Get Packed: Fully Loaded is a fun couch multiplayer game with enough variety to keep its gameplay feeling fresh. It’s best played with at least one other player and competitively, though solo players can still have a good time with the game’s over-the-top physics.

Button City is a child-friendly adventure that pushes the right buttons with its combo of a sweet narrative and fun gameplay.

Mixing platforming and simple, effective spellcasting, Lost Words is the Harry Potter game you didn’t know you wanted – with an impactful story to boot. Younger gamers will be drawn to the platforming, but don’t be fooled by the family-friendly art style as beyond that lies a game with a powerfully emotional story that is likely to crack even the hardest among you.

Die With Glory is witting, charming, and gorgeous to look at – it’s also good fun to play, too. The only real letdown is the controls which can be a bit of a headache. Mostly, though, this is a fun point-and-click adventure that’s over just a little too soon. Apparently, Sigurd’s story continues, but when?

Old age isn’t a battle, it’s a massacre! Just Die Already embraces this to the extreme with a ridiculous odyssey of carnage, bloodshed, and mayhem – and that’s just in the retirement home. With an outrageous sandbox world to explore, ragdoll mechanics to exploit and a wide variety of novelty items to misuse, the bucket list is well on its way to being conquered.

Spacebase Startopia provides a decent challenge with its cosmic twist on the city-builder/resort management genre, and it hits more than it misses. The combat feels a bit misplaced and difficult to care about, but it’s not a big feature of the game and encounters are few and far between. The real fun is getting into the nitty-gritty of keeping your guests happy and keeping that sweet energy money flowing so that you can finally finish your doughnut-shaped galactic getaway.

DARQ: Complete Edition is a fairly priced package that offers up around 6-7 hours of puzzles and thrills, though the thrills aren’t all that thrilling. The horror is definitely missing but the cleverly constructed puzzles and the dark world of Lloyd’s subconscious carry the weight well.

El Hijo is a simple but fun stealth game set in the Old West. The fact that it managed this without letting me shoot a single six-shooter or ride a horse is a testament to Honig Studios. The controls could be tighter and it isn’t overly difficult made even easier by the numerous checkpoints, but there were a ton of fun puzzles to solve and it was damn beautiful to look at.

Mortal Shell Enhanced Edition might be a little light on next-gen upgrades, but the ones that matter are there and they are game-changing. 60FPS is the main attraction but a nice 4K is welcome, too. For returning fans, it’s a nice free update. For newcomers looking to get punished, it’s a cheap and, well, not cheerful game, but it is its own brand of fun – if you can call it that.

WRC 10 is another solid entry in the long-running series. This year’s a special one for WRC fans thanks to the 50th-anniversary content which is its own game mode. The racing is as good as ever and the Career mode has taken pains to bring fans into the backroom of the sport. A few performance issues aside, WRC 10 is a must-play for rally fans.

Pumpkin Jack is a fantastic platformer that gets very little wrong. While it does have its flaws, mainly in the combat department, the rest of the game carries the weight superbly.

Taxi Chaos might be a shameless knock-off, but it at least has the distinction of being a fantastic shameless knock-off. Taxi Chaos does what SEGA don’t.

Yupitergrad for PSVR is another fine get for the platform. The gameplay is a fair challenge, mostly, and there’s lots of fun to be had finding new ways to swing down dangerous corridors of doom. The controls and tracking are remarkably good, too, meaning you won’t feel hindered by the PS Move wands.

Speed Limit drags the best of the past to the present and then spends a few hours killing you repeatedly. That might sound like hard work but it’s some of the best fun I’ve had this year. The only question now is: when’s Speed Limit 2 coming out?

Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness And The Secret Hideout refines some of the series’ classic gameplay pillars without abandoning the core experience that fans love. Although a little more mature than past games, it’s a great adventure that manages to stay upbeat and challenging. It has earned a sequel, and I’m excited to play that one as well.

Pinball in VR is a great alternative to the real thing, and in many ways, it can be even better. When you’ve got 3 balls going at once, and an X-wing flying around you or baby Yoda is cooing and drooling in the corner, you realize this isn’t the arcade in your old hometown. It’s pretty great unless you don’t like Star Wars. Then it’s just weird. But for the rest of us, Star Wars Pinball VR has some excellent fan service, some interesting Star Wars-based minigames, and some insane pinball action to go with it.

Whether you’re a grizzled Musou veteran with the calloused thumbs to prove it, or a blister-free newcomer to the genre, Samurai Warriors 5 is a fantastic game to play. With more content than you can wave a battle-bloodied katana at, it’s a great value game that’ll keep you in the war for a long time to come.

Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection is the best way to play through Ryu's blood-soaked, over-the-top adventures. New trophies, lots of content, and a modest visual upgrade make this a must-have package for hardcore Ninja Gaiden fans.

Cris Tales is a classic example of a game that serves as a homage to games of the past, while managing to forge a path all of its own. Solid and satisfying combat merge with a storyline that moves things along nicely and if you enjoy turn-based RPGs, Cris Tales is definitely one to play.

Trigger Witch is a satisfying twin-stick shooter with plenty of charm, though it does tend to play it overly safe. The familiar gameplay is deceptively moreish and it’s hard to put down once you pick it up. The lack of challenge is offset by the undeniable charm of Collette’s magical world.

Despite ALVO’s flaws, it is a perfect complement to PSVR’s only other VR military shooter. It’s not very polished and the guns and music sound lacklustre, but if you’re looking for a run and gun shooter that feels more like Call of Duty and less like Rainbow Six: Siege, this is the game for you. Here’s hoping that Mardonpol continues to support the game with the promised additions and that the players continue to log in to keep the bots at a minimum.

Biomutant is ambitious to a fault and it won’t be forgotten about anytime soon. Its flaws are bared for all to see, but so is its charm, heart, and fun. Most of its flaws can be overlooked by literally overlooking them – you don’t have to do everything the game throws at you to enjoy Biomutant’s one-of-a-kind world of wonders.

Star Wars: Republic Commando is still worth a play in 2021, no matter where you choose to play. The gameplay holds up even if the presentation doesn’t, but it’s the price you pay to play a true first-person shooter in the Star Wars universe with nary a lootbox in sight.

Mail Mole provides a fun 3D platforming experience. The game is easy to pick up and play, but plenty of time can be spent with in-game endeavours such as time trials and gaining new outfits.

The small three-person team at developer Wayward Distractions has delivered one of the cutest games of the year, but it’s not just for kids. It’s not a punishing precision platformer by any stretch, but it isn’t easy either and it managed to be fun even in the more difficult sections.

Anodyne 2: Return to Dust is a weird game with a confusing story, but one I completely enjoyed. Nova and her dust-sucking vacuum may not be the heroes we wanted but they are probably the heroes we deserve. If you like retro-looking games and are tired of the big devs who are too afraid to take chances, this may be the game you’re looking for.

Disjunction is a great stealth game wrapped in a highly-polished pixel-art wrapper. It’s difficult at times – and occasionally unfair – but it gets the job done and it’s generally enjoyable.

Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant. Kitaria Fables is a real-time action RPG where a heroic feline will take up arms along with their watering can in the fight against the forces of evil. Although the RPG side of the gameplay is thoroughly entertaining, the farming aspects, unfortunately, are lacking. If you’re looking for an RPG experience to tackle in two-player couch co-op, you can’t go wrong with Kitaria Fables.