Citizen Sleeper creates a strong universe and gives the main character an engaging story with plenty of choices. Erlin’s Eye feels like a small part of a well-designed narrative space that can support more exploration. The visual design fits in with the wider themes of the game and the characters never become preachy. The problem is that the developer also cares about gameplay and the concept of investing for a result. The dice system is adequate enough, but everything takes so long and requires too many clicks. Citizen Sleeper would have probably worked better as a more classic visual novel, with the resources assigned to mechanics re-routed to deliver more story.

Trash Goblin is a very interesting game, I am not exactly into shopkeeping games, but it piqued my interest early on. I like the game’s cartoony style, the character design, along with the gameplay loop they created here. On top of that, uncovering gifts and trying to repair stuff feels like Christmas morning over and over. Is Trash Goblin a game for everyone? Realistically, we all like a cozy, fun game that helps us unwind and relax. I feel that Trash Goblin does that very well, and it feels very satisfying to unearth and clean items in this game. Yes, it can get repetitive, and that’s the pet-peeve for this game. Yet thanks to randomly generated items and customers, you can get dozens of hours of fun from the game and even uncover new stuff often.

The only downside is that Nuclear Blaze ends very fast. It’s like a very short SCP novel that you read while commuting. It took me less than two hours to finish it, but I had a lot of fun. Get this if you’re looking for a good platformer.

A welcome entry in the series. It takes things to new heights in terms of story, while adding a few impressive gameplay mechanics, such as the flight one.

Lost Judgment is more of the same with some fine tuning, but there are no revolutionary updates. There are more activities than ever, but the interface is the very same. There is a more fluid a spectacular combat system, but the AI is just the same. The analysis of the environment for clues still feels underdeveloped, and the tailing of people is still clunky, despite the new mechanics. If you liked the first episode, you’ll love this one, despite the high school drama. If you did not play Judgment you can start with the new game to see how well it suits your tastes, since it can be enjoyed without knowing past events. All in all, it is a good sequel to a promising franchise.

The new Ant-Man table for Zen Pinball shows that the development team at Zen Studios can deliver great work when it is dealing with the intellectual property of other companies and Marvel seems to have made a particularly good partner.

Game of Thrones Episode 5: A Nest of Vipers does a pretty good job of giving players a set of satisfying experience with the main characters, while alternating pretty well between intense conversations and hectic fight scenes.

Strange Antiquities was a lot of fun for me, and I think it’s a great sequel to Strange Horticulture. The occult and spooky aspect fits the game very well, the item and store design are excellent, and the story is amazing, especially since you get many endings. Even if some of the puzzles feel challenging at times, you can go with trial and error to figure out the right solution. Strange Antiquities is one of those interesting puzzle games that will keep you hooked from beginning and up until the end. It’s fun to play, the mysteries are great to solve, and the music score is also fitting for this eerie experience. My favorite part: those Eureka moments where you get to solve complex puzzles. And rest assured there’s a lot of that to be had in Strange Antiquities.

It does have numerous tiny flaws, the biggest of which being its casual, loose design, but the fact that it's one of the only Star Trek tourist trap simulators out there more than makes up for any minor shortcomings.

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.

Luckslinger is a charming platformer that puts luck in center stages and backs it up with some pretty good secondary mechanics. While it takes a bit of time to get used to its innovative features, it's certainly worth it.

Even though Greymoor adds about 20 hours of story content, depending on how many side quests you're willing to take on, the expansion keeps to the same formula. Instead of bringing meaningful changes to the world of ESO, Greymoor piggybacks on the previous installments to find new audiences. That being said, I do recommend the new expansion, just don't expect any mind-blowing improvements.

Kainga: Seeds of Civilization has an interesting core idea, with its mix of classic city builder and rogue-lite structure. It offers an entirely new way of looking at simple actions, like picking techs or thinking about victory conditions. The game also has a well-defined style and is welcoming to newcomers. Make sure to consult the encyclopedia to see all the unlocks and how they can fit into different strategies. But I like its ideas more than their implementation. I love city building when it’s big, complex, time-consuming and Kainga: Seeds of Civilization simply has too many limitations to keep me engaged. But its short episodes and focus on opening up new areas and new thinkers will certainly appeal to gamers who want a new take on a classic genre.

Basements n' Basilisks: Storms of Sorcery is a short and fun adventure. It’s not a full role-playing game but it’s not just a visual novel. It understands the RPG genre and critiques its many issues but the team at eNVy softworks uses its title as a way to show it might be improved. The experience centers relationships and shows how a small group can work together to embody a fictional universe with a certain magic. The title’s biggest problem is that it doesn’t fully use its universe. A few extra combat encounters, perhaps to underline how they can be handled creatively, and a few more nights around the campfire were needed. Basements n' Basilisks: Storms of Sorcery is a good proof-of-concept and I hope that its developers get a chance to revisit this universe and expand on their good ideas.

Chef Life: A Restaurant Simulator has a good idea and some decent gameplay mechanics. It’s somewhat fun to discover the techniques associated with a new dish and then aim to create a perfect take on it, complete with a radical and interesting plating that will revolutionize the fine-dining world. The entire experience suffers because of its highly repetitive nature and uninspired presentation. The finished dishes need to look spectacular and they do not. Cooking the same thing over and over again becomes annoying. Chef Life: A Restaurant Simulator might try to capture the frantic nature of a commercial kitchen but those who like what it has to offer might be better served by cooking some fun real-world dishes that can actually satisfy their hunger.

Midnight Protocol is one of the best experiences in the newly ascendant hacking simulation category. Its biggest asset is the simple, yet solid set of mechanics and the way success can only be achieved by carefully balancing aggressiveness and planning, with some guessing thrown in for good measure. The narrative also works well, sketching an immersive world while delivering twists and revelations. Plenty of players will have issues with the decision to only control the game using the keyboard. It feels annoying at first but adds to the immersion and it’s relatively easy to learn. The development team at LuGus knows how to blend mechanics and story in cool ways and Midnight Protocol is the kind of hacker-centered experience that no other medium can deliver.

Wasteland 2 is a game which appeals to a rather narrowly-defined set of gamers, but seems to deliver all the features and concepts that role-playing post-apocalyptic fans are interested in, which means that it can provide them with hundreds of hours of enjoyment.

Overall the game is a great indie production and one that will enchant the people who are into games revolving around questions about the meaning of our existence. It is a beautifully crafted walking simulator, with a unique atmosphere and some memorable moments, but no replay value at all.

Defense Grid 2 is a stellar tower defense game that manages to bring back the great recipe of its predecessor, while adding plenty of elements to make it more complex.

Steel Rats comes like a breath of fresh air in the platformer genre thanks to the vehicle combat elements mixed in, which boost the game's intensity to a level any hardcore gamer dreams of. While you may start off cursing at how you control your bike, a few hours into the game you'll be going faster and faster, chopping through bots, dodging falling debris and speed running through levels like you've been born doing it.

My Lovely Empress offers an interesting mix of mechanics. Making sure the empire is growing and all classes are satisfied is pretty hard, even when bonds with the Yaoguai are strong. On top of that players need to woo neighboring rulers and decide how to best go about the complex task of bringing the empress back to life. I like the variety, but I would have liked some extra depth, especially for the title’s management side. But I suspect the balance is carefully crafted to appeal to long-term franchise fans. My Lovely Empress has strong mechanics, an interesting universe, and ten Yaoguai to interact with, a good package for anyone who likes both management and relationships.

Affogato mixes two ideas that don’t normally belong together. The puzzle-style, card-driven reverse tower defense is pretty unique as an idea but suffers from a lack of variety and some difficulty spikes. The developers need to consider a sequel that focuses on this side of the game to explore its potential. Unfortunately, the coffee-making fails to deliver the same excitement level. All the character moments and conversations could have existed without the drink-making part. The game’s story doesn’t have many surprises but the relationship between Affogato and Mephista has enough charm to power the game.

The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria tries to take a well-known license and connect it with the already classic ideas of the survival crafting genre. Unfortunately, the game doesn’t quite manage to deliver on either. There are some nice callbacks to the books and TV franchise but nothing to keep its fans engaged in the long term.

Persona 4 Golden remains a very good JRPG, but the most important virtue of this re-release is that it makes you appreciate even more Persona 5 and the later entries. Unfortunately, this remaster will not make the list of best practices. In particular, the graphics are underwhelming, so only those with nostalgia for the PS2 era will probably be able to enjoy it fully. The rest of the players will tolerate it together with other quirks of the game, in order see through the great story, while focusing on the gameplay experience. With some more effort and budget invested, we could have gotten a true remaster, which could have elevated the entire game and make it memorable for new audiences.

Star Wars Outlaws is not a masterpiece or a major innovation, but it is a fun experience, and it shows that it was developed by people passionate about the Star Wars universe. It is a somewhat typical Ubisoft game that was better put together than most of the productions we have seen from them in a while. It is not perfect, but it is entertaining and immersive, with an overwhelming amount of content. Some of it can feel tedious and is repetitive, but it is up to you of much you want to grind. There are plenty of ways to earn credits, and the game allows different gameplay styles. The only major problem at the moment are the bugs that need to be fixed ASAP to be able to fully enjoy this experience.

Fell Seal: Arbiter's Mark is not a perfect game, but there aren't too many things that I would change. Its biggest flaw is the generic story, but there are some balancing issues as well. Also, some game system are thoroughly explained, so I strongly recommend reading the help page or the PDF manual that comes with the game.

Broken Roads is a video game that shows how quickly the ambitions of a development team can outrun its ability to deliver. The Outback setting is great, but the narrative threads can interact in weird ways. The Moral Compass is impressive as a concept but can feel restrictive in practice. Combat is just stiff enough to feel like a chore. Bugs and glitches sometimes interfere with quest progress. I love the sections where the focus is on talking to people, clicking on the environment for some extra lore, and thinking about where to source things people need to improve their lives. The narrator greatly enhances emotional moments. Broken Roads has heart and good systems. Players who like the setting and the RPG genre should play it if they are comfortable with some jank, while others should wait for a few patches before buying it.

If not for some annoying technical issues and the generic plot, Shadows: Awakening would have probably been one of the best aRPGs launched this year. Still, there are a lot of good things that I've experienced during my playthrough, such as the innovative combat system that offers lots of tactical options, the smooth switching between characters, as well as the eye candy landscapes. Heretic Kingdoms remains a franchise with great potential, so I'm very curious to see where developers are going to go from here. Obviously, there's room to improve the formula, but I'd like to see something new as well.