If you’re a big fan of the main game, then Atomfall: Wicked Isle will give you something to do for a few hours.

A nostalgia trip for millennials and a lesson in how good we have it these days for everyone else, Lan Party Adventures is a casual sim game with heart that just falls short due to repetitive mechanics and lack of a truly compelling narrative.

Aphelion has some excellent moments regarding the story, but is let down by consistently frustrating gameplay where you feel punished for no reason.

As lovely a use of the undeniably cool source material as this is, MACROSS -Shooting Insight- is a commendable effort, but one that's destined to remain rather niche, it seems.

Destiny 2: The Edge of Fate is a solid, entertaining, and intriguing debut for the Fate Saga, answering many questions but leaving many more to be explored later.

Gex Trilogy ensures the three Gex games are as true to their original release as possible, but if you have no nostalgia for them you'll struggle a bit.

If you’re into your low-stakes farming and crafting games then you may find Gaucho and the Grassland is a fun way to kill a few hours.

Bad Cheese works great as a psychological horror and has some wonderful visuals, where the horror comes from the unsettling nature of its ties to the house of mouse.

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 will certainly appeal to the die-hard fans of its world, thanks to the story. Unfortunately though, it commits the cardinal sin of simply not being fun enough to play, and that's a difficult coffin to clamber back out of.

Yasha: Legends of the Demon Blade is one of the finest roguelike action-RPGs out there, with fluid combat, plenty of upgrades, and some incredible visuals.

Survival Kids is a fun if somewhat simple co-op game that you can only play on the Switch 2, and is well worth a go especially for younger gamers.

Despite a deep and enjoyable combat system, there are a few issues that hold Lost Soul Aside back from being a great action-RPG title.

With a vast, open landscape full of creative potential, Wreckreation will unleash your inner child, looping custom courses throughout the world like digital Hot Wheels tracks.

Creature Keeper is a creature collection game with some wonderful ideas, but its underwhelming combat and monster designs make it a tough sell.

Arctic Awakening is a genuinely good tale of mystery with some excellent audio that's unfortunately hampered by an overly long run-time and some nasty technical issues.

Shadow of the Orient is one that I would have happily paid for back in the day and would urge retro enthusiasts to pick up.

Drag x Drive is a totally unique multiplayer gaming experience, but its lack of hooks, inaccessible nature, and dull visuals let it down.

I Hate This Place has some great visual flair and interesting lore but unfortunately it's bogged down in an obtuse and often uninspired survival stealth adventure.

Crimson Capes is fairly unique even within its own oversaturated genre.

Hirogami is a charming origami based platformer with great movement and gorgeous visuals, but its combat and frustrating objectives hold it back.

Rusty Rabbit is a decent Metroidvania with some interesting ideas, but clunky movement and frustrating combat make it a tough sell.

Hotel Barcelona is a bloody fun Roguelike, with a whole heap of creative ideas and just as many unhinged characters to meet.

Returning fans from the arcade will get a real kick out of Snow Bros 2 Special, but for everyone else it's a little bit of a tougher sell.

Your tolerance for philosophical musings will probably determine how much you enjoy Dreams of Another, but underneath all that is still a fun game.

Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of the Rings Game allows you to live out the life of a hobbit in a warm and welcoming world, with some nice ideas throughout.

Star Wars: Beyond Victory features three fun games in one, making the full use of virtual reality and all its capabilities in one gloriously nerdy package.

A Pizza Delivery is a great concept that needed much longer in the oven. As it stands the game is half-baked, full of bugs and doesn't hit the emotional notes it's aiming for.

Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour is just decent, when you'd expect more for something designed to show a new system.

There’s very little to redeem Legacy of Kain: Ascendance other than the fact that it’s short.

Tamagotchi Plaza Switch 2 Edition has some silly charm, but the dull minigames and lack of tutorials end up making it a chore to play.

Despite being a pretty ambitious undertaking and a handful of decent ideas, Spy Drops fails to make the kill.

Techno Banter is an entertaining Papers, Please-style game with interesting ideas, but it has issues that prevent it from being easy to recommend. Still if you want to play something unique and full of wild characters then you could do much worse, especially if the idea of European techno gets your blood pumping.

Under Defeat is a superb game, which quite rightly earned plaudits upon release and still feels like an essential part of anyone’s shoot ‘em up library.

COLD VR has a solid core concept but fails to ever really impress with it.

With a few minor tweaks, Stray Path could go from being a recommended "give-it-a-go" kind of game, to a to a genuine must play experience.

BrokenLore: LOW is an unnerving short form horror game, with disturbing monsters, an eerie atmosphere and the potential to scare the pants off you.

Omega 6 The Triangle Stars is a charming sci-fi adventure, full of wonderfully designed aliens and rock paper scissors battles.

For all of its flaws, I have some love for My Night Job thanks to the "one more go" appeal, leaderboards, and overall humour and aesthetic.

Despite an attempt to add context and colour to the world, the best bit of Trailmakers: Pioneers is still the building.

inZOI is an ambitious attempt to topple Maxis’ empire, but in its current form it’s not really exciting enough to pose a threat to it. The use of generative AI is unpleasant, the actual gameplay is too slow paced, and there’s just a lack of charm in the world. Hopefully this period of early access can shake things up enough to make some serious improvements to the game, because right now it merely remains one to watch. [Early Access Review]

Dungeons of Hinterberg isn't the game you think it is, and that's what makes it so good. A gorgeous world, smooth combat, and great RPG elements as well.

Order 13’s fulfilment centre horror is a fantastic concept for a video game, but it doesn't take particularly long for the tension to be lost.

Axyz is a gravity bending puzzle platformer with an unusual retro aesthetic, thoughtful stages, and more content than you could roll a ball at.

The combo scoring nature of gameplay and the way the pace ramps up to a frenetic level places Breakout Beyond alongside classic arcade and puzzle titles of its ilk from days gone by.

Nif Nif is the perfect first deck building Roguelike for newcomers to the genre, but its lack of challenge means it's not worth replaying much.

White Knuckle is in early access, so there are plenty of tweaks, improvements, and new content to be added over the next year. At present, there’s more than enough to keep players occupied. The need to push yourself and progress, to get faster and survive longer is a great motivation, and with the horror being just as much about the grim location as it is about the things that reside in Substructure 17, it’s quite the unique idea and I loved how challenging it was, even if I did feel like pulling my hair out from time to time. [Early Access Review]

Sacre Bleu is an engaging platformer with absolutely wonderful locomotion, and just the right amount of challenge for genre veterans.

Monument Valley and Monument Valley 2 are still incredible games all these years later, but the Switch might not be the best place to play them.

Monument Valley and Monument Valley 2 are still incredible games all these years later, but the Switch might not be the best place to play them.

Outworld Station is a fantastic automation game, with wonderful onboarding, satisfying productivity management, and a hell of a lot of content. The little additions like combat and gathering asteroids keep the game fresh too, and ensures you’re always busy doing something while your resources are being crafted. Even though it’s in early access now it’s still a great time to jump into Outworld Station, whether you’re an automation veteran or a new convert like me. [Early Access Review]

Once Upon a Puppet is a gorgeous platformer set in an intriguing world, but poor pacing and average platforming make it hard to easily recommend.

BrokenLore: DON'T WATCH is another wonderful entry of this new horror series, that'll leave you suitably freaked out when the credits roll.

Repose is unlike anything we've seen in some time, with hidden layers of strategy and clever level design, it's definitely worth checking out.

Stratogun is a beautifully executed piece of work that fully deserves to join the pantheon of twin stick lore, and is going to be a near-permanent fixture on my Steam Deck for some time to come.

Grandma, No! is a silly and destructive physics game, but one that punches down with its comedy and ends before it really warms up.

Pivot of Hearts is a lovely dating sim with wonderful queer and poly options, but the writing lets the experience down somewhat.

Ghost Frequency is the scariest game I've played in an incredibly long time, so turn off the lights and get ready to scream already.

PaperKlay is a charming 3D platformer with gorgeous papercraft visuals, and it's full of those delicious collectibles you just have to grab.

As We Descend is a wonderful Roguelike deck builder even in its current form, but with many more months of polish and added content it could transform into a genre topping sensation. It’s well worth jumping in now if you like the sound of this apocalyptic card game, and hopefully sometimes next year we’ll be talking even more about this engaging addition to one of my favourite genres. [Early Access Review]

Despite muddy visuals and a few dodgy animations, Tiebreak+ looks pretty good for a Switch game and credit has to be given thee work on this port.

There is loads to do in Tour De France 2025, and thanks to the improvement in visuals and physics, whatever you do, it is actually more fun at times feels like an actual mainstream racing title.

If you enjoy Survivors-style games and are craving something that feels new and will occupy you for hours, Soulstone Survivors is well worth your time.

Zombie Army VR is a generic shooter in virtual reality, lacking anything different to any of the other shooters out there that have already done a better job.

Even in its current form Ground of Aces is a great base building game, and there’s so much still to come to it. There’s a detailed roadmap on the game’s Steam page that talks about trading with nearby villages, hunting local wildlife, and so so so much more. Regardless of if you play it now or later though, it’s a unique and compelling game that I’d highly recommend. [Early Access Review]

As an early game Mycopunk has a lot of time and opportunity to add more to its arsenal. Once there’s more base content and more to do overall, it’ll be well worth diving into, but for less than £15 it’s not a bad shout to support a dev who clearly has a lot of passion for the genre. [Early Access Review]

Vile: Exhumed is a clever horror that takes you to the most depraved parts of the human mind, but leaves you guessing every step of the way with simple yet effective gameplay.

Monument Valley 3 is a beautiful and clever puzzle game, but it struggles somewhat to live up to the previous games in the series.

Sunset High is a massively clever timeloop game full of unique mechanics that is very happy to leave you struggling to know what to do next.

Morgan: Metal Detective isn’t the gaming equivalent of digging up buried treasure, but equally it’s more enjoyable than digging up horseshoes.

Guntouchables’ fast pace and silly humour is more than enough to keep you hooked, but it really does require friends to get the most out of it.

1000 Deaths is a trippy platformer with tricky stages and wacky characters, that would be easy to recommend without the camera issues.

World War Z VR offers plenty of excitement and anxiety at every step, with strong gunplay and some great set pieces when the hordes show up.

Class of Heroes 3 Remaster doesn't feel like a modern dungeon crawler, and it's old school difficulty and grindy gameplay will put many off.

Henry Halfhead is a daft game with a lot of heart, and even if it only lasts a couple of hours they're still well worth experiencing.

ZOE Begone! is as intriguing as it is enjoyable, and once you battle its steep learning curve you'll be rewarded with an utterly fantastic shmup.

Folly of the Wizards is a Roguelike with plenty of interesting ideas, but lackluster combat makes it rather hard to recommend.

Mamorukun ReCurse is a unique and inventive shoot ‘em up with banging music, but it just feels a bit samey even in its short runtime.

While many will fall of Concierge due to its surreal and non-linear nature, there's a great deal of satisfaction to be found in the unsettling hotel you're tasked with exploring.

DeadWire is a seriously clever twin stick shooter, with hacking that allows so many creative kills and an absolutely brutal level of difficulty.

Whether you want to switch the HUD off and live out your wildest train driver fantasies or just unwind and take photographs, Train Sim World 6 welcomes every type of enthusiast with open arms.

Lumo 2 has some retro appeal and plenty of collectibles to gather scattered throughout its puzzle rooms, but the platforming just isn't great.

Fading Serenades is a cute and cosy delivery game, but the repetitive gameplay and constant back and forth across the map made me want to return it to sender.

Superball is a fun cyberpunk football game that you can try for free, but its bland heroes and confusing currencies are a drag.

Dragon Front Adventures is a seriously engaging Roguelike deck builder, with clever combat and enough content to keep you happy for years.

Chicken Run Eggstraction might not be the most revolutionary stealth game, but there's more than a nugget of fun to find in this charming package.

Despite some framerate jitters, Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault feels very polished for an early access title, and offers a ton of content to get stuck into already – with more promised. This is a massive improvement on the original, which delivers a ton more features, story, and gameplay while retaining the same core premise. If this is the level of quality straight out of the early access gate, I can’t wait to see what Digital Sun sells us when it’s ready to hit 1.0. [Early Access Review]

Satisfactory is a superb example of the factory sim, delivering a deep, comprehensive experience where it really feels like the devs have thought of everything.

R-Type Delta: HD Boosted may be a fairly bare bones remaster, but this shmup is still a blast in 2025 regardless.

If you really don’t like spiders and all you want to do is squish them in a variety of silly ways in some bizarre locations, you could do a lot worse than Kill it with Fire 2.

Storm Lancers is far from a bad game, but when held up against the titans of the genre it’s just not able to hang. If you’ve completely exhausted your Roguelike backlog (which admittedly I struggle to imagine is possible) then perhaps this sci-fi romp will excite you. For the rest of us though it’ll just make us dream of playing better games, and that’s a real shame.

Still, minor gripes aside, I thoroughly enjoyed my time on Starsand Island. It really feels like an “everything” life sim, with enough in there to keep you invested all the way through the early access period as they no doubt refine existing systems and add more. What sets it apart though is the presentation, and the island itself really is the star of the show. Whether you want to get stuck into farm life or just strap your skates on for a little jaunt around the city, it’s a game that all fans of the genre will love. [Early Access Score = 80]

Chromagun 2: Dye Hard is a clever puzzle game with a unique colour twist, but the difficulty never quite feels testing enough.

Core Keeper is a ridiculously compelling survival game that's great on the Switch 2, and I lost so many hours building the perfect base.

With plenty to unlock and multiple difficulties to battle your way through, Devil Jam is great fun and is certainly worth a look for fans of the genre.

The overall package is in incredibly charming despite the steep difficulty, and Soulslike Metroidvania fans would do well to add it Solateria their collection.

Despite being a bit basic and lacking some polish, Thomas & Friends: Wonders of Sodor is a nostalgic love letter to a childhood favourite.

Go Home Annie is a game of two halves, with the first packed with intrigue as you take a tour of the SCP and the entities it contains, while the second unfortunately frustrates with poor stealth and confusing puzzles.

Between the never ending list of things to repair and the constant badgering with side missions I didn't find my time with the game anywhere near as relaxing as an actual stroll in the woods would be. [Early Access Score = 55]