There’s a lot of potential within Space Pioneer that is unfortunately largely squandered by its repetitive nature. Once you’re done with one chapter, it really feels like you’ve seen it all, despite another eleven lying ahead of you. Its core gameplay really is a lot of fun, and our hope would be that if a sequel is developed, this is backed up by an engaging story and meaningful objectives.

At its core, Tools Up is very endearing in its premise, and for the most part, it works pretty well. Sadly though, the controls just aren’t quite as responsive or intuitive as you’d hope, and you’ll find yourself slipping up – quite literally in some cases – frequently. Additionally, objects in close proximity cause confusion, and you’ll often pick up the incorrect object, resulting in a lot of wasted time. Nevertheless, if you’re after an alternative to Overcooked, then Tools Up offers up enough incentive to take the plunge, even if it doesn’t quite match up.

Phoenix Labs has done a great job with Dauntless, designing a game that takes the better parts of Monster Hunter and pares them down into a rapid-fire and easily accessible action experience that’s sure to demand dozens of hours of your time once it gets its hooks into you. On top of this, you’re never hit over the head with microtransactions and it’s easier than ever to play with friends on other platforms. Though this Switch port mightily struggles from a performance perspective, it’s still enjoyable on a consistent enough basis that such issues can be mostly overlooked. It literally costs you nothing more than time to give Dauntless a try, and we’d highly recommend you give it a shot.

The third Football Manager on Switch is a relatively minor upgrade to an already entertaining and compelling game. The controls are still unwieldy and the new features, while welcome, aren't exactly transformative: as such, we'd usually recommend you consider buying last year's game for a slightly lower price. However, since Sega's pulled the 2018 and 2019 editions from the eShop, you don't have much choice but to pay full price for this one.

With its single table, often obtuse mechanics and sometimes brutal difficulty, Demon's Tilt isn't going to be to everybody's tastes, but if you have even the slightest interest in pinball games then you really should check this out. While more tables would have been welcome and it's a shame that some of the visual effects have been toned down on Switch, what we have here is a game of stunning depth and complexity which rewards methodical players who aren't afraid to invest a lot of time learning all of the secrets and hidden tactics. The ability to play the game in portrait mode makes this Switch port even more appealing.

Gensou Skydrift is one of the few karting games on Switch to come even slightly close to Mario Kart in terms of its racing mechanics, and when it all comes together it's a fun time. Unfortunately, the lack of meaningful single-player content and the fact that the online is dead on arrival means this should be strictly considered a local multiplayer game if you want to get your money's worth.

Somewhat overlooked and underrated when it was first released, Call Of Juarez: Gunslinger's second rodeo on Switch doesn't really bring anything new to the table that it didn't already bring before. It's still an entertaining adventure, though, which does clever things with its story structure.

Croteam, the creators of The Talos Principle, were previously known primarily for their silly (but fun) Serious Sam titles. The Talos Principle shows a remarkable maturity and depth of scope that's perhaps surprising, but in a very good way. It poses interesting questions, allows the player to progress at their own pace - mostly in a non-linear fashion - and is a hugely satisfying piece of game design. Utterly entrancing and highly recommended.

Big Pharma has a lot to offer for players who want a deep management simulator. There are a lot of systems to learn, and they take a long time to master if you want to succeed in the hardcore scenarios. The game goes further than the factory floor, bringing research, originator ingredients, and the min/max specification usually reserved for MMOs to the normal management experience. On Nintendo Switch the game suffers a little from awkward controls and text size, but the fact that a game of this scale works as well as it does on the platform eclipses its flaws once you're invested. In truth, running a global drug corporation on-the-go has never been more enjoyable, unless you’re losing money because all of your drugs cause headaches. Good luck.

Trover Saves the Universe is a surprisingly fun little game. The humour will not be to everybody's tastes, and while the core gameplay is extremely strong by itself, your appreciation for their style of comedy will ultimately determine whether or not you see this one through to the end. But for us, this was a hilarious twist on the puzzle-platformer genre which we can highly recommend for anybody looking for something a bit more weird and twisted.

Buried deep within Neverwinter Nights' loins remains an entertaining, engrossing and lengthy RPG adventure, bundled with oodles of extra campaigns and one-off adventures. But to enjoy that you're going to have to put up with some of the most stuttery, bug-riddled nonsense we've seen on the Switch. Fun and frustrating in equal measure.

Heroland is very much style over substance. The graphics, while initially a bit off-putting, are actually quite charming in their own way, with the characters and environments bursting with personality. But the writing and dialogue are the true stars of the show. Make no mistake, this is a very funny game, and you’ll soon be agonising over which of the delightful main characters is your favourite. Unfortunately, it’s not quite enough to hold up the entire game – some folks will automatically gravitate to what is admittedly a unique approach to the RPG genre, but a lot more will likely desire something a bit more hands-on.

In the Hunt is an excellent shoot-'em-up and a great fit for the Switch. It offers something comfortingly familiar in the genre but shockingly, joyously different in execution. Here's hoping we see even more high-quality deep cuts fill out the already outstanding Arcade Archives line. How about R-Type?

Yet another fantastic rhythm game to add to the Switch's ever-growing repertoire. It may be a tad on the expensive side, but its core mechanics are rock solid, its minimalist visuals are a treat to behold and the fact it's got to much to play through and unlock means you'll be happily tapping your toes to this one for months.

Jamestown+ is another brilliant addition to the Nintendo Switch's ever-expanding library of excellent shmups. Easy to pick up for newcomers and with the ferocious difficulty expected by aficionados of the genre, it's a slick and stylish shooter – just as much fun in solo mode as it is in four-player co-op – with a unique and zany setting that gets its hooks into you quickly and keeps them there. It may not add anything revolutionary or particularly new to the genre and the omission of online co-op play is a shame, but what's here is supremely engaging and polished stuff that's pretty much essential for Switch-owning shooter fans.

Five Nights at Freddy’s never presumed to be an in-depth and all-encompassing horror experience, and as limited as it may be, Five Nights at Freddy’s 4 does a good job of building a tense atmosphere and keeping you at the edge of your seat. The short length and simple concept keep it from having much staying power, but it’s a thrilling experience if you’ve got a night to yourself and feel like giving yourself a good scare.

Riverbond isn’t the most in-depth game on the Switch this year, nor is it the best looking. It does, however, boast an interesting art style, and its gameplay is simple yet engaging enough that almost anyone of any skill level can give it a good crack. There are plenty of unlockable skins and weapons to try out, and although there’s little incentive to replay once you’re done and dusted, it’s a decent way to spend a few hours during the quieter winter months.

Shovel Knight Showdown proves that Yacht Club Games is capable of making more than just platformers, as it’s delivered an entertaining and content-rich multiplayer brawler that’s sure to be a house favourite to many. Plenty of game modes, a long cast of characters, and a bevvy of unlockables ensure that this is a release that you’ll be playing for quite some time – although we would add that it’s a game which is best enjoyed with others on hand. Though single-player options are present, they fail to provide enough of a reason to justify this release as a standalone product, and we’d sooner direct you to one of the other Shovel Knight campaigns if you intend on mostly playing alone. Either way, Yacht Club Games continues to impress with its support for Shovel Knight, and we’d highly recommend you experience Shovel Knight Showdown one way or another.

It’s impossible to go wrong with King of Cards, and whether standalone or as part of Treasure Trove, we’d recommend you make a point to play it as soon as possible. This is likely the last we’ll see of the ‘core’ Shovel Knight series for some time, and King of Cards acts as a worthy swansong for a now-legendary platformer. Bravo.

Translating a set of revered gamebooks from the ’80s into video game form was always going to be something of a challenge, and while the version that’s made the jump to Nintendo Switch under a new name doesn’t bring anything particularly different to the tabletop party, developer Asmodee has retained the evocative world-building of Ian Livingstone’s books while adding in some helpful features. It’s a little lacking in the looks department, but if you fancy taking a trip back in time to RPG questing of old, Deathtrap Dungeon Trilogy certainly offers plenty of retro adventures of its own.

What’s most baffling about Simulacra is why more wasn’t done to make it a more authentic mobile experience. Touch controls are available, but bizarrely there’s no option to play the game in TATE mode. Instead, the phone display is slap bang in the middle of the Switch’s (or TV’s) screen, with a bland background surrounding it. We guess it's a neat way to make it more of a straight-up horror title, but if you’re playing handheld, some aspects may be a tad small for those who are a bit more long-sighted. Still, with multiple endings, this is a horror game that's worth a look if you're after a quick fix.

Pine could have been a lot better. There are genuinely impressive systems at play here – for example, the other creatures inhabiting this world are gathering resources in much the same way as the player, and will even snatch up crops and objects that you were making for. But its smarter touches are totally obfuscated by the shadow of absolute technical unsuitability to the Switch hardware. When you look at ports like Doom and the recent Alien: Isolation, you'll wonder what exactly went wrong for Pine to be so disastrously sub-par in purely technical terms. We can only imagine how cool it looked on the design document; it's just such a shame about almost literally every single aspect of the execution.

Assassin's Creed: The Rebel Collection has come as something of a surprise to us after the disappointment of Assassin's Creed III Remastered. Here are two excellent swashbuckling epics ported to Nintendo's console in fine fashion. Black Flag is a revelation in portable mode and looks and performs almost flawlessly as you blast your way around the Caribbean on Edward Kenway's captivating pirate adventures. Rogue, although it struggles to keep up slightly here and there, is always eminently playable and together with the excellent Freedom Cry, they give Assassin's Creed fans something they've wanted for a very long time now – this is handheld Assassin's Creed at a standard we weren't particularly sure we'd ever see on Switch.

Going into it, players might find the humour in SuperEpic a tad too cutting for their taste, but once a few floors have gone by, the laughs start to seep through in almost every aspect, including the way that Regnantcorp employees seem to constantly sleep at their desks and do no work. The tone of the game breaks up how grueling some of the combat can be when faced with a long corridor full of enemies that are incredibly annoying to fight, making for a much more well-balanced experience that feels more than at home on the Nintendo Switch. While it makes a point of poking fun at the state of the games industry, SuperEpic is also a lot of fun to play.

Luckily, the visuals remain just as creepy and unsettling as they’ve ever been, perhaps a little more given that the place you’re watching over is explicitly designed as a horror attraction. Dingy corridors, empty-eyed animatronic heads, and flickering lights are all par for the course here, and though you only really have to worry about one figure lurking through it all, this layout is still effective at building an uneasy atmosphere. On the other hand, the audio design is a little less impressive, with the ‘sting’ sounds played during jump scares lacking that kind of sharp punch necessary to get you to leap out of your seat. Five Nights at Freddy’s 3 isn’t bad by any measure, but neither is it particularly good; this is easily the most skippable entry so far.

There's certainly still some fun to be had for sure, the mixing of fantasy and sci-fi on offer here is an endearing one, and it's noteworthy for the handful of novel features it introduced to the genre back in the day but - with a story and gameplay that were pretty average at the time of its release and haven't aged particularly well in the interim - it's definitely an experience recommended specifically for fans and those of us who wish to see the superlative second game in the series get the chance of a Switch re-release.

EarthNight stands as a shining example of what an auto-runner can be, combining rewarding feedback loops, fun gameplay, and excellent presentation into one compelling package. Though it isn’t a particularly long experience and performance hiccups can occasionally hinder gameplay, these issues are mostly ignorable when compared with the impressive quality of everything else on display. If you consider yourself a fan of platformers or are looking to buy a game for your Switch that’ll be easy to get into regarding the time investment, we’d highly recommend EarthNight. Auto-runners don’t get much better than this, and it’s a blast to play through.

The abundance of ‘no win’ scenarios like this leads to plenty of jump scares, but more than anything, they tend to wear out the horror element that much quicker. Having to juggle multiple defensive options at once removes a lot of the breathing room and tense anticipation, making the jump scares more of an expected consequence than a genuine shock. It’s still stressful, sure, but not necessarily in the same wonderfully dreadful way that you’d expect.