The Bookwalker: Thief of Tales relies on an intriguing concept, and for the most part is quite enjoyable. The adventure sequences are immersive and motivate you to push forward and discover more. The game becomes even more remarkable if we take into account that it has been developed by a team of four people. However, I believe that instead of investing effort in building the combat system, the studio’s time could have been better used to polish the story. Nevertheless, The Boolkwaker: Thief of Tales is a solid adventure that will most certainly keep you engaged from start to finish.

All in all, Harmony: The Fall of Reverie is a game that encourages reflection by tackling philosophical and moral issues, while making you question each decision you made. It’s an experience that carries you, only asking to let yourself be engulfed by the emotions it breathes.

DIG - Deep In Galaxies is a fast and fun experience that emphasizes freedom and variety. It does not have much in the way of narrative but the mechanics mix in an interesting way. Take on missions to deal with the Overlord’s minions or simply move from planet to planet and explore, it’s all engaging and tense. The game works best in short sessions with clear goals. The rogue elements need to be expanded the various unlocks should be a little more approachable. But DIG - Deep In Galaxies does not suffer too much because of these issues and will satisfy any player who loves exploration, fast-paced action, and a little chaos.

Transmogrify is a simple-to-understand puzzle platformer with an interesting core idea. There are a lot of possibilities centered on the transformation mechanic and some cool Eureka moments linked to the puzzles. The title’s creators have worked hard to create levels that steadily add complexity and require just enough brain power to solve. Considering how much potential the transmogrification process has, the game is very tame in its overall approach. The janitor and Grace also fail to become interesting as a pair, which makes it harder to move forward for someone who does not love platforming. Transmogrify’s unique idea is good enough to be used in more interesting ways and I hope the team at Odyssey is exploring them for a future game that would offer higher narrative stakes and expand the world.

Dave the Diver is captivating. It throws a lot of ideas at players, most of which are great. The dominant mechanics, diving and restaurant work, have depth and plenty of surprises. Even after many hours of harpoon fishing, it’s still thrilling to evaluate a target, aim, fire, struggle with it, and repeat until the result is extra sushi material. The many narrative threads don’t always connect with each other meaningfully, and there are some side activities that don’t impress. But Dave the Diver has cool characters, a strong core gameplay loop, and plenty of attention to detail to impress players with.

Silicon City will be interesting to any fan of the city-building genre that loves the classics but feels more modern titles never captured their magic. The inspiration is classic Sim City but with an extra layer of attention for citizens, their needs, and how quickly they can turn on a mayor who doesn’t build carefully, invest in public services, and invests money to keep them happy. The Classic game mode features a decent advancement system, although money fails to be a challenge pretty quickly. I appreciate the many ways the game offers information to reveal options for how cities can be improved. Silicon City has strong execution and a solid retro vibe, although I wanted the game to do more with its citizens and their interactions.

Heist Kitty: Multiplayer Cat Simulator can become a solid, chaotic multiplayer action game for a group of friends who appreciates silly conflict more than real combat for their open-world adventures. The game’s mechanics don’t break any new group for the genre but mostly work well, with one unique idea in the way cats can actually control how humans move. The experience is less interesting in single-player, mostly because the missions aren’t very engaging, and the city can soon start feeling small. It also feels like the cats do not cause nearly enough mayhem, especially in enclosed spaces full of breakable objects. Heist Kitty: Multiplayer Cat Simulator is a strong foundation on which the developers at LetMeowt can create a bigger, weirder experience with extra interactions.

Final Fantasy XVI is one of those very rare masterpieces with issues. Developed by a stellar team, the game shines when it comes to story and combat, but fails in other aspects like narrative structure, itemization and RPG elements. Featuring an enthralling story and gripping characters that scream Game of Thrones, Final Fantasy XVI is an emotional ride from start to finish. With more than 10 hours of cinematic cutscenes and an amazing soundtrack, Final Fantasy XVI is a feast for the senses. And the best thing is that you don’t even have to have played any of the previous Final Fantasy games to enjoy the latest entry. Final Fantasy XVI is a must-play regardless of whether or not you like action RPGs.

The Pegasus Expedition is a competent strategy game with some unique ideas and a narrative turn that not many in its genre attempt. I especially like how it asks players to carefully invest significant resources at the start and then settle into a more classic rhythm for a strategy game. The limited control of space battles means the action always moves at a rapid pace, and tough choices happen almost every turn. The problem here is that none of the innovative elements fully come together. The moral dilemmas in the story aren’t as engaging because the characters have limited appeal. There’s not enough strategy variety to keep ship engagements interesting. The Pegasus Expedition deserves to get a sequel that takes its core ideas and focuses on pushing them forward to truly revolutionize the strategy genre.

Combat Mission: Red Thunder is a complex strategy game that comes to Steam with two expansions and a community that will probably take full advantage of the modding capabilities of the Workshop. The campaigns and the scenarios capture the complexity of late World War II battles and showcase the different approaches of the Russian and German forces. But this remains an older game, which is reflected in its presentation and some of its historical assumptions. The Combat Mission gameplay system is relatively easy to learn and offers plenty of tactical freedom. Red Thunder will appeal to fans who like Eastern Front World War II action and want to craft complex battleplans.

AEW: Fight Forever is a great video game for fans of wrestling who have been watching All Elite Wrestling since it launched. It gives them a chance to fight using their favorite performers, experience the spectacle of their biggest events, and create a custom character that can then aim to win against the champions of the moment. It’s also a chaotic and fun experience with friends. But I don’t think the title can bring new fans to wrestling or to AEW. Gamers need to know at least some things about this world to enjoy matches. The game never acknowledges that results are predetermined. AEW: Fight Forever offers a good foundation to build on if the developers aim to create a future title that will capture the entire breadth of wrestling and gives any gamers a way to become engaged with it.

SOULVARS is a complex video game dedicated to fans of classic Japanese role-playing games and, especially, to those who love their deep combat systems. Newcomers might find combat hard to comprehend but the game does offer the resources to understand the mechanics and use them in cool ways. Because exploration isn’t very engaging and the narrative can be a little hard to follow, players need to really love the combat to remain engaged. SOULVARS is clearly a labor of love but it will mainly appeal to those who appreciate the same classic titles as the developer.

20 Minutes Till Dawn is an interesting action combat with a rogue-lite structure. The narrative elements are minimal, the presentation doesn’t impress but makes the combat easy to read, but the core gameplay loop is very satisfying. The variety of heroines also gives players a range of play styles, which get further boosted when mixing and matching level upgrades in new ways. The core gameplay loop is familiar and the game doesn’t innovate in big ways. I enjoyed the game most in short sessions, playing two or three runs at a time, enough to unlock new options and see what strategies I can build around them. 20 Minutes Till Dawn is satisfying for fans of the genre but I hope its creators take more risks with a potential sequel.

Sludge Life 2 takes the best ideas of the first game and improves on them all. There are more interesting characters to have conversations with, more hotel rooms filled with small but effective narrative moments, more spots to tag, and more ciggies to collect. There’s plenty of dark water under the hotel and weird vistas to photograph. The game’s presentation serves it well, although I wished the world changed as players tag and find new secrets. Sludge Life 2 doesn’t have the deepest gameplay in its genre or the most complex story, but its anarchic-punk-nicotine vibe is immersive and fun.

Kingdom Eighties will satisfy any players who picked up one of the previous installments in the series and appreciates its indirect strategy concept. The four main characters are pretty cool, the rest of the kids do great work chopping down trees and battling demons, and the presentation is impressive in how well it evokes the ‘80s. The action is sometimes a little slow, and relying on others to act can lead to some frustration. Still, the universe of Kingdom Eighties is so nice, and the nostalgia vibes are so strong that it’s worth investing time to experience both its mechanics and narrative.

Afterimage feels like a very well-crafted Metroidvania with spectacular vistas, solid combat, and deep character progression system. The only minor issues, like the colliding damage, that I had with the game are just design choices that probably can’t be addressed. I really enjoyed exploring the world of Engardin, searching for new weapons, fighting interesting bosses and trying to find the best weapons for Renee. I can’t say that the story was truly captivating, but it was serviceable enough to keep me going.

Dr. Fetus' Mean Meat Machine creates an interesting combination of platforming and puzzle elements. The gameplay is easy to understand and the levels deliver a stream of interesting new challenges. Fans of Meat Boy’s adventures are the obvious target audience but the mechanics are interesting enough to draw in players who don’t love extra-hard complex action. The presentation helps especially the very good soundtrack. The game’s choice to offer an invincibility option means that it’s actually possible to eliminate any kind of frustration linked to a lack of progress. Simply knowing that it was there made me actually try harder to get through Dr. Fetus' Mean Meat Machine's more challenging sections.

Trepang2 is a solid first-person shooter that has plenty of FEAR vibes and will deliver hours of fun to any fan of the genre looking for challenging battles, supernatural elements, and boss fights. The game is filled with interesting tactical scenarios, tense moments, and plenty of over-the-top violence. The lore is decent and the revenge story is pretty basic, although it goes places. The graphics and sound design elevate the combat. The difficulty level can be changed if a section is too hard. Both veterans of the FPS and newcomers will have fun with Trepang2 and its impressive combat sequences.

Aliens: Dark Descent is a very good video game that takes the best elements of its franchise and finds great ways to build gameplay around them. Moving through dark corridors, paying constant attention to the motion tracker, and thinking about how to best use limited resources, is fun and immersive. The stress mechanic means that even winning battles can have steep costs, forcing players to think of alternate ways of achieving objectives. Aliens: Dark Descent doesn’t redefine its genre but its mechanics are strong, the narrative has interesting beats, and few other tactics-focused titles use their fictional as effectively.

Layers of Fear is an excellent remake, adding quite a few hours of new content that fits the original story like a glove. It is scarry, depressing and marvelously dark, and it is a must for all the fans of the genre, no matter if they played the original game or not. The bugs are extremely annoying, and they break the immersion, but they can easily be fixed through a patch. The over 12 hours of total gameplay and the replay value granted by multiple playthroughs needed in order to figure out the multiple endings more than justify the price of the game. The new Layers of Fear is a well thought out horror game, that with the mandatory facelift manages to be more impressive and memorable than the original one.

Everdream Valley tries to walk its own path, one that is not very different from other games of the same genre. There are some odd game design choices and a couple of bugs, but nothing that affects the fun of the overall experience. However, after about 10 hours, the time it takes to completely finish it, I can’t help but feel like that’s something still missing. The game feels a bit rushed, as some features seem to not have been fully implemented probably to release the game faster. Luckily, all these issues can be fixed easily, but even with those Everdream Valley is still an enjoyable, cozy experience.

Fall of Porcupine is a nice slice-of-life adventure experience. The main story moves a little slowly but the main attraction here is the anthropomorphized animal characters. Finley interacts with plenty of them and they slowly reveal personalities and quirks, while often behaving in unexpected ways. The medical-focused mechanics are also pretty charming at first when the player is healing a tortoise by playing a short rhythm game. Their increasing variety is not enough to keep them engaged as players experience new days in the town. Fall of Porcupine offers an original take on the narrative adventure genre and has enough cool character moments to compensate for the repetitive gameplay.

Knight Crawlers had the good idea of mixing ragdoll physics with a set of classic action game mechanics. And it is fun, for the first few hours, to learn how enemies move and then find the best way to use the environment and the knight’s attacks to eliminate them. The entire experience is solid given that it was created by one developer. But there’s no narrative hook linked to the mechanics and both the levels and the combat situation can become repetitive. The presentation also doesn’t impress. Knight Crawlers will satisfy action fans that like the idea of adding traps and physics to classic combat but could have done more with its unique combination of ideas.

Daydream: Forgotten Sorrow is part of a very crowded genre, that of the action platformer driven by the relationship between two unlikely characters. There are some interesting narrative bears and the presentation is decent if not spectacular. Most of the featured mechanics are good, with some challenging puzzle designs. But nothing in the experience aims to push the limits and deliver something entirely new. I wanted Griffin to have more ways to engage with the world. Using Birly should have been easier. Daydream: Forgotten Sorrow isn’t polished or innovative enough to become a classic of its genre but will engage anyone interested in the premise of the core mechanics.

Bleak Sword DX is dedicated to anyone who wants a Dark Souls-like experience in 2D, delivered in small chunks, with good mechanics, hard difficulty, and a grimdark setting and presentation. Fights are very quick, which means it’s easy to play a few in a session just to decompress, without the pressure to make progress or explore some complicated narrative thread. The two new modes added to the game's PC version are good, offering a challenge to anyone who manages to complete the full campaign. But I still believe that any modern video game that emphasizes combat should offer the options to draw in more than just dedicated genre fans. Bleak Sword DX impresses with its minimalist, bite-sized combat but all its other elements could be improved.

All in all, Nocturnal remains a good indie platformer that offers enough innovations to make it worth a playthrough. Despite some uninspired mechanics, the overall gameplay experience is enjoyable and in no way frustrating.

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.

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.