Sid Meier's Starships is a good and replayable turn based strategy experience that will certainly appeal to lovers of classic science fiction franchises and to those who appreciate the way the leader of Firaxis managed to make player choices relevant.

Sam and Max Beyond Space and Time Remastered targets the same audience as the Save the World Remaster. The same developers, the same recipe, the same heroes and references. So, there was little chance for things to go off-track. Still, Sam and Max Beyond Space and Time Remastered is a precious lesson in how a remaster should be put together. Without altering too much the original content, the developers managed to make the game feel relevant and modern. Just as the previous remaster, this one is mandatory for the nostalgic and the point and click fans.

I am impressed with the things Islands & Trains manages to achieve, despite being a small game. You have multiple biomes, lots of building tools, a cozy environment and a wonderful railroad-building experience. Yes, it won’t surpass Train Valley or any other train management titles. But it doesn’t even try to do that. Instead, it blends railroad building with a cozy sandbox experience. It’s fun, beautiful in its own right, and with a good soundtrack. There’s no stress, no anxiety, just a cozy place where you can unwind and have a great time. I’ve spent quite a bit of time creating my own railroads over 3 different maps, and I am still coming back to it. Plus, it seems the game will continue getting more updates, and I am keeping my hopes up for a map sharing feature. But despite that, I think it’s one of the better cozy sandbox games, and one that can help cheer you up, while also letting your creativity run loose.

Paper Cut Mansion makes a great first impression, with its original environments and characters. The adventure game mechanics, mostly linked to the NeoCortex, are also well-implemented, although a little more clarity in room layout would have helped. The ideas for the other two dimensions are less interesting but add important variety. The entire experience starts off a little slow but there’s plenty of intrigue to keep players engaged after a few hours. The game’s momentum is limited by its rogue elements. It needs to open up more options faster to keep players interested or to simply make it easier to progress without dying. Paper Cut Mansion has a good mix of ideas with some issues around implementation, delivering a good experience for adventure game fans who want a few twists on the familiar concepts of the genre.

Star Wars: Squadrons is a well-balanced game, that manages to offer quality single-player experience and an immersive multiplayer part. There is still is for some balancing, but the game works pretty well. Every aspect of the game seems to have received the same amount of attention and as the result, the story actually is important, not just an appendix. The multiplayer is not earth-shattering, but it is fun at least for a while. Despite all the initial reservations, Squadrons turned out to be a good game, with intense action, plenty of room to personalize the experience, and lots of fun. Squadrons is not a trap, but a rather pleasant surprise.

I enjoyed my time with Clawpunk, because it’s the type of game where you shut your brain off and just start shooting. It’s fast-paced, it has amazing boss battles, and it does a great job at bringing those classic 90’s titles like Metal Slug back to life. Yes, it might not be perfect, nor does it have to be. Instead, it’s meant to offer us a healthy dose of nostalgia, while also testing our skills over and over. I like a lot of ideas that they added here. The great characters they included and the ability to switch between them as you need to, that came in handy more times than I realized. And not only that but slashing through dozens of enemies felt very satisfying. As you go into boss battles, things become even more hectic, and just as fulfilling. Clawpunk might seem like a weird game at first glance, but it’s one of those indie games that you need to experience for yourself to see how fun it can be.

Hides a very challenging shoot'em up experience under its vibrant visuals and, provided you're willing to brave its perma-death and procedural mechanics, you're in for a compelling experience, especially if you have friends to play with or against.

The Flame in the Flood will impress players during the first few hours with its style and the way its survival mechanics interact with one another, but the game will likely only keep fans of the rogue genre engaged in the long term.

TimeMelters has a very good core idea and uses it expertly, finding cool new ways to challenge players while also offering them the tools to come up with interesting solutions. Rewinding when close to death isn’t a bad idea but it’s much more interesting to create a dull loop for a past self and only then move on to another timeline. The game’s fictional universe is decent if not exciting and the presentation doesn’t shine. There are moments when trial-and-error challenge design can generate some frustration. But TimeMelters is mechanically unique and I hope the team at Autoexec Games finds ways to refine it for future projects.

Phoenix Point: Year One Edition is what the game should have been when it was first launched more than one year ago. The development team at Snapshot has listened to the community, delivered a whole lot of free patches, and has managed to create a great strategic experience and a solid tactical one. It’s a shame that many people will not play this new package because of the problems that the title originally had. Phoenix Point is a deeper experience than the new XCOM and a drier one. It rewards careful strategic planning, strictly by the rules tactical executions, and a lack of attachment to individual units. The best way to enjoy the game is in short sessions, maybe two missions at a time, to allow for time to mentally explore possibilities and forget some of the frustrations.

MX vs ATV Legends is a great game, there’s no doubt about it, but on the other hand, it’s pretty clear that it can’t be considered a finished title at this point. In some ways, it feels like a work-in-progress, though most of the time, it can still provide the challenging experience that it promises regardless of the platform. The addition of an open environment is hands down the best idea, as it provides the off-road adventure with a new side that’s more or less based on exploration. At the same time, it feels like it generates a high replayability level, and at the end of the day, this is what helps keep a game alive a long time after its launch.

Rarely have I ever played a JRPG that was so faithful to the source material you felt like watching an anime with brief moments of gameplay. You get to relive the same epic story that has yet to be finished, but this time you see it from the point of view of someone who was actually there, and not just a spectator. As such, if you’re a hardcore Attack on Titan fan, or you want to play something that will ease your introduction into the series, then I recommend Attack on Titan 2 wholeheartedly.

Exodus Borealis is a good mix of genres. It creates tensions by asking gamers to constantly balance priorities and work with limited resources. It introduces quite a bit of complexity with its gems and challenges the player to create a solid tower system that will take down enemies and can be easily expanded. I, personally, didn’t love the choice to make monsters only attack targets in the village, rather than the actual towers. But I understand how it helps balance the experience while increasing the danger level. The main ideas of Exodus Borealis are good and it will be interesting to see whether Smug Marmot Studios will expand on them using the Vupfox or if they plan to use new protagonists for their next project.

Unrest offers a gripping story about hope, failure, action and inaction, fear and security, which feels more like an interactive visual novel than an actual game. And a well-written one, at that. Sort of like A Game of Thrones without endlessly waiting for the dragons to come, the game delivers its quick shot of gripping narrative, challenges you to make a couple of life and death decisions, then leaves you boiling in the karmic print of your choices.

Augmented Empire is a decent experience that doesn’t innovate enough to become truly engaging. The universe, with its noir and science-fiction ideas, is well-designed, with solid character interactions and voice actors that breathe life into them. The tactical combat system works well but combat spaces are too small to make the engagements interesting. The game is forced to make its QTEs more difficult to make sure players have to actually use healing or special character abilities. The graphics do not impress. Augmented Empire needed bigger combat spaces and more enemy variety to make an impression on fans of the turn-based strategy genre.

HELL OF FEAR: Mind Breach successfully manages to bring us the intensity of survival games, along with the horror expected from titles like Dead Space. While it’s clearly an indie game, it delivers a nicely polished experience where you always try to stay alive and fulfill the different missions that appear along the way. The story here is great, but also contained to the base, so you won’t see a variety of environments or anything like that. Despite some minor shortcomings, HELL OF FEAR: Mind Breach is still a great game to play, especially if you are a fan of the horror genre. The survival elements sprinkled in are exciting and won’t deter the experience. The game is adequately priced for what it offers as well, just make sure that you go in with the right expectations.

Despite its shortcomings, Dark Souls Remastered is a welcome release that will hopefully breathe new life into the community and multiplayer activity with both new and old players. It may also be the last souls game release for quite some time, given From Software’s latest endeavours.

Battlefield V changes the way historical FPS games are told, as it puts the human psyche ahead of glory, fame, and frags, or at least it does so until you join a multiplayer match.

John Wick Hex feels like an action flick starring a voiceless Keanu Reeves. It may not go as deep as the movies story-wise, but it's a great adaptation of a successful franchise. I admit that the first few hours were a bit frustrating since the game doesn't tell you to be careful with the bandages, but John Wick Hex is the kind of game that you want to keep playing even when it punishes your every mistake. I admire some of the design choices made by the developer, such as turning John Wick Hex into a strategy game rather than a pure top-down shooter. Even though it's far from being a perfect game, I had a lot of fun playing John Wick Hex.

Just like its characters, Wintermoor Tactics Club has a lot of soul. It is not perfect by any means, but the turn-based combat proves to be fun, the RPG elements are well integrated, while the story is compelling and thoroughly enjoyable. Still, there is no real challenge in the game, no replay value and despite the producer’s best efforts, the encounters can feel somewhat repetitive. WintermoorTcatics Club is an indie game as all indie games should be: it is not flashy, overcomplicated, or very long, but manages to be fun and exciting without the AAA budget. It is a single-player experience that any RPG fan should experience.

Despite being a bit tedious, Blasphemous offers many satisfying moments like being able to find a shortcut or a shrine when you most need it. Some of the quests are really interesting and even if they're not mandatory to finish the game, I would strongly recommend trying to finish as many of them as possible. The way the story is told (or rather discovered), the amazing artwork, and the fast-paced combat are aspects of the game that grabbed me throughout my playthrough. You'll indeed have to do a lot of backtracking if you want to complete as much as the game as possible, but the rewards are worth it.

Outshine is a difficult and unique experience that mixes arcade-style elements with typing-powered combat. The game wants to make the player as comfortable or as challenged as he wants to be. For the player who brushes up on his typing skills and wants to feel the adrenaline of a high-score chase, this is a great title. It also offers a good way for people trying to learn one of the supported languages to improve their skills, especially when played with some of the aids turned on. The sometimes over-cluttered visual space can be frustrating, as is the fact that it’s often hard to make progress without dropping the difficulty. Outshine gets bonus points for its innovative mixing of ideas and will certainly make any player much better at typing after some sustained sessions.

Martha Is Dead lives or dies by its core narrative and ability to immerse the player in it. I like the way it mixes the personal with the historical. I appreciate the care with which the developers have constructed the game world and I even like most of the photography-focused challenges. But, for me, the individual elements do not come together to form a coherent video game. Inconsistencies exist because the narrative needs to move forward. There’s frustration around the mechanics. Martha Is Dead is worth playing for its narrative but I want developers LKA to focus on a more streamlined experience for their next project.

Age of Darkness: Final Stand has solid mechanics that will appeal to gamers who are looking for an experience similar to They Are Billions. It is fun to juggle the dual needs of building a thriving settlement to get all the resources needed to outfit a capable military and build up fortifications that can stand up to hundreds of monsters. There are plenty of heroes and associated strategies for players to mold their playstyle around. The title’s biggest problems are the limited world-building and the drab campaign. Age of Darkness: Final Stand rewards preparation and risk-taking and will satisfy gamers looking for massive and tense battles.

Soccer Story is a good mix of soccer matches and adventure elements, with a world packed with side activities and cute details. It takes a little while to get used to the quick, tackle-driven matches. Playing an upgraded team against a solid computer opponent is both challenging and fun. This football-powered universe might not make a ton of sense but it is interesting to explore. It would work better with a smaller number of side activities. Soccer Story offers an exotic approach to the sport and builds a ton of fun mechanics around the simple act of kicking a ball at a target.

Empire of Sin has the core of a good game that blends three genres in cool ways. I am especially fond of the man-management and the ways the various mobsters work with one another and react during combat. But the current implementation, especially that of the battles, is frustrating. Romero Games needs to make management more important and to bring the characters to the front more. Patches also should include auto-resolve and a big balance update. Empire of Sin needs all of this to begin to realize its clear potential.

Terracotta is a game for players who can appreciate its mix of tough puzzles, unique universe, and two-dimensional mechanics. The game slowly adds more complexity, which is a good thing given its overall difficulty level. It’s not recommended for newcomers but will appeal to anyone who needs a tough action exploration experience. My biggest issue is that there’s no way to deal with the frustration of failure. There’s no choice of difficulty levels and constant death is not a great teaching tool. Terracotta’s gameplay innovations are good but players will need to invest time and energy if they want to experience everything that it has to offer.

While overall Mad Max borrows from past titles like Batman when it comes to combat, or Far Cry when it comes to the design of its open world and its activities, it still manages to stand out through its car combat. The story is also pretty compelling and manages to keep you invested even if some of the missions get repetitive after a while.