At $10, Gunpoint is a proudly lean product, and its clever blend of stealth, puzzles and film noir humor is worth exploring, though you may want to avoid enhancing your real-life spy skills by following Conway's lead. Unless consistently hurling yourself through windows is already a hobby.

Though it occasionally feels grindy, each new area is a refreshing challenge, and the ease with which you can mix up your party prevents your trips through the dungeons from ever getting stale.

The fact remains that XCOM: Enemy Unknown is an exemplary turn-based strategy game. Firaxis has deftly blended management, tactics and the sort of gut-level, throaty encounters usually reserved for fast-paced action games.

The post game has been tweaked to be more responsive and allow for more subtle movements over last year's effort, and an improved shot stick means players have more options when trying to put the ball in the net. Last second fakes and finger rolls rule the day and are easily accomplished with a little practice.

Super Meat Boy comes down to personal skill, which might be the only reason I didn't fling the controller through the window. In other words, if you fail, it's your fault. If the levels weren't well-designed, or if the controls were off even by the slightest bit, Super Meat Boy would be an entirely different experience. As it stands, it's one of the best platformers I've ever played.

At five bucks, it's an easy recommendation for anyone even remotely interested in role-playing games.

While previous Infamous games were often frustrating during their later campaign missions, Second Son maintains a steady growth in difficulty throughout, allowing players to rise to the challenge by progressing through its skill tree at their own pace.

This community engagement is not only smart from a marketing and outreach perspective, but it's what gives Don't Starve its depth: All of these features bundled into a survival game with streamlined, robust mechanics and infinite ways to die.

Its visual and aural splendor lies a simple, stimulating experience that's difficult to put down. Dyad manages to create a beautiful synthesis of music, visual design and gameplay mechanics, and it does so without missing a beat.

As a solo game, Battlefield 3 on consoles is even less the sum of its parts than the PC version, due to compromised visuals and a legion of technical issues, some of which might stand in the way of actually finishing the game. When Battlefield 3 does its damnedest to go toe-to-toe with Call of Duty are the times it stumbles the hardest. But when DICE is doing what it's always done best, Battlefield 3 is a uniquely mesmerizing multiplayer game with a seemingly endless number of ways to feel like a success.

Though Mark of the Ninja's informative design makes it easy to obtain that perfect stealth run, there's still a healthy amount of fear throughout.

As a solo game, Battlefield 3 on consoles is even less the sum of its parts than the PC version, due to compromised visuals and a legion of technical issues, some of which might stand in the way of actually finishing the game. When Battlefield 3 does its damnedest to go toe-to-toe with Call of Duty are the times it stumbles the hardest. But when DICE is doing what it's always done best, Battlefield 3 is a uniquely mesmerizing multiplayer game with a seemingly endless number of ways to feel like a success.

The gravity-shifting sections spliced into existing and new tracks feel like a natural extension of the series rather than a gameplay-changing revelation, but it's a strong compliment to an already enjoyable experience. The social features are surprisingly solid and may even outlive the total course selection, but it helps that the new tracks feel as worthy of a revisit as the series' standouts.

Magic 2014 is the jewel in the Stainless Games crown, and a shining example of the rewards of iterative development.

The truest adaptation of the sport available.

Metro: Last Light does belong in the company of Half-Life, though. It's an unusual, meticulously detailed shooter inextricable from its environment – making its refuge in the railways of Moscow all the more apt. The survival and shooting aspects engage with what is considered valuable in the world, and both leave ample room for moments of solace, exploration and concise violence.

Sports Champions is a great pack-in for Move and well worth buying on its own if you go the a la carte route with the hardware. You'll spend a good chunk of each day playing it and hoping for a sequel.

The pacing of Tumble is intentionally slow -- I had many moments, on the edge of my seat, trying to slide a block into place with the slightest movements so as not to topple the rest of the structure -- but if you've got the patience, you'll be rewarded time and time again.

Though it hews closely to the traditional ratio of exploration and critter killing, Tales of Xillia has more than enough unusual and refreshing elements to keep pushing you forward.

The best additions this year are bits of the unexpected, something almost never achieved in sports video games. FIFA 12 delivers enough of those flashes of brilliance to feel a little less like a game, and more like a true soccer simulator.

DMC does action extraordinarily well and manages to make Dante look like the epitome of cool with every move, and it's wonderful to see this feat in motion. Over and over and over again.

It sets a new standard for modern remakes of past-generation titles, proving that there's absolutely nothing wrong with a publisher capitalizing on gamers' nostalgia, so long as they can find a developer who loves the source material just as much as -- if not more than -- we do.

I spent around 10 lovely hours exploring the intricately detailed, painfully cute Patch Land in co-op, and came away feeling, well, lovely. Kirby's Epic Yarn makes a convincing case for the idea that we don't have to be challenged every single time we play a video game. Occasionally, it's enough to be happy.

Smash is an intelligent, creative, blissful continuation of the "Who's better?" character debate, and I look forward to changing my answer as I reconfigure Smash's roster and find new favorite ways to send Donkey Kong into the stratosphere.

Parody's a thorny thing, tricky to execute and often limited in appeal. It's to Ubisoft Montreal's credit that Blood Dragon broadens the appeal of its source, thanks to a hilarious, accessible dollop of nostalgia, coated in the mechanics that made Far Cry 3 great. This easily could've been a great idea greenlit into something terrible. We do love it when a plan comes together.

Episode 2 ends on a note that highlights the detail and thought behind its mechanics... (Potential spoiler omitted.) It's presented in a terribly disturbing manner, of course, but that's part of what makes it so wonderful.

For a few hours peering into my laptop screen, Telltale managed to make me feel eight years old again. It may not be time travel, but it could be the closest you can get without a flux capacitor.

With the release of Shift 2 Unleashed, the Need For Speed franchise now holds the distinction of representing the best of arcade-style and simulation racing on consoles. It's an evolution of the original -- not a revolution, but still markedly improved across the board -- and a worthy sequel, easy recommendation for those who enjoyed the first game and great entry point to "real" racing in general.