The low-key narration and sparsely surreal graphics play well in this uncluttered game of brinkmanship, dexterity, and puzzle solving. Its challenge certainly isn’t for the faint hearted though.

The Below Decks characters look great and the humour, as expressed through quick chats amongst crew members, is solid enough, but the game just isn’t quite as compelling as other incremental games; Egg, Inc. and Cell to Singularity, for example, prove rather more gripping.

An impressively silly mishmash of game styles and historical references that still manages to entertain despite its lack of depth and variety.

An improvement on the first game, but this still lacks the variety and thrills to be considered a true top gun.

A seemingly random collection of Konami arcade games that’s so incoherent and bare bones it won’t please retro fans or newcomers.

It’s an interesting mix, and despite moments that require ultra-specific placement of Magibot’s power circles, and a fair bit of dodgy translation into English, this is a mostly successful blend of mental and dexterity-based challenges.

Corporate greed and some avoidable flaws prevent it from reaching infinity and beyond, but this is still a game that can delight and inspire in equal measure.

A darkly atmospheric horror puzzle game from the original developers of Little Nightmares, that’s undermined by dull puzzles and too much trial and error.

A bizarre mishmash of disparate gameplay elements, with absolutely no sense of coherent design or narrative… and yet its stunning game world is still a fascinating mess to explore.

With a minimalist 1960s art style, a capitalist-sceptic theme, and jazzy soundtrack it’s got style but continually having to restart levels because you made a wrong choice on the first day gets tired fast.

As a game it still clearly doesn't work in anything like the way it's supposed to, but as a party game novelty it currently has few equals.

For a paid game there’s a lot of microtransactions on offer, even if none of it proves essential. It also doesn’t feel all that tactical. With enemies emerging from multiple angles, there’s rarely time to engage in anything but furious spamming of special moves and a silent hope that you’ve upgraded enough to survive an encounter.

The deadpan humour is complemented by deliberately B-movie style acting, but the formula-making mechanic is undermined by ever-stricter time limits which make it feel like a chore well before its relatively brief eight acts are finished. On the plus side, half its profits go to charities actually searching for a cure for cancer.

The offensive microtransactions aren’t a surprise but the tedious open world structure obscures what is a surprisingly nuanced and technical arcade racer.

Another impressive PlayStation VR tech demo, but as a game, and the long-awaited return of a beloved franchise, the experience fails to satisfy.

The problem is that the strategy elements are shallow and underplayed and while the game is fun and interestingly weird, it really doesn’t add up to much. We were interested to see how the mouse controls work, but while they’re fine on a technical level they’re really not necessary, given how little of the map you can see at any one time.

A different take on the usual Metroidvania formula, but while the story and setting are charming the puzzles are rarely anything other than frustrating.

A stripped down Animal Crossing with a premise so lightweight it can barely be said to exist at all, and yet there’s still an undemanding charm to its no-octane thrills.

A fun demonstration of the Xbox One’s capabilities but unfortunately much more a stealth sequel to Kinectimals than it is a proper Tycoon game.

A fun and accessible introduction to the world of Catan but technical failings and a lack of options mean it’s not quite the adaptation it could’ve been.

Immersive sim meets four-player co-op in this vampire themed first person shooter that features competent gunplay but a lack of ingenuity in its challenges.

Further proof of the Wii's gift for first person shooters, if only a more experienced developer would try.

The core action is explosively silly in all the best ways, but the controls, missions, and story structure are all disappointingly underdeveloped.

On paper it's a cynical cash grab while everyone waits for Revelations, but despite the price this is a fun and addictive score attack shooter.

Blow up cars, send people flying, jump off tall structures, and do your best to combat the terrible controls just enough to fulfil each level’s litany of objectives. Goat Simulator’s re-emergence on Apple Arcade is identical to the original release, offering its peculiar demolition-orientated delights to a new generation.

The gentle sound effects and nicely judged art style create an unusual atmosphere and one that encourages quiet exploration. It’s a singular but short-lived experience, and unfortunately one that doesn’t afford much replayability. It’s also riddled with bugs that regularly force you to replay entire sections.

Relying noticeably more on action, an automatic bullet time kicking in as you take aim with your silenced silver baller pistols, its colourful good looks and globetrotting look good on touchscreen, although its profusion of buttons are only really suitable for iPad. As ever with games that feature occasional frenzied action, a controller is your best bet. Its Achilles’ heel though, is that it doesn’t permanently save checkpoint data, so if you have to close the app and reopen it, you’ll need to restart the whole chapter from scratch, an egregious oversight for a mobile port with such long and involved missions.

More up close and personal zombie slaying in post-apocalyptic New Orleans, retaining the original’s focus on exploration and crafting, and its relentlessly uninspiring combat.