It seems overly simplistic to conclude by saying that Dark Arcana: The Carnival is a hidden object game that will appeal to fans of the genre. There is nothing here to really draw in new players and I remain perplexed at its conversion to consoles. Given the regular releases of Artifex Mundi titles, there must be an audience for them and this title will presumably be well received by these players. Unfortunately, there is absolutely no hidden depth here and its predictable nature left me underwhelmed.

Overcooked and the Nintendo Switch are really a perfect match of frantic co-op cooking and a games console that’s all about taking games on the go and sharing them with people. Right now it’s difficult to wholeheartedly recommend this version though, given the widely reported frame rate issues. Here’s hoping they can cook up a fix sooner rather than later.

While a fun and interesting take on the genre, Shadow Tactics will prove a little too demanding for some. Although self-contained, levels are surprisingly big, each crammed with an array of moving clockwork pieces. With some stretching past the half-hour mark, it can be an overwhelming and sometimes exhausting game to play. Still, you’d be hard pressed to find a stealth game as satisfying or rewarding.

Tacoma has some great characterisation and is a very different breed of science fiction, but my enjoyment was sapped by one key mistake in how the story was told. It also has issues with loading and can be somewhat bland to look at, but looking around you, the environmental storytelling is top-notch. By the end, I’d become invested in these characters, but not necessarily their plight.

Namco Museum is only really worth purchasing if you either have an unhealthy obsession with at least three of Namco’s arcade classics, or want an immensely fun party game and don’t care too much about the price or extras. It’s great to see that they won’t be forgotten, but aside from Sky Kid there were no games that I hadn’t already played that I liked. Namco Museum is certainly well put together and presented, but the selection of games just aren’t completely enticing.

Super Cloudbuilt is a stunningly well realised game. It’s fun and frantic, yet the player is always in control. How much you enjoy this game will really depend on how much of a glutton for punishment you are. Cloudbuilt is frustratingly hard, but those with the patience and skill to persevere will find a rich and rewarding title with a great deal of replayability, returning to each level to find the optimal routes and looking like a boss whilst doing so.

Challenge fiends may still have a good time with DeadCore, although in its current state I would be reluctant to recommend the console port over the PC version – if you have one. Originally a project by a fledgling group of five young French developers, DeadCore shows some promise as a platforming first title: the basic mechanics are generally good and fun to use. It’s a shame the game is entirely let down by poor controls and sometimes cheap challenge design, both of which are at odds with the game’s speedrunning ethos.

Unboxed: Newbie’s Adventure will be a pleasant surprise for many 3D platforming fans. Although fairly unassuming, it offers a simplistic, lighthearted approach to the genre with hours of fun to be had.

I wasn’t expecting to like Miitopia as much as I did, but it certainly had me hooked until the end. It’s deceptively long despite its rather basic premise and while the first two thirds are somewhat restrictive, the final third is when the game really comes into its own and shows off its true potential with compelling mechanics that are surprisingly deep. Miitopia is an odd duck for sure, but one that is very hard to put down once the hooks are in.

Archangel is a game that shows a lot of promise from Skydance Interactive. There’s flaws with checkpoints and lip syncing, but the game’s presentation on the whole is great and none of that matters when you’re piloting the mech. You feel incredibly powerful as you easily brush aside smaller tanks and drones, while battling with larger enemies feel like a proper fight.

Short and succinct, there’s nothing about Theseus I strongly disliked. That said, beyond the occasional picturesque moment, there isn’t a lot here worth shouting about either. It succeeds in bringing a brutal slice of mythology to life, but lacks the depth or impact of similar action adventure games, putting too much emphasis on style and presentation.

Much like Chibi Robo! Zip Lash was a bit of a flop in converting a primarily 3D franchise into 2D, Hey! Pikmin makes errors of its own. While the antics of the Pikmin seen in the levels are adorable and the game is visually pleasing, I just couldn’t get over the way the Pikmin behaved when I was playing. It’s otherwise a rather bland and forgettable adventure that Pikmin fans can quite easily skip.

Once you get the hang of Tiny Trax, it’s a fantastic little racer that demands you learn the tracks, perfect every corner, and know exactly when to boost in order to win. Some people might stall while getting over the initial hump of learning the handling, others when contemplating the amount of content in the game, but get past that and you’ll find a slot-racer for the VR generation.

The first impressions of Aven Colony are great, as you build your first colony, finding your way on this alien world. It doesn’t take too long before you start to see the limitations, whether by design or by mistake, leaving this as a city builder that’s easy to pick up and play, but one that could do with a little more depth.

Cars 3: Driven to Win is a fun and eclectic racer, and one that boasts plenty of content that’ll keep fans of the films happy for many hours, especially younger gamers who may well overlook some of the flaws. It’s a shame then that the game’s poor performance, lack of polish and often unfair difficulty level make it that much harder to recommend to anyone else.

A crafty base concept and careful execution make Superhot one of the most intriguing games to come from the recent class of indie-developed shooters. Its bizarre setting and puzzle-like approach are refreshingly original and hopefully something the team will now expand upon following Superhot’s early success.

Supergiant Games continue to burn brightly as an independent studio, with Pyre being their latest imaginative and fantastical adventure. It casts aside many of the trappings of an action RPG from Bastion and Transistor in favour of something more akin to a real time tactical game, wrapping its fast paced and often fraught battles up in a world and cast of characters that gradually draw you into its cyclical tale.

Valkyria Revolution’s biggest crime is that it is utterly dull. The tonal changes to the narrative, and to the combat system, are completely pointless, and not only do a disservice to the Valkyria name, they render it meaningless. Such are the differences between the two titles I don’t understand why they bothered to sully the series’ fantastic reputation with this release.

Superhot VR should be the ultimate power fantasy. Being able to juggle four pistols, firing each one off while dodging a hail of bullets is just one of the many stunning set pieces I’ve relished in. However, when one cog in the machine gets caught, that absolute immersion slips away. If optimised better and with slightly reworked levels, this would be a PlayStation VR essential. As it stands, Superhot VR is still good though too inconsistent.

Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles is a beautiful canvas that needs more detail to make it a masterpiece. Gemea is an enchanting location and the majority of systems in the game function well, but the magic hook is missing. The story isn’t engrossing and the quests just blend into each other for the most part, as do the characters that give them. Gemea is magical, the content not so much.

While Fantastic Contraption encourages you to be creative, it immediately boxes you in at the same time with a limited number of solutions and even fewer tools. Its novelty wears off far too soon, resulting in something as shaky as its player-made creations. [Tested with PSVR]

A fairly straightforward sequel to one of the Wii U's best games, Splatoon 2's unique take on the online multiplayer shooter is as fresh as ever on Switch. Nintendo still have one foot in the past with online functionality, stubbornly sticking to their (paint) guns when they should be learning from others, but these flaws are easily covered up once you get into a game. At its heart, Splatoon 2 is a second helping of one of the most inventive shooters of the last decade.

Fallen Legion has a wealth of great ideas, but ultimately crumbles under its ambitions. A fun combat system helps form a strong core, but one that ultimately doesn’t hold together for very long. The saving grace here is the beautiful artwork and smooth animations, which are complimented by some great music. Unfortunately, it’s hard to recommend the game on those traits alone; Fallen Legion is interesting, and promising, but rarely enjoyable.

While I eventually enjoyed Aporia: Beyond the Valley, the moments where bugs and glitches appeared took me right out of the experience. It’s a shame too, as the story is well told despite uttering no words at all, the premise is genuinely interesting, and the puzzles – when they work as intended – are a joy to solve. It’s certainly one to wait on for now while they tidy up all the bugs and glitches.

It doesn’t even matter that the gameplay here is so good and delightfully complex. Pox Nora on PlayStation 4 is a failure in execution rather than concept; an excellent card and strategy game that few will likely stick with because of the frankly unacceptable technical issues. Even frame rate issues could be overlooked, but parts of the UI failing part way through matches rendering them unplayable and the usual F2P always online syndrome casts a dark shadow over the rest of the game. Maybe just play it on PC instead.

It’s a shame that some of the new gameplay elements don’t quite fit together, but on the whole, Season Two is off to a solid start that will likely hook those who enjoyed the original.

Anyone who is a turn based strategy game fan should be checking out Antihero, which deserves to find an audience so that its multiplayer base can flourish. This is a game that is easy to learn with a campaign that teaches you all the basics, but it can then throw a number of challenging scenarios at you. Antihero is a game that offers something a little different in the strategy genre, that’s easy to learn before throwing some challenging scenarios at you, and is genuinely fun to play.

It’s perhaps stepping on Super Bomberman R’s toes at a fraction of the price, but Flip Wars scratches that multiplayer itch and is an absolute blast to play locally. There are currently some kinks to iron out, particularly with online matchmaking to fully use all the player slots, but with updates a possibility it’s certainly one to keep an eye on to see how things develop.