OFF is among the curios of independently developed video games that appears to have had a noticeable impact on the indie landscape. It's worth playing as a reminder of how far smaller, more unique RPGs have come in the last two decades, but its gameplay and story aren't captivating enough to warrant a full recommendation. While I respect how its niche-ness is part of its identity, you really need to value that aspect prior to diving in. My overall impression is that I'm happy to have experienced it and glad to have another piece of video game history on the Switch eShop. But once I've turned it OFF, I'm ready for something with more meat on the bone.

At its core, Discounty is a fun experience. The gameplay loop of running a supermarket is satisfying, and I enjoyed my time quite a bit. My hesitation is that I think it’s about halfway there between being a fun indie shop sim and being an indie game with a message, and I wish they could have pushed their narrative just a bit further to be more memorable. Discounty is still worth playing, but it makes me want to see what the developers can do next. While the ideas and the gameplay are there, there’s some untapped potential as well.

At a glance, Madden on Switch 2 isn’t visually impressive, but after playing a ton of the game docked and handheld (and also coming off of years on PS5), it plays totally fine. The load times are kind of long. Sometimes crowds load in weird. But the gameplay, easily the most important part, is not an issue. It’s evident to me that the team at EA Sports tried to do what they could to make a solid version of Madden early in the life of the Switch 2. It’s rough around the edges, but it’s the most feature parity a Madden game has had on a Nintendo platform since the age of the GameCube. I hope that, unlike Madden on 3DS and Wii U, we get to see EA Sports take another crack at bringing Madden to Switch 2 because the initial release captures the fun of the game and future releases could refine and improve all of the technical aspects.

It's enjoyable for a little while to see the numbers go up and down as your profits soar and your inventory dwindles, but there's so little variety in the main loop that I didn’t feel compelled to discover all of the areas and associated characters. As a background game for the cozy-inclined, it offers a fairly passable experience, but Tiny Bookshop is far from a page-turner.

Heretic + Hexen is a fantastic collection of one very good game and one absolutely incredible game. The added content both new and old only serves to strengthen these two titles. That being said the clumsy save system and somewhat limited options for how these games are presented on a modern TV do lightly mar the experience. Even a CRT filter would do wonders for translating the visuals at a higher definition. But given that the previous best way to play this on a home console was to dig out a Nintendo 64 or put up with compromised versions on Playstation or Saturn, this is still certainly an improvement overall. Hopefully down the road we can get the rest of the Heretic/Hexen series as well.

This campfire simulator is probably the most extra a game of this scope and type can be, and yet its focus on social elements makes it a delight to return to. Oink Games decided to try something very different here, but has remained true to their design philosophy. No, I did not think I’d recommend a fire-building simulator in 2025, but frankly this one ignited something in me that I wasn’t expecting. Now how long will it take for the true pyromaniacs to start speedrunning this game?

Like its predecessors, Toree Saturn plays great. But at this point I’m ready for more from this little bird. It's clear that the developer skill is there to do more with these games but they seem to be stuck retreading the same ground. It is well executed, but if you’ve played other games in the series, you know exactly what you’re getting here.

Take a moment to sit down, put on a headset, drink a cup of tea and get lost in this artwork. It’s something you’ll remember.

If you like short and comedic games then Time Flies comes highly recommended. You’ll have seen most of what the game has to offer in a few hours, but it has a high “Wait, I need you to play this game for five minutes”-factor that makes it a lot of fun to show to friends and family. It is rare that a game is so sharply tuned that I can be satisfied with having fewer levels to play through. Time Flies is such an easy recommendation to just about anyone who plays games. Your time with it may be short, but it is certainly well spent.

Tales of the Shire is a really solid idea. It should work. There are great ideas here and some solid writing. This feels like the early access version of what could eventually be a very good game. But right now, it isn’t. Instead it is a shallow glimpse at what could be. When you factor in significant performance issues that even the Switch 2 can’t seem to brute force, and constant stability problems, it becomes very hard to recommend this game. I really want to like Tales of the Shire. I think there is a reality in which it could potentially get better in time, but it just isn’t there yet.

Obviously the simplest solution to get some Uchikoshi-helmed escape games would be if the Zero Escape trilogy were cleaned up a bit and brought out on modern Nintendo hardware. But in lieu of that, No Sleep for Kaname Date will probably keep you up for a bit as you try and puzzle through some of the nastier puzzles.

Donkey Kong Bananza tries a lot of new ideas, and the vast majority of them not only work, but revolutionize the idea of a 3D platformer. There are definitely problems along the way, and it is a long way from perfect, but I can’t argue with how much pure fun there is to be had in playing Donkey Kong Bananza.

I really love these games, so much so that I’ve completely ignored the otherwise fatal latency issue by playing them exclusively in Handheld mode. After all, isn’t the Switch 2 just a very large PSP? I do wish they’d built in auto-saves, but…I guess I can live with it. Your own mileage may vary on that point. Go forth and get your pata pon.

The undercooked mystery backdrop is a small blemish because they nailed the writing and character development. Even an underwhelming soundtrack can’t diminish the heart on-display through emotionally raw dialogue and facial expressions. Give yourself the experience of reigniting those moments that were powerful at the time but seem small in retrospect. Allow yourself to feel the volatility of teenage life through the eyes of Mark. Play Until Then.

Split Fiction is, in a lot of ways, the best this studio has ever delivered, but is still far from flawless in its execution. The plots from all previous Hazelight games have consistently been an issue and this game is no exception. Its tone and characterization are pretty flat, with a lot of cringe moments to take away from the experience. Fortunately, one thing this studio has learned is to keep the action moving, and providing tons of set piece moments to override any bad taste the dialogue could ever leave. The puzzle mechanics work well as long as you can communicate with your partner with patience and the set pieces are a rollercoaster ride of excitement. It also helps that this runs perfectly on the Switch 2. Split Fiction can really test relationships, but whenever a new Hazelight co-op adventure drops, I’m always down for the thrillride.

I admittedly thought Shadow Labyrinth was a dumb joke game when it was first announced. As Bandai Namco showed off the game though, it is clearly made by people who want to just make a fun game with the wild Pac-Man lore as a mechanical overlay. I had a blast exploring this dark corner of the Namco multiverse that is essentially Pac-Man’s mid-life crisis. Shadow Labyrinth is assuredly the most interesting Pac-Man evolution since the hero’s 20s. Sometimes the biggest series left turns wind up being a hell of a good time.

I thought I knew what I was getting into with Misc when it was pitched to me as a Chibi-Robo-like. In reality that deeply undersells what the game has to offer. The focus on shifting that design to something that more closely resembles a Mario 64-style 3D platformer is a match made in heaven. The constantly changing level variety and natural drive to 100% each area had me absolutely hooked. Now and then the platforming or level design would slow things down, but never enough to prevent me from pushing through to see what was next. Misc. A Tiny Tale is an easy early pick for my personal indie of the year lineup.

You can see everything the game has to offer in about two hours and I think that works in this game’s favor. It makes for a short, but (bitter)sweet experience that is a fun pick-me-up if you’re looking to waste some time in between other titles.

This is a very straightforward HD release of System Shock 2. This remaster does little to modernize actual gameplay, and playing with a controller is simply not ideal. On a technical level it does exactly what it sets out to do and does it very well. The game itself remains an important release that would lead directly into iconic titles like Bioshock and thus makes for a fascinating historical curiosity. But it is important that you approach System Shock 2 from the right perspective, keeping in mind its ambition at the time of its original release.

Worms Armageddon: Anniversary Edition is a good, faithful port of a classic PC game, for better and for worse. If you’re a fan of the series, it’s an enjoyable way to play it despite the clunky controls, but if you’re a new player you should expect a steep learning curve. The classic Worms games are neat to play around with for an hour or two, but are not worth buying the game just to see.

The slightly more detailed and enticing menus and buildings of New Shores made me fall a little harder for it than I did the original ISLANDERS. You still retain your overall score from island to island to shoot for a position atop the online leaderboard, and that “one more run” feeling is as strong as ever given the simple gameplay and the constant dopamine drip of numbers going up and card packs unlocking. ISLANDERS: New Shores is almost certainly going to enjoy a lengthy stay on my Switch’s home screen as a way to settle into bedtime vibes at the end of the night. It’s a fun, approachable puzzle sim that should hook fans of the original back in while also bringing even more people to these chill island settings.

I had some trepidation when Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4 was announced. While the 1+2 remake was excellent, Activision’s track record with the series since the mid-2000s has been spotty at best. I’m thrilled that the skateboarding in this game feels just as good as it did 20+ years ago and that this goes beyond just a simple remake, with so many fun and enjoyable post-game challenges that builds off of the foundation. Something is lost in Tony Hawk 4’s transition to the 2-minute timer, but I still had a great time saving Painter Neal from the shark in San Francisco. And the quality of the original levels Iron Galaxy made makes me hopeful for the future of the series, whether it leads to a brand new game or an attempt at remaking Tony Hawk’s Underground. Regardless of whether or not you bring nostalgic baggage for the format from the fourth game, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4 is an excellent video game that will keep you kickflipping and reverting to increasingly higher scores for a long time.

There’s nuance to the stories with some slight serious undertones that flesh everything out and the story is even funnier when you push the characters to hate you instead. It’s a top notch presentation, but for me personally, I’d do better with a more pared down cast as opposed to throwing in everything including the kitchen sink… their name is Sinclaire and they have a pet dog named Sudsy.

What ties Missile Command Delta together is the overall mystery and with that, the game becomes greater than the sum of its parts. The turn-based Missile Command adaptation wouldn’t stand strong by itself, but combining that with the bunker exploration, endearing characters, and generally strong writing makes a fun adventure that will make you consider an arcade classic in a new light.

Puyo Puyo and Tetris are still incredible puzzle games and the fusion of the two is oftentimes electric. The expansion of multiplayer via GameShare is awesome. Stll, the value and cost of entry for this Switch 2 game is a barrier for entry. This is a great game let down by the harsh realities of a new console launch.

Tamagotchi Plaza isn’t an experience I would recommend on Switch or Switch 2, and I struggle to find many redeeming qualities outside of its colorful world and quirky-looking citizens. The mini-games are much more often boring, repetitive, or inscrutable than fun, and the gameplay loop becomes recognizably thin within the first 30 minutes of the game. From what I’ve seen of the DS titles, there’s more charm and incentive to revisit or play through those than this modern reincarnation. While I’d think that younger players might be able to get into Tamagotchi Plaza, the lack of mini-game tutorials/directions is certain to push them away instead. No amount of Tamagotchi nostalgia would be enough to make this plaza a place you want to visit.

I don’t think that Battle Train is going to hit the same level as some of the greats in the genre, but it’s worth playing just the same for fans of deckbuilding roguelikes to see something new and unique being done in that space. It’s funny, unique, and really, who doesn’t like trains and explosions?

Ruffy and the Riverside is a delightful adventure whose charm takes precedence over its jank and repetition. It performs well on Switch 2, which is where I reviewed the game, and has a lot of content for completionists to sink their teeth into. Some of the puzzles can be frustrating or obtuse, but the unique swapping mechanic makes for a fun departure compared to other 3D action-adventure experiences. It may be a bit Ruffy around the edges, but this Riverside is one that I was happy to dip my toes into.