I’ve absolutely loved this. It’s so refined, so well crafted, so supremely gory for something with such deceptively simple presentation, and has a difficulty pitch that feels always challenging, but remarkably fair. At a measly £11, you’d be silly not to give it a go. [RPS Bestest Bests]

The very nature of play makes even more drastic transitions.

Ultimately, even if more of the jokes had landed, they wouldn’t have been enough to carry the game they’re crushed under. I’m aware that repetition in games gets rubbed in by playing long stints for review. Perhaps it all would have been less tiresome if I’d experienced it in the small bursts the original mobile version of DD was designed for. But repetition in general isn’t good game design. It needs to be spiced up with novelty or thought, and the actual dungeons of Dandy Dungeon don’t pack enough of either.

I think Sayonara Wild Hearts reminded me of all the cool things I’ve liked over the years, because it’s not saying anything deeper than “Cool things are f.cking great, and being cool is great too.” Which is fine. It’s all said in this incredibly alluring wash of pink and blue and purple, this brief flowerbloom of a game, this stylish, inescapably cool thing that references Tarot without, you know, trying too hard about it.

I do enjoy Minilaw. I find its mistakes frustrating precisely because it’s otherwise a tonne of fun to play. It looks gorgeous, the sound and music are first rate, and when it works, gunning attackers down feels great. I light up when I see someone standing foolishly close to a ledge, and prioritise running towards them to line up a kick above far bigger threats, just because hoofing them off is so entertaining. I want to find an excuse to stop here so I can start playing it again, which is a sure sign it’s doing the important things right. But I’m resigned to recommending it only after an annoyed sigh, and a disclamatory “well…” about the clunky controls.

Vestaria Saga is a merciless game. It can be wonky. Unpolished. Occasionally frustrating. But I know a particular subset of players won’t care, because this is a new, old, Fire Emblem, and nobody but Shouzo Kaga makes games like this anymore. Have fun with it, then, if you suspect you fall into that group. Enjoy this beautiful mess.

I believe, even though there is an ending, that the Zero is a loop, and I am just another ghost that echoes around it forever. For it was – it is – unforgettable. [RPS Bestest Bests]

While I’ve been writing this, I’ve still been playing Besiege, in a way. Ideas for new creations have been bubbling away under the surface of my mind, just waiting for me to hop back in and build them – presumably so that they can crumble immediately. At least that’ll spare some sheep.

I can’t, in short, say anything bad about Savage Vessels that isn’t heavily outweighed by everything it’s doing that’s rewarding and exciting. Uncovering new levels stressed me out enough to wail at my desk, but in a way I enjoyed a lot more than the people around me probably did. Its slower pace and clearer presentation made for a less frustrating time than its zombie-stabbing inspiration, and its difficulty is more manageable and better at inviting the sense of “okay, well, this time…” that any good roguelike needs.

And there we have it. Arsebark: Genesis. A bottom-burp of a DLC so pungent that, for me at least, its base game will never smell the same again. Oh and yeah, there’s a giant turtle. But apparently it’s broken at the moment.

Both games boast shortish campaigns, modest price tags, and occasionally shoot themselves in the feet with lines of B movie dialogue. Both bring down The Helicopter Fallacy with a flurry of tracer-laced MG fire, and deserve our admiration, gratitude and patronage for doing so.

There is still suspense in every moment, because I know how easily each moment could go wrong. I can still revel in the discipline required to shoot a turret, recognise that I’ve disabled its firing mechanism, and stand still as it turns around. I can still freak out at inspired surprises I won’t spoil, and delight in paying attention to every little detail. They’ll kill me if I don’t. [RPS Bestest Bests]

Overall, Horizon’s Gate is a joy to play. Its simple art style, combined with its excellent soundtrack and sense of exploration make it a naval sim that captures the inherent charm of discovery.[RPS Bestest Bests]

Here’s the real masterstroke behind Nimbatus’ design. There are several sets of skins, all of which can be mixed and match to make even cooler looking flybots. But they’re all unlockables except the default set, meaning you need to play the campaign to gain access to them. And for once, the cosmetics genuinely are worth grinding for. So I guess I’m just going to have to head back to the hangar, and get better.

My living situation in Among Trees is better than my real life. I cannot fully describe how delightful and relaxing it is to wake up in my cabin and look at the morning light streaming into my new greenhouse.

This is a pleasant clicker game neatly disguised as something a little more fun and adventurous, and while there are some wonderful artistic flourishes (you can play music to a giant carrot in a top hat for bonus items, and there’s a fish god you can feed apples to) they don’t add anything to the game’s basic systems of moving things around for money. For five pounds and change though, Merchant Of The Skies is an entertaining enough obsession of a lazy afternoon.

As much as I can appreciate and credit its beautiful design and atmosphere for that, when I suddenly get the solution to a particular island, I get the mental round of applause all to myself, made all the sweeter by previously thinking this genre was impossible for my brain.

So I’m in danger of overrating Across The Grooves. It’s fairly short, and at only a couple of hours long, you could dig up all its alternative scenes and endings in a long afternoon. It’s more linear and structurally simple than I’d expected, and I was definitely expecting more from the main music. But while it hasn’t truly touched me as deeply as Eliza or Watch Me Jump, it’s given me an unusual angle on time travel and a lot of feelings and thoughts to process. It’s even helped me a little, I think. There are some things that were probably always going to happen, and the only real choice you have isn’t how to fix them, but to either make yourself miserable wondering what you could have done better, or try to salvage a future from the consequences you were left with. I’m glad I got to play it.

Lords Of The West is good fun, and Age Of Empires 2 Definitive Edition remains the king of my PC castle. But as Jurassic Park showed us, bringing any great beast back to life is a risky business, and that applies just as well to electric knights as to velociraptors. A moderate approach is vital. To continue the metaphor, this all feels a bit like the situation in Jurassic World, where the money men get the science men to build a devil dinosaur, because normal dinosaurs weren’t exciting enough. It’s not too much like that situation, I confess, as I’m not particularly worried that Edward Longshanks will climb out of my telly and devour a helicopter. I’m just saying that, much like dinosaurs, AoE2 was impressive enough as nature, or Doctor Microsoft, made it.

So, whether you’ve long liked the look of Civilisation but balk at the commitment, or have a seemingly self-replicating collection of untouched Stellaris expansions that you can’t quite find the time for, or honestly just like a good puzzler, I reckon you’ll find something to love here. Personally, Slipways has come at just the right time to occupy a gaming space I wanted filling, but even if it hadn’t, I think it’s a phenomenally smart piece of design. Maybe something will soon come along to replace it, but for now, the view from up here is just perfect. At least, it will be, once I’ve linked that here. Oh, and that there, and… Ah, it’s one of those planets, is it? Well, that changes everything. [RPS Bestest Bests]

Death Trash is a singular and unique vision. I don't know how to say, "If you like X or Y then you'll like this". Maybe Fallout (indeed, this game's genesis is in a jokey fanart tweet about making one's own Fallout). Maybe text games on Itch about teeth and skin. People worship the meat like a deity. They eat it raw. And you are, somehow, infected by it. You can talk to it. My biggest disappointment is that my quest to understand the flesh was cut short so quickly - it's maybe four or five-ish hours at the moment, about a quarter of the predicted full runtime, though the "main" questline hit its under construction roadblock after about 2 hours for me. Death Trash evidently has more secrets to wallow in, and it's worth wading in. It's both disgusting (in a good way) and absolutely hypnotic. [Early Access Review]

I'd be among the first to say "but it's good in co-op" doesn't count for most games, because most things are better with a friend, but this is definitely one that's crying out for it, and developers Geometa certainly seem to be aware of it judging by the custom game option to have 4 sides and up to 64 concurrent players. I can see potential for more game modes too (certainly some sort of training ground for test flights and the like would be welcome), but I have to go by what's here, and much as I enjoy a good stretch, what's here feels just out of my reach.

It’s a shame Cloud Gardens felt the need to stretch its playtime with reused ideas, because when Cloud Gardens is at its best, it’s a delight. It's a competent, unique puzzle game and a contemplative, relaxing dreamscape, all rolled into one small package. If you ever have anxiety about the future state of the Earth, check out Cloud Gardens. Watching nature overrun a factory is more cathartic than you might think.

Ultimately Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles doesn’t really offer a lot outside of watching characters beat the shit out of each other with various flashy moves, but I guess that was always the point. Although the playable roster is feeling the distinct lack of demons right now, there’s a lot to enjoy from the characters who are there, delivering on the promise of a power fantasy of Gotouge’s manga epic. For those steeped in knowledge of that manga (or Ufotable’s anime adaptation), The Hinokami Chronicles offers a great little opportunity to spend some more time with the heroes and stories we’ve loved for years.

Whatever the reason, Evertried forgoes a lot of modern conveniences common to the roguelike. If you are in search of an austere tile-hopper, you might find strength in its arrow-key puritanism. But as one indoctrinated by Into The Breach and the recently released Pawnbarian (a similar tile-by-tile roguelike with both clarity and capybaras), the uniformity of Evertried comes across as a lack of polish, a jigsaw that could be pleasing to the eye if only it didn't have so many missing pieces.

It's creepy, but Lixun treats it all as quite ordinary, even when he's trapped in a haunted mirror verison of the Tian family home. The fear is more bound up in what happened to the Tian family itself, because in a way it could happen to any family - and, indeed, does. Firework spins a lot of plates, and it's worth playing just to see them all being kept in the air.

Deflector is really tough. Alien-like minions will just spew a slow orb or two at you, but tougher foes can vomit lines of the bloody things, to the point where just standing your ground feels like beckoning death. Staying on the move is key to survival, but levels will bring acidic pools and towering spikes rising from the ground to bear at you, variables that’ll easily throw you off your game and send you packing to an early grave. This is all done against the backdrop of a sort-of story where a giant tardigrade-esque creature ferries you between levels. Every Deflector run starts the same: heal up, interact with the big beastie, and select which room you’d like to be transported to. You’re presented with a big overview board of subsequent rooms, with pathways snaking between them, including which arenas house powerful enemies and exclusive rewards. [Early Access Review]

When the story is this earnest, it feels churlish to berate it too harshly. Its heart is in the right place, and if anything, I wish there were more slice of life games out there like this. Plenty of games start off domestically, but they often leave it behind in favour of something more spectacular and fantastical. I want more games like The Kids We Were, that have the confidence to focus on the humdrum rhythms of everyday life, and that evoke the same kind of feelings as the films of Makoto Shinkai, Mamoru Hosoda and Hirokazu Kore-eda, and the novels of Shion Miura and Hiromi Kawakami (and if these games do actually exist, please tell me about them. I want to consume and absorb them into my consciousness as soon as possible). They may not end up feeling much like the games we're used to, but I'm glad they exist all the same.