What you’re left with is a decent game, and that’s disappointing because it could have been more. For some reason, Paradox played it safe and didn’t build on its own and the game’s strengths. If you want a different take on the genre, it’s worth picking up on sale, but there are better and more interesting examples to spend your time and money on.

There is plenty of fun to be had with Hammerting. The aesthetic is delightful, and when everything works as intended, time joyfully slips away. However, the aforementioned issues frequently rear their ugly heads and immediately halt the enjoyment as you’re forced to try and work around it. Despite the full release status, it still feels like Hammerting is in Early Access since it lacks the polish of some of its peers.

On one hand, there are aspects that are brilliant and can fill you with great satisfaction when every piece of the puzzle falls into place. On the other hand, when the immersion is broken by obnoxious or random ways of finding the next clue, you’ll find your enjoyment of each case diminished.

Tunche best serves fans and friends of dishing knuckle sandwiches together, but doesn’t synchronise its genre mashups in a way that elevates it above the many RPG-tinted beat ‘em ups stomping around out there.

Even though I don’t see myself swapping out my go-to “rainy day” games like Stardew Valley or Moonlighter for Moonglow Bay anytime soon, I’m also not ready to say that I definitely won’t. The amount of progress that the game made in just a week and a single patch has given me nothing but hope for its future, and it’s a game I’ll be keeping an eye on in the weeks to come. Moonglow Bay also supports local coop, and while I’ll always support anything that allows me to play with friends, the game feels like an almost personal experience that I didn’t ever feel the urge to invite someone to share with me. So with that, I’ll leave you with my closing thoughts of Moonglow Bay: Not bad, cod be better.

These puzzles are the bite-sized, whimsical charm that propel Where Cards Fall, but it could still do with cutting the fat off its mind-boggling puzzles. Each time you’ve completed one of them, you’ll be introduced to an unskippable and largely non-interactive cutscene on some pivotal memory of the teenage protagonist, which feels like an obligatory and unnecessary inclusion after a while. My attention wanes, and I’m quite ready to move on from whatever larger-than-life dramatics, tenderness and awkwardness of the protagonist’s teenage years.

Though the process of playing it can occasionally drift into tedium, it’s worth working through the repetition to see the game to its eventual conclusion. In Grotto your choices matter. But they matter in the same way your choices matter in the real world: in ways you can’t see in the moment and may never see at all.

Between its inspired sonics and literally off-the-wall goofiness, Heartless Dark is an admirable effort I wish I could recommend without reservation, but without knowing how reliably it will run, I can only hope it gets better in time. For now at least, proceed with caution.

Overall, Astria Ascending feels like a missed opportunity. Despite these issues, the game does right by its art direction and world-building, but the fundamental gameplay drags the whole experience down towards mundanity. Having to wait for the seven enemies in front of you to status lock you to death isn’t challenging and engaging combat; it’s tedious. Jumping through dungeons hoping to find a doorway that leads to the next area isn’t interesting trial-and-error exploration; it’s dreadful. In the JRPG marketplace that’s filled with all sorts of storytelling quirks and eccentricities, tedium is simply no longer acceptable.

I love bad games. But The Good Life doesn’t fall into this category of bad-fun, it’s simply too much of a mess. Did anyone say no to anything in the course of refining the core concept of this game? Probably not. Is it even fun? I still don’t know because even after 8 to 10 hours, I feel stuck between a begrudging sense of sunk-cost fallacy and possible Stockholm syndrome as someone who also once faced ruinous debt and an unwanted move. Honestly, there’s no such thing as a good life unless you have paws, eat garbage and can pee freely in public, but you don’t need to play this game to know that.

I like Into the Pit a fair bit. The graphical style is nice, the combat is incredibly fluid, and the mechanics there are easy to understand, but also have a noticeable effect when spawning new dungeons. However, I also found it to be a little bit too easy for the most part. The game requires a lot of runs in order to rescue more villagers and max out your character, and it doesn’t do quite enough to keep you drawn in versus other similar games.

Ultimately. I can’t say I expected much from AAA Clock. It ticks off the necessary features, bringing a functional clock to the Switch with some nice cosmetic touches, but after a tedious run of the Retro Game, I’m ready to clock out.

The Plane Effect is a fine and even beautiful mechanical object, but it doesn’t quite have a soul. It is a shame perhaps, because with a bit less open space, without the spectres who are never quite made substantial, I think that the automaton might have been enough, regardless of whether or not there was a ghost in the machine.

Even while the gorgeous alien botany is alluring and forms the artistic backbone of this curious little game, I found myself wanting more options—perhaps a narrative mode for players focused on the world and its strange inhabitants—and a change of pace.

Creating a game about making a home on foreign land was never going to be easy, and JETT had boldly sought to subvert the themes of colonialism that are so inherent to tales like these. But upon putting down the controller, I mostly felt let down by how little it had to say on the subject. While it touches on other topics, such as the terrifyingly big expanse of space, versus our miniscule existence in the greater scheme of things, these weren’t enough to make up for its flaws. In the end, I just wish JETT had the confidence to pursue what I know it wants to be: to subvert expectations on the well-trodden ground of survival stories.

Had it been stripped away of some of its convoluted system, and instead focused on one or two features and story beats to go alongside its high level of polish and presentation, Unsighted would be a GOTY contender. But in trying desperately to be everything, Unsighted loses sight of the aspects that make it unique in an ever-expanding marketplace of retro-inspired Mentroidvanias. As a result, it’s an enjoyable, but ultimately forgettable experience.

Blake: The Visual Novel was a promising debut from Ori Mees; Blake made me laugh a few times, and stressed me out over making the right decisions at other points. I felt compelled to read it through to the end, which is more than I can say for other visual novels I’ve muddled through recently. Even though Blake definitely displays the tell-tale, first-project symptom of doing too much in too little time, it has definitely convinced me to keep an eye on the developer’s future projects.

The VR focus allows for a portrayal of human ennui and general hopelessness on a large scale; here is a whole subculture of people running from an unfavorable reality, hoping to eke out a marginally better virtual existence even if the only way to access it is to buy the equipment and pay for a subscription. It’s a good setting that I would be curious to see more of, even if Gamedec’s initial exploration of it stumbles out of the gate and comes alarmingly close to a total faceplant.

Can Androids Survive is a game that is working to be a simulator (an unruly hybrid in the best of cases) that positions itself as a sequel to a story. If it doesn’t really quite pull any of these things off successfully, there is at least some consolation in the fact that in the end, as promised, the player gets to blow up the moon. I’m not sure that it works as a message, but it’s nice to get some consideration for not having hit the escape key an hour or so earlier.

This game wants to be very charming, and it sometimes comes very close. The art is rich and beautiful, and the interfaces look great. But every other aspect of the game feels one step away from being memorable. Menus are confusing and difficult to use. Locations are overly greebled with landmarks and winding paths, making it difficult to get around with ease or speed—and the map is obtuse, instead of helpful, at a glance.

Rustler isn’t shy about its homage to the classic Grand Theft Auto games, as it puts on its persona as a goofy, medieval Grand Theft Auto imitator with unabashed glee.

In an attempt to elevate itself beyond just an action-based shooter, Green Phoenix has unfortunately become more humdrum than invigorating.

Escape from Naraka takes the best–and unfortunately, some flaws–of classic platformers; making precise leaps can be challenging when you can’t see your feet. At the same time, it also injects some of the studio’s own culture and twists into the environments, letting you immerse in a Southeast Asian-inspired universe that’s as mystical as it’s alluring.

Perhaps Hoa is meant to be a vehicle for the art, and if so, there should be an option to nerf the reverse-control section so that we can appreciate said art without wanting to claw our eyes out. It’s also pretty funny how often you get Steam achievements—within the first few minutes of starting the game, you get three achievements including one for literally starting the game and another for moving to the next area (Steam achievements, of course, mean nothing). It’s a nice way to pass the time if you want a relatively stress-free platformer that’s easy on the eyes, but even as Hoa demands little from you as a player, it also offers little as an escape.

The Vale is very much an experience, and it’s one I found interesting, even if it felt a little frustrating at times. The truth is, there just aren’t many games like this, and The Vale’s innovative take on accessible gameplay made it worth overlooking its flaws. It’s not perfect, but it’s interesting, and I’ll choose that over perfect every time.

Even with some messy execution on its political themes, Road 96 succeeds at capturing a fractious journey on the road and the turmoil of modern American politics. A deeper exploration of Petria’s history may give more context to the game’s narrative of taking change of your own destiny. But without this background, it ends up oversimplifying its premise by positing that the only barrier to equity and justice is a strongman in a suit. In reality, injustice runs far deeper.

The story, while occasionally perplexing, is full of heady material to chew through. It’s the kind of narrative that would require an additional playthrough, totally possible thanks to its roughly 2-4 hour campaign with selectable chapters. The gunplay may be a tiring affair of shooting lemmings in body armor, and the other elements are both underwhelming and frustrating, but Foreclosed is a gorgeous game with a big-ass brain. It just hasn’t quite figured out how to apply that yet.

Svoboda 1945: Liberation is a game which explores how looking back at the past means different things for different groups of people. It’s a story about the difference between those who benefit from the act of looking back, and those who are punished and aggrieved instead.

Its world, art-style, exploration, and hack-n-slash combat are super fun, but these feel hampered by Tribes of Midgard’s key conceit as a tough tower defence game. Increasingly long nights mean you get little and less time to explore, and this is exacerbated by growing demands on resources. Instead, Tribes of Midgard would have made a better open-world game—its procedurally-generated Norse realm is so explorable. I would gladly play Tribes of Midgard more if I wasn’t bound to the settlement as much, and I hope that’s a mode that could be explored in the future.

In the end, Chernobylite felt a lot like scavenging for supplies in the Zone. There are certainly interesting things to unearth, but the laborious process of revealing them was barely worth the hassle. If Chernobylite is a loop, it is one that brings increasingly diminished returns with each completed cycle.

In the last few years it’s become a running gag within indie circles that Metroidvania and soulslike games are the go-to genres to build your game around. Unfortunately, Grime wears that on its shoulder with pride, instead of doing anything remotely interesting. In essence, it’s the software equivalent of saying ‘only fans of the soulikes genre will enjoy this’.

Devoid of music and the ups and downs of an engaging narrative arc, the happenings in Horror Tales: The Wine becomes stale quickly. Coupled with some arcane puzzles that can only be resolved by loading a previous save, Horror Tales: The Wine leaves a sour taste in the mouth after a few chapters.

If you’re already a fan of the series then you’ll probably enjoy this, but you’ll also find yourself uncomfortably comfortable with it all, because with Orcs Must Die! 3, not much has really changed.

All in all, Out of Line isn’t a terrible experience; I only wished there was a stronger emphasis on establishing its odd setting, along with something more that I could point to as being exceptional.

The Ascent is mostly a mindless, violent jaunt through a meticulously rendered cyberpunk city; what little portrayal of the themes of depravity and inequality are merely set-dressing for the game. Yet for all its facelessness, what was most indelible was still its city, the disparity between the powerful and powerless depicted in its spaces: from the cramped, unsanitary alleys home to the ceaseless chatter of its most downtrodden, to the shine of the marble floor in the wealthier districts, soon to be sullied by the dead bodies you leave behind.

Ultreia, too, leans heavily on religious themes, with forgiveness being a saving grace that unlocks a secret true ending, reducing the story into an uncomplicated, religious tale with robots rather than a more nuanced story about adversities. It’s a pity that it ultimately misses the opportunities to delve deeper into the rich world it’s built for itself.

Moving through Summertime Madness, the art gallery comparison reminded me more and more of an art pop up in Manhattan called Color Factory. In Color Factory, guests move through spaces of bright, saturated, colorful designs of atmospheric spaces, playful ball pits and selfie-perfect sets with slogan-plastered objects ready for instagram. The more I walked through the colorful playspaces of Summertime Madness, the more fitting the connection seemed. Rather than thinking of some video games through a cinematic lens or painting frame, Summertime Madness is a reminder of real world spaces like Color Factory. While that isn’t too lofty an aspiration, maybe just walking through a world and feeling something is enough.

Just like the sport of soaring, while everything is great when you’re up in the air, the fun comes to a screeching halt when you’re down on the ground. Cruising around on those rising currents of air is an incredible experience that truly captures the feeling of flight. You can sometimes keep your glider aloft for hours by weaving around the sky in just the right way. When you touch down, there’s no getting yourself back up into the air, though. Flight School Studio was on to something with all the gliding, but didn’t quite stick the landing.

The pull of “just one more run” is the heart of roguelikes, but lacking even that makes Roguebook little more than just a distraction from better games. Like the junk food you eat between real meals or while bored, it’s enjoyable at times, but will ultimately leave you hungry for something more substantial.

I’m a big fan of “walking simulators,” but The Magnificent Trufflepigs hems in its exploration and storytelling so severely that I never felt like I was walking much at all. This is more a “get interrupted constantly” simulator: not a vein I’m particularly eager for developers to mine.

As distasteful as the title is, it doesn’t seem particularly triggering for most people. The game’s comical tone and frivolous approach stave off any potential triggers its gruesome title might suggest. When you approach the game as a virtual escape room, wherein every time your character dies, you get one step closer to the real world, the whole affair becomes more palatable. But without a potent narrative and puzzles that increase in complexity, Suicide Guy ultimately doesn’t offer anything new to the genre.

It’s charming and occasionally clever, but as a whole it all just feels kind of familiar.

Ultimately, what guides the trajectory of this voyage in Dog Airport is your relationship with Krista, which is surprisingly tender and heartwarming. It’s the contemplative, and sometimes mournful conversations you have with her, the reminiscing of older days, and the gentle banters you trade with one another, that makes every reunion with her a poignant.one. For a game that’s predominantly moulded in the surreal humor of the internet, I wasn’t expecting to be swept away by all these feels.

Pecaminosa isn’t here to break boundaries, but it should still please fans of noir fiction who enjoy sleuthing around in the pitch darkness of a debauched city.

While there are key, timed decisions you’ll make at pivotal points, most of the game’s interactive moments are perfunctory, mostly getting you to mimic Erica’s movements—be it turning the knob of a door or unbuckling a hefty briefcase. What this interactive thriller excels in, however, is its ability to keep you in perpetual suspense. It drives a compelling narrative for sure, but it also begs the question why it needs to be presented as a game to do so.

Where other games insist on non-stop explosions and chase scenes, The Longest Road on Earth calibrates each moment to be poignant and profound, and although the results are quieter and artsier, they also aren’t much less exhausting. And yet, emotional exhaustion seems as viable of a takeaway as any. After all, the small things we use to get through our days, to cope with the perpetual thrum of unexcitement in lives lived conservatively, do eventually fade into routine. We grow tired of the phone game we bought or that playlist we made and we find ourselves ready for the next thing, which tends to be similarly fleeting. By the time the credits roll for The Longest Road on Earth, I was more than ready to move on, but maybe that doesn’t have to be a criticism because it speaks to its own sort of emotional truth.

If you’re a sucker for this genre like I am though, you’ll appreciate the ways Not Another Weekend fools you into thinking ‘80s adventure games were in any way approachable and enjoyable to play. After all, this game has successfully implemented several quality of life updates to a genre that desperately needed the refresh.

Strangeland stands as an argument that players should know as little as possible in a horror adventure game to cultivate tension, yet it still manages to circumvent its own potential by trying to do too much.

Though the game posits itself as adorable and relaxing, a depressing vision of humanity arises through its narrative (or lack thereof), one in which the aspects of humanity represented are colonisation, environmental destruction, war, and work. The game tells us one thing but shows us another. A story woven into the chapters or levels of the game that develops these ideas might help address this contradiction. Until then, this game is merely a settler simulation with solid mechanics―a well-oiled machine that’s lacking in heart.

While I definitely enjoyed my time with Biomutant, I’m left feeling a little deflated coming out the other end of it. The world of Biomutant was a joy to traverse, and there was an almost Breath of the Wild quality, the same drive to see what was over the hill in front of me, or what was around the corner. However, given that combat plays such a huge part of the game, the rather middling nature of it makes fights feel like inconveniences, rather than something to enjoy.

Mad Devils has good ideas, but it feels like a botched mission, as if the original order got lost in transmission on the way. The action is good when it works, but the contrasting tone and narrative bog down the broader experience. Still, conflicting story and visual design aside, if Mad Devils’ frenetic twin-stick shooting and setting are too good to pass up, make sure to take a friend. It’s dangerous in hell.

The story makes the whole experience rich, and although it’s Unknown World’s first stab at fully acted and voiced cutscenes, the characters are well written, and voiced with nuance and warmth. It doesn’t add anything revelatory to the world of Subnautica, but there is still a sense of accepting the past, of moving forward—fitting for a game about exploring areas and mining material to build and survive, but with little incentive to return to them once they have outlived their usefulness.

These puzzles are challenging but invigorating. The short of it is this: you’ll need to push specific objects around, which will cast a shadow on the wall for her shadowy figure to traverse through. That said, everything else about the game is not as memorable—from its overwrought music to its clunky visuals. In My Shadow veers between sheer monotony and needless melodrama. Which makes it difficult to stomach.

While there’s some comfort in the repetitive routine of mining and seeking refuge back in your space liner, as you gradually chip away at your objectives, its endless gags and space jokes do get tedious very quickly.

This game presents a very normative, happy retrospective for what was the basis of our interactions becoming commodified by surveillance. It’s impossible to untangle the complex mess of pop culture and corporate harm from one another. Yet, Emily is Away <3 seems to only remember the sugary sweet poke wars. That doesn’t make it a bad game, but it does make it a naïve one.

Before Your Eyes ultimately suggests that happiness, fulfillment, that warm sense of a life well lived—that doesn’t come from other people’s perceptions. Rather, it comes from self-acceptance. And, incredibly, that’s something we do have control over.

In a world drenched in ash after a volcanic cataclysm, the Squad’s long and treacherous journey may have dashed most of their hopes for survival, let alone of achieving their goal of finding a new home. Ashwalkers led me to identify with the arduousness of its quest–a sadly drab journey overly invested in its destination, with more interesting moments spread out like notable landmarks. This sparsity left me wanting for more to grapple with here and now, rather than the promise of unlocking it later. The latter, it seems, feels like a gambit that doesn’t pay off.

Leaving home, getting married, moving to the city, coming home and finding out that your home isn’t the place it used to be—all of these are part and parcel of growing up. Sid, living on his own and with a published novel under his belt, might expect to be largely done with that process, but Forgotten Fields’ greatest insight is that growing up isn’t such a simple thing. It’s not a linear process with clear rites of passage; I’m not sure that it ever really was.

The progression difficulty leaves a little to be desired, but when you see an enemy churn out a whole screen of projectiles—and know that if you stand just so, you’ll be able to dodge everything without moving—it all clicks into place. For players who are hooked on achieving that feeling of mastery, Godstrike is going to be a surefire win, with challenges and arena modes offering deeper layers to mine. In short, Godstrike is a wonderful, accessible paean to a niche genre.

Inkslinger is a promising debut from the three man outfit at Gateway, showcasing their ability to weave in potent themes in a brief, intimate plot, making this a text-adventure that’s moody and evocative. There’s so much packed here, its short time serving as a brief, albeit tantalising glimpse into what this team is capable of.

If Say No! More is a rallying call for anxiety-wrecked individuals who don’t know how to say no, it’s an amusing one, even if it’s not always memorable. It serves its purpose best as a comical and occasional reminder that we all have the courage and tenacity to tell someone we won’t always be at their beck and call. Turn to your nearest two-year-old for more advice on this front.

Board games are great because you can play through time and time again and experience something a little different each time. At least, that’s normally how it is. Arkham Horror: Mother’s Embrace is inspired by the Arkham Horror board game series, but it doesn’t match it in any real way. It’s a bit of a shame, but it’s all a bit too short and a bit too basic most of the time.

Stronghold: Warlords is an odd game. On the one hand, it’s a wonderful setting, and it has some of the most satisfying castle building I’ve found in a game. It’s a genuine joy to plan everything out, and it makes the fact that the actual strategy side of the game feels a bit outdated sting a bit more. It’s not bad, not at all, but it feels like a game that’s stuck in the past a little bit.

Thankfully the slow, narrative focus of Adios means these issues shouldn’t get in the way of what matters; the thoughtful story and the melancholy atmosphere. If you want a refreshing perspective on the kinds of stories games can tell and how they tell them, Adios is well worth your time.

Neurodeck is a fascinating card game that explores an often ignored aspect of gaming – our psyche, and in an interesting and fun manner. I would have liked to see more of a storyline as opposed to the raw card game, and phobias would have been more interesting if linked to personal character emotions, but overall the game is fun, well thought out and unique. Deal with that how you like, but cards on the table, the game is aces. (It isn’t; it’s pretty good. But who can resist a good card pun?)

Ultimately, I cannot recommend Freakpocalypse to anyone who isn’t an established Cyanide & Happiness fan. This isn’t the sort of point-and-click adventure that bridges gameplay issues with an engaging story, since it relies on crude humour to see it through. If you enjoy C&H, this will be right up your street, but it does nothing to court players that aren’t part of the existing fanbase. I wouldn’t call this a bad game; it’s just a very average one, and there are much better alternatives out there for point-and-click fans.

Maquette is a sort of sketch of a finished sculpture, or an architectural model… is the game saying this relationship was a sketch of better times, a process to go through in order to reach some future ideal? If so, it’s a well-worn narrative, and nothing is added by its puzzles. It ends up feeling like a clumsy mash-up of Synecdoche, New York and 500 Days of Summer, but without the introspection of either. At the very least, its puzzles and environments are captivating, but unlike its lateral thinking solutions, it never brings a new angle to its central narrative.

Overall, I’d rather wait and play the PlayStation 4 version. I’d mention the PlayStation 5 but trying to get one is like finding a needle in a haystack. Either the game isn’t optimised well, or my laptop isn’t compatible with it. If you’ve got an option to play this on something that isn’t a PC, I definitely recommend you check it out elsewhere.

I like Cardaclysm, but I don’t love it. It has you roaming around a world and fighting what are effectively turn-based Pokemon battles. You get new cards as you win these battles, and you can make cards stronger by combining any duplicates you get. It’s a cool system, and having a very hard limit on what you can use in any given battle keeps things fun as you pick up more options. However, combat just feels a bit dull sometimes. There’s definitely an element of misfortune here in that it’s in one of the strongest Review Round-Ups I’ve done too. It’s fun, but it’s not fantastic.

Mutropolis shows tons of promise and is undeniably funny and charming. Beautiful to look at with an interesting story and likeable characters, point-and-click fans will find lots to enjoy here. It’s a strong debut from Pirita Studios, a definite step in the right direction and hopefully a sign of good things to come.

In my 24-hour playthrough to the end of Shattered something came up that I have not experienced in any other souls like. I met a trader that traded in items I never saw or found. I also picked up multiple items that I found no purpose for, despite retracing steps to try and understand why they existed. These may be legacy concepts, gone on the full release. But it was interesting and added a level of bizarre mystique that left me to retravel the game’s path once I had seen an ending, in search of something more. And that appeal to go back despite the games flaws says something more than I can put into words.

Most of Werewolf: The Apocalypse — Earthblood feels like a game entering early access, and every element would benefit from more time and more polish. Too shallow for World of Darkness fans, too simple for ARPG aficionados, and too much tedious exploration filler for button mashers, it’s hard to recommend this one, especially for the asking price.

Gloom and Doom is a visual novel about Heaven, Hell, and absolution. It comes with a nice cast of characters all trying to figure out what on Earth is going on, while all fighting their own demons, literally and figuratively. The art style and general setting will feel very nostalgic for any fans of 90s-era comic books, or just anyone alive during the 90s. It’s not a particularly long game, but it’s a good time while it’s around.

As a horror game, The Medium doesn’t have enough resistance or solid scares overall, and as a tone piece, it often misses the mark with a lack of maturity and care in scripting. The core conceit of the game rears its head unexpectedly as it fails to reconcile its deep themes with its desire for shock, and its desire to create a horror experience without any strong mechanical grounding. The game doesn’t really provide anything to bridge its evocative artwork to its less than accomplished themes...For those that want to explore a fascinating looking interpretation of a spiritual world, however, The Medium is a rambling holiday in a wonderful macabre charnel house, but if you want something a little more bracing, you might want to look elsewhere.

Overall, Unspottable is a joyful experience to have with friends and relatives on the same screen – as long as you can – and throw one or two (digital) punches at them with no real-life consequences – unless they are sore losers.

Conspiracy! is by no means attempting to craft a vast tale – I was able to reach the credits in just over an hour – but in contrast to prior titles like Family, there lacks a genuine source of empathy. Nonetheless, Conspiracy! concludes as a grimly hilarious and frightening reflection of the contemporary state of its namesake, a mythology mutated into a multitude of nightmarish ideologies. Perhaps its most potent observation in fact lies on its title screen, in which a rant outlining cannibalism in children’s shows Arthur and SpongeBob SquarePants infests the backdrop until consuming it entirely. Whilst the quote itself is nonsensical; the point is startlingly clear.

Down in Bermuda doesn’t overstay its welcome and took me just over three hours to complete. It shows off some interesting concepts and provides ample opportunities for players to feel that rush of solving thorny riddles along a challenging but fair difficulty curve. The art style paints a vibrantly colourful and distinct world, and the story never reaches beyond its grasp. There are more high points than quibbles in this game, and if you, too, love seeing a box expand into a ridiculous system of buttons, pulleys and rotating mosaics, Down in Bermuda is worth the price of a slice.

The denouement is especially drab, and after six to eight of hours fairly linear exploration, you’ll have seen nearly everything on offer. There’s definitely fertile ground here for further developments, but currently, it’s strangled by a lack of scope and ambition.

Orwell’s Animal Farm is clearly a respectful adaptation. From the closely adapted text onscreen to the demarcated destinies and potential outcomes, it interacts thoughtfully with Orwell’s ideas of dictatorship and manipulation. But, in the mechanics of gameplay, some of its intentions get lost.

Featuring a charming aesthetic and imaginative puzzle designs, it is unfortunate that the core element of PHOGS! feels rather frustrating at points. Though the co-op angle of playing a conjoined character is quite unique, that lack of free movement can prove quite limiting. It works fine as a solo game, but co-op is where it truly shines and that requires good communication with your Player Two. If you’re willing to give it that time and patience, this is still a wholesome experience that comes recommended.

Tesla Force is a solid twin-stick shooter that has you fighting through a deeply messed-up world paying as historical characters. Gameplay-wise it’s pretty much exactly what you’d expect. There are lots of enemies, absurd weapons, and a lot of fun to be had. There’s fun to be had here for fans of the genre, but it doesn’t do enough to entice anybody who wouldn’t already be interested.

I love a good pun, and Flailure is definitely a good pun. It’s also a pretty good game. It’s got some silly mechanics, ragdoll physics, and cute animals all fighting it out to try and come out on top. There’s a wonderful level of chaos to the way each match plays out, and while it’s not always complex, there’s no denying how much fun beating your friends is. It’s definitely more a game for younger gamers, but there’s fun to be had here no matter what age you are.

Overall, Project Wingman, or dare I say Ace Combat 8: Oh no not more rockets should absolutely fill the boots of those who have been looking for an arcade aerial combat game. Specifically of the Ace Combat genre.

In all, I’d say this game is a fantastic showing for what is essentially a solo project. I think after the Herculean effort that was Stardew Valley, we tend to expect a lot from solo games. This isn’t as full-featured as some games; it’s also not as long. It occasionally doesn’t go far enough in some of its endeavours, which is perfectly understandable given the scope. The criticisms feel more like missed opportunities than outright bad choices, but that is to be expected with a game of this magnitude. It shines in some areas; it’s RPG elements are a particular highlight. Where it doesn’t shine, it’s not bad per se, more just a little lacklustre. It’s a perfectly fine game to sink some hours into, easy to get into, easy to stay attached to.

Star Renegades is a decent effort from Massive Damage Inc overall. Presenting a highly layered combat system with an interesting premise, there’s a good strategy RPG game at the core, but it struggles to ever thrill you. Though there is considerable overlap between playthroughs, it offers a good degree of replayability thanks to the roguelite mechanics. If you’ve been looking for a different kind of strategy game, this might be the one to fill that niche.

If you have missed flinging innocent people across shaky bridges for dubious reasons, this addition to the Bridge Constructor series is well worth the entry price with a lot of fun puzzles to be completed. However it doesn’t feel as good as its predecessors, and if you are yet to play those, perhaps try Bridge Constructor Portal first to see how you get on. If you are a Walking Dead enthusiast, this probably isn’t for you, despite the guise it hides under. It really makes you feel like Spider-Man if Spider-Man were a slowly decaying husk of Norman Reedus with a crossbow.

In its quest to remove everything that ties it to the bigger games it emulates, The Pathless does lose something in the process. Purifying spirits feels slightly too brief, with their spectacle being overshadowed by the simplicity with which they are dispatched, and the automatic nature of arrow trajectory during puzzles can often make them feel little more than perfunctory at their worst. Nevertheless, The Pathless still excels in spite of these failings, simply because it attempts to tackle the homogenous open-world design in a novel way. Its use of scale imbues the experience with all the grandiosity of a 60-hour title, but the lack of friction and purity of vision means that it accomplishes its epic conflict in a tenth of the time and in doing so manages to leave a real impact.

It’s clear that Tomas Sala has put a lot of effort into bringing us The Falconeer and it’s an absolutely applaudable effort. Boasting some impressive artistic direction, smooth performance, and enjoyable open-world exploration, it comes packed within an intriguing story that left me wanting to know more. It isn’t perfect though, and there are certainly flaws within the combat system, but ultimately, if you’re a fan of aerial combat that’s looking for something different, this is one game which comes recommended.

Floor 13: Deep State makes for an interesting espionage premise. By making you Director-General, it becomes the Football Manager of spy games, putting you in M’s shoes rather than James Bond. Though it raises some reflections on modern politics, a lot of scandals are based on dated incidents and whilst there’s strategic depth to the gameplay, that’s ultimately hampered by poor mission structure. If you enjoyed the original Floor 13, then Deep State is worth looking into, but otherwise, it’s a cautious recommendation.

It can feel a little simplistic at times, but overall it’s quite good fun. The graphics are nice and you’ll find yourself settling into a favourite role in no time at all. It’s still got a few bugs, but it’s Early Access, so we’re expecting those to get stomped on at some point.

It’s a lot of fun with friends, but it lacks something in single-player. I definitely recommend picking this up if you’re looking for something new to play in co-op or if you want to try out the survival genre in general. However, it lacks some of the satisfaction of other games in the genre. That being said, the monkey system is incredibly cool and the game is almost worth playing for that alone.

While there is some good gameplay to be found in Foregone, you’ll spend a lot of your playtime with it wishing you were playing some of the inspirations it appears to be pulling from. That’s a real shame, because there are some highlights in Foregones playtime, but they don’t stand out enough for me to properly recommend it to anybody.

The game is not forgiving, but if you are in the market for an environmental puzzler and enjoy splashing limbs every which way, then it may just be for you. It really makes you feel like Spider-Man if spiderman was a cybernetic murderninja set on saving the last vestiges of humanity from the ravage of poor architectural design.

It’s a shame that the combat is so messy, and that bugs and poor mission balance and visual communication obfuscate your ability to interact with a core mechanic that feels fairly novel. The inspired visuals of drones crashing around like droplets of water in a roiling ocean are at least fun for a while, but there’s little here to hold your interest in the long term.

It’s a neat, ambitious game that teases us with the silhouette of a rich, engaging mythology and the role of digital exorcisms in this particular world. Its stellar voice cast carries much of the game’s narrative momentum on their shoulders, especially Alex Grossman and Miguel Doucet, who play Brother Gideon. But even with all its ambition and aesthetics, Lucifer’s gameplay and narrative could have been refined into a leaner, meaner experience befitting its daemonic themes.

Ring of Pain understands what enamours roguelike fans to a new arrangement of rules and challenges. The focus on lateral movement and strategic interaction forced me to think ahead as I fought my way through a world full of beautiful and haunting creature designs. But an over-reliance on chance and an underdeveloped world cut the legs out from underneath all that polish and initial charm. Those hungry for something different will love the first taste, but I’m just not sure it will convince you to come back for a second helping.

If you’re not averse to a bit of grinding, there’s plenty of fun to be eked out of Space Crew’s enjoyable core gameplay loop. Its main flaw remains the somewhat lacklustre beginning.

Ikenfell’s pure heart won me over. The end of the epilogue alone made my gay little heart melt. I cared an embarrassing amount for the characters the game introduced me to, and the ways in which their interactions are examined is a high point of the game for me. Its sheer empathy, inclusive nature, and amazing soundtrack all make for an engrossing experience, especially if you’re queer and not used to seeing yourself represented in a respectful way. Just make sure that you fight more battles than I did along the way, else you might end up having a bad time by the conclusion.