The absence of clues and the plethora of places where words overlap provide a decent challenge right from the start, and there’s plenty of free content to try before you have to spring for the full game. It’s not Wordle but it is a fun alternative for those seeking a new challenge.

It looks nice, but there’s absolutely nothing going on underneath the veneer, apart from collecting currencies to perform upgrades that let you continue fighting more identical battles, while the game patiently tries to hawk its microtransactions.

It’s an impressive achievement given the game’s inherent complexity but, especially on a phone screen, battles are fiddly, with the job of highlighting and dragging units rendered inaccurate by the size of your thumbs compared with your microscopically small fighting men and cavalry. The less time pressured diplomatic elements work far better.

There’s no time pressure and the gentle soundtrack lends it a mellow pace that in no way undermines its challenge or the feel good nature of its puzzles.

Battles are initially a walkover, almost never resulting in a loss, the only limit to your raiding being time and patience. The issue is that unlimited battles swiftly reveal the limitations of its game design, with ennui setting in far earlier than in the more polished Supercell titles that inspire it.

The attempts to mirror the cinema of Akira Kurosawa work on a visual level but the story and gameplay are so empty and repetitive this barely works as a homage, let alone an engaging game in its own right.

An absorbing mix of tabletop inspirations and sci-fi storytelling, that makes for one of the most unique and well-written games of the year.

A muddled reimagining of the groundbreaking Wii Sports, with an unwarranted focus on online play and new game additions that are never as much fun as the originals.

A bad idea poorly realised and while the original coin-op retains its campy charm this remake is rendered pointless by the unsatisfying controls and glitchy performance.

It hasn’t aged particularly well, and there are serious technical issues with the remaster, but the sequel to Chrono Trigger is still one of the original PlayStation’s best Japanese role-players.

A delightful and hugely entertaining journey of puzzles, battles, and exploration that makes you feel a part of both its story and the living, breathing, miniaturised world of Moss.

A wonderfully enthusiastic love letter to Lego, Star Wars, and video games in general, that goes above and beyond the call of duty in terms of the scale of the adventure, the attention to detail, and the sheer volume of content.

A reskinned Borderlands 3 that would’ve been much better off as an expansion, given it’s too short to justify the outrageously high price tag and too long to hide the lack of variety and new ideas.

An appealing riff on the Pokémon role-playing formula which, while a little too safe, has enough small deviations and improvements to justify its existence.

Despite some of the same minds behind Dishonored being involved, this top-down immersive doesn’t live up to its soaring ambitions and often struggles to entertain.

Unleashing the full, terrifying complexity of a PC-based grand strategy game on console is a Herculean task, which Crusader Kings 3 manages with deftness and aplomb.

One of the best Kirby games ever made and while the formula hasn’t changed as much as it first seems it’s also one of the most enjoyable co-op titles of recent years.

Rarely has such a big budget game been based on such a thin gameplay premise, with this bafflingly dull first person action adventure that begins to run out of steam by the end of the tutorial level.

If it wasn’t for the change in graphics this would get an unequivocal recommendation and even with that issue, we can’t imagine anyone that already enjoys Mario Kart 8 not thinking this isn’t worth getting as well.

Enjoyable Souls-lite combat can’t make up for the tedious loot system and laughably bad storytelling, in this misconceived Final Fantasy spin-off.

Old school adventure sensibilities and an expertly-designed puzzle box world combine in this charming and engaging indie gem.

The 60fps option improves the gameplay to a small degree but, almost a decade later, it’s not the graphics or the story that impresses the most in GTA 5, but the open world design. It’s the one element that is beyond criticism and while it is beginning to seem a little old-fashioned compared to newer titles like Zelda: Breath Of The Wild and Elden Ring it’s still lightyears ahead of any of its would-be rivals.

The first post-season pass DLC is a substantial slab of new plot, gear, and abilities but never anything more than that. If you loved the base game, this is a lot more of exactly the same.

A remarkable comeback for the franchise, with a redesigned game engine and control overhaul making for a very entertaining experience.

It’s mildly engaging, and you can call in friends to help if boss encounters get sticky, but other than the usual compulsion of role-playing style levelling up, it’s pretty forgettable.

Games can go on for quite a while, but it’s a rewardingly tactical process and later victories especially can feel like genuine achievements against the odds.

Its ecological message is delivered with finesse and charm, and the hour or so its nine chapters will take you to complete is rarely less than enchanting.

Favouring smaller, more scripted levels than its forebear, you’ll once again need to bump off targets while preventing your handiwork from being noticed by security. That means engineering ‘accidents’ by shooting pieces of scenery or gunning down targets where their bodies will fall conveniently out of sight. While still entertaining, PvP contests often seem as though you’re playing a bot rather than a human and the whole package feels a shade less compelling than the original, which is currently available for 49p.