There are pacing issues at times, and the inherent lack of traditional gameplay might be a problem for some. However, if you plan on going down to the woods today, Heart of the Forest is an adventure well worth taking.

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.

Tales of Berseria Remastered isn’t perfect, and visual pop-in is very noticeable, but look beyond this and you’ll find an engaging RPG that deserves your time.

DYNASTY WARRIORS: ORIGINS Visions of Four Heroes is an easy recommendation for fans of the franchise.

You’ll have a fantastic time playing through the story missions found in John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando, no doubt tempted to increase difficulty levels as you go forward. If you can fully embrace the vibe of a cheesy, over-the-top action movie, then you are going to have a brilliant time here.

FATAL FRAME II: Crimson Butterfly REMAKE improves on a cult classic in so many ways. Although one poorly thought out decision holds it back, this remains one of the best examples of its genre.

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.

Alex the Rabbit wasn’t a big hit in our house. While we appreciated the Mario-like presentation, it was sorely lacking some important elements. It didn’t offer any challenge for three out of its four worlds, and it didn’t offer any innovation to replace it.

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.

The Stairwell is one of my favourite games in the looping genre. There is something about the vertical, Escher-esque design that really got its hooks into me.

Ultimately, Sovereign Syndicate is a very good narrative experience, filled with three great characters navigating an interesting and varied steampunk London. It is a slight shame their stories don’t overlap a bit earlier, but it is a pleasure spending time with them regardless.

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

Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection feels just like a turn-based Monster Hunter game. For the first time in the Stories series, they’ve nailed the feeling of every fight feeling like a boss battle.

The devs have truly cared about Slide Viking, and there’s almost no chance that you will dislike your time with it.

Plant of Lana II is the success we suspected it would be. A brilliantly told tale combines with stunning visuals, cracking gameplay mechanics, intriguing puzzles and a soundtrack to die for. But it lacks wow moments and any sense of difficulty.

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…

Is Dice a Million here to usurp Balatro? Not a chance - rolling dice lacks strategy, and the various unlocks are too chaotic to truly master. But there’s still a lovely alchemy in Dice a Million which means that the chaos brings fun. When a collection of dice works, it really, really works, and the ludicrous combos and resulting multipliers give you a satisfying pat on the back.

Despite camera and control woes, Crosak is still worthy of your attention. There aren’t many spiritual successors to ‘90s 3D platformers, and Crosak knows what made them great.

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.

BlazBlue Entropy Effect X is a very good game, with a massive amount of content to go at. Each run is different, the number of avatars to unlock and master adds to the longevity a lot, and for the most part, there is a fast, fluid and furious game to be found here.

SUPER BOMBERMAN COLLECTION provides a well packaged love letter to the history of the franchise for longtime fans. It also creates a welcoming entry point for beginners. Despite lacking some conveniences and accessibility, it delivers plenty of well-aged gameplay to savour.

Alpacapaca Double Dash is not what the average person would call good. It’s a little shy of bad, in all honesty, as I’d have stronger words. It’s a clumsy, buggy, garish mess of a platformer, and I wanted to put it down after the first level.

It isn't a perfect game, but it is an enjoyable one. I loved the world and the story, even when it lost me slightly. The combat is fun, and the puzzles are excellent. If you have an itch for a single-player action-adventure, Crisol: Theater of Idols will definitely scratch it.

I’m thankful to In the Dark for getting me to play the whole Lil Gator saga. I’m not sure I was feeling down, exactly, but I was certainly bathed in a Gatory glow after playing the Gator of the Year Edition. In the Dark continued the good work, adding a fitting and heartfelt coda to an already brilliant game. And there’s no finer compliment than that.

Escape from Ever After is a very accomplished game that does a lot of things right. The platforming can be tricky until you are used to it, but you’ll mostly have a really good time playing through.

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.

The humor, references, and gameplay of High on Life 2 match, and then exceed, that of the first game.

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.

Resident Evil Requiem is a pitch perfect love letter to fans of the series. Capcom has absolutely nailed the dual protagonist mechanic which sits at the core of a truly incredible piece of storytelling. The result is a must-play title for those both familiar and new to the series. Put simply, it’s an absolute tour de force.

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.

Whilst questions can be raised as to whether Surviving Mars: Relaunched is needed as a full new release, the gameplay is still absolutely solid. It’s a hardcore sim management game that offers plenty of trials and tribulations but can be immensely satisfying at the same time. Simply a joy to return to.

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.

REANIMAL is a big step up from the Little Nightmares games in terms of story and world-building. This feels more mature, more epic, and, at times, much more terrifying.

Disciples: Domination is an enjoyable sequel that builds on the original in certain ways, but remains a very similar experience to what came before, complete with the same drawbacks.

If precision platforming wasn’t chilling enough, Love Eternal coats it in thick, horrifying atmospherics. There’s nowhere to hide: the closest you will get to safety is the momentary haven of a checkpoint.

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.

It doesn’t demand anything of you. Its customers will happily wait weeks, if not months for you; they don’t mind. You can do whatever you want. And that’s Fruitbus’ secret sauce. A warm community spirit without expectations.

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.

If you have a hankering for a simpler time of flash games that the more modern offerings can't sate, Ad Fundum may just be the game for you. Outside of some minor control and technical issues, it provides loads of gameplay and replayability for a relatively small price and size.

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

Once you get accustomed to the controls, which at times feel a bit cumbersome, and as long as you are able to ignore some weird physics, Cash Cleaner Simulator is a game that you can easily spend dozens of hours in. The mechanics that can be frustrating are also what ensure the game is unique and fun.

I’m at a loss. There’s no good way of playing Sora - Winds of the Jungle, and I’m not convinced EpiXR Games know how they want you to play it, either. It’s a flying conundrum, and we reached the game’s end wondering why anyone bothered.

Much like Monster Train’s The Last Divinity, Monster Train 2’s Destiny of the Railforged is a large, emphatic step for an already very good game. It does exactly what you would hope it would do: it introduces a meta-disrupting new clan, and tosses a whole new endgame your way. It’s brutal and expects the world from you.

It may be an obvious match up, but World War Z x The Walking Dead seamlessly brings the two worlds together in another helping of the enjoyable zombie shooter.

Despite some minor issues, Code Vein II is excellent. Look past the graphical issues and there is an excellent game found within, one with loads to do, and multiple timelines to visit and fix.

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.

Your time isn’t just respected in Lovish: it’s thoroughly rewarded. After a level, you’re just as likely to raise a chuckle or coo at a new upgrade. It meant that we ended up loving Lovish. No need for the -ish.

Hidden Cats in Christmas gets another two-paws-up from us. It’s comfortably the most polished, enjoyable and high-value cat-finding game on the Xbox, which sounds like a minor achievement but isn’t. There are oodles of these games out there, and the Hidden Cats series looms above them all.

In tycoon terms, Baking Time is a bit of a dud. By some margin it’s the worst of the genre that we’ve played; a monotonous trudge through bakery after bakery. It’s even got the temerity to make you do it for dozens of hours.

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.

You’ll find it a pleasure to step into the world of The Talos Principle 2. If you love puzzle games, then this is near perfect; a game full of challenge but backed by a great story.

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.

If you haven’t played Lost Ember before, the Rekindled Edition is the best way to jump into the game. For those who have, it’s great to be reminded of the narrative journey once more, this time with improved visuals.

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.

Ultimately, it’s the controls that doomed Lara Returns to the Castle: when the basic hopping about turned out to be less than enjoyable, there was only one way that things were going to go.

As unwelcome as Drop Duchy can be in its mid-game, I have no hesitation in saying that it’s worth it. Tetris is a pretty awesome foundation to build on, and Drop Duchy - Complete Edition stacks resource gathering, roguelike runs and simple strategy on top.

Countless Army is the most fun I’ve had in a game this year. There will be games that usurp that title, and those games will be infinitely more lavish and better executed. But for now, this little strategy-game-that-could, this reversed Tower Defence, is attached to me like a limpet. Frankly, I’m fine with that relationship.

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.

It can get a bit samey (the gameplay loop is basically the same, season to season), but Super Farming Boy has such charm that you won’t mind the grind too much.

Ultimately, the only real reason to buy Fit and Fry: Organized Chef is the same as the first game: a massive Gamerscore boost for very little effort; there is almost no discernible difference between the two games, just slightly tweaked and repackaged.

CASSETTE BOY has warts, but press LB and RB enough and they might just look like chiselled cheekbones. We forgave its issues because it’s just so gung-ho in its inventiveness.

There’s heart, there's humour, and the overall aesthetic and vibe bring back a sense of nostalgia that is impossible to beat. I just wish UNBEATABLE was smoother.

Legends BMX delivers exactly what it promises: fast, flowing BMX freestyle action in a compact, arcade-friendly package.

Dreamscapes - Nightmare’s Heir is not your average hidden object game. Some of its qualities are intended, like a joyful dreamworld, and some of them are unintended, like acting so corny that it gives off a pungent whiff. Sure, it could have done with some spit, polish and sophistication, but where’s the fun in that? Dreamscapes - Nightmare’s Heir is at its best when it’s ramshackle.

EBOLA VILLAGE is a good little homage to those 90s survival horrors of the past; intriguing and gory enough to fit right in.

We often say that games aren’t for everyone, but Egging On, most emphatically, is not for everyone. It demands that you enjoy wrestling a borderline-uncontrollable main character through simplistic hoops. It needs you to feel the glow of reaching heights you have never reached before, only to tumble to your doom afterwards.

Hextreme Void comes across as a self-inflicted dare: to make a game with the least amount of player involvement possible. Hextreme Void is the result, and while it manages to complete the dare, we were a bit nonplussed about why it bothered. So, we scooped up our balls and headed off to play BALL x PIT.

Rage Swarm feels like it got half-way through a successful port from mobile to console. While there are no microtransactions, the grindy free-to-play identity is still there. With some more surgery, extracting the tedium, this sporadically fun auto-battler would have been less, um, enraging.

Garten of Banban 8 misses the target by some way. A puzzle horror game this is not, with activities stretching the definition of puzzle, and an adventure devoid of scares entirely. It’s a big step backwards for a series; one that was improving incrementally with each release.

When S.P.E.A.R. gets even remotely difficult, it can feel like you’re not just fighting giant, flying eye bosses: you’re fighting the engine, too.

If you’re in the market for a Telltale-like episode of narrative goodness, then take a bow, SOPA - Tale of the Stolen Potato. This is not long, difficult or ambitious, but it never fails to be charming.

Delivery of Us is one of the better sliding puzzle games we’ve played, but it’s also one of the shortest. It’s very much a small parcel rather than a large letter. You might need to ration yourself a few levels a day to spread the experience out a wee bit.

We’re a little enamored with Just a Little Purr Suit. It’s not got a big budget sheen, or even a mid-budget sheen. What it does have is a brilliant concept and some clever, tightly wound puzzles that will require deep thought to complete.