Rise of Industry 2 is a good industrial builder that emphasizes the role of personal relationships and strong management in the long-term success of corporations. Players will be challenged to find the best layout for their mining and manufacturing complexes. Mastering one type of industry doesn’t guarantee success when an investor requires expansion into another. The game’s narrative moments are decently written but sometimes seem separated from the circumstances, which limit immersion. The game’s look fits well with the 80s theme. Rise of Industry 2 creates fun challenges for city building and resource chain creation veterans, but it will not be easy to get into for newcomers.

I didn’t expect to revisit/replay Syberia in 2025, but I am happy I did. The game’s story is unaltered in the remaster, and it’s just as charming as it once was. What changed with the Syberia – Remastered version, however, is the overall presentation, collectibles, puzzles and a whole lot of other things. There are still improvements to be made, but as a whole, Syberia – Remastered is certainly worth exploring once again, especially if you love this amazing world and always wanted a reason to come back.

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.

Decade is impressive in its ambition, especially for a video game created by a solo developer. It aims to create a complex take on our future, complete with new philosophies, new political systems, a range of larger-than-life characters, and an innovative take on time travel. It doesn’t fully deliver on its promise but is still a fun experience. Quite a bit of reading is required to enjoy it all, with conversations and descriptions that are sometimes too verbose for their own good. The structure of the time travel limits what players can influence. Decade shines when it reveals new and weird takes on how the future might unfold but sometimes struggles to fully connect its narrative and its gameplay.

Tembo the Badass Elephant succeeds as a game about momentum but fails to make the overall package as solid as it could be.

A Little Golf Journey is a solid little puzzle experience that needs a little more narrative or immersion to keep players interested. The puzzle element works well, especially given the assists available to prevent frustration. I liked the mechanics best when I focused on doing as well as possible on two or three holes in one sitting, before giving my brain some space to think about other ideas to try out in the future. The developer understands what makes a physics-driven puzzle experience work for players. But they need to find more ways to draw gamers into the worlds they create. A Little Golf Journey is a great snack of a video game that is just a little too happy to push players to replay holes.

Honey, I Joined a Cult is an enjoyable game, as long as players know what to expect from this kind of management experience. The mechanics work well, there’s a constant sense of forward momentum, and the player is constantly busy contemplating how to increase experience and get the most out of his cult members. The game needs a higher top speed, as well as extra variety in the mission department. But the game does not deliver on any of the innovation and new ideas that the cult concept can support. The experience is well suited for newcomers to the genre but makes little effort to tweak its core ideas. Honey, I Joined a Cult makes it clear that Sole Survivor Games are good at creating a competent management title, but I really want to see them try to add a twist to the formula in coming projects.

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.

Anno 2205 is good city builder with an interesting take on the future of humanity and with plenty of humanity, the kind of video game that a player can spend tens of hours with as long as he is interested in making all his cities run at peak efficiency all of the time.

Super Galaxy Squadron is a solid shoot'em up/bullet hell hybrid that manages to feel welcoming to newcomers but also challenging to veterans. The variety of ships, the great endless mode, and the interesting story campaign make its downsides fade away.

God of Rock’s big idea, to mix fighting game and classic music concepts, is a very good one. I love how it manages to evoke stardom when I hit the notes at just the right time, groove to the music, and watch my favorite fighter pummeling an opponent. It’s easy to understand the mix of mechanics but it’s not easy to master them. The soundtrack is also great, both in terms of quality and variety. The game does need to improve its interface layout to accommodate more players. For anyone looking for innovation in the fighting game genre, God of Rock offers a good mix of mechanics as long as players have a few friends to battle against.

The game might be too gory and violent for some players but it is rarely gratuitous and playing through it is a great way to get a scared, explore a cool story and then sit back and think about how one might react when a cryosleep trip turns into a nightmare.

The gameplay is addictive and innovative, while the controls are simple and tight. Perhaps the game needed a few more tunes, but the pixel art is very well done. There’s no voice-acting, but there’s a little bit of an unconventional story to discover if you’re a fan of mysteries. 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.

It has plenty of high-speed and high-stakes action, it moves pretty fast at times, but it also gives you the time to plan your next move between objectives, and to select the ones you feel most familiar with.

Considered on its own, Pro Cycling Manager 2023 is a good cycling management simulation. It’s fun to create a custom team, fill it with youngsters, and try to dominate the sport in 3 to 5 years. Playing the official stages of this year’s Tour de France with any team in the peloton creates interesting situations and challenges. But the title fails to offer enough innovation when compared to last year’s installment. Anyone who still plays PCM 2022 should stick with that game until their favorite mod is updated. Pro Cycling Manager 2023 has solid core mechanics but the franchise needs to be more innovative going forward.

Tour de France 2023 captures the atmosphere of real-world cycling, which is crucial for this kind of sports simulation. It feels good to control some of the best riders of the moment, think about the strategy that best suits them, and then try to use limited energy resources at just the right time to secure a prestigious win. The game allows players to create some impressive narrative around their own created cyclist, taking them from humble beginnings to prestigious victories. But Tour de France 2023 is targeted squarely at fans of the sport and other gamers might struggle to fully engage with its mechanics and presentation.

Luckily, many aspects of the game are well above average, such as the anime artwork and the story. If you can get past the somewhat clunky combat and boring world, Code Vein can be appealing more often than not.

Starcom: Unknown Space isn’t a complex game with deep space combat mechanics. It’s more interested in conjuring the feeling of discovery that the best space-based fictional works create. Players will meet aliens and fight hostiles while improving tech and adding modules to their own spaceship. The narrative beats are derivative, and the game’s presentation isn’t top-notch. Starcom: Unknown Space understands why space exploration is such a great fantasy and wants players to get lost among the stars.

Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham is a fun experience but it would've benefited more if it had embraced the whole Justice League theme. What's more, its puzzles need a bit of tuning, as some are really tricky to figure out, which can grow frustrating even for experienced Lego fans. Still, you'll find quite a lot of amusing moments and a pretty fun story, once you get past the opening stages.

I like Primal the most when it's many systems interact in interesting ways and when it forces me to think of new ways to deal with a powerful predator or a powerful group of enemies, but there are also moments when the entire experience feels to close to both Far Cry 4 and 3.

Kaya's Prophecy has an intriguing mix of ideas. I like the idea of using combinations of cards to create a thriving village and build the tools required for villagers to then fight enemies and earn special rewards. All the game’s ideas are easy to understand and even gamers who aren’t familiar with card-driven experiences will quickly feel at home. Unfortunately, the combat system is limited and repetitive. And the village development suffers because actions take long, even on the highest speed setting, and the booster pack randomness can be frustrating. Kaya's Prophecy struggles to find ways to make its two core systems interact in cool ways.

Oceanhorn: Master of Uncharted Seas is a pretty enjoyable action adventure experience. Yes, it's a Zelda clone, but it pulls it off very well and, while some aspects, like the sea fairing mechanic, weigh it down, it's still quite a treat to play.

Tango Fiesta is a blast to play, both solo as well as with friends. The tongue-in-cheek tone, plus the slick mechanics make for an enjoyable time, while the procedurally-generated level layouts ensure that coming back to it is never dull. It does take a while to get used to its twin-stick shooting, as well as its enemies that get quite aggressive as you progress through the movies.

Limerick: Cadence Mansion is a good game for spooky season because it has plenty of familiar mechanics while creating an interesting universe. It’s not horror by any means but there are some effective scary moments. The game creates constant tension between the drive to discover more and the need to run to a Panic room to avoid death and recover. The puzzles aren’t too difficult but contribute variety. Limerick: Cadence Mansion should have leaned harder into its theme but it still offers an interesting take on action horror for players to engage with during the spooky season.

Evil West manages to do a great job entertaining players and that’s what all games should do. Despite some mediocre writing and lack of memorable characters, Evil West delivers on its promise to provide players with an exhilarating gameplay experience.

We feel like the decision to substitute player freedom with scripted scenes is questionable, even if it was done to maintain the pressure throughout the game. Overall, Resident Evil 3 Remake feels solid, being worth of the time both of the newcomers and old fans alike.

Considered on its own, with no space for nostalgia or positive past experiences, Crow Country isn’t a great game. The presentation is limited, and the gameplay never tries to do anything new. The puzzle design is good and the story, while starting off slowly, does have some great moments and one big strong twist. This sounds like a game that dedicated survival horror fans would like but not love. Fortunately, there are plenty of gamers who idealize the first few installments of Resident Evil or Silent Hill. Crow Country is designed to make them smile and give them a cool new narrative with classic mechanics that they will enjoy every second of.

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.