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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Papa’s Quiz is a standard quiz game with a few modest twists and a couple of weird hosts to set it apart from the rest.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

A running and gunning snail is an unusual premise for an action-puzzle game, but it’s not as silly as it sounds. There are some moments of brilliance that raise it above your standard indie twin-stick shooter and it’s easy to get lost in the miniature world. The difficulty can be punishing, though, and without much by way of guidance, frustration sets in as the adventure often crawls to… a snail’s pace.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The fight between the forces of good and evil rages on in this twin-stick shooter, and this time around, evil wins. If you’re looking for the next platinum for your trophy case, then UltraGoodness 2 is a cheap and easy addition. But, with an underused time-motion mechanic and awkward environmental surroundings, it’s not one a trophy you’ll have much fun getting.

War Dogs Red’s Return is fun but woefully short and shallow. There are worse games in the genre, but sadly for War Dogs, there are plenty of others that do it better. The poor story and lack of any real challenge means that this is one game I am unlikely to play ever again.

Hellbreachers is overly simple and without any real challenge, even with its boss fights. This is not the adventure that you’re looking for.