FROGUE's unique mechanics elevates it from a glut of other rogue-likes. It's a bit repetitive and clumsy but there's a lot to like here.

Busway Islands – Puzzle is a minimalist puzzle game with no frills and a mere thirty-five levels for your £3.99. It’s OK, but can be a bit boring on occasion. At least you can save your progress on those levels where you might get stuck and resume later.

Graven is a console port stricken with a fatal save bug. For anyone wishing to persist, the remaining product is lacking in a few key areas. I love how the levels are designed with clever shortcuts but the encounters can begin to feel stale. The lack of new enemy types and a small selection of weapons really brings the mood down. Magic doesn't really feel special and can often operate like another key, rather than a tool for combat. There's a good atmosphere but the potential this game wants to invoke doesn't really come to fruition.

Parkitect: Deluxe Edition is a fun park builder, though it’s a little unrefined in terms of ease of use via a controller. Very much a PC game with joypad support bolted on. It’s also prone to glitching out on occasion, including during the all-too-brief tutorial in our case. Despite that we enjoyed ourselves. We reckon you will too.

Beyond Good & Evil: 20th Anniversary Edition is certainly the best way to currently play a slice of Ubisoft's past. The remastering is faithful and it has made me realise some aspects that don't quite hold up. The cinematic camera can really land you in trouble and the late game pearl hunt saps the pacing to a crawl. Despite this, there's a lot to like about it. The levels are well designed and intricate and the stealth is competent. The cast of characters have a great charm to them and I'll be interested to see if the sequel follows this blueprint.

If you really like physics-based action puzzle games and are under medical orders to not get excited in any way, then Bouncy Chicken might serve a purpose but for everyone else, there's little to recommend about this tired budget effort.

This is a fun little mash up of ideas from Lollipop Chainsaw, Dead Rising and Fighting Force and while it doesn't live up to those heights, as far as budget games go this is a pretty enjoyable one.

The Land Beneath Us is a fair tactical rogue-like that you might dismiss on looks alone, but stick with it and you’ll be rewarded by an intriguing combat system. We just wish we could save mid-run.

There's a lot going on with Backpack Hero. The Resident Evil 4 inventory system paired with some tricky turn-based combat makes for a fun and original concept. It doesn't feel quite ready for consoles though and is weighed down by a cumbersome story mode, although a very welcome quick mode cuts out a lot of the faff if you just want to pack and fight.

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree manages to compliment the base game in some good ways. The sense of scale is otherworldly and the levelling system does allow all players to have a place at the table. It does seem lacking in proper dungeons but the wealth of new gear makes the price justifiable. At times, the map can feel barren but the new bosses provide a stern challenge with plenty of flamboyance. It definitely feels quantity over quality but there was enough here for me to really enjoy.

While NeoSprint might not live up to the arcade royalty reputation and legacy of the Sprint series entirely, it's a solid entry that offers decent racing and fun track construction.

Whilst it's not exactly robust, I did enjoy piecing together a story in Times & Galaxy. Opportunities to press a subject can feel limited but the writing is rich enough to convey a full picture. The assignments can inject some surrealism into the mundane and the structure allows for a lot of potential with future playthroughs. The chit-chat with your colleagues can feel realistic and understandable. It can lay the wackiness on quite thick but I found it to be charming and funny.

Despite some issues, Magical Drop VI continues to offer fun, casual puzzling entertainment to fans of the series.

Primal Survivors is (at least) the third attempt for this developer to get in on the survivors-like genre and it's definitely a step in terms of gameplay and ideas for them. The execution lets it down a bit but we actually had a little bit of fun with this one, so they're heading in the right direction.

Still Wakes The Deep is more than just a walking simulator in the tradition of Rapture or Esther. It nails the feel of bleak 1970’s Scotland to a tee and while everything goes to hell in a handbasket, your man Caz somehow managed to maintain his composure. Very much recommended.

The idea of a story-driven pinball game has some appeal but some poor physics, presentation and table design lets this one down.

Dig or Die is a Terraria-a-like that lacks refinement but somehow proves compelling enough to continue with. It could do a better job of introducing new players to this sort of game though.

Whilst it can be appealing to nose around the lives of others, Eternal Threads' cast are lacking in some believability. The writing is fine but the delivery varies in degrees of confidence. Confining the game to a single household should breed some intricate knowledge but the time manipulation removes any stakes from the equation. The butterfly effect of decisions can make things hard to decipher, especially if you're trying to dig for further information. As it is, Eternal Threads is a good premise let down by poor execution.

It's not my favourite genre but there is at least something to Crown Wars: The Black Prince. Being able to tackle missions at my own pace was refreshing, although I was still learning from failure. As tough as battles can be, there's a balance to the units and a definite preferred way of playing with strength in numbers being emphasised. The technical hitches are a problem but regular autosaves does mitigate any lost progress. Unfortunately, the pacing can be hammered by an early grind and a game that is not always the best at explaining its systems.

It's not exactly deep or varied but Horizon Chase 2 pretty much injects high-speed racing fun directly into your veins and it's a treat for the eyes too.

As someone who really likes the original, this new take on System Shock doesn't stray too far from the source. Nightdive have updated the visuals and made things just a little more friendly for new players. Visually, it's very atmospheric and polished. The interface can initially be tricky to read but combat feels punchy and can be tactical. The conveniences are welcome but it still has one foot in the clunky possibility space of 90's PC gaming. Rather than entirely sand off the things that appeal to me about System Shock, it refines them in a way I really admire.

We liked Nuclear Blaze's atmospheric mix of platforming and firefighting back in 2023 but it didn't offer a ton of longevity, so having a free PS5 upgrade and a fresh trophy set to conquer was a welcome bonus and a great reason to jump back into the game.

Doug's Nightmare uses up most of its good ideas and intentions on a weird story about a sleep-deprived banana and while there's some fun to be had from the game's weird and wacky world, as a twin-stick shooter the game feels quite pedestrian and a little dull.

Paper Trail is a fine puzzle game with a lovely origami mechanic that will delight and confound you in equal measure, especially if you’re looking to hoover up the collectibles as you go. Each level has the feeling that the developers expertly crafted the puzzles. On top of excellent presentation, this is a cut above.

With some interesting tweaks to the formula, Morbid: The Lords of Ire can feel like a stripped down attempt at the souls-like genre. The runes system allows for some relatively neat weaponry and the combat has a solid feel. Unfortunately, it lacks some polish and some of the larger encounters can frustrate. The pacing begins to sag in the closing hours and it's a shame the sanity mechanic doesn't quite land.

It's Rocket League but with golf instead of football and that works just fine as a concept and in practice.

Read Only Memories: Neurodiver is a good VN that follows on from 2064: Read Only Memories, but worked just as well for us in isolation having not played the first game. As visual novels go, it is one of the better ones we played, due to the decent voice acting and well done plot. It’s not massively long, but that may come as welcome relief to the trophy hunters that want low hanging fruit.

Whilst this is largely a no-frills puzzle game, Mystic Pillars Remastered does provide an intriguing narrative to pull you through. The tale of Indian folklore is wonderfully told in a warm, native voice that does a solid job of filling in the gaps. It's a shame the remaining presentation lacks the same punch. The puzzles themselves are simple to grasp and there's plenty to work through, if lacking in variety. At times, it's tricky but I never felt frustrated. It's not one long for the memory but offers a decent diversion for a few hours.