Hand of Fate is an interesting game that will certainly appeal to those who want to see how the card-based approach could be expanded in meaningful ways in the coming years.

Overall, it's among the best indie role-playing game experiences ever crafted, and if low-fi visuals and reading don't scare you, it's well worth the purchase, especially since there is just so much content to enjoy, as well as added value through replayability.

Nelly Cootalot remains the same jolly sailor, and she will deliver the same point and click experience fans fell in love with years ago, and she never fails to deliver the laughs whenever you need her. That being said, as long as you remember to use the Switch's touchscreen instead of the joysticks, and given how popular the title was when it was first launched on PC, I see now reason why it should fare just as well now. With that being said, get ready to get a few laughs and prepare to push your brain gears into overdrive because you 'll be in for some fun couple of hours.

The King's Dilemma: Chronicles manages to create a sense of place using a limited set of tools. The game does require quite a bit of reading but it rewards gamers with a deep narrative, a lot of artfully constructed events, and many complicated choices. The political simulation element is engaging and fun. If modding is possible it can deliver a great A Song of Ice and Fire experience. I do feel like the narrative is trying to juggle a few too many big ideas at the same time. The universe, which delivers a lot of names and concepts quickly, can be overwhelming. But immersion in King’s Dilemma: Chronicles will reveal a complex and intriguing narrative and plenty of tough choices. Be wary of anyone promising quick and painless immortality.

Sure, the story is nothing impressive. There are moments when the generated levels do not make too much sense. Progress sometimes hinges on the placement of one health chest or one group of enemies. But, despite the randomness, Jupiter Hell feels fair and there’s a lot of depth to discover in this surprising mix.

Inkulinati is impressive in its ability to marry theme, mechanics, and presentation. The ink-driven combat is exciting and tense, rewarding experimentation and good use of gestures and abilities. The world, inspired by the marginalia of Medieval manuscripts, is beautiful and immersive. The campaign is strong but playing against another human, in local multiplayer, is even more fun, especially if both involved players have learned a few tricks while facing the computer. Inkulinati is incredibly inventive visually and features engaging combat mechanics.

For the most part, Tropico 6 is an almost perfect experience. It’s not too bold, but it’s not rehashing older concepts. It stands on its own and sets up for something expected from a new developer. Tropico 6 is a bridge between the glorious past of games like Caesar IV and Sim City and the future. I can’t wait to return to those beautiful islands, and that’s everything I want from a game.

A pretty fun racing title, but in the pursuit of addressing every bit of feedback after Grid 2, Codemasters hasn't delivered the most cohesive experience. You still need to endure some of the disciplines that you may not like in order to progress through the career, and the two cockpit cameras feel more like a fan-made mod than something devised by the developer itself. Throw in the erratic AI and you might get annoyed quite a few times while playing Autosport.

As a complete package, Tormented Souls 2 has a lot of things going for it. The atmosphere it creates is great, and the visuals are fit to the world’s unique ideas and challenges. That being said, the fact that they chose to go with limited saves does make the game feel more high stakes, but it can get frustrating at times because of it as well. It’s nice that you don’t have to play the first one to understand this game, and it’s definitely one of the better horror games made in the past few years. Yes, it doesn’t have the AAA flair and all the bells and whistles, but the self-contained story is very well-made, shared in a creative way, and the game itself doesn’t shy away from being very fun. It’s an easy recommendation for horror fans, but even if you never dabbled into the genre before, it’s a good starting point.

Probably the bleakest episode in the new series so far, but this isn't a bad thing. The dialogue and conversations are top-notch and there are lots of decisions that need to be taken by players and Clementine, whether they like it or not.

Assassin's Creed Syndicate is a game for the fans of the series, a step forward when compared to Unity, but not the great comeback that many loyalists were expecting.

Fury Unleashed is fun if you are a fan of games like Binding of Isaac. It offers non-stop action and challenges you to become better after each failure. The randomly generated levels keep you on your toes, while the different weapons, cosmetical items, and then mix and match the style of level design will make you keep coming back for more. You will thoroughly enjoy this game and you will love it even when it will frustrate you. On the other end of the scale are those who would not touch games like Dead Cells despite its gorgeous visuals. Those will consider Fury Unleashed a waste of time and not even the easier game mode might convince them otherwise.

DOG WITCH has a unique dice-rolling combat system that is both challenging and varied. Players need to play quite a bit to see all the more than 100 magical artifacts they can work with and discover how they can mix and match their abilities, if lucky, to abuse the mechanics and make their canine wizard unstoppable. The title’s gameplay successfully generates the “one more run” feeling. But players will have to deal with the lack of narrative elements and the limited visual appeal. DOG WITCH is best enjoyed in sessions of two or three runs, which allow the game to show off its tactical appeal without becoming repetitive.

The Operator will attract anyone who likes a good mystery with some very contemporary themes and does not care too much about complex gameplay. The story moves at a good pace, the characters have personalities, and the general atmosphere of paranoia works well. But the mechanics are built around a computer screen, a few apps, and plenty of reading. It can become repetitive, even with its cleverly designed puzzles. But the game nails the atmosphere, the heady mix of paranoia and dark secrets, and will capture the attention of players willing to suspend their disbelief at the start. The Operator does a lot with limited resources and creates a good level of immersion while delivering a strong story.

Imagine Earth is a very good title for both fans and newcomers to the building and management genre. I loved the likes of Pharaoh (when much younger) and Cities: Skylines (more recently) and really appreciate both the foundations and the quirks this game has to offer. For someone who is exploring this gaming space for the first time the difficulty ramps up gently and there is plenty of info on how to engage with the mechanics. There are times when the title seems to deliver more core ideas than it has to, possibly to add more challenge even if it does not need to. But most of the time the game from Serious Bros is both engaging and enchanting. Imagine Earth shines in both campaign and free play and I cannot wait to see how the team expands on its core mechanics.

For a game that tells a fictional story, Hell is Us feels unusually familiar. My only comfort throughout the game was the fact that I managed to save a few NPCs from a horrible death, everything else was incredibly bleak. This is a mature game that treats serious topics like war, hate, violence, torture, politics extremely well. Aside from the fact that you’re facing strange creatures, little else is fictional about this game, and that’s very scary. That said, Hell is Us was one of my most anticipated games of the year, and after finishing it three times, I strongly believe it was well worth the wait. It’s an experience that you don’t want to miss.

Darksiders II remains a fantastic action RPG experience with a distinctive dark fantasy feel. It offers a rich, multi-layered gameplay experience with a unique protagonist, beautiful art direction, and a mix of combat and puzzle-solving mechanics that will keep you engaged for hours. The Deathinitive Edition, while not perfect, is still worth playing, especially for those who missed it the first time around or want to relive the adventure with a bit of extra polish and added content. With its discounted price and bundled DLC, it’s a great way to experience Death’s journey, even if the road isn’t entirely smooth.

Even if we ignore the ridiculous quantity of content, and we focus only on the main storyline, we still get an amazing experience. Far Cry 5 is not the game we expected, but it’s exactly what we should have wanted in the first place.

Pepper Grinder has a very good core idea and builds fun platforming levels and puzzles around its big drill. The four worlds introduce new ideas and challenges, as well as boss fights. The pixel art makes the world come alive more than the narrative. The focus on replaying levels and collectibles isn’t up my alley but the design is good and will satisfy gamers interested in it. Pepper Grinder is fast and tense, with plenty of variety, a steady increase in difficulty, and has the potential to reverse grinding’s bad reputation.

Galak-Z is clearly designed for players who enjoy a challenge, and it offers an impressive mix of frantic combat, long-term planning, tactical planning and anime-inspired looks that will appeal to a lot of fans of the rogue-like genre.

Per Aspera is a very good science fiction driven management and building game. The story will keep fans of the genre engaged and mixes well with the core mechanics. Once that’s no longer interesting a Sandbox mode introduces the freedom to build-up Mars however one wants. The twin challenges of expanding and re-building for greater efficiency are carefully balanced and truly engrossing. Just make sure to take tour time and explore as much as possible before moving through the checkpoints of the campaign. And spend as much time as possible running at the slowest speed, watching how mars can be changed from inhospitable wasteland to a new cradle of humanity. Just don’t forget to ponder whether it’s actually worth it, just as the protagonist A.I. does.

Headquarters: World War II features tense engagements and nice tactical scenarios, despite the familiarity of the Overlord campaign. The three factions feel suitably different in terms of units and approach. Players will be challenged by a wide range of combat scenarios. The game also gives players the tools to create their own battles, both against the computer and other humans, and has a good editor. I hope Starni Games uses the same system to cover less well-known World War II operations. Headquarters: World War II is a compact and engaging wargame with plenty of attention to detail.

I enjoyed my time with The Crazy Hyper-Dungeon Chronicles, it’s a very fun game that you can play as you take a break from multiplayer games or very serious RPGs. The story is fun, and the gameplay is rather unique, especially when it comes to combat. Granted, it won’t surpass the genre’s greats, but it’s an enjoyable dungeon crawler with interesting twists. It’s worth considering if you want to test your skills exploring dungeons, finding amazing loot, and testing your skills against surprisingly powerful enemies. It’s also priced surprisingly fair, which makes for an accessible RPG.

Roguebook is a competent game, both a good and a bad thing to be in the crowded rogue and card game spaces. For a newcomer, this is a solid entry-point, with engaging battles, a good long-term progression, and an interesting way to explore. For someone who has played the obvious inspirations the ink-linked ideas are not innovative enough. The team at Abrakam was too conservative in its approach. The game needs more weirdness and more tweaks to the battle formula to stand out. If they get the chance to create another Roguebook experience they need to take the good bones of this game and then push the entire genre forward in some way.

In the end, the mixture of combat and storytelling is what makes Joe Dever’s Lone Wolf different from other games.

Tales from the Borderlands Episode 2: Atlas Mugged is the best in the series so far and a high point in recent Telltale experiences. It shines both through its story, its action sequences, its clever dialog, and the pretty impressive scenes scattered through its plot.

It's a pity that all these great changes are overshadowing the core content of the Shadowkeep expansion, but I can't say I'm surprised. For newcomers to the universe, Destiny 2 will be quite overwhelming, while veterans of the series might not find enough reasons to buy the new Shadowkeep expansion unless they really want to check out the new raid and all the gear it drops. But I'm leaning towards “wait for sale.”

FIFA 22 is undoubtedly a step forward for the franchise, and the new Hypermotion engine on new-gen consoles is totally worth it, though it’s pretty clear it’s not everybody’s cup of tea. EA clearly has a lot of things to polish in FIFA 22, and the first update that is already live on PC is the living proof the company is very committed to doing this in the short term.