LEGO Party! is certainly enjoyable, there’s no denying that; the huge range of mini games and mini figures encourage customisation, contrasted by the larger than life personality the title oozes. Sadly, the clear derivative gameplay hardly creates anything original, and that means LEGO Party! is left to lean heavily on its predecessors.

So, Call of Duty: Vanguard. The campaign is great, the multiplayer is fun and Zombies will appeal to previous fans. As an overall package Vanguard is capable of providing hours of fun - all pushed along with brilliant visuals. This is a great trip back to World War II.

On the whole, Sig.NULL is a daunting sokoban puzzler that drops you in at the deep end without much aid. But that, coupled with the steep difficulty curve, is the only real off-putting factor. There are loads of cleverly designed problems to solve and you will be darn happy after each completed level. It’s great to see new mechanics thrown in to freshen up the experience, combining to create even more complex puzzles.

If you have any love for the 2D Castlevanias, and wish that someone would pick up the whip again, then Aeterna Noctis has heeded your call.

GIGASWORD is an ambitious blending of genres. RPG elements aligning with puzzles and platforming is always going to be a curious concoction, and in this case, sometimes for worse, sometimes for better. The poor platforming and bugs may put a downer on your experience, yet the overall brilliance of narrative, combat, and level design will most likely override this, leaving GIGASWORD an indie title worth playing.

Submerged: Hidden Depths nails its core aim. It’s an experience that plays more along the lines of an interactive art exhibit instead of a traditional game. That may not appeal to everyone, but it’s a slice of tranquillity we could all benefit from.

This little indie game is testimony to what can be achieved with a small team of developers and a lot of crazy creative imagination.

Batman: The Enemy Within is on a roll and I can’t see it slowing down. Do yourself a favour and just get involved with Telltale’s very own take on Gotham’s greatest detective.

Farm Together really is a huge and extensive game, happily providing many hours of varied gameplay.

Solar Ash looks and feels like a surrealist dream. Even after a half dozen hours, I still found gliding across desolate yet beautiful backdrops to be an absolute blast. Still, a repetitive combat system stands out as a notable blemish on an otherwise stellar adventure.

There is a lot of imagination and heart gone into the making of Super Toy Cars 2 on Xbox One that oozes out of almost every corner. Career mode is an absolute blast and I will never tire of smashing up opponents – or myself when making a bad judgement on one of the obstacles. The game is slightly let down by only allowing two players locally – four would have made this a gaming night essential – and the lack of modes online, but there is still masses of fun to be had here on your own.

All in all and The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing III does enough to claim its place in the pantheon of ARPG games. It’s not as polished as Diablo 3, or even as Path of Exile, but the charm of the environment and the wish to see the next level are both strong. It’s not perfect, but this third entry in the series is the best to date.

There’s no doubt that Train Sim World 4 is yet another strong entry in the Train Sim World series. A game that is capable of offering up hundreds of hours of gameplay, the only real question is whether or not we really need a new iteration already. But for fans of the railways, the lure of new tracks and trains will always be a draw, as will some visual improvements.

As a first foray onto Xbox consoles, Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & The Envisioned Land does a stellar job. It looks stunning, and the strong mix of exploration, alchemy and combat all complement each other extremely well. At times it does feel the story beats are a bit too spaced out, and the world map is daunting to look at, but no two play sessions are the same.

The Secret Order: Shadow Breach is an intriguing instalment of Sarah Pennington’s ongoing adventures that’s certainly worthy of your time. The combination of science and magic ensures an interesting premise is in place alongside a lovely selection of hand-drawn environments to peruse. Granted, the voiceovers aren’t great and the cursor accuracy is a problem, but that’s counter-acted by the puzzles. You see, the solutions are clever, the mini-games offer so much variety and the hidden object scenes are really well designed.

An amazing piece of world-building that is complemented with some superb visuals and audio work, Under the Waves will keep you captivated for some eight hours or so. And come the end, you may just be sad that it has finished.

I know I should be angry at Disney Dreamlight Valley. The decision to move from a paid experience to an even more paid experience is Ursula-like in its sheer evilness (worse, as Ursula sticks to her promises). I should be angry, but I’m only a few-thousand dreamlight away from affording a new area, and Rapunzel is soooo close to becoming a level 10 friend. There’s too much to be done. There’s no time to be angry.

The action on offer in The King of Fighters XV is fast, furious, nicely polished and very addictive indeed. Finding a team that suits your playstyle is good fun, building your own team is rewarding, and with a deep and quite accessible fighting system to get to grips with, it’s well worth playing.

We want to give Chefy-Chef a hug. It is far tighter, more imaginative and endlessly more fun than we expected.

A very good strategy game that covers both a great narrative and board-like gameplay, Rough Justice: ’84 is a bit of a stunner, especially visually with some of the best hand-drawn animation you would have seen.

I mostly give Catlateral Damage: Remeowstered a hall pass. What Manekoware have coughed up here is so simple and immediately joyful. The moment you clamber onto a shelf with a row of vases in front of you, you feel that pang, that urge to rush at them, jamming RT to knock them down with your paws. And as they do synchronised dives to the ground, you feel a surge of happiness and want to do it all over again.

What is in place with Etherborn is very good, and if you are after a taxing puzzler which will push and pull the grey matter in ways other games can’t, then you should certainly consider a purchase. Just be aware that you may well be left wanting more as the end credits roll.

Ziggurat 2 is a really nice surprise; one that is highly recommended for old school Quake fans who have missed that arena-based shooter feel.

If you are looking for something a bit different and are after a slice of history in your gaming, then A Painter's Tale: Curon, 1950 is for you.

Perhaps it's a little short, and maybe the combat is a little one dimensional, but Trek To Yomi is a game that stands out from the crowd

Endzone - A World Apart: Survivor Edition is a fantastic addition to the Xbox lineup. It could use a little more optimization and there are a couple small bugs that need to be squashed, but it is an easy game to sink tons of hours into.

Smash Boats Waterlogged Edition should provide you with a smashing time in all kinds of water-themed arenas. The choice of boats and differing enemy types bring a slight element of strategy to the fun crashing and bashing, with a good selection of abilities on offer for both sides.

Despite a lacklustre story, a couple of negligible problems and a disappointing climax, Demon’s Tier+ on Xbox One is still an addictively fun twin-stick, rogue-like experience. The unlockable characters, improved weaponry and a rewarding sense of achievement just ensures you want to dive in again and again.

If you are in the market for a platformer that brings something new to the table, then I would hazard a guess that you have found it in Rising Dusk. It’s a charming game, and the new anti-coin mechanic just brings a little extra spice to proceedings.

Of the LucasArts adventures that have come to Xbox One, Full Throttle is not the first that we’d recommend. It’s too lightweight in its gameplay to be a favourite, and it takes a few ambitious punts, particularly into arcade territory, that don’t pay off. But that’s not to say that Full Throttle is running on empty: it’s better at being a movie than a game, and that movie is exhilarating, noisy and more than a little kick-ass.

Overall this is a welcome addition to the DLC programme planned for Cities Skylines. Snowfall gives you a totally new aesthetic design and presents a number of challenging new ideas in the way you design your city from scratch.

Ganryu 2 is a very solid game - a throwback to a time when games were hard with no apology; if you aren’t up to the task, you don't progress.

I’ve found Adios on Xbox to be moving and profound. If you are a fan of games like Everyone's Gone to Rapture or Firewatch then I think this is probably up there as a must-buy game. But on the other side of the coin, if you are not one who is particularly interested in narrative or storytelling, preferring gameplay to run your games, then you may well have a bit of an issue with what it delivers.

Although World of Van Helsing: Deathtrap looks very drab and appears to be just another tower defense game with a gimmick, playing it will cast these negative thoughts away because the enjoyment factor and depth to the whole thing cannot be ignored and really should be praised.

Cursed to Golf is punishing, unrelenting and a lot of fun. It is everything you want a roguelike to be, with a side order of delightful pixel art.

Batora: Lost Haven is a cracking adventure boasting a powerful character driven story. Despite simple and sometimes unvaried gameplay, there’s enough here to keep you invested until this tale’s conclusion.

YesterMorrow on Xbox One is a charming retro-styled platformer, or platform/puzzler if you prefer. There is a real sense of progression as you get stronger and learn to wield the Everlight, the bosses that you encounter are memorable and have patterns to learn should you wish to beat them, and the time travel mechanic works well to deliver the icing on the cake. Minor control quibbles aside, YesterMorrow is a great little playthrough and one you would do well to consider.

You could have put ‘Silent Hill’ at the front of the title and we would have called Visage a return to form. Ultimately, this is an exercise in stretching PT to a full house, which is almost entirely successful, with masterful scares and near constant tension.

There's no doubt that Killer Frequency may come with a bit too much dialogue for some, and occasionally some bits do drag, but ultimately there is a great story found within; one that explores the twilight zone of late-night radio.

Explosionade DX on Xbox is loud, dumb fun with the emphasis firmly on shooting and staying alive. With multiplayer built in, and online leaderbords to see how you rank up against your friends, this is a game that manages to scratch the itch that I'm sure we all feel from time to time: the urge to just blow things up.

Nippon Marathon can certainly be described as a marmite game; you will either love it or hate it. Find a group of friends that all love it and you can easily laugh away an entire evening attempting to out run each other. But it isn’t for everyone, and it is easy to understand why. What to some will look like shoddy game design is actually a very purposeful and conscientious element of the design, but that won’t necessarily sit right with those that like nothing left to chance.

You’ll enjoy your time with Turnip Boy a lot more on the second go around in Turnip Boy Robs a Bank.

Gotham Knights is the game that everyone wants to hate, but that shouldn't be the case as there is a lot to love here. It's a good open-world game that explores a brilliantly realised Gotham City, powered by some fun, fluid combat and a wicked world that is easily explorable. Hanging around the rooftops as you take in the main story, smaller incidents or even as you hunt secret challenges allows Gotham Knights to shine, even if the Batcycle sections don't feel particularly great.

Tacoma is a high quality walking sim that tells a brilliant story of hope, whilst delivering complex and interesting characters.

Roll the Cat is a very well-made game. The titular cats are adorable, the puzzles are challenging and the art direction is top-notch.

With a ton of content included, and a huge ‘one more go’ feel to the stages available, should you be looking to usher up memories of the good old days, get Rally Arcade Classics installed immediately.

Fight’N Rage on Xbox One is an ocean-deep video game belonging to a genre not normally known for offering gameplay variety. The fighting system and level design have a level of depth and variety which provide plenty to discover for those willing to commit. Beyond this there is a pandora’s box of unlockable goods and secrets worth coming back to again and again.

10tons have managed to recreate that feeling of running out of time, surrounded on all sides, and even sometimes fares better than many games in recent memory. While Tesla Force on Xbox is lacking in variety, especially upon repeat playthroughs, what it does have to offer has continuously dragged me back in for more.

The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante is most definitely a piece of intelligent game-making; one that deserves all the accolades it gets.

Fear the Spotlight is relatively short to play through, taking around 3 to 4 hours to complete, but it makes the most of that time.

Captain Velvet Meteor: The Jump+ Dimensions may well take you by surprise. The story of Damien has a lot of heart, capable of telling a wonderful tale of two different realities beautifully.

Contra: Operation Galuga is a more than solid run and gun shooter that you should take for a spin. It comes with some great shooting action, an interesting weapon system and the chance to play with friends. Just be aware of the difficulty.

For me, this is a journey where every time I turn No Man’s Sky on I have an idea of what I would like to achieve in this episode, but all it takes is a look through my visor and I see something new on the horizon and I’m off exploring again. I know right now I will never make it to the centre of the universe in my playthrough, but I understand now that isn’t the point of NMS anymore. The point is that, well, you need to discover your own place within this wonderful universe. And I am having an absolute blast in doing so.

Hatsune Miku Logic Paint S is exactly the Picross game that Xbox needs. It’s straightforward but absolutely stacked with puzzles, and it brings the trademark jukebox of J-pop hits with it.

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order on the Xbox One is proof that single-player is not dead; it is alive and kicking and here is one of the best examples of it in 2019.

Hidden Shapes: Black Skull +Old West is little more than a box of jigsaw puzzles with a simple, console-friendly approach to completing them. But that’s a snug fit for gamers who want that delicate high of creating a picture over time.

Little Kitty, Big City is an utterly charming adventure while it lasts. No matter whether you are a cat lover or not, there’s an unrivalled sense of joy gleaned from the escapism of something as simple as experiencing life as a cat.

A fantastic story arc, lots of replay value, and with tons of things to find and explore, Code Vein ticks a lot of boxes. If the camera was right, and parrying worked better then it would be a near-perfect score, but these small annoyances just stop it from reaching those heights.

If you’re a hockey fan, this game is highly recommended, as NHL 19 has made gameplay changes that make the experience much more authentic, while at the same time introducing new modes and adding to many old ones in order to bring the fun back to the series.

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.

Fun, energetic and original, Super Dodgeball Beats on Xbox One delivers exactly what it says on the tin; and it does so well. You may blast through it in a few short hours, but at just £11.99 it’s well worth it.

Serial Cleaner is a very good stealth game. It controls well, the levels are well thought out and a real challenge, and the level of difficulty is just short of pad biting.

Let's! Revolution! feels like a breath of fresh air. It has a lovely, rather simple premise that builds on the Minesweeper influences well. The visuals are delightful and whilst it may not have extremely long-term appeal, Let's! Revolution! has more than enough about it to be able to provide an excellent gameplay experience for a good few hours.

Time Loader is a good story-driven platforming adventure that does interesting things involving time travel and creates a very likeable robot.

Serial Cleaners is incredibly stylish, darkly humorous and a unique concept. It is however, repetitive and grating. Aside from some well-designed levels full of easter eggs, there is little else to propel you through to the end.

If you’re wanting to head back to your childhood days, or long for a time when games were simpler and the summers seemed to last longer, then you won’t go far wrong with Poi.

Mastho is Together has all the hallmarks of a great precision platformer. Consistently challenging gameplay, solid level design and tight controls make for a game where your reactions and patience will be thoroughly tested from start to finish. Ultimately though, it’s nothing you haven’t seen before, and it does absolutely nothing to stand out from the crowd.

Nothing in Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising’s gameplay mechanics truly stand out when compared to other similar titles in an already oversaturated genre.

Excitement you may not necessarily find, but should you be ready to immerse yourself in a two-wheeled world full of brutality and athletic desires, Tour de France 2025 should finally be considered.

The gameplay loop is solid, but there are quite a few bugs that need to be patched before Blade Assault could be classed as a truly good game.

Is thirty minutes of a good thing enough? We’d say so. This adrenaline booster to the heart had us gripped. But just as we were getting good, nimbly leapfrogging any and all obstacles, Steel Defier was over. It needed to be about triple the length for us to nod sagely and say ‘that’s about right’.

Below can be a satisfying roguelike experience for anyone who is willing to persevere through its steep learning curve and difficulty. For others, the journey might come to a close after only a few failed attempts.

Monster Truck Championship on Xbox Series X|S remains a solid sim racer, with plenty of events to tackle. However, the lack of variety, despite a good level of customisation options, will be a real issue for some. The optimised release has a visual edge over the original, but all things considered there isn’t much of a difference here at all.

You’ll enjoy your time with Best Month Ever! and the three or four hours of running time it is able to provide. It’s a narrative adventure with not very challenging gameplay, but it does tell an interesting and unique story from a different era, helped along by some intriguing characters and sub-stories.

Our one lingering concern, though, is that it’s on the difficult side for the target demographic. If your Baby Shark fan is less than six-years old, we worry that they might come unstuck, particularly with the ‘sing’ sections of the game. Ours certainly did. Baby Shark: Sing & Swim Party is one for a willing parent to stick a tentative toe in and test, then.

There’s a red-pill, blue-pill choice with Jumanji: Wild Adventures. If you’re a solo, older player who loves the series and wants to immerse themselves in the world of Jumanji, you might find this to be too simplistic and ramshackle. Take that red pill and eject out. But if you’re a family **of Jumanji fans, and have two or more players to dance-fight with? Take the blue pill and have a cracking time.

It’s got very few pretensions, but it gets the important stuff - the controls, the levels - right, and it gets them right for long enough that you will reach the end in a single session. If you like your platforming bitesize, then you will regret nothing about picking up Lily in Puzzle World.

If you have a Skylanders itch that Activision refuses to scratch, or have love for the DreamWorks Dragons series, then DreamWorks Dragons: Legends of the Nine Realms takes a bit of a run up and then soars. Just pack in some co-op next time, if you please.

Fireball 2 is a fun game that has an affordable price tag and can easily take up several hours of your day if you let it. It’s definitely worth checking out if you’re looking to scratch that arcade survival itch.

If you like chasing high-score chasing Black Widow: Recharged will help you scratch that itch. It all comes together to ensure that Black Widow: Recharged is a faithful update to the cult classic arcade shooter. However, the simple, repetitive gameplay means only fans of the genre will get the most from it.

If you like a twin stick shooter, there’s a lot to like with Tiny Troopers: Global Ops, but if your tolerance for duff puns is low, you have been warned!

The sixty levels on offer in Bob the Elementalist are generous, and the £4.99 price tag is even more so. We’ve put a note in the suggestion box for more than one element per level next time, and no more hidden gems to find, but we otherwise reached the end credits with a smile on our faces. Not bad for a few Bob.

For a younger player who dreams of jumping into the fire engine with Marshall, PAW Patrol: Grand Prix gets so much right. It can handle four players at once; it’s all the right pups with all the right voices. To crown it all, it has an auto-drive feature, so your little one only has to jab an analogue stick. This is not to be taken for granted: it’s incredibly rare.

Easy achievements or not, Infini is well worth your time. There are the knowing nods and winks to concepts and emotions in the story that will remain with you after you finish the main game, which itself can be quite challenging. Stick around with Infini and it will stick around with you long after you have finished it.

Halo Wars 2 irons out any issues that the original game had, and provides more of the same, but with a bit more polish. Whilst fans of the series will be glad to play this sequel, newcomers to the RTS scene might have a harder time.

Super Hyperactive Ninja is a game that will fit in well with those who enjoy a good speedrunning adventure or simply want to find the next challenging platformer.

Fans of Lemmings and its sadistic pleasures will get a lot from Flying Soldiers, albeit nothing approaching a challenge. Acknowledge that it will all be over in a few hours, though, and you can be reassured that you’re in safe hands.

We shrug a little at this release. We can’t form a good argument for why Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep: A Wonderlands One-Shot Adventure exists, outside of reminding players that Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands is coming. It feels like a glorified billboard. But sure, we’ll go along with it.

Family Feud on Xbox brings that Saturday evening gameshow vibe straight to your home. A huge library of questions, combined with a relatively fair price at launch, means there’s good value in this party game. The different modes cater for almost every situation, even for the cold winter nights on your own, and the fact it can enable 10 players to play using a single controller is music to the ears. It’s only really held back by the bizarre questions that pop up a little too frequently, a lack of imaginative items to buy, and dated looking models.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is a better game than the other more recent Call of Duty games, but if you hark back to the classics like MW2 and the original Black Ops games, then you won't find it reaching those same heights.

If you are playing on an original Xbox One, and haven’t played it before, then Borderlands: Game of the Year Edition is without a doubt, a five star game. If you’re on an X, or have played it before, it’s not. There’s a great deal of fun here, even for returning players, but it’s hard to recommend this over the Backward Compatible version.

In recent years, EA Sports have added plenty of new modes across their licensed games, and NHL 21 on the Xbox One is no exception; there is a lot of ice hockey on offer. The variety will offer something for everyone, but there are issues with the gameplay on the rink that mean some modes work better than others.

TENSEI is a game that you can dip in and out of at will, perhaps for just five minutes at a time, climbing higher with every effort. If you’re looking for a story or goal, then this is not the gaming experience for you, but for some calming action at a super cheap price, it’s well worth a punt.

Tiny Pixels Vol. 1 - Ninpo Blast does what it sets out to do - to be a retro styled shoot ‘em up with a reasonably strong hook. It isn’t anything new, but as the first in a promised string of Tiny Pixels games, it sets a decent benchmark.

It has to be said that the Blizzard Arcade Collection on Xbox is a great trip down memory lane for us older gamers, and almost a time capsule waiting to be unearthed by younger players. Seeing where Blizzard has come from is fascinating, and with three games from the days when playability was more important than whizz bang graphics, maybe it’s good that we get the chance to slow down and enjoy life once in a while.

Chess Battle feels like a decent, but ultimately unneeded game for the vast majority of players. There is nothing inherently wrong with Chess Battle, but there are free options available that are as good or better.

If you’re looking for a retro-themed space-based twin-stick shooter that works reasonably well, then Guntech 2 is that game. It looks great and comes with tons of amendments, customisation and weapon types, but many bugs and a sense of repetition bring things down a notch or two.

SUNSOFT is Back! Retro Game Selection is an interesting collection, if only so we can see how far the gaming industry has come. Just be warned, the games themselves are punishingly difficult and extremely unfriendly.