There’s a lot of downtime at the start, but another shock ending does little to dilute what is the best piece of interactive storytelling so far this year.

Only a minor improvement on the last game, but still a hugely accomplished space strategy game – with an almost infinite range of customisation options.

A fun, funny, and wonderfully gory 2D shooter, but it’s not quite as tightly designed as OlliOlli and certainly lacks the same longevity.

The ingredients are there for a transcendent action strategy but the reality is that Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. is disappointingly mundane and only fitfully entertaining.

The best turn-based tactics game since XCOM and a fantastic spy adventure that has an appeal that goes well beyond just strategy fans.

A colossal achievement in technical terms, with a level of interaction with the game world and its inhabitants that is unsurpassed in modern video games.

A viable alternative to the old guard of driving simulators, that values freedom of choice and gritty realism over needless feature creep.

Puzzle & Dragons is one of the better free-to-play mobile games, but while removing microtransactions may make it more fair it also makes it less interesting.

A great follow-up to The New Order, which cleverly reuses all of its best features and yet still finds time to add plenty of new elements of its own.

An inspired mix of real science, sandbox gameplay, and space simulation – that is both a lot more entertaining and a lot more accessible than you’d expect.

One of the best retro homages of recent years, that cleverly combines the best elements of older 2D games with plenty of new ideas of its own.

A co-op version of XCOM in the Shadowrun universe sounds a great idea, but this lacks the depth to make the best of the concept.

Clever, funny, and beautiful to look at, but this is a game of two halves and the second one is such a peculiar tonal shift in terms of gameplay that even the story suffers as a result.

On the PC there are too few new features to satisfy existing fans, but on the PlayStation 4 the joys of being an island dictator still feel enjoyably fresh.

On paper it sounds like the ultimate zombie game, but a year later and the technical issues are still as decayed and broken as the undead enemies.

Generous in both content and price, this is another gold standard in DLC expansions – and in terms of 200cc mode one of the best free extras ever.

A loving tribute to the later Mega Man games and a 2D platformer with plenty of new ideas of its own, but a lack of consistency spoils the overall package.

As a 2D interpretation of Assassin’s Creed this works perfectly well, but the workmanlike design and bland atmosphere makes it hard to get excited about.

A tepid sequel to Kirby And The Power Paintbrush, that even with its short running time barely manages to stretch it’s small collection of ideas across a whole game.

The best bread simulator ever made, and despite the rampant silliness there’s some inspired gameplay mechanics and level design baked in.

As admirable as the single-minded design is it feels a lot more interesting in theory than it does in the endless repetition of actually playing it.

The best new Mortal Kombat for years, with a fighting game experience that’s as generous with the content as it is with the gore.

A fascinating journey through the visual history of 2D platformers, although the gameplay doesn’t always match the quality of the many classics it relies on for influence.

Gameplay doesn’t come any more shallow and mindless than this, but at least it’s a little fairer with its free-to-play microtransactions than Pokémon Shuffle.

One of the best uses of the Wii U GamePad so far and one of the most atmospheric games of the year, even if it does run out of new tricks before the end.

Not so much a sequel to Dungeon Keeper 2 as an unofficial remake, and while a little magic has been lost along the way this is still a charmingly unique strategy game.

The PlayStation 4 may never get a real Monster Hunter game but this portable remaster is the next best thing, and a useful improvement on the PS Vita original.

Even if it’s only been a year, time has not been kind to Dark Souls’ sequel and this remaster does little to help the situation – even if it ‘s a hugely engrossing game in its own right.