In the end, however, Golf Club Wasteland didn’t need to sell me on its main character for it to work. It tells more than a story about one person or one moment. Instead, its strength is in the world it creates, the microstories of each level, and the layers of social critique in each part of its radio broadcasts. The rich will watch the world burn and complain about the glare―best make sure that golf course is shady.

Paper Beast is a memorable VR experience like no other, letting you play god in a world that feels godless. If only its puzzles – sometimes creative, but other times frustrating – didn’t get in its way, it would be an unconditional recommendation for lovers of bizarre escapism.

Arise: A Simple Story is one of the stronger ‘Journey-like’ experiences I’ve played. Its awe-inspiring levels that morph with the flow of time are only hampered slightly by a few design problems. What’s more, the titular ‘simple story’ is heartfelt and elegantly told. Minor frustrations aside, this is a lovely little tale that’s easy to recommend.

The Last Autumn is doing itself a disservice by calling itself DLC. It has an entirely new world to master, with a strong human element to make it truly unique. Be prepared for some devastatingly difficult challenges, but reap the reward if you make it to the finish – enjoying every step of the journey along the way.

The gameplay is similar to other hidden object games, but the stylized look and groovy vibe give it a definite leg up. You’ll do a lot of tapping on things, object manipulation puzzles, and searching each room for hidden codes, safes and other secret things across a variety of locations and missions. Puzzles range from incredibly obvious to frustratingly obscure, but in general, Agent A is a solid little puzzler.

If you played Contra back in the day and want an enhanced, distilled run through some bosses in that gameplay style, Mechstermination Force is an expertly-designed nostalgia exercise. Anyone else might find the game initially warm and approachable, but eventually turn it off out of sheer frustration.

Ultimately, Druidstone is a challenging and rewarding tactical-RPG with plenty of charm to keep it engaging in-between brutally tough encounters. It can border on unfair at times, but the steady stream of progression and versatile combat ensures it remains satisfying. Ctrl Alt Ninja clearly demonstrates their development expertise with this finely tuned and tightly crafted adventure that’ll have you brainstorming turns for hours.

Othercide’s story is by no means bad, but when compared to everything else the game excels in, story delivery is where the game stumbles a bit. With solid gameplay, mechanics, and visuals, Othercide is a standout title this year in the turn-based strategy tactics and roguelike genre.

Passtech Games have established solid groundwork within Curse of the Dead Gods, but right now, it’s a game best viewed as an investment whilst in early access. It’s highly rewarding and features great combat mechanics but there just isn’t enough content within the current development build, though what is available presents a high degree of polish. With two further temples on the way and a March update promising new weapons, room variations, relics, curses and more, it’s certainly one to keep an eye out for. [Early Access Score = 80]

Lost Ember is comfort solidified and crammed into your PC, waiting for you to return home like a faithful animal. It’s better than a warm cup of tea; it’s full of life, colour, and sound. It relaxes the mind but consistently stimulates, with new paths around every corner and the full glory of nature to explore. If you need a game in which to lose yourself this winter, then pick up a copy and settle in for the night.

Indivisible is a fresh RPG hybrid with a lot of heart and new ideas. Its original combat is bolstered by a frankly brilliant variety of characters, and the high-quality animation welcomes you into its world. It’s not without its lulls and frustrating moments, but Lab Zero have a crowdfunded success on their hands here.

The level progression works particularly well, getting you used to the current mechanics and obstacles, and then just throwing brand news ones at you. Respawn points are generally conveniently placed, so constantly dying just figuring out what to do isn’t a particularly frustrating affair. The game is quirky, challenging, and clever enough to warrant a look.

Performance issues aside, Insurgency: Sandstorm nails the fundamentals of a great shooter. Weapon handling is tight and empowering. Strategy and perception are rewarded. It electrifies the senses like a hit of amphetamines, and is just as moorish. While it may not become as big of a hit as its mainstream contemporaries, Sandstorm is a potent alternative worth checking out.

In other waters, the fear of the ocean is a fear of systems. Systems of the natural and artificial are spun around, submerged beneath the surface, and retrieved from the sample bay to make purpose of life and meaning from death. The last time I visited the beach was at sunrise. I dropped a friend off at an international airport, drove on a highway out of the city, took a right before the Space Center, and ended up in Cocoa as the red light of the sun breached the horizon. You’re never far from the ocean in Florida. And every day of my life here I have done more to harm the biome through natural and artificial systems than a jellyfish every could to my lone body. It’s not clear, but we don’t need an AI to tell us what we’ve done. In the reflection of other waters, I see a fear of us.

The Procession to Calvary is proof you can take the old and make something entirely new. Its remixing of Renaissance art is absurd, surreal and ultimately hilarious. It stays true to its challenging point-and-click roots, but if you’re not afraid of some head-scratching, this is a glorious tale of murder and mayhem.

An engaging and challenging offering that’s well worth the time you put into it. If you enjoy adventures like Wasteland or XCOM, you’ll find plenty to love here as well, which shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. With roots in the tabletop RPG kingdom, Mutant Year Zero was bound to be addictive, after all.

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.

It’s hard to complain too much about My Friend Pedro’s shortcomings, though. What’s here is incredibly fun and the inclusion of worldwide leaderboards for every level is perfect for competitive types. If there’s a sequel (and we really hope there will be), it will need to greatly expand on the bullet-time gimmick. For now, though, Pedro will definitely be your friend too.

Remnant: From the Ashes is fun, but it doesn’t really do anything new. A lot of what you do feels familiar, like a constant sense of deja vu is following you along. There are some cool ideas here, and the story is entertaining enough, but if it wasn’t for the boss fights, the game would feel flat. Even then, they follow a similar formula each time. Of course, not every game has to reinvent the wheel, but it would have been nice to see Remnant try a bit harder to at least change the rims or something.

Kunai balances a gorgeous style in everything it does. Gameplay, graphics, and sound design mesh excellently into a wonderful Metroidvania that’ll have you hooked from start to finish. It’s not perfect, the combat could be a bit harder, but it’s fun at every turn, and that’s always worth applauding. If you’re looking for something to jump into ahead of the chaos of the upcoming months and you love a good bit of exploration and platforming, then you’d be missing out if you didn’t check out Kunai.

Overall, Void Bastards isn’t just a beautiful-looking game, but one that is incredibly entertaining to play. It mixes humour, style, and a good mix of stealth and action gameplay to make for something unique and well worth your time. It doesn’t last as long as some roguelikes out there, but its campaign is still well worth playing through at least once.

The Sojourn’s stakes aren’t so dire, but it still has something to say if you’re ready to listen. Put on some headphones, turn off your phone, and let The Sojourn wash over you. It’s an experience you won’t soon forget.

An immensely satisfying game, and one that holds so much promise as to its development, Forager is a great buy as it stands, and a worthwhile investment in the long run.

Going Under manages to upcycle the refuse of our everyday routines; its a Big Art Attack of 2-hour commutes, stolen tips and that one pinball machine your boss bought to make a chill room after he laid off three of your coworkers during a global pandemic. It’s one of the most honest investigations of existential digitisation and corporate greed ever made in videogame form. It addresses the farce of employment with creativity and humour, two things no malignant narcissist with a modest cash injection could ever take from us.

For those that want an in-depth city builder, Per Aspera is perhaps not the right game, especially as it constantly battles with the ethicality and morality of its very conceit. For those who want a rich sci-fi experience, the clash between the complexity of the problem and the simplicity of the mechanics may cause players to find themselves stuck in a progress bottleneck. Regardless of these criticisms, it’s impossible to write off Per Aspera because it attempts something novel and is so close to sticking the landing that its namesakes seem incredibly fitting – “through adversity to the stars” -there are plenty of hardships here, but in the end, it reaches an unlikely, dazzling goal via its storytelling.

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 am so excited by Eastshade. It was almost a privilege to play it. The whole experience is enriching in a way that too many games overlook, it is subtle and witty, and rewards intelligent choices and genuine immersion. Its design is incredible, both in physical terms and in terms of narrative and music. It is a secret space for the calm and quiet in us to reign supreme, and I am thrilled by the prospect of the games in years to come that will no doubt pay tribute to Eastshade.

If you want a roguelike that’s punishing, satisfying and built around fun aerial combat, Everspace is a good choice. The sci-fi story tries to do something different to other run-based games out there, and while there are moments where you’ll swear you’re never going to play it again, you’ll soon be picking it back up and launching off into space once more.