A charming spin on the original’s gameplay, Shovel Knight Dig feels great to play, and the presentation around it is absolutely stellar. Sadly, the rogue-like elements aren’t well-balanced or interesting enough to reward many subsequent runs with little additional content to dig into, so while it’s a blast to play and complete, I doubt fans will be sticking around for long after the credits.

Sunless Sea is not a great game, but it's a very good and very unusual one. In truth, it's a better game with a controller or a keyboard than a touchscreen. But if that's the only route you have to taking passage on the Unterzee, learning the clumsy controls is a price worth paying.

A great dating-sim, dungeon-crawler hybrid that takes you on a journey of self-acceptance, love, and facing your fears - all while smooching some cute swords. It’s a short but sweet tale that will leave you wanting more.

Minos Strategos rewards tactical play and quick thinking and will easily entertain for whatever span of time it is played.

The puzzles are clever, but not as varied or mind-melting as the Go series. The game's central mechanic is cool, but it isn't quite clever or adaptable enough to push it to instant-classic status like Monument Valley. That said, it would be hard to reach the heights of those games, and as it is, Where Shadows Slumber is an atmospheric and imaginative puzzle game.

Rome: Total War is one of the best strategy games of all time and Feral Interactive hits the mark with the iPad version.

Black Clover M: Rise of the Wizard King is one of the best mobile games to release this year, offering new and old fans alike a fun-filled experience in a magical world with an engaging story, enigmatic characters, and theatrical combat.

Wavetale’s graphical issues on Switch don’t manage to hinder the joy of moving across its wonderful archipelago. With things to do everywhere, an excellent art style and animation, and a lovely story, it’s an easy recommendation.

It might not be a ‘true’ C&C game, but it’s one of the tightest and most compelling strategy games on mobile.

With tight battle mechanics, engaging puzzles, and new characters that become more endearing as the story goes on, Mario & Luigi: Brothership has all the hallmarks of a great RPG. It’s still no Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, but it’s not far off.

Arguably one of the best sniper games on mobile, the level of creativity here is fantastic, and it stays true to its roots. Hitman Sniper: The Shadows is a must-play for longtime fans and new assassins alike.

If you like gacha games, you'll love Star Trek: Legends, which dispenses with the free-to-play nonsense for a pure RPG experience.

I’m personally ambivalent about Solitairica, but that has a lot to do with the long load times that most players won’t experience. I can’t recommend this game to anyone still playing on an iPad 2 or Mini 1, and anyone looking for something that is a card-game first and an RPG second will be better off waiting to see if Regency Solitaire makes the jump to mobile. Otherwise, Soltairica is a clever, quick-playing game fans of roguelites and puzzle RPS will find it easy to get into and highly replayable.

Anno: Mutationem features a fantastic cyberpunk world that’s a joy to explore, as not only does the main narrative offer a certain intrigue, but the side quests you can discover on your travels offer more depth to the bustling cities. Better still, the combat is fluent, fun, and action-fuelled.

Eight-Minute Empire may not be the kind of game that will absorb hours of your time. However, if you are looking for a fresh, quick-playing and easy to grasp empire building game then you really should give it a try.

If you’re looking to explode daemons and eviscerate space marines, then Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun is a blast from the past that honors both the legacy of the boomer shooter and the 40k franchise. However, repetitive level design, occasional performance, and a lack of motion controls are holding it back. I hope some patches or a sequel can help the series set a new standard for the genre.

I Keep Having This Dream is a quick-playing game with an innovative design that’s easy to get into and develops real complexity as you play.

Though of specific interest, Astrologaster is a fun story about people looking to the heavens to avoid facing what's right in front of them.

Norn9: Last Era is a fantastic prequel and sequel to Norn9: Var Commons, giving you even more insight into your favorite boy’s life and thought process, with plenty more cute and romantic moments along the way.

South Park: Snow Day is an enjoyable experience that offers something a bit different from previous entries, Stick of Truth and Fractured but Whole, through a hack ‘n slash-tyle combat, card-based powers system, and the ability to go on a hilarious adventure with your pals.

Overall, we can’t help but recommend BTS Universe Story to literally everyone. It’s not often that you come across something so compellingly bonkers, and we can’t encourage you enough to download it just to experience the main story. However, the story creation tool is so easy to use that you may end up sticking around to create your own, increasing your Creator Rank in the process.

Emio - The Smiling Man is both a great continuation of the classic Famicom Detective Club series, and a strong standalone visual novel. It may not be for everyone, but its twisting narrative, vibrant characters, and thoughtful gameplay systems make it a treat for new and returning fans alike.

Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury provides a compelling, if inconsistent, blend of the past and a potential vision of the portly plumber's future.

If you can ignore the goofy name (and actually find it on the App Store), The Game offers a fun and challenging puzzle game and a faithful recreation of the cardboard version.

Epic Mickey Rebrushed is a wonderful reminder of why the original is one of the best Disney games of all time, taking you on a charming journey full of fun levels, great characters, an enjoyable story, and a much-improved camera.

Zach Gage's latest is a required app for word puzzle fans that revamps an old classic for your new devices.

Vietnam ’65 is a surprisingly different and refreshing wargame experience that might win hearts and minds outside of Vietnam, too.

The bottom line is that if you enjoyed Rome: Total War you should pick this up without hesitation. Whether you're interested in the new historical period or not, Barbarian Invasion provides a new scenario and a bunch more factions with which to play what was already a great game. If you haven't played Rome: Total War and enjoy this genre I whole heartedly recommend Barbarian Invasion to you as well. Few games combine strategy and tactics the way the Rome: Total War games do, and other than time-period preference there's no reason you have to play the original.

Overboard is an engaging and puzzling narrative experience, with a striking visual style and a great level of replayability to boot.

Frost is a well-designed game. It looks and sounds beautiful in its own bleak and foreboding way, especially on my iPad Pro. I did test it on my iPhone 6S plus and it looked fine there too. It is harder to read the words without expanding cards, but once you know your way around that matters less. Gameplay is fun and effective and offers ample opportunity for tactics and strategy. The sights, sounds, gameplay, and every other aspect of Frost feed its survivalist theme perfectly. Skill definitely has a role in Frost, but chance often plays the greater part. I know this turns many gamers off, and if you're one of them, you might want to look elsewhere. If you don't mind losing to bad luck now and then there's a lot to love about Frost and it is definitely worth picking up. Frost is available on iOS and Android.

Fahrenheit’s a high concept effort, and while not wholly successful in the delivery, there’s nothing really quite like Fahrenheit outside the Quantic Dream repertoire.

The app certainly doesn’t get in the way of the gameplay, and actually enhances it by making it easy to play and beautiful to look at.

Touken Ranbu Warriors is a wonderful entry point for anyone new to the musou genre, with stripped back but enjoyable combat, flashy animations, and a host of stunning maps to explore. While it may have its imperfections, its aesthetics are spot on, its sound design is lovely, and the Touken Danshi are each as charming as the last.

XCOM: The Board Game is an elegantly presented and thoughtfully executed game that pumps out tense atmosphere like a neurotic smoke machine.

Deltarune Chapters 3 and 4 offer more of the extraordinary boss battles, mind-bending minigames, and side-splitting dialogue you’ve come to expect from Toby Fox. There are some frustrations, especially if you want to see all the possible endings and uncover all the secrets, but for the most part, I had a great time dealing with the Dark World’s latest dilemma.

Even with these flaws, Titan Quest is still a great hack ‘n slash.

Star Nomad 2 is a desktop game ported to mobile, and other than a few clunky UI design choices, it pulls it off in spectacular fashion.

Cozy Grove will definitely scratch the itch for anyone looking for a new life-sim. Although the gameplay can feel slightly limiting, it will keep you coming back each day for more.

An impressive new franchise from Square Enix, The Diofield Chronicle has a thrilling real-time battle system that gives every moment a tense, and challenging twist. It’s incredibly satisfying to turn the tide of battle with well-calculated moves, and the high fantasy story is told well with interesting characters, great visuals, and a meticulously detailed story.

Deltarune Chapters 3 and 4 offer more of the extraordinary boss battles, mind-bending minigames, and side-splitting dialogue you’ve come to expect from Toby Fox. There are some frustrations, especially if you want to see all the possible endings and uncover all the secrets, but for the most part, I had a great time dealing with the Dark World’s latest dilemma.

Zach Gage’s knack for finding age-old games, shaking out the excess, and rearranging what’s left into a brilliant work gleams in every inch of Pocket-Run Pool.

A solid adaptation of a smart, abstract strategy title, loosely inspired by Mahjong, but with lots of novel ideas and interesting variants.

Though its champion system could use a little work, Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower is an excellent turn-based strategy game with plenty of potential.

In its current state it’s a better-than-average digital that’s fun to play until you pull off the AI’s fake Fidel beard and realise that it was Woody Allen all along.

For some, Sir Questionnaire will be just too casual and undemanding to maintain interest. The decisions are simple, and the constant switching of inventory items can also get a little tiresome. However, for the rest of us, this is without question a spiffing release.

Metroid Dread doesn't break the mold, but it's a solid Metroidvania that will please fans new and old alike.

A wholesome story full of laughter and love, fanatics lore, enamoring environments, and likeable characters all come together to make Song of Nunu one of the best LoL games to date. Unfortunately, performance issues on Nintendo Switch mean it’s not the optimal platform for the game.

Great for dedicated fans of Demon's Rise & XCOM, Strike Team Hydra is an ambitious strategy title undermined by some arbitrary, sprawling design decisions.

While Doctor Who: The Lonely Assassins isn’t all that mysterious for a found phone game, it does act as an enjoyable, well-produced epilogue to one of Who’s greatest episodes.

Warlock's Tower is a challenging, retro-styled puzzle game that feels a lot like a roguelike.

It’s truly a fantastic gamebook, and one I would recommend to anyone.

This fast-paced retro-inspired FPS is a treat for fans of the genre, though there’s little to pull in those who don’t fancy a shoot-off. Despite some annoying platforming sections, Fashion Police Squad offers an alternative to the norm while providing all of the running and gunning fun, looking like a million dollars while it does it.

Donut County excels with its tone, art and story though it will leave players looking for a challenge wanting more. Niche, brief but still great.

A knowing satire of big business, The Last Worker is a cathartic fight against the forces of capitalism, and one that centres it all with a very human story and fantastic performances. While delivering packages is satisfying, occasionally the gameplay outside of this drags the narrative down, but this still ticks almost all of the right boxes.

The twee aesthetic is going to be a deal-breaker for some, but behind it lies a surprising degree of craftsmanship that makes this a strong example of it’s genre, a lengthy and consistently joyous experience where the gameplay’s polish makes up for the game’s weaker elements.

Oni: Road to be the Mightiest Oni is a stunning adventure that offers a fresh twist on a classic story. Though the Switch version’s performance suffers some stutters, the unique combat, great range of challenges, and truly emotive narrative ensure that the touching tale of Kuuta and Kazemaru will stay with you for a long time.

Dying Light: The Beast strips back its setting and scale to deliver a focused story, while enhancing Techland's undead slaying. What really makes it worth playing is The Beast's brilliant co-op experience, which is equally hilarious as it is horrifying. Alongside sturdy handheld PC performance, The Beast is worth giving this franchise another chance if Stay Human left you in the cold.

An out-of-this-world addition to an already stellar game, the Void Riders DLC is just more of a good thing and adds some nice new mechanics and plenty of challenging new levels to OlliOlli World. If you’re confident in your kickflipping powers, take this DLC out for a spin.

Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD is a wonderful remake that improves on the visuals, soundtrack, and controls of the Nintendo 3DS original. It doesn’t quite reach the heights of the first or third game in the series, mainly due to the back-and-forth of mission-based gameplay and some samey specters, but it’s still well worth playing for fans of Luigi’s ghost-busting antics.

Two Point Museum is easily one of my favorite games of the year, taking an already fantastic foundation and rocketing it to new heights. With hundreds of hours of play and a ridiculous level of attention to detail, it’s a must-play for all fans of simulation and city builder games. However, occasional performance dips and the lack of touchscreen and mouse controls knock the Nintendo Switch 2 version back a step.

While not the most engrossing single-player game, Ruins of Tasos is a great co-op dungeon-delving setup. Now just to find someone to play with...

Everything that Alto's Adventure did seven years ago has been perfected in this remastered version. It's still the same game, but its simplicity feels timeless. Now there's just more to do, and doing it is great fun.

Immortals Fenyx Rising offers a world that you can’t help but explore, with some truly impressive dungeon design. The game’s only let down is its simple puzzles and painful menu navigation.

PowerWash Simulator 2 provides more of what we love with plenty of levels, new equipment, and a lot more soap to go around. While playing on handheld can take some getting used to, performance remains steady, and you can sud and spray to your hearts content no matter where you are. If you like relaxing games, this is for you.

It’s full of charm, with gorgeous hand-painted visuals that bring your growing little café to life. The gameplay portion is challenging, without proving frustrating, and strikes the right balance between forcing you to spend and allowing you to complete levels using your skill alone. Suffice to say, if you like Pokémon and you like puzzlers, you’ll adore Pokémon Café Mix.

Fun JRPG with a fair amount of complexity, marred by sub-par story and too many currencies.

Death Coming is a fun lightweight puzzler with great art and creative environments. It's frustrating the devs didn't trust their core gameplay enough to avoid gumming it up with unnecessary frustrations.

A charming Sims-lite with an admirable level of polish and attention to detail.

Deadcraft is a fun entry into the survival genre, and it’s a must-play for any zombie fans out there. Sure, there’s the odd performance issue, but its fun gameplay more than makes up for that.

Kingdom: Two Crowns can occasionally be a little frustrating, but on the whole it is impressive how much it gets done with so little.

Once again, the standard game of chess has been manipulated into a unique and intense experience. Recommended for you chess buffs out there.

Miyamoto is a bit of a hidden gem, offering snappy and addictive gameplay, topped off with some stylish presentation.

Sonny is a fun, challenging, combat-centric RPG that will satisfy fans of the franchise and new players alike.

All in all, the game makes for an excellent romp. Yes, it’s an excellent way to get anybody to practice their sums but that’s like praising a dish for ‘sneaking’ vegetables into it. Edifying to be sure, but a delight in its own right.

If you were already a fan of the base game, the Mega Dimension DLC’s offer of more side-mission escapades, Rogue Mega Pokemon battles, and story content should have you engaged for countless hours. However, if you’re already not keen on Z-A’s battle-centric approach, or you don’t have the time or patience for grinding, it’s unlikely to win you over.

John Carpenter's Toxic Commando is a throwback to co-op shooters of yesteryear, filled with bombastic action, 1980s cheese, and a wicked soundtrack. It impressively holds its own on the Asus ROG Ally, making it an ideal handheld experience that's worth sinking a few hours into. If you're eager to relive the glory days of Left 4 Dead and classic era Call of Duty Zombies, then Toxic Commando gets you closer enough.

Lost Frontier is a worthy candidate for fans of turn-based combat games who like a good challenge.

Legends of Runeterra might be the best deck-builder on mobile, but the grind and hard to access champions, leave it falling just short.

If you enjoy wartime strategy games but either don't want to or don't have the time to micromanage every unit and territory under your control, Legends of Callasia is a great way to spend an hour or an afternoon. You can get that fix without a huge commitment. By keeping the action focused on generals the game moves quickly and you can play a full campaign in a couple hours.

Dungelot: Shattered Lands is a fun and challenging game with the best of both roguelike and RPG worlds.

Space Food Truck is another polished entry in One Man Left’s catalogue, and one that serves up something fresh in the world of co-op deck-building. Throw back a couple Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters and get behind the wheel.

If you’re a fan of interactive-fiction titles like the Sorcery series you'll likely enjoy The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, although the story is not nearly as deep as similar titles in the genre. Fans of tabletop RPG modules will also find a lot to like in this game's single-player narrative and frequent combat action. Finally, if you're a fan of the old-school original book you'll enjoy diving into this recreation.

A solid mobile port of a great multiplayer experience that's slightly hampered by iffy touch controls and unremarkable visuals.

Botany Manor lets me live out my dreams of being a horticulturist, discovering wild and wonderful plant types from across the world all from the comfort of my own home.

Though it has its technical flaws, this is an enjoyable RPG that brings some new ideas to the table.

Bear & Breakfast is a delightful, laid-back management sim with heaps of personality. Despite some fumbles with pacing and controls, it’s an enchanting experience that oozes charm, and offers plenty of unique challenges to explore as you delve deeper into its world. Thanks for the wonderful stay, Hank!

Fans of old-school role-playing games will find a lot to love and should certainly pick up Avadon 3 for their gaming collection.

Waking up on a mysterious blocky island has never been so fun. Lego Star Wars: Castaways features all the fun you'd expect from the series, and is a worthwhile experience for any Apple Arcade subscriber.

If you enjoyed last year’s installment there is no reason why you would not enjoy Football Manager 2017 – unless you have no desire to be reminded about the whole Brexit nonsense.

Patapon 1+2 Replay is a weird but wonderful rhythm game that I’d highly recommend for veteran fans and newcomers alike, providing hours of portable fun and a dose of nostalgia.

Like Mr. Bond, FRAMED2 is a classy and immaculately presented spy caper. You may be shaken by its brevity, but this innovative puzzler is still stirring stuff.

A good, solid arcade-like experience let down by shoddy controls. Just shy of excellence.

Punishing yet charming, this Tim Burton-esque world of exploration and terror will hook new players and old.

A major difficulty curve will turn off some, but don’t let this gorgeous yet tense rougelike pass you by.

Loot & Legends works hard to stay just on the right side of inoffensive. Both the battles and the deck-building offer enough options to give your mind something to chew on, but not so much as to cause anyone to choke.

A colorful, addictive twist on the traditional card battler with frenetic “dungeon” runs and slick presentation.

This bizarre tale of history is yours and yours alone... and it's far too engrossing for you to ignore.

Pocket City is by far one of the best city-building experiences you can have on any platform, mobile or otherwise. The streamlined, ad-free experience is great fun at every turn, and minutes spent in-game quickly turn into hours. It's a wonder this review even got written, with a bustling city that's in need of its mayor unattended for the length of time it took to write this. If you're on the fence, just go ahead and pay the five bucks. You certainly won't regret it.