An inventive action platformer that manages to be both cute and gory in equal measure and where it seems absolutely impossible that it could be the work of primarily just two people.

A beguiling mix of open world exploration, mild criminality, and Star Wars flavour that, while it has its flaws, is one of the most enjoyable space adventures of recent years.

An ambitious but uneven action role-player, with impressive visuals and excellent boss battles, that are held back by an inherent shallowness – particularly in the lack of meaningful exploration.

Higher difficulty levels are another story, adding longevity to what is a relatively short game, and also tempting players into dropping cash on microtransactions. While it lasts it’s superb, but such prominent in-app purchases in a premium game is grating.

There’s a solid game buried under the monetisation, but you’ll need deep pockets to find it. You expect more from Lego than lending their brand to this shameless cash grab, lightly disguised as entertainment.

A fantastic 2D shooter, that despite being the developer’s first game shows they understand the genre perfectly – but perhaps not the needs of those that are less familiar with its traditions.

It’s been a long wait for a World Of Goo sequel and the only real complaint with this amusingly inventive follow-up is that there’s not more of it.

Not the return to form that the SteamWorld franchise needed but still a fun and unusual strategy game, even if a lot of the newer features work against it.

A pulsing, neon-infused techno-trip of a game that combines Fruit Ninja style slashing with the sparkly visuals of Tetris Effect, but whose unsatisfyingly variable difficulty suggests it may have needed more time in development.

It’s the same old EDF in terms of graphics, gameplay, and the swarm of (mostly intentional) bugs but online co-op and a mountain of content means it still holds a special charm.

A bizarre, absurdist comedy only occasionally masquerading as a video game, but the lack of interactivity doesn’t make it any less entertaining.

Puzzle game meets narrative adventure in this funny, beautifully written, indie game whose unusual grid-sliding mechanic is elevated by its characters and story.

A cosy 2D Metroidvania featuring witches and cookery, that looks delightful but suffers from numerous irritations in its interface and level design.

Unusual, peaceful and weirdly gripping, Roia is a meditative treat from start to finish.

A notable improvement on last year’s game and while it still has a way to go before it reaches its full potential, this is a fun and relatively realistic evocation of running a Formula One team.

A modern era dungeon adventure with mythical monsters, political corruption, and a slight lack of polish – that’s at least partly compensated for by its charming idiosyncrasies and spirit of invention.

A tribute to the timelessness of some of Nintendo’s earliest classics and while the whole package is rather thin it’s impressive how entertaining it still manages to be.

A mellow and deeply unusual adventure where you play a man’s shadow adrift in a Dutch city, in a game that defies convention and is all the better for it.

A fantastically polished Metroidvania, with some of the best 16-bit style graphics ever seen and impressively deep combat and role-playing elements.

Fascinatingly strange in all the best ways but while the action is solid the strategy aspects are undercooked and the disparate gameplay elements never gel the way they should.

A depressingly generic free-to-play looter shooter that steals shamelessly from other, better, games but never has the nerve to try and create anything of its own.

The touch controls are nowhere near up to the job, and even with a controller it’s a massive grind, especially when runs are so highly dependent on luck, but this is easily the most cost effective way of enjoying a little hero slaying.

Slow-paced, involving and increasingly tricky as you unlock more buildings, the interlocking webs of necessary ingredients make it a fascinating playground of time and resource management.

Complete with a comprehensive hint system for those moments when deduction and reasoning fail you, it may not have much in the way of animation but it’s every bit as good as the studio’s past outings.

A single-player and couch co-op sequel to one of the world’s oldest racing franchises, whose rudimentary looks and driving model can’t compete with 21st century alternatives.

A mere remaster can’t hide all the foibles of a 20-year-old game, but this is a well-crafted tribute to a classic PlayStation 2 era game, that has long deserved a proper sequel.

A fantastically inventive and charming adventure makes a successful leap from portable to home console, but the high asking price will make it a hard sell for many.

A polished and highly competent roguelike deck builder with some neat twists, that can sometimes feel a touch too random for its own good.