A disappointing hotchpotch of borrowed ideas that pays homage to some of the best games of the 16-bit era but forgets to add anything of its own.

Dialoop’s roguelite structure and unorthodox take on match-three puzzling make it a pleasingly original oddity, even if it lacks the depth and refinement of some other deck builders.

In the absence of an F1 26 game this year, this DLC adds the new cars and track in what is an essential expansion for Formula One fans – even if it does have its limitations.

An authentic and complex medieval life simulator that emphasises teamwork and management over individual achievement, and while it’s a slow burn the complexity of options more than makes up for a lack of polish.

A Hades inspired action roguelite with a similar isometric view, pacy combat, and Chinese ink brush visuals, whose addictive action makes up for a lacklustre storyline.

A gently paced open world survival game set amongst blue skies and floating islands, that comes with plenty to do but unusually few pressures on your time.

Your AI adversary occasionally makes confusingly foolish mistakes in early rounds, but that doesn’t diminish the significant challenge, in this highly polished and mentally taxing game that feels as though it was made for touchscreen.

There’s a pleasing quality to its physics, with marbles flying and rolling consistently with the way they’re hit, and while it may not demand all that much creativity on your part it looks nice and does provide an increasing test of dexterity and timing. There’s even an enjoyably OTT plot that incorporates your marble flinging antics.

It may not be the sort of game you’d play for hours at a time, but it’s ideal for a swift, invigorating break in your day.

Subnautica 2 is already enormously compelling and along with the steady progress unlocking new technology and the increasing ease with which you can survive in its ocean, provides ample motivation to continue exploring. In terms of plot, setting, and gameplay loop, this may not be exactly – if you will excuse the pun – a sea change, but it remains a promising return for one of gaming’s most captivating and unusual open world survival games. [Early Access Review]

The Game Boy Color lives again, via an inventive top-down adventure that’s filled with clever design decisions and surprisingly nuanced combat and gameplay.

Not only an extremely authentic Bond adaptation but a masterful action adventure in its own right, that manages an impressive balance of storytelling and cinematic spectacle.

Bubsy may be a cursed franchise, as despite the developer’s previous work this is a frustrating and frequently cringe-worthy 3D platformer, with some truly clunky gameplay.

A beguiling mix of Nintendo whimsy and sandbox style platform gameplay, with more unique ideas than many franchises manage in their entire lifespans.

A charming coffee shop sim that’s slow going but packs plenty of emotional wallop into its runtime, with a cast of colourful characters that are well worth the asking price to meet.

The closest thing to a new Batman: Arkham game there’ll be for many years and a great co-op adventure in its own right, that somehow manages to be unpredictable all the way through.

A giddying rush of fast cars, beautiful landscapes, and pounding music that never lets up; the forgiving driving model and continual feed of new events providing a conveyer belt of instant gratification.

A competent camping and survival game set in an unpopulated wilderness, whose lack of narrative structure, threat, or competitive elements leaves it feeling disappointingly hollow.

A charming, homespun cosy game about exploring the joys of old-fashioned record shops and the importance of in-person socialising.

A fiercely imaginative puzzle solver that builds on all the best elements of Call Of The Sea to deliver a genuinely challenging, Lovecraftian-flavoured adventure.

The makers of Until Dawn unleash a new interactive sci-fi horror, whose polish and narrative twists are undermined by under-informed choices and an awful lot of walking about in dimly lit corridors.

It’s still in early access, so this is too soon for a full review, but it’s already worth a download, its peculiarly weighty feel making it a distinctive contender for your time, even if its card based gacha monetisation feels as though it may not win it many friends.

The mobile port works beautifully, its timed button presses easy enough to pull off on a touchscreen and its cute, deliberately blocky graphics looking alluringly colourful on a small screen.

Although compelling, it was originally priced at a rather sporty £24.99 on iOS, which many found off-putting. Its release on Apple Arcade also includes its DLC, making this an irresistible bargain and easily the best way to experience the game on the go.

A heartwarming adventure about growing up, packed full of imagination and 90s snark, but its main strength is the way in which it manages to expertly capture what it feels like to be a young, bored teen on the verge of adulthood.

A near future third person sci-fi adventure whose believable characters, expressive animation, and glorious icy backdrops are undermined by a linear story with too little variety in its interactions.

A fun and energetic fighting game that does its best to cater for both casual fans and fighting game veterans, although its roster has some strange priorities and the single-player content is very limited.

A genuinely different kind of team multiplayer game, with exactly the sort of thoughtful weirdness you’d expect from Double Fine.