If you like city builders and you want to test yourself as you create the ultimate city, Memoriapolis has it all cut out for you. Yes, there are a few performance issues, and the learning curve is steep at times, but the game is a very competent city builder that carved its own niche, and which (I hope) will continue to grow with more maps, buildings and new features. But even now, with the 1.0 version, the game is totally worth checking out, especially if you enjoy city building and urban planning.

The game is amazing from all stand-points, from the story to the mechanics and visuals, and I have to say that I was pleased that the Re-Mars-tered version did actually feel like a significant improvement, even if it was just a re-release of the same game with better visuals slapped on to it. All in all, Red Faction Guerrilla Re-Mars-tered is a game I would definitely recommend to anyone, especially if they think too much time has passed since the last Red faction game release.

Stirring Abyss is a very good indie take on the modern XCOM formula that will make tactics fans happy, although it is not really a spiritual successor to Terror from the Deep. The campaign itself, on Normal difficulty, offers a solid challenge by itself and the game also has an Endless mode for even more replayability. Yes, there are difficulty spikes, especially the boss battles, that can frustrate. But the tension between preparedness and speed that the mechanics created is something that more modern tactics focused titles should try to replicate.

Assassin’s Creed Mirage returns to the roots of the franchise, but doesn’t bring anything new to the table, at least nothing important. This is far from being a bad game, but it’s certainly not a breath of fresh air for an antiquated series. The things that pull Assassin’s Creed Mirage out of the mediocrity pool are the setting, voice acting and soundtrack. Although I had an enjoyable experience playing Mirage, I can’t shake the feeling that I’ve already played this game numerous times in the past.

Neon Blight has a clear gameplay loop that can become addictive. Kill enemies, explore the wilderness, make progress on some quests, find guns, take them back to the store and see who wants to pay to become the new owners. More depth would have been appreciated but the game mechanics mostly work as they should. Unfortunately, the game really spikes the difficulty when it comes to boss encounters, and constantly dying to their overwhelming abilities isn’t very fun. The developers at Bleeding Tapes channel some cool influences into their title but I feel that a little more balancing work and extra ideas are required to make it stand out from the crowd.

Airship: Kingdoms Adrift is a good game for anyone who wants a modern twist on classics like Sid Meier’s Pirates. The core story explores pretty familiar ground but it’s fun to simply move through the game’s world, make some money, enter tense battles, and find ways to improve ships and grow one’s fleet. The title’s release was troubled but developers claim that they have now restored all game content that’s supposed to be available, although bugs are still present. Airship: Kingdoms Adrift is an ambitious video game that offers some great moments but really never fully delivers on its promise.

Hard West II, just like the predecessor, is the living proof that there’s life after XCOM too. Although the game could do with a bit more weapons, in between the multiple abilities and poker cards system, it offers enough variation to warrant a full playthrough. If you’re a fan of turn-based strategy games, Hard West II is a no brainer. The game does what it sets out to do, despite lacking deeper RPG elements and some balancing issues. I also loved the voice-acting and the overall presentation of the game. I’d like to see more of the latter in small budget titles, it shouldn’t be that hard to achieve. Play this if you love XCOM, but don’t play it like XCOM!

Colossal Cave is an intriguing experience that might struggle to find an audience. I’m sure that people who played the classic title will like to see how it looks in 3D or VR. It is also clear some of its charm is lost in the transition. Modern gamers might be turned off by the relatively limited mechanics and narrative. A solid dose of nostalgic appreciation is required to keep going after a few good runs.

A solid debut of this spinoff mini-series.

Tyrant's Blessing is an interesting title with clear limitations. The combat mechanics are engrossing and create very cool moments, with the various difficulty levels carefully designed to draw in new players but also to challenge veterans. It’s very fun to think ahead, consider enemy moves, put together a plan and then finish a battle with no damage taken and all objectives accomplished. The rogue elements aren’t as interesting as the tactical battles, but they serve the game well. Unfortunately, neither the universe nor the presentation is good enough to keep players engaged if they fail to connect with the mechanics in a deep way. Tyrant's Blessing is initially charming and delivers good tactics puzzles but might lack staying power.

In the end, Revenge of the Savage Planet doesn’t pretend to be a groundbreaking epic. Instead, it knows exactly what it is — a compact, weird, satirical space romp that pokes fun at genre clichés while delivering a solid gameplay experience. The mechanics are simple but polished, the humor outrageous but purposeful, and the world design vibrant enough to keep you wandering just a little longer than you intended. It may be a “metroidvania lite,” but in a sea of overly complex open-world titles and self-serious sci-fi shooters, Revenge of the Savage Planet stands out by refusing to take itself too seriously — and in doing so, it delivers something genuinely memorable. Not revolutionary, but certainly worth the trip.

Capes is clearly designed to appeal to anyone who has played and liked X-COM and its tactical puzzles. The game successfully moves the action to a universe featuring superheroes. I liked the theme, although the developers don’t do much new with it. Unfortunately, the presentation, especially the graphics, isn’t as good as the mechanics. This is a video game that emphasizes a thorough understanding of one’s team and a desire to execute a mission as well as possible. Revisiting levels to get more skill points is expected. Capes is challenging and complex and offers fans of the tactics space plenty of options to experiment and optimize.

Terra Nil is an optimistic and well-designed reverse city builder. Its gameplay ideas are easy to understand and each scenario poses specific challenges that take attention and care to solve. Gamers will love the feeling of hope that infuses the painstaking process of taking a barren landscape and getting it to a point where flora and fauna are in harmony and no human presence remains. The mix of levels that are procedurally generated with a variety of biomes also keeps the challenge fresh. Greening the levels seems relatively easy at first but there’s a lot of mechanical depth to explore. Terra Nil never reaches the complexity of some of its city builder competitors but has a unique angle and innovative gameplay.

Best Served Cold has engaging mysteries, engaging characters, and limited gameplay. I like the setting, with its mix of historical inspirations and escalating social tension. And all the characters are fun to chat with, even if the killers tend to be a little predictable. This is a good narrative to experience alongside your choice of a cocktail. Unfortunately, actually mixing drinks is not exciting at all and serves most as a short pause for players to consider how they plan on steering dialogue. Still, some of the recipes are interesting enough that players should try mixing them in the real world. Best Served Cold is an enjoyable detective game that neglects its bartending side.

Rising Lords is dedicated to fans of turn-based strategy with a historical element who don’t want to deal with unnecessary complexity. The game’s focus is on the economy and, specifically, the peasant-powered food supply. Small events can have big consequences and it is never easy to always give people full rations. The turn and hex-driven battles are also decent if lacking in surprises. The card system feels under-cooked. Rising Lords also offers players extra game modes, editors, and multiplayer, giving them multiple ways to engage with its core gameplay loops.

Art of War for Europa Universalis IV feels essential in a way that no other expansion launched so far for the grand strategy title has felt, mostly because of the significant way it improves the map and thereby introduces more choices and variety to the entire experience.

If you don’t mind the lack of direction or storyline, Reassembly can provide many hours of great fun, with rewarding gameplay, a solid atmosphere and great soundtrack. It feels polished, the ship builder is really clean and easy to use, and it scratches that itch that makes you want to build and optimize in an unending cycle.

Card Detective combines two different concepts in an innovative way. Hazel Gong is the very model of an intrepid reporter, although the story she’s chasing is a bit mundane. And it’s fun to guide her as she chases the truth, either by asking direct questions or by carefully analyzing a subject. The card mechanics work well and there’s enough variety and space to craft decks and strategies. Some extra hints about how to best balance direct approaches and analysis would have been great to keep newcomers to the genre engaged. The title’s biggest weakness is the relatively mundane story and some difficulty spikes. Card Detective shows how the card-battler genre can evolve when combined with new approaches and offers complex card puzzles to solve.

True Colors is a worthy continuation of the franchise. Releasing all the episodes at the same time was a good call, since you can go through the story in one sitting, offering around 8 hours’ worth of emotional journey. It is not perfect, and it would have deserved a more elaborate ending. It cannot be as emotional as Before the Storm or as important as the first game, but it keeps the best parts of its predecessors and adds some new elements that fit seamlessly in the mix. It is mandatory for all the fans of the series and a must try for those who think video games should be about much more than just shooting and explosions.

Shogun Showdown has one of the most focused designs I’ve recently encountered in the rogue-lite space. It is very easy to understand its movement and tile use mechanics, but it is very hard to master them and get through a location with minimal health losses. Still, there’s enough variety that it rarely feels repetitive. The lack of a proper narrative is only partially compensated for by the character and world design. Unlocks, handled via skills, can feel slow. But Shogun Showdown is impressive enough mechanically to satisfy any fan of its genre and has the potential to draw newcomers to it.

Ark of Charon picks up ideas from a variety of genres and manages to create a coherent experience, with a focus on careful management of resources. The base building, especially because the small space leads to creative solutions, is the most interesting part of the experience but does not take up the most time. Combat is passable, especially once players focus on stockpiling ammo and learn to manually fire one of their guns. But resource gathering can be annoying, especially when the golems don’t seem to do what’s expected of them and the only solution is to spam the prioritize button. Ark of Charon offers an interesting challenge but its mechanics should be improved via patches.

Those who pick it up will experience some interesting moments, but they will also need to be prepared to deal with some frustrating design choices.

The Land Beneath Us is a good game for anyone who likes fast action, quick but thought-out decisions, and a rogue-lite structure. It doesn’t do much to innovate in any of these spaces, but the mechanical implementation is strong. The idea of wielding four weapons, one for each movement and attack direction, creates interesting tactical possibilities. There’s also plenty of variety for both relics and weapons, which keeps runs fresh. The presentation and story are competent, although nothing special when compared to other titles in this space. The Land Beneath Us delivers a fluid and fun experience as long as players don’t mind some runs that simply go nowhere.

The combination of melancholy, frustration, and joy Rival Megagun brings to players mustn’t be underestimated. It’s an almost perfect blend of genres that just might spawn some fantastic sequels.

Hexguardian doesn’t represent a revolution for the tower defence or the rogue-lite genres but its mechanics are polished. The lack of world-building is a little disappointing and the presentation is adequate and not much more. But the title creates that just one more try feeling, based on the wide variety of unlockable tools and upgrades and the many ways in which tile work can affect survival time. The core loop will become repetitive. The game does all it can to spice it up with opportunities to test new strategies and a general sense of progression, but it depends on the players whether they find it meditative or boring. I had fun with Hexguardian’s mix of ideas but I’m unsure how often I will return to them.

Teslagrad 2 is both a rewarding and frustrating experience and how players feel about it will depend a lot on their tolerance for failure and repetition. Most of the movement puzzles look easy but, especially later in the game, take almost perfect execution to solve. Boss fights break up the pace and offer some great moments but also ask players to repeat the same moves to win. It’s often hard to stick with such a demanding game and the relative lack of narrative does not help. The game’s world is intriguing, with its mash-up of Vikings and electric powers. Teslagrad 2's minimalist approach creates a certain purity for gameplay but might make it hard for players to care about Lumina and her journey.

We Are the Caretakers is unique in terms of fictional universe and themes. I know of no other video game that pits players against poachers and puts the preservation of a species so front and center. The experience offers a sense of discovery that I found delightful. The problem lies with the execution, which is affected by limited resources. Presentation never manages to do the world justice. The core mechanics are decent but they tend to become repetitive. We Are the Caretakers is a good strategy and role-playing mix that had the potential for so much more.

If you’re looking for a card battler that looks gorgeous and has a captivating story, Ash of Gods: The Way is a must play. Just make sure you have graduated with a master’s degree in strategic turn-based battles and puzzle-solving.