Sudden Strike 5 is about as rough around the edges as you are likely to get. And the controls don’t make things any easier. Yes, the maps are decent, and there is plenty of content to get involved in, but if you want to play a WWII real time strategy game, I’d stick with Sudden Strike 4…

It probably won’t be a game for everyone, but if you grew up playing classic brawler platformers, then there will be an immediate familiarity with Decline’s Drops.

Unfortunately, while there seems to be a good base and some heart at the core of Go! Go! Mister Chickums, the repetitive gameplay which is fueled by tedious level design and movement hampering game mechanics, prevent it from being very fun for any prolonged amount of time.

My advice when you start Motorslice is to be prepared to get annoyed. You will die a lot and repeat sections again and again, but there is a lot of good in this game, even when the mechanics don’t work quite as smoothly as they should.

There are many idle games to click on the Xbox, almost all of them free (with microtransactions). That’s a challenge for DPS IDLE 2 to overcome: how to entice players to play, and do so for a lengthy period of time. DPS IDLE 2 opts for better presentation and usability - turning one of the ugliest idle games into one of the prettiest - but that’s all it really has to offer. It’s ‘number goes up’ but with a surprising lack of player-choice.

I honestly have no idea who will buy Thomas & Friends: Wonders of Sodor. And if those people do buy it, I have no idea whether they are the ones who will enjoy it. But I can say, from an aging Thomas fan’s perspective, at least I was happy. This is a slightly distilled Train Sim World, redone for the world of Sodor, and - some usability issues aside - it reaches its destination with a degree of style.

Shooty McSpaceFace is very much typical of the genre; you’ll likely have seen it all before. However, for the reasonable asking price, there’s an hour or two of solid platforming fun on offer here.

Bus Bound is a cosy bus experience that strips away the complex bells and whistles found in more detailed simulators. It offers a fun city to drive around, but the repetitive core loop may well make you realise you are not quite the dedicated bus driver this game wants you to be.

I really liked what I saw in Hacked: The Streamer; a short but engaging FMV title. The narrative is genuinely exciting and highly relevant to 2026.

For the low price, it’s not quite the jackpot that it could have been, but Cloverpit: Unholy Fusion should have just enough to nudge you to a purchase.

As it stands, as with all of these collections, the results are hit and miss. If you’re curious about the whole single-button endeavour, then it’s worth picking up and giving a go. But if you’re interested in consistent value and quality, then One Button Games 5-in-1 vol. 6 struggles more than it should.

Monster Crown: Sin Eater is not on the same level as the classic Pokemon titles, yet that’s not what it tries to be. Where that series focuses on catching every species, Monster Crown employs complex breeding, a mature narrative, and impactful decisions, excelling at them all. Sadly, Monster Crown: Sin Eater struggles with the space between its milestones, leaving an enjoyable yet flawed addition to the monster-taming genre with a larger-than-life personality.

Aphelion may stumble in its mechanics, but when it places focus on the storytelling, atmosphere and spectacle, it’s exactly the kind of experience DON’T NOD excels at. It’s intriguing, mysterious and clever – we just wish it was tighter in terms of save points and how the gameplay is handled.

Heavy Duty chose a different path. It’s a finicky, precise simulation game, and that wasn’t the path I would have chosen for it. There is a chance that it’s the right path for you. Just be prepared to drive down that path very… slowly… indeed.

Regardless if you are smashing your head against the same level, or blowing your way through enemies, your eyes and ears are in for a treat with ZPF.

From the Bunker does provide an hour's worth of entertainment, but once you’ve escaped there is no completion screen, and no desire to ever play it again.

Collie Call: The Future is Calling fits with many of the other games produced by Afil Games - simple graphics and a single core puzzle mechanic that is designed to appeal to younger gamers.

I enjoyed Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss, particularly the striking visuals and high production values. The detective elements introduce some impressive new mechanics that make for a highly thoughtful gameplay experience. That being said, it does get too confusing at times, and I felt I spent far too much time wandering around trying to figure out my next move.

Little Helper Cafe: Sugar Cubes is much too similar to the first game to say anything significantly different about it as an experience.

The Empty Desk is a pretty short game, but it is just about enjoyable enough. The clean visuals, and central mystery that slowly reveals itself over the course of the game, work well, but some of the writing is a bit clunky.

Dragon Snack: From Ice to Ember isn’t anything substantial. Breaking it down, the core mechanic is exactly the same as you would find in any other game that has you fixing wires or rerouting plumbing. Whether that is your bag or not will depend on your gaming needs.

Claim the Forest: Shape of Wolves doesn’t have any technical issues and everything functions as intended. But realistically, older gamers will be picking this up for the easy Gamerscore and not because they plan on being blown away by the gameplay.

As a puzzle fan, Solid Void – Topsy Turvy World will more than scratch an itch, even if you aren’t particularly familiar with nonograms.

With no thread tying the puzzles together, no charm or character in the puzzles, and some localisation errors, we don’t feel the inclination to say that Lots of Things: Collector’s Edition is the hidden object game that you should buy.

You should enjoy The Occultist. There are some incredibly clever ideas here in terms of game mechanics and environmental design. The story is a bit hit-and-miss though.

Mortanis Prisoners delivers a short adventure through a World War Two purgatory death camp. It successfully channels old-school survival horror, focusing more on the journey, exploration, and puzzle-solving than on first-person action.

NubiaPhobia certainly moves in a different direction to other Tonguç Bodur games, but the storytelling is fun, and the mechanics work fine, which perfectly reflects its budget-friendly price.

Incantation does a good job of drawing inspiration from its cinematic source material, and you certainly don’t need to have seen the film to enjoy the game.

Be prepared to be nicked on some sharp edges as you destroy houses in Messy Up. If you can manage that, then you might have just found your next favourite party game.

I am self-aware enough to know that mindless cozy game players are a niche within a niche. Very few players will enjoy Trash Goblin in the same manner as I did. Because it is too repetitious for its own good. It doesn’t reward the player for their time with glittery new mechanics. But if you have lost hours to Stardew Valley in the past then maybe, just maybe, you will get something from Trash Goblin.

Sands of Aura feels like a game of unfulfilled potential. Some of the ideas scattered throughout are interesting and travelling across the desert creates eye-catching imagery, but a game's first and most important job is to be fun. In that regard, Sands of Aura is unsuccessful.

Overthrown is easy to recommend with some caveats. If you’re looking for a traditional city builder, this probably isn’t it. But if you want something more playful, more chaotic and more hands-on, it’s well worth your time.

Much of Around the World in 80 Days: Hidden Objects is so bad, it’s plain bad. The colour-graded scenes make it hard to spot, well, anything, and reasonably frequent bugs mean that certain levels became guessing games. Even with a perverse affection for all of its oddnesses, I have to acknowledge that Around the World in 80 Days: Hidden Objects isn’t particularly polished, nor is it rewarding.

Aerial_Knight’s DropShot is built around a strong concept which is fun to play for a time, but it doesn't quite get its hooks deep enough to qualify as addictive.

If you love the genre but are feeling signs of fatigue from the same rules, over and over, then Zoo Orbs is crafted just for you. Its merge physics might be a little off, and the mission structure does undermine the merging on occasion, but Zoo Orbs is unusual and new.

For simulation fans, there is a lot to love about The Bus. The recreation of Berlin and its routes is a massive technical achievement, and the Economy mode is a highlight that gives you a compelling reason to keep playing. The controls and UI are lacking at times though

You’d be hard-pressed to find a more satisfying low-budget merge game than Bun Buns. It’s definitely not big and it’s certainly not clever, but it’s cheap and delivers a lot of flavour in one mouthful. If it was a bakery item it would be a macaron: exquisitely presented, finished in a single gulp, but flavoursome.

I’m tempted to say that you should vote with your wallet: Fennec Fox is Hungry shouldn’t be encouraged, with its litany of bugs and control issues. But if you’re determined and you have a Fennec Fox fan in the family, then we won’t hold it against you. The problems may be many but they’re all minor, and it’s easy enough to scamper over them.

Deckline may be a competent take on Durak, but it had potential and squandered it. It’s not a mortal wound for anyone hoping to play Deckline, but it’s quite the flesh wound.

Backrooms Level X is reasonably priced for its length, I enjoyed its simple mechanics, and it is capable of delivering some very good surprises.

The storytelling, music, and the majority of the mechanics in Project Songbird are brilliant, however I didn’t get on with the stealth, crafting, and combat elements.

Meow Moments: Celebrating Myth & Machine wiled away a couple of hours. I alternated between slightly bored and slightly engaged, which is hardly the most enthusiastic of recommendations. But for the low price, that might be just enough to dip your paws into your pockets.

If you love your survival horror and enjoy a good fright in the dark, then Unsealed: The Mare might just be your favourite new nightmare.

Playing PULMO is like stumbling across a strange interactive art show in a gallery; you pay a small entry fee on a whim and are treated to a lovely surprise.

It’s the more-ishness where Grind Survivors stumbles. While it gives you plenty of ways to build your avatar, it doesn’t give you enough to do in terms of levels, objectives or enemies. And the meagre unlocks are spread too thinly over what little is there. That ‘Grind’ in the title begins to feel less a selling point, and more a warning.

The concept alone sells Don’t Mess With Bober, with it being strong enough to ensure the idea is worthy of praise. However, the other elements of the game, the core survival horror mechanics, don’t quite live up to that brilliant main premise.

I look at the breadth of stuff in Defending Camelot – Tower Defense Action and kind of marvel. There’s an unholy amount of content here. But I also wonder what it would be like if the emphasis was less on ‘more’ and instead shifted toward ‘polish’.

First Time in Rome Collector’s Edition averages out as promising but faulty. It’s got too many rough edges to recommend to newbies, but there’s plenty to satisfy a fan of the genre. Treat it as ‘Further Reading’, rather than an essential to pack for holiday.

In Order 13, you’ll fall in love with the cat and the actual job mechanics, but there isn’t much of a story, and during your time with the game, you’ll understand little about what is going on.

I just can’t get past the dead-eyed, negative-personality of Motorhome: Traveling America Collector’s Edition. It’s a black mark on an otherwise very well-made hidden object game.

If you’ve ever enjoyed a bout of Frogger but wished it would do something new, or wanted to dial its difficulty down a notch, then Risky Roads will be your (traffic) jam. It’s ugly and its fire burns out after an hour but, for a short period of time, Risky Roads will astrally project you in front of an arcade cabinet circa 1981.

Panda Keeper is a hard sell. It’s the latest in a long line of polished but virtually identical sokoban games, which makes pointing at any of them and saying ‘play this one!’ virtually impossible. Except this one has rolling pandas, so perhaps I’ve just killed my own argument.

3Cat are absolutely a studio to watch. They clearly have abundant talent in their artists, audio developers and level designers. But Manairons is unwieldy, and it doesn’t end up being the showcase that the developers deserve. It’s merely a decent platformer, when so much of Manairons feels drafted from an excellent one.

EpiXR Games deserve smaller, but still notable laurels. Aery - The King’s Messenger soars past the craters where other Aery games have crashed. It’s about as flawless as an Aery can be.

I just couldn’t bring myself to play A Clareira for long stretches. It swings, pendulum-like, between too-easy and impossible.

If you enjoy a puzzler as you look to take a break from the massive AAA games out there with their 70-hour playthroughs, then I think you will enjoy Cubic Figures.

One Button Games 5-in-1 vol. 5 is a fascinating exploration of what you can achieve with one button. The result sounds gimmicky, and in a few cases it is. But when it comes off, the result truly scratches the score-attack and achievement hunting itch.

MindsEye is no longer the broken mess it was when it launched in June of 2025. The developers have clearly worked hard to iron out the bugs and elevate the game to a higher standard. I enjoyed the campaign and much of the core gameplay, even if it felt more like a game from yesteryear rather than a cutting-edge release of today.

FRONT MISSION 3: Remake is a bit of a mixed bag. There are good bits, like the story and gameplay which are lifted straight from the original. But then there are those elements that don’t work anywhere near as well - like the weird halfway house graphical update, dodgy FMV and weird upscaled portraits of the characters.

We’re far from crabby having played Crabwave. The path-making template works, and there’s at least an attempt to fiddle with the format in terms of five paths and some cool rotating hexes. There are usability hiccups, but overall Crabwave is thirty-minutes of puzzling sunshine.

If you just want to find needles in haystacks, then Sleeping Beauty: Hidden Object Game smiles winsomely and lets you do exactly that.

I’d love to say that New Yankee: Through the History Mirror is best-in-class for the resource-management genre, but the bugs say no. Its mirror is cracked.

Too often, we’d be cuddling up to its fresh take on puzzle-platforming, only for it to unsheath its claws and dig into our thigh. 1 Catline is a fun idea that seems reluctant to embrace that fun.

Mole Cart Mining is a solid puzzle game that is near-identical to previous games by the publisher. What’s different are the minecart layouts, and those layouts are rather clever. Is it enough to part you with your cash? Only you can make that decision. Check in your minecart to see if you have disposable gold to spend.

The storytelling is musty, the combat mustier, and it’s more illogical than logical in its puzzles. If that doesn’t put you off, and you’re on the market for this time-capsule of an adventure, then there’s some Tomb Raider-like treasures to be found.

There are certainly things to love about GreedFall: The Dying World, but after many hours in its world, I left feeling a little deflated.

Pogui isn’t interesting. It’s easy to sneer at it, wondering what it’s bringing to the 2D platform conversation. But those people would be ignoring how fun it is.

One Button Games 5-in-1 vol. 4 continues the upward trajectory of the One Button collections. I don’t think it swings-and-hits as much as One Button Games 5-in-1 vol. 3, but it’s superior to the first two, slightly shonkier collections.

There is no doubt that this newly rebooted Speedball is a respectful take that manages to capture the feel of the original, without ever trying to reinvent it. The league structure adds longevity, arena variety keeps things fresh, and the management elements provide just enough depth. If only the online multiplayer was well populated…

If you were to press me and ask ‘what’s the most unusual thing about Little Cat the Lost Key?’ I would look around in a panic, trying to find an exit. I honestly couldn’t tell you a single remarkable thing about it. Even the title of the game feels like it’s a shrugging, coughed up, half-intelligible phrase.

Aside from the online multiplayer issues, MY HERO ACADEMIA: All’s Justice is an extremely solid game to play; suitable for fans of the source material, but also well up to the job of dragging in any newbie.

If you’re looking to complete your Dark Quest set, Dark Quest: Remastered is worth a purchase. It’s a dusty curio that you can explore for a few hours. For anyone else, we gesture encouragingly towards the many, better Dark Quest sequels.

Cinemoji Collection is one player, not multiplayer. It’s controller-only, which makes text input a ball-ache. It’s hardcore in its questions, and has barely any of the basic features that you would expect from a quiz game. BUT the puzzles can be clever, and cine-enthusiasts will get a kick from answering them.

If you want anything resembling ambition or innovation then you should probably find somewhere else to unwind. Capy Spa is more of the same, just furrier.

I’m torn with Cute Astro. It does its job with radical, early-’90s style, but it’s also a bit hollow. There is nothing wrong with the sokoban puzzling, but there’s also nothing remarkable about it either.

If you’re in the market for a first sokoban, or don’t feel like you’ve hit a point of fatigue with sokoban games, then Hummingbird Garden is a fantastic choice. For anyone else, I’m less confident.

If you want a clear example of ambition outstripping the execution, then Clue: Murder By Death is your case.

I’m absolutely a fan of Little Legs’ ambition. It tries to reinvent the Snake.io wheel, and that’s a sizable aim for a budget title. But it turns out that some things are core to this kind of experience: other players, a reason to keep playing, and a sense of threat. Without them, Little Legs begins to eat its own tail.

It's possible to have some fun with Styx: Blades of Greed. But playing for any prolonged session starts to show just how repetitive the game really is.

If you’re more interested in treating it as a one-and-done experience, letting the atmosphere wash over you, then Loan Shark has so much more value. It’s a tricksy tale, a PT-like short rather than anything particularly deep.

Roguematch: The Extraplanar Invasion made for an odd relationship. I loved it and hated it in roughly equal measure. The love came from an ingenious hybrid of dungeon-crawling and match-3 puzzles. The hatred came from Starstruck Games stacking more and more ideas on a simple concept, to the point that it became unwieldy.

Rightfully, Beary Arms is a sprinter, not a marathon runner. In short bursts, it can be fun, but playing for longer sessions starts to reveal its shortcomings, especially when compared to other games within the genre.

Centipede Gun is not a bad game, it’s just too easy. But if you’re looking for something to play mindlessly, or if you have kids to entertain, this could be a decent fit.

The 9th Charnel is an interesting game. The survival horror elements, including the tension and stealth, are solid. Your heart will be racing throughout, and the lack of combat effectiveness adds to the fear. However, the enemy AI can feel a bit off and annoying at times.

I like what UFOPHILIA is trying to achieve. The concept and gameplay loop are fun and addictive. There is a good range of aliens and a solid incentive to unlock new locations and equipment. However, the constant back-and-forth between the location and base is a tad annoying. There is also the elephant in the room: the lack of multiplayer

Montezuma's Revenge - The 40th Anniversary Edition is a curious nostalgia trip back in time that will do little other than please those who enjoyed the original. Even then, you should probably “Never go back”.

I enjoyed the story of Down Among the Dead Men, and I think it totally captures the nature of those ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ books of yesteryear. However, after a couple of playthroughs, it does start to become a bit stale, and the lack of energy in the voice-over doesn’t help matters.

Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass’ writing is its shining beacon, lighting up some dark moments and being the main reason I wanted to stumble through to the end. What held me back from truly loving Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass was grindy, repetitive combat and a lack of cohesion.

The action is so intense, there is barely a moment to rest, and so after about ten minutes with CLAWPUNK, I’m about exhausted. For the younger generation, those whose reflexes haven’t atrophied the way mine have, there is a lot to enjoy here, however, bear in mind that CLAWPUNK is full on, all the time.

There are clearly fans of path-making games on the Xbox, otherwise why would there be so many. But that creates a problem for Tiny Biomes: when there are so many competitors, many of which have more challenge, variety and breadth, then why pick this one up? For the annoying screenshake, clearly.

Like the first two games in the series, Fit and Fry: Mise en Place feels like a purchase for achievement hunters, more than anyone else.

As enjoyable as it is, THE LAST TRAIN: Baquedano feels unique in the horror marketplace. There’s a severe lack of hand-holding, but the strange station that is ripe for exploration holds a host of brilliant secrets.

Nerds unite! This may well be the quiz for you. ‘General’ knowledge is a dirty term: Majotori is interested in anime primarily, with some film and video games to sweeten the deal. If those are your Mastermind subjects then buy Majotori.

There is a lot to love about I Hate This Place, especially in terms of the story, visuals, and audio. However, I do think the gameplay loop, the combat and stealth, isn’t as fun as it should be.

Heroes Battle Awakening is undeniably Plants vs Zombies. It just is: it borrows all of the mechanics and many of the troops. Strategies that worked for Popcap’s game will work well here.

Fans of Running Fable will be let down, party-game players will find it too stripped back, and families will be embroiled in arguments. Genuinely, we haven’t a clue who Running Fable Petite Party is made for. It turns out that in a race between hare and tortoise, no-one wins.

What you won’t get from Ho Ho & Move is frustration. It goes down smooth, and for £2.49 that might be enough to make it one last Christmas present to yourself.

Little Helper Cafe is a short game that isn’t terrible, but it’s also not very memorable.