The Amazing American Circus is a simplistic and yet exciting strategy card game that thrives off incredibly illustrated cards and the whimsical nature of the good ol’ circus. It’s well-narrated story feels less like a game and more like a classic journey across the wild west as you perform to the masses, earning your fame and fortune, and the occasional rotten tomato to the face.

Bus Simulator 21 expands on its predecessor with a new map, new functions, and new ways to play. But at its core, it’s the same OK experience that we’ve been playing since the middle of the decade and it feels even more dated than ever.

Golf Club Wasteland doesn’t reinvent the golf puzzle genre, at least not with its gameplay. It makes its mark by being surprisingly deep with its background story and moving tales of survival, loss, and regret. Deep stuff for a golf game, right?

Creed Champions isn’t the next big boxing game (what is?) but it’s a decent enough arcade brawler. It’s light on content, repetitive, and the montage mini-games are pointless, but the actual fighting is fun enough and if you can get a player two to join you, it can be good fun.

The biggest crime in Rustler is that the game is very funny but not very fun. The writing is a highlight but with tacked-on RPG elements, poor combat, and a world that’s just a little bit boring, Rustler is hard to recommend.

King’s Bounty 2 is a challenging turn-based game with a fantasy world that aches to be explored. It has the potential to be an amazing game but the disjointed story, wasted RPG mechanics, and frustratingly difficult battles hold it back.

Tribes of Midgard’s biggest problem is tied to its core gameplay loop – time. There’s just never enough of it. The game has a world full of goodies and gear to loot, but you’ll be lucky to see half of it, and even less if you’re a solo player. There are still good times to be had and the loop is fun and rewarding – just make sure you take a few mates with you.

RiMS Racing is a solid foundation for RaceWard Studio to work on. The racing is by the numbers and its campaign mode is very familiar, but the depth of its simulation and customisation sets it apart. It’s rough around the edges but it’s a solid enough entry in the bike racing genre.

Paw Patrol The Movie: Adventure City Calls is more of the same gentle platforming and collecting that will only really appeal to the younger, less experienced players. Two-player mode is a highlight and the mini-games offer some silly fun once the main missions have been beaten. It’s all over quite quickly, though, and it may not keep your pups going until the inevitable sequel.

The Falconeer is weird and wonderful with its surprisingly good sci-fi/high fantasy story and lore-ridden world. Despite its unusual and “out there” premise, it falls into the familiar and doesn’t do anything new with its gameplay. There’s a world worth seeing in The Falconeer and it really is an artistic piece by a passionate artist, but it feels like a piece of a larger picture.

Winds & Leaves is a really laid back VR experience that is home to some striking imagery. Unfortunately, it’s a little too simple for its own good and how much you get out of your hike across the dustland fairytale will depend on how well you can connect with the game.

Blue Fire walks a fine line between fair challenge and downright frustrating. Tight controls and a wide variety of tricks at your disposal mean you are never short of something new to try, but its punishing gameplay and frustrating checkpoint system drag the game down. If you like a decent 3D platformer and are willing to be frustrated as often as rewarded, Blue Fire is worth checking out.

Rhythm n’ Bullets is a solid arcade shooter that’s more bullets than rhythm. It’s fast fun but it can be a bit overwhelming as the challenge increases.

Crash Drive 3 is simple, honest fun that’s easy to pick up and play with its variety of game modes and maps.

Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed is a challenging experience filled with plenty of memorable moments. If you’re a long-term fan of the Akiba franchise, you won’t be disappointed. Just be warned: it will get weird.

Open Country does get a few things right with its hunting, exploration, and character growth. Where it falls down is that it tries to be a jack of all trades but ends up a master of none.

Get ready to be zapped back to the 90s with Indigo 7: Quest for Love. This colourful hexagon puzzle game has an incredible art style and a genuinely funny coming-of-age story filled with great characters to meet and new ‘foes’ to defeat. Don’t just enjoy this alone as the multiplayer can be played with up to three friends as you compete against each other in a variety of fast-paced puzzle modes.

If you’re a fan of the TV series, there’s little reason to play truant from this one as Little Witch Academia: VR Broom Racing will keep you entertained with its fast-paced races, gorgeous cutscenes, and a delightful cast of characters.

If you enjoy simple, calming platformers, Minute of Islands should be right up your street as Mario it is not. What it does, it does well, but in trying to be deep and meaningful it all feels a little bit short and shallow. Gorgeous to look at and quick to play, this is maybe one for the art critics and those who like their games with something to say – even if I missed what exactly that was.

Song of Horror has the potential to be a great game for fans of dark, gothic horrors. There’s a great story to be told and the ominous atmosphere, randomly generated scares, and some genius puzzles will keep you coming back time and again – providing you can overlook the janky controls, camera, and some technical issues.

Alex Kidd is a tough platformer that lacks a lot of the user-friendly features we have all grown accustomed to. Back in my day, games used to be tough – or so Alex Kidd would have you believe anyway. For such a difficult game that is pretty linear, it is surprising that so many of us hold Alex in such high regard, and it is largely why I would only recommend this one to fans of the original.

Dungeons & Dragons Dark Alliance spins a lot of plates, and while some of them quickly come crashing down, others keep right on spinning. The moment-to-moment gameplay is just about good enough to overcome the few shortcomings that hold Dark Alliance back from being a great game.

Carnivores: Dinosaur Hunt is an enjoyable hunting simulator that gives you the chance to hunt something different with its use of pre-historic beasts. However, with the limited number of dinosaurs and tedious, grinding progression, you might tire of this one before long you’ve filled the trophy cabinet.

Rise of the Slime attempts something new in the deck-builder genre with mixed results. The core gameplay loop is fun and engaging, but it’s let down by the positioning system that more of a frustration than a gameplay elevation.

Virtua Fighter 5: Ultimate Showdown is more of the same, and for fans of SEGA’s long-running fighting franchise, that should be enough. For those shy of online encounters, Virtua Fighter 5: Ultimate Showdown doesn’t offer much by way of single-player content.

King of Seas takes grinding too far in this simple but enjoyable sea-faring RPG. If you don’t mind spending hours chipping away at mundane tasks to make progress, more power to you. The naval gameplay is good but not enough to warrant the dozens of hours the game demands, and the story is, sadly, locked behind these painful barriers.

Drowning isn’t a fun game by any stretch – it’s actually quite dark and depressing – but it delivers a powerful message and by the end of this teenager’s tragic tale, you’ll be moved in one way or another.

Rust: Console Edition will see its player base split into two. You’ll either spend your time dying repeatedly, or you’ll get good enough to become the villain of the server.

Aerial Knight’s Never Yield is a good game with a great soundtrack and loads of style. It’s short, sweet, but a bit too simple to sustain itself for more than a few short hours unless you crank up the difficulty.

Potion Party is a bubbling concoction of feverish potion-making action. You may not be brewing any Butterbeer’s for wizards, but you will be spending a lot of time synthesising ingredients into potions for sale. With the resource management mechanics, you’ll find yourself attempting to use your time wisely and strategise several steps ahead. This experience is definitely best played in couch co-op for its fun teamwork elements.

Eldrador Creatures is a simple but fun turn-based game that was clearly made with younger players in mind, and with that being considered, it’s a good jumping-off point for new players to the genre.

Hood: Outlaws & Legends has moments of brilliance but they are few and far between, and totally dependant on who you’re playing with. The game also suffers in the content department. Unless unlocking digital trinkets and garments is your idea of a good time, there’s not much else aside from the one game mode and four playable characters, meaning you’ll have seen most of what Hood has within a few hours of play.

Luckslinger is retro and it makes no bones about it. It’s a fun shooter/platformer that anybody over the age of 40 will feel instantly comfortable with, while young guns may need a bit of time to see the appeal. The luck mechanic doesn’t have that much impact and the game could have gotten by without it.

Escape From Life Inc is a wacky little platformer that suffers from some dodgy controls and familiar puzzles. The charming characters and interesting story do their part to redeem the game and make it an adventure worth seeing if you’ve got a tenner burning a hole in your pocket.

The Colonists is a good strategy and management game that’s let down by being a bit too complicated for its own good, and for committing the sin of putting combat where it really isn’t needed. The cutesy robots and the colourful graphics belie a very deep experience that requires meticulous planning and the patience of a saint to appreciate.

Skate City isn’t the next great skating game, unfortunately. It falls over itself far too often with its awkward controls. There’s also a serious lack of content with just three maps to play in. While the challenges are rewarding and feed into the progression, some are overly difficult to pull off or too vague to understand. There’s a good game within Skate City and I’m sure some will find it.

Override 2: Super Mech League skirts the lines between good and bad without ever settling on either side. The online play is a nice touch to make the Leagues actually feel like there’s something at stake if you can actually find anybody to play with.

It’s understandable that 34BigThings would want to trade on the name that made them, Redout, but I’m not sure this spin-off prequel is the right way about it. Fans of the original Redout game will no doubt be disappointed in the flip away from futuristic racer to mundane arcade shooter. There’s some simple fun to be had but don’t go jumping into this one expecting any depth unless you want broken ankles.

Tohu is a unique and satisfying puzzle game, with an art style that is sure to draw lots of praise. Some great puzzles and a brilliant soundtrack all create a good game, but some clunky controls and a frustrating hint system prevent it from becoming a great one.

Windfolk has some nice ideas, and some of those ideas even play out quite nicely. Flying around the bright and blooming world is fun, but everything else is a bit of a bore. Combat is far too simple and the repetition kicks in early on. It’s a skinny offering, even with two different game modes. It all boils down to fly here and shoot your gun until everybody is dead. We’ve come further than that, I’m afraid, and players expect a little more.

Olija delivers a simple and easy hack and slash platforming experience. There is a severe lack of context at relevant times which serves only to take away from the immersion. All in all, Olija works well as a filler title between bigger games and when in need of “video-game junk food” and is easy to jump in and play.

Colossus Down is the latest instalment in the Psychotics Universe. It lures you in with its charming and cartoonish visuals. Whereas, in reality, the game is bursting from the brim with dark humour and has many witty pop culture references throughout.

Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood won’t be remembered for long and that’s fine – by the time I got to writing this summary, I couldn’t really remember it, either. It’s not terrible and I can see some great ideas just begging for a bigger budget. The stealth is poor but has potential, and the combat is simple, samey Prototype-esque fun that could have been more. The story and the presentation are the real let-downs here and you’d be better served throwing on some thrash-metal and muting the game while you play.

An entertaining party brawler that’s better with others and once you start mastering a character. It can be quite hectic, so it does require a bit of patience or at least a willingness to go to the dark side of button mashing.

If you’ve ever fantasised about blasting spiders to kingdom come, Kill It With Fire has your back, and for the most part, this FPS-come-spider-slaying-sim is a fun experience, even if it is a little on the short side.

Journey of the Broken Circle is a sweet, thought-provoking adventure that’s well worth the journey. Despite a few missteps with some contradictory controls and a short run time, Circle has grown on me and I’ll be rolling back into this one until the final trophy pops. It’s just a shame that there’s not much more to enjoy.

Monster Truck Championship offers a fresh way to smash some big-wheeled trucks around – and it’s good fun. It’s also a big upgrade over the last-gen versions; 60FPS and up to 4K resolution really puts the last-gen edition to shame. There’s a lengthy career mode to work through with some nice options to tweak the game to your liking, as well as multiplayer if you want to test out your trucking skills online.

Bite the Bullet’s mix of arcade side scroller and RPG mechanics combine to create an enjoyable pick up and play experience, even if the story does leave a lot to be desired.

A quick and easy physics puzzler, Freddy Spaghetti is an enjoyable and at times challenging game. With a great variety of puzzling scenarios on offer, it would be hard not to recommend this one if you are a fan of simple physics puzzlers, and with it currently sitting at the same price for a pint on PSN right now, it’s going for a steal too.

The game explores interesting concepts but never really felt like it achieved its true potential. Instead, you are left with awkward gameplay and an unsatisfying narrative.

Mixing platforming and puzzle solving with a clever multi-dimension mechanic that allows you to instantly jump from one world to another, World Splitter is a decent puzzle game that I enjoyed spending time with.

Buildings Have Feelings Too! is a quirky game for sure and if you’re after a number-crunching puzzle game – and make no mistake, this is a puzzle game – it’s good fun for a while. It can get frustrating when the solution to a simple task forces you to move your entire town around, and at times the game doesn’t make it clear enough what you need to be doing.

MotoGP 21 is a fine racer that’s realistic to a fault at times. It’s not beginner friendly and you’ll certainly need to be a part of the two-wheeled racing community to appreciate this niche, but it’s good fun all the same. A bit of practice and patience will do newcomers well, while veteran speedsters will feel at home with the familiar tracks, riders, and machines.