined to slip silently down into the murky waters of time.

It baffles and frustrates me that Wayward Manor is such a mess. All the ingredients were there: a great indie developer, a great author, and a great idea. But it goes to show that it's all in the execution.

There's a level of creativity and care that went into so many aspects of Human Within. The story, as boilerplate as it is, has its own spin. The production behind the real-world settings suits the story well. There are even moments where you can see attempts at innovating the VR space that could influence games going forward. It just never comes together as a package that fully justifies being a VR game instead of an outright interactive movie.

There are certain moments where everything clicks, where the stars align and you’ll feel like the dark puppetmaster you should feel like the whole game, and most of these moments are because of the powers.

I understand the desire to create games which hark back to the days of arcades. However there are games out there that just do it better than Gigantic Army.

As a standalone game without the VR gimmick, Marble Mountain does a reasonable job, but just doesn't have enough variation to keep it interesting.

It’s like Epic Car Factory is the first half of a complete game, or even the first third. There’s really not that much game here. Putting the same four car components into a bowl and waiting for something to come out on the other end is barely a game. I guess you could roleplay a bit - design your car, start up Factorio or Production Line and pretend to manufacture the car there. As it stands, Epic Car Factory is more like... Car.

Computer users will desire something more, and although there are some unique mechanics here, the overall product just comes across as being pretty mediocre.

There’s a nice rhythm to hitting the shield at the perfect moment, nailing a fire bolt or slicing through rows of bad guys to boost your multiplier. Unfortunately, a good runner needs legs, and ROGUS’ simplicity means things wear thin quickly.

For two guys releasing their very first game they could have done a lot worse and I applaud them because although what they made wasn’t scary, it was actually kind of fun.

In Enter the Gungeon, each run felt distinct because you would find different weapons from the game's huge arsenal. In Out of Time, however, your abilities are locked to the gear you bring with you before heading into each mission, so there is no real room to be surprised on each run. That said, there is some fun to be had customizing your equipment and build in between runs. However, even here, it feels like you need to invest a tremendous amount of time into grinding to get better equipment. Ultimately, the game just feels boring and repetitive, and while there's some fun to be had playing it with a group of buddies, you would probably be better off with a more engaging co-op game.

Trapped Dead: Lockdown does a lot of things wrong from a gameplay design perspective, and unfortunately there isn’t really anything new or unique to make it really worth dealing with the shortcomings.

Recipe for Disaster presents what, on paper, is a great premise for any management game, but ultimately stays true to its own name, being a disastrous mess of a game concealed by a superficial coat of visually-engaging paint, that makes one want to drown oneself in a pot of overcooked stew.

Genesis Alpha One, at its best, is an engaging resource-management sim that gives a good approximation of what I imagine running a ship out in the middle of space would be. However, the first-person perspective seems to have shifted the design towards a combat-oriented game with resource management elements, and unfortunately that is not where the game’s strengths lie. If you can get on board with the lacklustre gunplay, there’s some fun to be had organising your ship and crew, but the combat elements seem at odds with the slow pace of the rest of the game.

Riptide is a franchise that made its home on mobile devices, and that’s probably where it should stay.

In the end, Final Exam is a fun multiplayer game and a mediocre single-player game. It aims low, and hits its target, riding on the simple pleasures of mashing buttons and yelling with friends.

Dragon Ball: The Breakers will probably live or die based on its initial release window. It is a game of growing pains so severe that it might scare off much of the audience. What that could leave is akin to a late-stage fighting game: the only players left are very good, forcing away even more newcomers. If players can get over this hurdle, and the one that simply playing the game provides, there's a depth to the mechanics that are satisfying to master. It is a game that offers a bit more complexity than competitor Dead By Daylight, but would have to sustain a player base to truly match it. Failing that, it could end another Friday The 13th; a totally fine game that can only be enjoyed with friends. As it stands now, though, a private game cannot exist without a full lobby of eight players, so even that might not be a realistic option. In a world with a glut of this genre, it doesn't do quite enough to require your time.

Had it been an early access title, House Fighters: Total Mess might be able to excuse some of its more obvious technical issues and lack of gameplay refinements. However, for something presented to the public as a finished product, House Fighters: Total Mess is anything but. From all appearances, its developer seems to be quite active in responding to community concerns via Steam's discussions forum. It is quite feasible that, in a matter of just a few months, this game might be almost unrecognizable compared to its present state. One can only hope...

It is a strange game, one that, despite its flaws, will remain on my mind for a little while longer.

Had the game been only slightly more welcoming in a few areas this could have been a really great experience, rather than just a reminder of the games I used to love.

Overall, the game offers nothing that you have not seen before. What it does, it does pretty well, but when it comes down to it, NoReload Heroes doesn’t really aim to do that much. The pretty explosions, hectic action and the variety of explosions may entertain you for a while, but – like with my daughter – 20 minutes may be enough for you to get bored with it.

If you can convince some friends to buy and play this game with you, then you can have a few hours of fun in an otherwise forgettable hack and slash.

At times it was entirely competent, but frustration was all too prevalent.

What really kill this game are the bugs. There are graphical bugs. There are puzzle bugs. There are bugs that crash the entire game, forcing you to close the program and start it up again. This is especially frustrating because the game relies exclusively on auto-saving, and only saves each time you complete a room. You can lose entire chunks of progress from these crashes.

The combination of the visual design and the story setup make Metal Eden an enticing experience before even booting it up. And while it tries to blend that sci-fi world with fast-paced combat centered around parkour and hot-swapping weapons, the pieces don't fit together tight enough to be enjoyable for a long enough percentage of its short runtime. When the credits roll it feels unfinished, and at times throughout it feels misguided. When you've got significant upgrades, inside of the later levels, it approaches a satisfying shooter experience, it's just a shame that it isn't at least a few levels longer, which would make the package feel more complete. A few issues can be softened with some polish, by tweaking values and cooldowns or fixing the way you sometimes jarringly mantle a ledge to the side that you can't see when you jump, but the largest ones would require an adjustment to the design philosophy overall.

If you are a long time fan and follower of Spellforce 2, than I can imagine that Demons of the Past is right up your alley. Perhaps you’ll easily understand the events surrounding the main storyline, and you will have been used to the nuances of properly playing the game. For everyone else, Demons of the past is a mediocre game that is not particularly memorable, with nothing much going for it.

Were it not for the use of echolocation, Perception would be indistinguishable from the hordes of horror games that have seemingly flooded the market in recent memory. But that central mechanic fails to create an impact in the gameplay, making Perception a well constructed game that lacks in scares and surprises.

The amount of nudity and erotic horror themes within this game are enough to attract anyone, but sadly, the lack of gameplay mechanics and the disappointing climax are not able to keep them.

Crow’s Eye just doesn’t hold up to the greats. The juxtaposition of horror mystery against puzzle-platformer gameplay is jarring; as if gameplay and storyline were drawn up independently and then forced together during early design meeting. Perhaps the first-person puzzles were the intended focus of the title, but horror-genre theatrics proved more popular during limited focus testing, steering the development team’s world building and scripting down a weirdly counterintuitive path. I will admit that does seem like an oddly sceptical look at the game’s make-up, but it simply doesn’t feel organic. Serviceable gameplay mechanics are clouded by a confusing and unimpressive horror aesthetic that do little to elevate the proceedings above a quaint distraction.

Strobophagia is a game that looks cool and has an interesting premise, but it fails in successfully building and delivering on its narrative of horror. While the use of a cellphone and proximity-based chatting made for some fun detective-like segments, the run-from-the-monster gameplay is much more of a bore. While the visuals are generally good, the music is disappointingly bad for a game focused on a music festival, and I was left feeling little more about my time spent playing than “meh.”

theHunter: Call of the Wild looks amazing, it doesn't feel clunky in terms of its controls or movement, and it has some very appealing sound of high quality. But it's just not fun. The exploration is entertaining in short bursts, but players didn't buy theHiker; they bought a game about hunting. With the issues I encountered it just seems like it's not there yet. Maybe some patching can fix it, but in its current state I think I'd rather go play a hunting game where I can at least kill something and find it more than once in a blue moon.

Creepy Road seems to have a good heart, delivering a nice looking game with an enjoyable, affable atmosphere, but there isn’t enough new, original, or terribly fun outside of those boons to make this a game I’d have a super easy time recommending to most. I think a few balancing and quality-of-life tweaks could really turn the boat around and make this a fun, casual game worth jumping into, but until that happens there’s still a fair amount left to be desired.

If only there were others in attendance, he was sure that the game would be quite fun indeed. But there was no one—not even optional automatons. And $14.99 is an awfully high price to pay for loneliness.

The multiplayer focus makes it difficult to form an emotional attachment, detracting from what could have been a uniquely unnerving experience. In the current state this game is worth trying if you’ve got a few friends on board, but I’d love to see a more thorough exploration of the mechanics in a well-crafted, single-player story.

Yi and the Thousand Moons is a fun experience, I just don’t know if it’s fun enough to make it’s incredibly short run time worth the cost.

The lack of content and forced grind-through make this all feel very much like a game that knows there’s not much there. Once you take into account the bugs as well, some of them significant, you can only conclude that Blood Alloy: Reborn could have used a few more months in Early Access.

Ultimately, it’s clear that the design of American Fugitive has taken great inspiration from the likes of Grand Theft Auto, and this offers a nostalgic recreation, for those who want it, of a sandbox series that has had incredible influence on gaming as a whole. However, by focusing too much on the old-school installments, it misses out on the lessons learned in future iterations, and so comes up a little lacking when compared with what modern experiences have to offer.

I walked away from my time with Lords of the Fallen feeling defeated even in my victory. It was a tough road, the toughest of all the souls-and-likes in execution and also, at least partially, gameplay. I lost more levels worth of Vigor than maybe all the other games combined, but I didn't feel like I overcame some finely crafted challenge. Most damning of all, though, despite its attempts to differentiate itself with unique mechanics, I never forgot the games that inspired it through the entire runtime.

As is the case with most other players, I genuinely want to see The Outlast Trials improve with time, something I am sure the developers agree with in principle as well. Where they and I must differ is in our priority for said changes. They appear to prefer focusing on cosmetics, new optional challenges, and implementing new social activities, whereas I prefer more core maps and a darker tone, truer of what Outlast has, up until now, been defined by. Whatever the future may hold for The Outlast Trials, one can only hope that they strive to find a more definitive balance between these two disparate directions.

Phantasmal does have some great features, but they often feel rough and unpolished.

It's unfortunate, because this game absolutely has the potential to turn itself around, as its core foundation is sound, but there are few redemption stories in the gaming industry, and not many publishers allow developers the time or resources to attempt such. Park Beyond isn't by any means a terrible game, but even post-launch, it's been left in such a terrible state that most players probably won't have the patience to distinguish the latter from the former.

It’s just not funny, original, or adrenaline-fueled as it needs to be to stand out among a crowded indie pack.

Those good first impressions eventually fall to the wayside however, as the game abandons plot threads on a dime and fails to create any form of logical progression in its puzzles. Which is a shame, because Dead Synchronicity has good ideas; they just don’t sync today.

Bear With Me Episode One is short to a fault, lacking the length it needs to make it feel more than just a demo for a game that has yet to be released. Yet its charming atmosphere and characters make me want to find out exactly what is happening in Paper City. For now, wait and see where the future adventures of Amber and Ted take them before trying out this black and white world.

Sometimes a plan just doesn’t come together and it’s clear with Army of Two The Devil’s Cartel that the series has no future beyond this generation of games. It is a shame to see the potential this series once had thrown in the garbage. There’s nothing to find of interest in this final entry in the franchise so the most sincere advice I can give to you, dear reader, is this: move on and play something else.

Dragon Fantasy may be charming on the surface, but if you’re looking to recapture that magic that encompassed the classic RPGs of old, you’re probably better off playing one of them.

It doesn’t look or sound particularly good, there are loads of issues, and there’s barely anything original about it. But when all is said and done, this is still a Tower Defense game.

Flat Kingdom is a platformer with a neat premise, but the idea of a trinity of characters performing different abilities has been done before, and better. There are ideas here that work, but the issues outweigh the positives. Unfortunately, Flat Kingdom’s biggest sin is that it’s just a bit boring.

From the paltry selection of playable classes, to the lifeless levels, to the uninspired enemies, this game only barely justifies its budget price point.

I don’t know how much Gemini: Heroes Reborn ties into the television show, but it’s hard to recommend to anyone except the most die hard fan.

All in all, Super Dungeon Bros is either a case of developer blindness or a product rushed through development with far too little time spent on QA and balancing. The aesthetics are polished and professional-looking, and the gameplay elements are all there, but the responsiveness of the controls, gameplay balance, difficulty and level design are so poorly done that it’ll take some serious patching to whip this title into shape.

It is a shame, then, that this is such a clunky, ugly mess of a game. It is rare enough that an English version of a Romance of the Three Kingdoms comes to Western shores by any other way than import and it makes me sad that – this – will be the first experience with the series for new players.

Crashday Redline Edition is most certainly a labour of love for the small development team, but it doesn’t hold up in a modern setting. There are games with better car handling out there, there are games with better car combat and there are games with much deeper and interesting story modes. Unfortunately, there just aren’t many reasons you would pick Crashday over them.

Although I did enjoy the nostalgia of Elden: Path of the Forgotten, I was ultimately not immersed in the game. The lack of any real story meant that I was wandering about with no real objective and no real care for the main character. The combat is simple and the magic spells that you learn give a sense of minor achievement, but the small number of enemy types results in bland combat. The game started out as mysterious, and left me just as confused as to what I had spent four hours completing.

All in all, Kingdom Tales is probably best suited as a way of introducing youngsters into full-blown real-time strategies than anything else.

Aaru’s Awakening could have used a couple of more months in the oven to tweak and test the controls and pace of the game. Who knows, if it’s well supported, those tweaks might be coming and they might actually improve the experience.

I just don't get it, how can such a promising idea fall so flat? The Works of Mercy had the potential to be something truly special. But good ideas alone amount to little, when the end result is beautiful, boring, and buggy.

If you like shooters, you might just as well give it a spin. But if you like space sims, avoid it and wait for a better game.

Evoland is a cheap, short adventure game and if you are looking for an afternoon trip down memory lane, the ten Euros it costs is not that big a price to pay. If however, you are looking for a good indie game to spend a few days with, you will be better off looking somewhere else.

I really want to love Homebound, and there are certainly elements of the game that I did enjoy quite a bit. I like that it’s designed to be a short, intense experience, and is priced to match. I appreciate the presentation, which is better than many of the bigger budget games available. I love how immersive the design of the HUD and details of the environment make the experience. Unfortunately the things that Homebound gets wrong are exactly the issues that undermine each of these positives, turning the experience into an overall negative one.

Different circumstances have made the overall product a story of what could have been, a rose-tinted glasses breaking reality.

If you are a sucker for an interactive trip down memory lane, especially one with pleasing aesthetics and entertaining writing, then Super Rad Raygun might be the game for you. If you’re looking for a quality platformer with good level design, interesting enemies, and solid gameplay on the other hand, look somewhere else. The developers may be able to whip the title into shape with patches in the future, but until then I can only recommend it to those with nerves of steel.

I happen to be a big fan of FMV games, so I’m always happy to see another entry join the genre’s catalog. It may be unfortunate that too much of the game is focused on its least interesting parts, but the story is able to bring up questions of happiness, work, friendship, and mental health that I give it credit for trying to tackle. Your time is probably best spent elsewhere, but here’s to hoping the crew over at Superstring can learn from their mistakes and come back for a stronger sophomore effort.

Instead of being mysterious and enigmatic, it’s more of a Rubik’s cube: spatial, memory-based, and unfortunately something I didn’t have the patience for.