Most of the choices here are pulled from games that have come before it, so it ends up feeling like a mish-mash of good choices other developers have made. The visual style, though still fine-looking, feels uninspired and, again, recycled from other games from equally equipped developers. That said, the game isn’t much of an investment, so if you’re looking for something solid but not revolutionary, this could be the game for you.

The game is cute, funny and genuinely satisfying once you start to put two and two together, combining items and solving puzzles to push the story forward. But the writing really suffers here. It would have been much more enjoyable if dialogue lines weren’t so annoying and expositional. Characters constantly say exactly what they’re doing, and they do it multiple times in a row. The game loses a lot of its comedic charm because it never trusts the player to understand what’s happening, even when it’s extremely straight-forward.

ISLANDERS is great, especially for the extremely low price tag. At times it may feel a little simplistic, but I can see this being a great title to come back to whenever you have a few minutes to spare.

Overall Tales of the Neon Sea looks (and sounds) good and packs a considerable amount of playtime, but the lack of an original take on the genre and the truly annoying puzzles blocking progress can’t be ignored, as the latter takes away much of the atmosphere and immersion.

Yuppie Psycho gives us a glimpse into the neo-corporate future depicted in science fiction films like Robocop and The Matrix, where normal people try to navigate the corporate dystopian workspaces they’ve found themselves in. It’s a highly polished look at what we once imagined as the reality of the corporatised future, and still could be. It’s entertaining and engaging with its poke at modern life and the flimsy social systems we cling to. It argues that you are not defined by your job – and, on occasion, that’s something everyone needs to hear.

It’s basically a very good game, especially if you have patience and a good head for numbers.

With Hand of Gilgamech, Image & Form have shown that SteamWorld is truly a genre chameleon, moulding itself nicely into a CCG RPG.

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.

Cuphead’s crazy visuals are endlessly charming and its punishing difficulty ultimately satisfies. So give that boss one more go. Maybe this time you’ll score a knockout.

What Cuddle Monster Games has achieved is a glowing reminder of the merits of repetition. By basing its game around a patch of simple-yet-perfected mechanics and the human need to try again, the studio has created a lovely little throwback. Above all, Hell is Other Demons is a testament. A testament to how far polished mechanics can take a game, a testament to the depths of the bullet hell genre, and a testament to the virtues of dusting yourself off and giving it another go.

At its best, God’s Trigger is mindless fun. It’s fast, gorey, and ridiculous. The action is a suitable stand-in for Hotline Miami, even if the style isn’t nearly as compelling. However, the pulpy tone and ridiculous aesthetic make it easier to look past its technical limitations and limited scope. If you don’t mind a bit of jank and a general lack of compelling personality, there’s a fast and frantic experience that’s generally a lot of fun. Play this with a friend or partner, if you can, and you’ll get a lot more out of its absurdity.

Katana Zero feels at once derivative and remarkable. Cool blade-slicing combat is elevated by effortless style and a narrative uncharacteristically strong for its genre. You may have seen it all before, but never quite like this.

Anyone who enjoyed last year’s tragically underappreciated Flipping Death will find a lot to love in Ghost Giant. It’s easily one of the most charming VR games out there, with clever puzzles and a surprisingly layered story. The characters and world are fantastic, and while the VR gameplay can sometimes be problematic, this is definitely a game worth hooking up the PSVR’s myriad of cables for.

Heaven’s Vault’s narrative is so good, though, that you don’t think much about the parts that don’t really work. The devs understood that the nature of the game and its identity is rooted less in its gameplay and more in its story. They decided to put more of its eggs in the story basket, which, in the end, pays off.

Weedcraft Inc explores the depths of sensitive subject matter whilst providing a dynamic experience filled with choice and consequence. I loved watching my operation expand from just a few plants in my family home to an unstoppable region-spanning drug empire. Growing can prove tedious due to its trial and error nature and I did experience a handful of crashes whilst playing, but these flaws remain trivial at best.

Overall, Dangerous Driving is focused. The developer has set out to make a spiritual successor to the arcade games of the past and, to that end, it can be nothing but a resounding success. While there could have been more ambition and left-field, crazier tracks, there aren’t many qualms to be had with its simple design. Dangerous Driving is gaming fast food, but the good kind.

The five campaigns give over 20 hours of content to the competent. If it is too challenging for you then there are sliders to alter enemy density/difficulty, starting fuel and starting ammo. The character skill trees are all unique. Finally, the music is amazing and sounds straight out of an Indiana Jones movie. All of my initial complaints about Pathway disappeared as I continued playing, and my only real concern now is that they might not make more campaigns or characters to add to the game.

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.

It can get dull in spots, especially if you find yourself with downtime, but there’s enough flavour and personality in the artwork and important characters to make things interesting. I wish the story was better, and that the 80s cheese was toned down to make room for something more thought-provoking, but what’s here is unique. So if you’re up for some fun, time-management based gameplay that doesn’t take itself too seriously, get your ticket book out and hit the streets.

Dialogue is poor, cliched and uninteresting, so after an hour or so the only thing really pulling you through is the cool black and white, hand-drawn aesthetic, and the excellent soundtrack. The gameplay does a lot to make up for the shortcoming of the overall package, and it’s fun to jump into for quick sessions, but with each death and each mindless conversation with one-dimensional characters, it gets harder to find reasons to keep going.

She Remembered Caterpillars is a charming puzzle game that feels right at home on the Switch. It starts out simple then gets progressively more challenging, but it always treats the player with respect, and in turn, makes you feel like a genius whenever you succeed.

Graphically, there’s no real style; at least, nothing you’d expect from a high-octane mountain biking game. Sam Pilgrim looks like a generic – if not well-rendered – human male, and while there’s a nice variety to environments, nothing screams intensity or fun. But if you’re a fan of the genre and want to dig into something that is specifically demanding on perfect performance, you could definitely do much worse.

Windscape invites you to wander and feel like a part of its mysterious little world. Some NPC models look a tad nightmarish and there’s a significant weight to movement, but with generous, location-based healing/save points, and a focus on enjoying the surroundings rather than demanding combat or frustrating enemy encounters, Windscape is a friendly, pleasant experience that is more meditative and nostalgic than anything else. And it’s all the better for it.

Warparty is decidedly hit and miss. If you want a quirky RTS game with plenty of classic overtones, while still having a quirky personality of its own, this is it (warts and all). Hopefully, the game can get patched to improve the rough spots and controls. As it stands at release, Warparty is frequently frustrating more often than it’s fun.

The stronger elements such as combat, art direction, and sound design are held back by the technical issues, odd design decisions and weak narrative, taking itself far too seriously when – if simplified – this could be a truly fun turn-based combat game.

Generation Zero is more or less what I expected from a big game studio doing its own indie project – a rough-but-unique mix of open-world game features. I love that it asks players to actually pay attention to its world instead of keeping them distracted with constant waypoint markers. And the tactical combat system really works, hitting an interesting middle ground between mainstream and hardcore.

We. The Revolution confidently handles a wide range of complex gameplay mechanics, setting them against a powerful backdrop. Thematically and gameplay wise, everything works. Some systems are more enjoyable than others but they all have their place, taking you on a bloody, morally bankrupt journey that asks difficult questions and makes you live with your answers.

Baba Is You is clever. Very, very clever. Cleverer than me, possibly cleverer than you as well. This isn’t a puzzle game for everyone. But for those with a logical mind, endless patience and thirst for a genuine challenge, it’s essential.