It’s in the steps of this journey that In the Dark shines, as it delivers a warm, cosy parable about making space for others, even – and perhaps especially – when they find it difficult to accept love.

As a solid tennis simulator, with layers of novelty to differentiate it from its nearest competitors and plenty of unique modes to conquer, Mario Tennis Fever is an absolute racket. While odd in parts, it remains charming and bright-eyed throughout its many rounds.

With its sense of flash and dazzle, All’s Justice frequently inspires euphoria as you flit from one battle to the next. The action is breathtaking, to the point where it often paves over the game’s lesser elements.

While some of my appreciation is clouded by my disappointment in what Royalty & Legacy could have been, rather than what it is, I can still see the care that’s gone into this pack’s overall design, and it does add plenty of neat, smaller features that make Sims life more meaningful.

Accept its oddness, and Don’t Stop, Girlypop! will find an easy place in your heart.

While there are many layers here – it’s a Paper Mario homage, it’s an original fantasy adventure and it adapts beloved IP – each idea is given time to evolve. There’s a delicate balance required, and developers Sleepy Castle Studio and Wing-It! Creative have managed it very well indeed.

Even advancing at a wicked clip, the DLC’s plot is well-balanced, and it consistently provides new reasons to return as new features unlock and the dark, gothic story unfolds.

The Séance of Blake Manor is a wonder-filled puzzle adventure that wields its horror aesthetic well, telling a dark and consistently enthralling tale while leaving room for player choice and exploration in every outcome. This home may be haunted, but the ghosts make for incredibly good company.

It understands that humans are at the heart of superheroics, and that a magical suit is less important than a desire to uplift everyone around you, and to help them realise their potential. To see past their flaws, to see what they can become. To save the world, one person at a time.

We could all do with the injection of charm that Dogpile offers, delivered so well in a beautiful cartoon art style, and with those all-important, synergistic game mechanics. This is pure, encapsulated delight that’ll leave you buzzing with a happy glow.

In its best moments, Skate Story is just an unbelievably cool game – and that totally makes up for the slightly more tedious sections.

Marvel Cosmic Invasion is not complicated. It’s an old 90s arcade game but designed with a one-time payment in mind rather than needing a constant stream of coins. It’s relatively easy to finish but the moment-to-moment experience of playing it is hugely satisfying. More than anything, it makes me want to pick up a huge anthology of fun old Marvel comics and enjoy some convoluted plotting.

Don’t think too deeply about Kirby Air Riders, and you’ll be swept away, quirks and all.

Demonschool is a game I appreciated more than I enjoyed. It’s a collection of great ideas, brilliant artistic choices and fun moments but they don’t quite stitch together into a game as good as the one you imagine from the screenshots and GIFs. There’s definitely something here; when I’m not actually playing Demonschool, I think of it more fondly than I do when the controller’s in my hand. It’s still worth playing if you have a soft spot for cool indie games with impeccable style, and can forgive them when they don’t quite hit the mark.

I enjoyed playing Syberia Remastered, but I can’t bring myself to recommend it when the original game is right there and has held up quite well. As a product of its time, it’s a little easier to forgive – or at least work with – some of its flaws. Ultimately, the fact this new version sits awkwardly between a remake and a remaster means that it doesn’t quite feel like either.

This is a game that understands its purpose so clearly. The narrative may borrow occasionally from common tropes, but as each chapter dawns, Goodnight Universe feels more and more like its own thing, with clarity in its intentionality, and how it invites players into its narrative.

Overall, the mix of these five new mini-games makes The Jackbox Party Pack 11 an incredibly strong Jackbox experience. There’s a wonderfully cohesive style in this particular pack, and each mini-game feels well-designed for fun, party-based antics. It also hits all the activities that make a Jackbox game fun – there’s a drawing game, a trivia game, a funny writing game and more. It’s all in service of a multiplayer party experience that absolutely brims with a bright joy.

Metaphors aside, Death by Scrolling is undiluted fun. It’s simple enough that anyone can play – but not so simple that everyone can survive.

If you’re somebody with a knack for code-cracking, whether solo or in a team, Escape Simulator 2 is a wonderful translation of real-world escape rooms, with strong themes pairing with tightly-designed puzzles for an experience that’s well worth tackling. Keep your head on straight, and your brain waves humming, and electrifying mysteries await.

In this mix – a subtle, clever humour, a loose but engaging story, and an ample variety of choice in every step – The Outer Worlds 2 is an impressive achievement. It’s a game that frog-leaps its predecessor easily and simply, with a variety of systems all working together to serve a brilliant choose-your-own-adventure experience that allows players to feel like an intrinsic, influential part of its world.

Whether you’re keen on the game to improve your fitness (and it certainly helps there), or you’re just looking for an excuse to groove along to a thumping beat, Just Dance 2026 Edition will serve you very well. After all, we can always do with more excuses to groove.

There’s something soothing about BALL x PIT. Losses rarely feel too dispiriting and that part of your brain that enjoys seeing the numbers going up is well-served. Some of the elements dictating how you progress through the game are a little frustrating but it’s all worth it for those moments where you bounce your balls just right and a swath of approaching enemy forces are wiped out in seconds.

In a sea of other modern games beholden to the formula, Pokémon Legends: Z-A is a bright, creative new franchise entry that is bold, confident and charts its own wonderful course.

Get to know this expansion’s many parts, and you’ll find a bounty of activities to enrich the lives of all Sims in your household – whether that means learning a new skill, or taking time to relax in Gibbi Gibbi Point, and beyond.

There’s even a seemingly Persona-inspired Velvet Room-type setting in this game – a go-between dimension where you can spend time raising Digimon on a farm, or spelunking into new virtual dungeons...It all adds up to a game that feels incredibly ambitious, wild, and free. Media.Vision has created an adaptation of Digimon that grasps the core of the franchise, and stretches it in every direction. Any idea the team had, it was absorbed into Time Stranger – and the game is all the better for it. It’s constantly surprising, and incredibly creative.

With bite-sized gameplay, bright and colourful characters, and a lot of imagination in gameplay, Lego Party! is a game that won’t necessarily surprise adults, but will provide a welcome party experience, and one that’ll absolutely delight younger kids. Even being outside the target audience, I can see the fun, and how it lit up the eyes of my niece, with clever choices elevating this significantly.

It’s not entirely revolutionary, but with a sleekness in its racing, and plenty of ways to shake up the status quo, Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds arrives as a bright, creative new kart racing game, with plenty of charm to make an impact.

Ghost of Yotei is a game of great beauty and great violence, its disparate parts weaved together in a sweeping, lush narrative about the transformative power of revenge. This is a journey that treads in the footsteps of Ghost of Tsushima, while charting its own course, telling a winding tale about a warrior-ghost who wanders a harsh, unforgiving world in search of solace.