A3: Still Alive is a confused mess of a game that doesn't do anything particularly well.

Though its rhythm component is a little lacklustre, Reigns: Beyond is still a great choice for anyone who wants a funny sci-fi take on the roguelike card genre.

Seven Knights foray into Switch territory has resulted in a JRPG that just doesn't fit well on the big screen, with technical and mechanical limitations marring a surprisingly fun, if basic, combat system.

One of the best Apple Arcade games yet provides an intriguing combination of Firewatch, Neo Cab, and LA Noire, but ends up feeling like a creation all of its own.

Though difficulty may frustrate and dissuade some players, the XCOM 2 Collection on iOS is still a great introduction to what makes the series special.

Pikmin 3 Deluxe is another comprehensive re-release with a welcome multiplayer component, but it’s a shame Nintendo didn’t polish it to the fine sheen that it deserves.

Like its predecessor, This is the Police 2 is a vacuous and ineffective crime commentary. It’s mechanically more sound, but still feels overstuffed with new features that are largely disjointed and unnecessary.

Smartly designed with some wonderful visuals and enthralling entertainment. Well worth plundering.

The Crown Tundra brings back some fan favourite Pokémon and provides some much-needed end-game content. However, it’s content felt skin-deep and could have fit easily into the main game.

Despite somewhat frustrating camera controls, and a sorely missed split-screen mode, Far: Lone Sails is a smart and enjoyable landship-management game.

Ultimately, we think Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit is a fantastic festive gift for a younger audience; particularly if you and your fellow parent friends can group up to get karts for your four kids. It’s a game that sparkles with creativity, and kids will easily lose hours to this while creating ever more outrageous courses.

The Survivalists isn't a great survival game, but it does have the redeeming quality of being a fairly fun retro adventure to play with friends.

Hades is a near-perfect marriage of reactive storytelling, blistering action, and bickering gods.

A beautiful anime-style RPG, that is a joy to explore, though certain aspects can feel overly simple.

Ultimately, we can easily recommend The Long Dark on Nintendo Switch. It’s one of few survival games like it on Switch, and the port is solid, barring a few visual issues caused by a drop in resolution.

Despite boasting three of the most beloved platformers of all time, Super Mario 3D All-Stars too often resembles a hurried re-release as opposed to an act of careful curation

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.

Though not the most exciting game, and somewhat compromised by its currency, Conflict of Nations: World War 3 has a decent amount of strategic depth.

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

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

An ambitious, narrative-driven kingdom management game that doesn't quite manage to pull its two distinct halves together as well as we'd like.

Tiny Touch Tales does it again: strongly recommended for thorough thinkers and masochists.

End of the Universe tries to mash space shooting and roguelike randomness onto the small screen, with mixed results.

If you can live with the creaky interface and resist overusing the auto-battle system, then you will discover that Disgaea is packed with great ideas and challenging battles.

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

A solid mobile port featuring the original's best single-player elements, and an excellent real-time tactical experience.

A considered and worthy homage to the action-roleplaying genre, here’s hoping that the rest of the series expands on these good ideas.

This may have been something on Nintendo consoles, but it has far stiffer competition on mobile. Not the best.

This retro-inspired, stripped-down sports management game can compete with the best; an excellent new football game for mobile.

A solid port of one of the greatest games ever made.

Despite a couple of questionable design decisions, this is still a solid arcade shooter that offers hours of entertainment.

Despite the occasional balancing dilemma, Gwent is one of the best deck builders on mobile; smart, fast-paced, and most of all, free.

A standard gacha RPG that suffers from the same issues as the genre in general, so will only appeal to those that already like it and Game of Thrones.

Atari returns to one of its classic franchises for the first time in over a decade to deliver a faithful revival. The old gameplay has aged well, but screams to be revamped and reinvented, neither of which you’ll find in Missile Command: Recharged.

A tight and surprisingly strategic shooter with an entertaining '80s arcade visual style that features disappointing and overly complex touch controls.

With a touch of endless runner, a dash of MMO, and just a sprinkling of puzzles, Sky: Children of the Light soars to lofty heights.

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

With outstanding presentation, short bursts of addictive gameplay, and fair microtransactions, you really can't do much better than Gumslingers for a decent time-waster.

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

A fun mobile racer that suffers from balance issues and a lack of innovation.

A feature-complete kart racer with excellent multiplayer out of the box and clever avoidance of off-putting pay-to-win mechanics.

SpongeBob: Krusty Cook-off looks fantastic, but even the presentation can't distract from a lack of genuine gameplay.

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

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

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.

A sure pick for any who want an excellent resource management game or to live out their vicarious fantasies of starship captaincy.

A cute idea muddled by complex terminology, Randonautica is a novel experience if you're willing to stick with it.

I love Stellaris, but I feel like Galaxy Command is too crowded to really capture the essence of what makes the original so special.

With a gripping story, fantastic visuals, and smart card play, Thronebreaker has finally found its true home.

A feature-complete version of MudRunner on mobile, which pares back the visuals and introduces touch controls to make it work on the small screen, with mixed results.

Tales of Crestoria is a gorgeous and highly-polished Gacha RPG that's marred by incredibly greedy microtransactions.

V4 might be the best autoplay MMORPG on mobile, but a lack of innovation and systems refinement means it's not a tempting enough prospect to give up on whatever you're already playing to start fresh.

On the whole, CrossFire: Warzone is a smart little base-builder, which, though still complicated, showcases its elements well, providing a paced introduction to the game. But it still feels like behind that tutorial, those characters, and even the cheesiness, there is a power grind present. Sure, it’s not as blunt as many other of its peers, but when power level becomes the primary deciding component of RTS battles, most meaningful strategy is negated. I think, because of that, Warzone won’t ever be more than a casual bit of fun I might dip into from time-to-time. But that’s not to say you won’t feel differently – there’s a fair bit to like in CrossFire: Warzone.

WST Snooker does a lot of things right. The commentary, ball physics, and skill needed to pot a ball are realistic and wonderfully designed. The problem is snooker is not for everyone, which means WST Snooker is not for a mainstream audience. If you are a fan of snooker, or a pool player looking for a serious challenge, this is a must-play. If you like to pick up and play a game for a couple of minutes, then this is probably not the game for you.

Eve Echoes succeeds in channeling the classic Eve experience, while also streamlining for new players, bringing the game to a platform well-suited for its idle elements.

The Bonfire 2 expands on the original with new RTS-style gameplay, but manages to maintain what made the series great in the first place.

Though it's a very difficult expansion, Tides of Oblivion is a great side story for Pascal's Wager.

Meteorfall: Krumit's Tale is roguelike deck building at its best - quirky, inventive, and most of all, fun.

Overall, Elite Squad does follow a familiar gameplay loop; particularly for those that already play Marvel Strike Force. However, we thoroughly recommend Elite Squad, not just to Tom Clancy fans, but to those that are looking for a gacha RPG that offers something a little different. Battles are actually something to look forward to here, rather than something you just get out of the way to earn the reward.

Overall, can I recommend this game to you? If you have been looking forward to replaying this game from your Gamecube days, then I would hold off until Square Enix provides controller support or better touch controls. However, the game is a free trial, so you can just play the free section and then decide if it’s worth the money.

Uncharacteristic of developer OrangePixel, Space Grunts 2 is a sequel that’s relatively tame on genre innovation. It stands as a serviceable roguelike deck builder in a world where excellent ones like Slay the Spire exist.

A classic game and a well-designed adaptation, but solo play lacks long-term challenge.

Compared to its big brother, FM 2020 Mobile may lack in features but it is still by far the most comprehensive and well-researched management game available on your phone.

Xenowerks offers a welcome change of pace from more traditional strategy games, it may not be that deep but blasting mutants is still a very cathartic experience.

Minimalist real-time strategy presented in a pure, direct fashion. Challenging, not too complicated and is great while it lasts (pending bug-fixes).

In the time I had with it, I saw a lot of potential, but not too much interesting or challenging happening in the first hour or so. The slow pace is also a blessing and a curse: easy to handle with touch controls, but often dragging out basic movement in ways that kill the pace of the game. Your goals are also not entirely clear, which can be a motivation-killer in a wide-open game like this.

Because the matches are so simple, the team management is necessarily also simple. King's League definitely has more of a 'mobile game' feel with its simplified gameplay. If that's what you're looking for, though, it might be a good fit.

The game starts feeling like a traditional adventure game, but its conversation trees are mostly for flavor (like obvious influence Kentucky Route Zero) and its puzzles all revolve around amateur botany. It’s occasionally awkward to control, especially the lengthy plant encyclopedia that is inexplicably indexless. But for players looking for a unique interactive story, Mutazione should be your first stop on Arcade.

In the time I spent with this game, the hardest part was the fiddly controls—it took a while to figure out that with some care I could control the size of the platforms created by pinching my fingers ever so slowly. The puzzles themselves weren't challenging at all.

This precision 3D platformer does not work with mobile controls. One control option has you using the gyro in the phone to control your view, which is precise, but awkward if you're in a space where you can't move around. The other option is touch only, but doesn't give you easy access to all of your abilities. If you have a controller, give it a try, but it’s not worth the hard drive space otherwise.

Easy on the eye and showing lots of promise, but a lack of quality in the final third means that Football Drama falls short of greatness.

It's a good casual choice that can be played one handed in portrait mode, with your thumb simply weaving your car through traffic. There are a wide variety of modes within this basic gameplay--you could be chasing someone, running away, or racing against a timer--but they all amount to either avoiding or hitting certain other cars. You also get different vehicles that handle somewhat differently, and a number of tracks with minor variations. As a casual game, it didn't grab me, but it might be worth checking out if an arcade racer appeals to you.

It's easy and glacially paced. I could see the gameplay becoming more challenging later on: Don't Bug Me requires constant action since your towers quickly decay and you always have to jump into the fray yourself. It's not a set-it-and-forget-it TD game. For now, though, it takes too long to unlock new towers and enemies and the early levels are quite dull.

Like just about every game these days, it uses a card mechanic, with new cards unlocking after more matches. Your new units require resources, but also need to be drawn into your hand. This means your strategy has to adapt to both what your opponent is up to and what you have available at the moment. This can be frustrating when the card you need to counter their move just doesn't come up, but it works well to keep things tense within the super-tight timelines of each match (only a few minutes).

The story is interesting enough, with lots of double-crosses and opportunities to make meaningful choices. The mechanics are a little obscure at first, but it's easy enough to figure out, even though it can feel somewhat arbitrary.

This goofy physics based puzzler has its best jokes in the first few minutes of gameplay, and wears its schtick thin at just about the same time it turns into a real game. You can approach it as a silly timekiller or as a serious Angry Birds-style slingshot challenge. Give it a try for something fun that requires little attention, have a good laugh at the first few levels, and then play as long as it continues to be amusing - if it grabs you, there's a surprising amount of depth to the gameplay later on.

Telling Lies is one of 2019's best games but still stands in the shadow of its predecessor's achievements. It earns major props for acting, writing and excellent implementation of FMV. Minor demerits for an untidy denouement.

A familiar yet modern riff on turn-based action RPGs that feels just as fresh and exciting on mobile devices as it did on consoles and PC.

Though outside our usual remit, this game is so unusual and of rare quality that it has proved itself a rising star. Astrologaster is a pitch-perfect musical comedy of (medical) errors.

Shards of Infinity is a polished deck builder that's perfect for two. A great app of a great card game.

Solar Settlers is an extremely well-built machine, a solitaire optimization puzzle par excellence, and an excellent digital board game.

Informative and well designed, Egypt: Old Kingdom is one pyramid scheme worth buying into.

It's easy to bemoan the dearth of complex, satisfying gameplay on mobile, and especially in the tower defense genre, but you can't do that here. Dungeon Warfare is certainly not the first dungeon-themed tower defense game, but it’s rare to see it done with so much verve.

Yes, yes, a million hollow moons yes, Cultist Simulator is a good game, the kind which will haunt your waking moments with its patterns and intricacies. The app is so easy to use, making the repetition of the game dreamlike rather than simply dull, and though I’ve beaten it twice and wasn’t sure I could tackle another go-around, it seems like I’m a born again cultist. I’ll remember my fleshsack days fondly, looking back from the seat of the Glory upon those quotidian beginnings. But first I have to finish this last bit of research...

A challenging puzzler that will push your organizational and management skills to the limit as it thrusts new nodes and numbers upon you.

Limited tactical options and offensive IAP structure kills what could have been an interesting mobile alternative to roguelike deck builders like Slay the Spire.

Good and solid bouts of roguelike card-battles, but the final result is short of inspiring. Likeable and worthwhile.

If you're already a fan of Wave Light's Demon's Rise series, Shieldwall Chronicles is more of the same but with a somewhat less interesting setting and slightly more complex gameplay. New players who are after some RPG tactics with lots of math will also love this game.

On a platform where the roguelike is a dime-a-dozen, Immortal Rogue takes big steps to insure it stands out among the rest. Not without its stumbles, though.

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

Devotees of the console strategy RPG style of Fire Emblem may find a lot to like in Parthia 3 and its prequels, especially those disappointed by Nintendo's limited Fire Emblem: Heroes. This series was created by someone with a lot of love for a very particular kind of game. Now that the creator is freed of this obsession, I hope his next project can find the audience it deserves.

Evolution is a brilliantly thematic and enjoyable experience that does an excellent job of simulating the struggle for survival.

An excellent sci-fi SRPG that will provide countless hours of fun once you get over its initially intimidating scope.

A tired, lackluster, and watered-down riff on the Alien series that finds players swapping from camera to camera guiding crew members through a xenomorph-ravaged space station.

Sheeping Around looks the part, but sadly the game turns out to be as dull as you would expect for a game based on an animal that stands around in a field all day chewing grass.

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.

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

The biggest issue, outside of the odd UI hiccup and impenetrable mechanical logic, is that TITP pretends to offer a scathing commentary about the human condition, but it’s bite is toothless.