Whatever your experience with 2D platformers, KLAUS does a great job of introducing you to the genre then subverting your expectations. It’s not the hardest platformer on the market, but it’s one that leaves a great impression — as well as a few new ideas for others to build on.

Ultimately, Jon Shafer’s At the Gates is a deep, interesting and gorgeous barbarian-‘em-up for about three-quarters of its runtime, with the quality of the experience varying hugely from there. With time invested to learn the game’s systems, there’s fun to be had in taking the various unlockable tribes to victory. It’s definitely rough around the edges, and there are a few features I’d happily trim, but if you enjoyed Jon’s previous work then the spark that kept me awake all night when Civ V launched is definitely still alive. I hope future updates can fill in a few of the gaps.

All in all, Slay the Spire is just a brilliant game. It opens its arms to you and holds you close to begin with, then pushes you away and practices throwing cards at you once you have found your footing. It really is a marvel of a genre mash-up and it is thoroughly deserving of your time. Just be prepared to start over and over again – it is a roguelike, after all.

Vane simply doesn’t live up to those games it so achingly apes. It lacks the clearly defined objective and unique aesthetic of Journey; the emotional attachment of The Last Guardian; the intriguing ambiguity of Inside; the charm of Rime. Instead, Vane feels clunky and pretentious, any sense of wonderment outweighed by unnecessary frustration, sluggishness and a lack of clarity.

Pikuniku is relentlessly charming throughout its short-but-sweet several hours of play. Many of the more enjoyable moments aren’t even mission-critical, so you’d do well to keep your eyes peeled for bonus nonsensical hijinks rather than just speed your wobbly red appendages towards the conclusion. While not the most sophisticated experience, Pikuniku is a bonkers trip worth leaving your cave for.

I’m hopeful for Feudal Alloy. The style and mechanics are there, it just aches for a rebalancing of the introductory portion of the game. This is absolutely doable. And when it happens, it’ll be an unconditional recommendation. That doesn’t mean you should give it a miss now – just prepare yourself for a rocky start.

My Time At Portia makes up for its lack of polish with nearly everything else it has to offer. It has what seems to be an endless amount of content, so you’re definitely getting your money’s worth. It doesn’t quite reinvent the wheel, but it definitely gives the games it’s inspired by a run for their money.

At times, YIIK’s story does contain exceptional observations about the human experience that are incredibly moving. While its disparate pieces struggle to satisfyingly coalesce, I don’t regret my time with the game, and its developers should be proud of their achievement. All games are a masterwork of hours upon hours of immense emotional and physical labor. YIIK made me recognize and appreciate that labor in ways that other games simply don’t.

Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes has a tone flooded with immaturity and unoriginality, which is a shame because underneath it all is a solid combat system screaming to be recognised.

The only unfortunate thing about the game is its occasionally stilted dialogue and what some may consider higher difficulty when dealing with certain parts in Classic and Stories Modes. Otherwise, This War of Mine: Complete Edition is nothing short of fantastic, and a truly wonderful addition to the Nintendo Switch’s library – despite the fact that it’s extremely depressing and a harrowing look at war.

Iris.Fall only takes a few hours to complete, and this feels just right. From start to finish it’s an engaging and well-polished experience that finishes on a high, before the demands of its tricky puzzling take too much of a toll. While the easily frustrated may wish to steer clear, this is a stylish brain-teasing trip worth taking.

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.

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.

A decent little game, tightly designed with some laughs along the way, as well as offering really good audio and visual design. However, it does fall down under more prolonged scrutiny, with undercooked world-building and a tendency to push you towards grinding out money by means of repetition meaning that some may lose interest before reaching the finale.

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 a year where Red Dead Redemption 2 and God Of War have garnered so much critical attention and praise (and deservedly so), GRIS made me feel more than any other game in 2018. It’s one of the year’s very best and should be a benchmark for similar games to come.

The Council is a fantastic example of what adventure games are capable of, with tons of content, choices, and characters you won’t soon forget. If you’re looking for something to fill the void that Telltale Games’ departure from the industry is leaving behind, The Council is a worthy contender – so long as you’re ready to deal with everything that comes with it.

Below has simple but satisfying combat, is easy on the eyes and ears, and the crafting system is fun once you get to grips with it. The trouble is, unlike other recent roguelike games, it doesn’t value fun above frustration and actively punishes you for slip-ups. Despite this, it’s a compelling experience, just not necessarily a fun one.

Sheltered is a game with some good ideas. The customisation options are fantastic, and the gameplay loop itself is enjoyable. It’s a shame it’s tarnished by horrible RNG and a general feeling of pointlessness. If you really want to struggle against the world there are better games out there that do the same thing, but better.

While there’s certainly room for improvement in Override, the game is undeniably fun in an old-school arcade way. It’s not as fast and fluid as classics like Sega’s Virtua On!, but the premise is excellent, the character designs are gorgeous, and the action is addicting.

The industry may be drowning in Metroidvanias, but Sundered does enough to stand out from the crowd with flair.

Unforgivable lack of exploding barrels aside, Super Treasure Arena is a fun little multiplayer game. While the lack of actual online play (on the Switch, anyway), game modes, and levels is a definite problem, Arena counters its shortcomings quite a bit simply by being cheaply priced. For a quick old-school multiplayer fix, it’s a safe bet.

While the actual setting and storyline could do with a bit of colour (particularly the characters), if you want a decent strategy game to fill the emptiness between Christmas and New Years, Ancient Frontier: Steel Shadows may be the thing for you.

In spite of its fun premise, there’s an overall aspect of the game being underbaked which is hard to get away from.

As you progress through the levels, however, the game throws more and more obstacles your way – particularly barriers, which are difficult to telegraph and avoid, adding an unnecessary difficulty. Rather than keep the rhythm going, it frequently halts it, hindering the experience. Combined with Switch controls that make it hard to line up your ship properly, Aaero fails to impress.

For the most part the combat is decent, allowing you to dash around and fire with the reticle. Although, sometimes the aim can be a bit loose and an immediate, unnecessary difficulty jump does little to quell the issue. If you want a fun roguelite, though, look no further (once you get through that long list, that is.)

An unpredictable experience which keeps you guessing as it plays around with the simulator genre it’s found itself wedged in.

Ashen is one of the most approachable and well-accomplished Souls-likes we’ve seen to date. It offers a bewitching world to discover with a character all its own. It’s unfortunate that one of its best and most unique features, companions, isn’t in a very good state right now. I believe this’ll get fixed with time.