Bear With Me - The Complete Collection is one of those titles that you'll either love or hate, depending if you're a fan of the Point and Click or noir genres. The Complete Collection doesn't actually bring anything new to the table besides having all episodes made available from a single main menu, which is only a bonus if you're a fan of the series. All in all, it is a game series that will definitely feel memorable, even if it doesn't appeal to such a wide audience like other genres.

All in all, Wartile is a fair indie game: it is different, well-executed and humble. If you like tabletop games or if you are just looking for something different, tactical and fun, you will not regret the 15 hours spent moving the Vikings from hexagon to hexagon.

If you are looking for an RPG that dares to implement change and has a novel approach to the genre, Tower of Time has lots of potentials, but wait until all the issues are fixed.

Overall, Metamorphosis does a tremendous job in bringing to life the atmosphere characteristic to the works of Kafka, toning somewhat down the depressive and trying to put some fun into it. It is an adventure which substitutes the drama with a more light-hearted, but still surreal self-discovery walkabout. But it feels more like a quite short interactive experience, rather than a videogame. Metamorphosis lacks variety and cohesive gameplay, focusing too much on the story and the atmosphere. As such even the current price may seem a bit high for this unusual game. It is a surreal experiment which despite its intriguing source material, will never become a classic due to its dull inner workings.

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.

Little Big Workshop should be a tremendously fun and immersive experience when the countless bugs are fixed. Currently, the console experience will be just as worthy of your time as the PC version is. Fortunately, the producers seem to be aware of the countless issues, and they are working on fixing them (several patches have already been deployed). Still, the state of the game at launch remains inexcusable, and even after several patches, some major issues continue to plague the game's complex mechanics. If you have picked up Little Big Workshop right after release and got turned down by the technical issues, then wait for a few more patches and give it another chance. If you're considering the game, wait for a discount since Little Big Workshop might be fixed by then.

Neighbours Back From Hell is fun but misses quite a few opportunities. The veterans would have loved to get the three absent levels, for the newcomers it would have been a tremendous help to see the tutorials and a leader board would have added replay value and would have extended the short gameplay time. As it stands, Neighbours Back From Hell feels like a hastily put together package that with a bit more attention could have been the remaster we did not know that we needed, but we really enjoyed, instead of the remaster no one asked for and no one will remember.

October Night Games has a cool premise but suffers a bit when it comes to executions. The mix of Lovecraftian horrors, rituals, alchemy, and spooky characters works well in the context. But the game needs to have more information available to players, especially when they play against the A.I., to allow them to make clear decisions and reach their goals. The team at Octobear Knight Games is promising tutorials and manuals are coming, which is great. In the meantime, gamers need to be armed with quite a bit of patience to navigate the world and learn all the mechanics. Make sure to play the tutorial campaign at least once. The deduction, dice-based combat, horror powered rituals, and weirdness at the core of October Night Games work well in single player and would be even more engaging with friends.

In the end, Mars Horizon turns out to be quite a simple game, despite the initial complex impression. Because of the repetitive gameplay, although the game has replay value, most players will be rather bothered by the end they finish the race to Mars and will not be tempted to try again. It is worth a try if you are a fan of space exploration, but curb your enthusiasm regarding the fun the game can provide.

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.

The Dark Eye: Memoria is the best reason to play Chains of Satinav, not just to fully comprehend the story, but also to appreciate the evolution of the series. With memorable characters, interesting gameplay elements, and attention to detail turns Memoria into a pretty good adventure game. Yes, in some places the story feels a bit rushed and Geron is just as gray as ever, but the adventures of Sadja bring life into the game. The ending feels right and the fact that you have a choice finally plays into the overall theme of breaking free from the chains of faith.

The Dark Eye: Chains of Stainav despite the best efforts of Daedalic Entertainment was and remains a mediocre adventure game. It is not completely bad, but it is not remarkable either. The story has quite a few gaps, and the gameplay can be frustrating due to the interactive objects that play no part in solving the puzzles. If you are a point and click adventure fan going through a dry spell, it may be worth picking up Chains of Satinav to fill a winter weekend, when you would just rather stay inside. If you just discover this videogame genre there are far better options out there to immerse yourself in.

Hot Brass is an intriguing game that restricts its ability to keep players engaged. The SWAT fantasy is well transferred into mechanics but the overall look of the game makes it hard to fully enjoy. The missions are designed for multiple approaches but different ways of engaging with the title do not deliver a variety of thrills or failures. The focus on real-time action is probably the biggest drawback because it undermines the importance of planning. While the pressure and tension work well the top-down action title is too confusing at times. Trying for an objective, again and again, becomes frustrating.

Signs of the Sojourner presents itself as a contemporary art piece, where the truth and the beauty are in the eye of the beholder. It is carefully put together, it conveys a series of messages and it is based on an original concept. Unfortunately, it fails to create harmony between the gameplay and the story, so the result feels fractured. The story is too slow, the card play is not engaging enough, and the gap between the two elements is never actually bridged. Signs of the Sojourner remains a bizarre experiment, that had potential, but where the artists stumbled being tripped by their own feet.

Legends of Ellaria is one example of how too much ambition can lead to a hard to enjoy the final product. There’s simply too much here to have fun. The transitions are too long. The strategic layer does not add any sort of fun. The management can be enjoyable but does not mesh well with the rest of the experience.

Poker Club is fully functional, but a totally bland experience. You have many gamification elements implemented on top of the actual poker game, like the customization options and the clubs. But these do not bring added value, since they do not have real effects on the gameplay experience. Having fixed most of the technical and visual bugs that plagued the initial release, Poker Club cannot overcome the issues that haunt all the poker simulators. The unpredictability of the human element brings tediousness and a slow pace, without being able to replicate the thrills of playing face to face with another human being.

Academia: School Simulator is a medium commitment simulation experience, meaning that it’s engrossing without overwhelming. Gamers do not have to worry about coming tweaks or the introduction of entirely new mechanics because the game is content complete. The title also has a very extensive set of mods that can introduce variety when a player feels like a master of the core experience.

Realpolitiks II is a good grand strategy experience. It has plenty of mechanics to engage with and cool ways to push the player to try new things depending on the nation he chooses. The international system is underdeveloped but the project concept is an innovation that works well. The development team at Jujubee has also focused on the modern world, a period that not many titles in the genre try to tackle (Paradox has not yet moved much beyond World War II). Realpolitiks II might seem complex for newcomers but its mix of ideas and execution will work well for anyone who has even a little experience with the grand strategy space.

Anna’s Quest is a solid adventure game, that fails to become memorable. Both the puzzles and the story are just too generic, the characters are lacking emotion, and once finished, most probably you will never feel the need to spin it up again. The dialogues are plain and the pace of the story is way too slow, with only a few moments you could actually call funny. The simple graphics do not bring justice to the fairy tale theme of the game, and overall Anna’s Quest is far from the level we come to expect from Daedalic.

The Dungeon of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet of Chaos on paper has all the right ingredients. Unfortunately, they are not implemented as you would expect them to be, and the game ends up as a bad parody of itself rather than of the fantasy genre. The coarse and uninspired humor does not work as the developers have intended, and in the long run, it becomes annoying. The Dungeon of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet of Chaos has a lot of untapped potentials, unfortunately, due to the countless technical issues it is hard to recommend the console version to any players.

The developer clearly is a fan of some classic experiences and knows how to take their spirit and bring it to the present. The challenge is to update the core mechanics interestingly and choose the right concepts for the world he is building. Guild of Darksteel is ultimately a shallow experience that does not offer much more than its demo but I am curious what Sandman can create in the future.

The Procession to Calvary is short, does not have much gameplay, is not really a challenge but it is truly brilliant. It is a game that is fun due to the humor of Joe Richardson and it makes you laugh and entertains you without trying too hard. Most jokes are over the top and should not exist in a politically correct world. Thank God this game is light years away from that tendency and manages to walk its own path. If you have played Four Last Things, The Procession to Calvary is mandatory. But even if you have not played Richardson’s previous game, this one is worth every minute of the roughly four hours you will need to finish it. It does not care if it offends, as long as it entertains.

The idea of creating a game world built around knowledge is a good one. But the developers at Souris-Lab should try to better define their mechanics if they expand on the world of Hemeide and to make clear what kind of players they target. Their puzzle design ability is solid, A Tale of Synapse is a good debut title, and it will be interesting to see what kind of experience they can create next.

Pile Up! Box by Box is not a bad family game, but it is a completely forgettable one. Despite the nice visuals and friendly artistic style, the level design and the puzzles do not live up to the promise. The control is not always the best, since the camera often plays tricks with your depth perception making jumping from shelf to shelf, somewhat annoying. The lack of danger and challenge, makes the game kid friendly, but the lack of online co-op is hurting the entire package.

Star Dynasties is a good mix of ideas, setting, and complexity. The character-driven experience delivers unexpected thrills, weird situations, nice stories, and impressive catastrophes. Players need to invest a little of their imagination to get the best out of the game, but the overall experience is worth it.

Residual has a good main idea, but I found that there’s too little around it to make the experience compelling in the long run. I liked the world and the exploration, but I was less impressed with the crafting or the puzzle design. I wished for a stronger narrative hook to give me a clear reason to get somewhere or mine minerals or find more vines. Orange Pixel has been engaging with players in the Steam forums and patches quickly arrive to eliminate bugs and add functionality. A healthy community and more content are signs that the game is finding an audience that finds its mix of mechanics attractive. Residual is a great example of what a carefully crafted indie title can offer to fans.

Sure, art of rally is about the fun of rallying, but if it does put the focus on car handling and other sim-inspired elements, it should further refine the corner-cutting system too. It’s not cheating, it’s just a way to improve your racing times. Other than that, there’s no doubt, the PS5 version of art of rally only makes the game more enjoyable. There’s not much you’ll be getting in terms of graphics, especially since the low-poly system that it uses, but the aforementioned mix makes it an enjoyable way to get a taste of historical racing.

The outstanding art style is complemented by an audio part, building an atmosphere that invites you to explore and get lost in the game world. The apparently simple gameplay can be misleading and even a small mistake can cost you dearly. If you are not put off by the lack of action or combat, you will enjoy this game for an afternoon or two.