The option to rotate characters on the fly works well, whilst whizzing round in a little space ship, landing on different planets and trying to navigate your way through the platforming levels, with friends alongside you, should be a hell of a lot of fun. But, the difficulty and unjust feel that comes about means it will probably be more suited to the sadistic maniacs who are happy to put up with a tough life.

It’s worth remembering that Marvel Heroes Omega is free and if you love Marvel then I have to say you should give it a try. Once you buy into the grind and ignore the issues, it’s pretty fun to have a little go on here and there.

Xuan Yuan Sword is a worthy addition to the RPG genre on the Xbox One. The game is long, with a very engrossing story and characters that you really come to care about. Sure, it’s not the prettiest game in the world, but that kind of misses the point

The retro survival horror tactics of FOBIA - St. Dinfna Hotel are enjoyable enough for the first few hours, as you go about exploring and working out what is going on, all as a strange tale of the supernatural unfolds

Playing Fe makes it clear that Zoink has not only created a game, but also a piece of art that is a definite reflection on humans’ relationship with nature and the need for understanding that every creature has an important place in this world.

Redout 2 may not be for everyone, mostly due to the level of skill required to play, but for fans of the series it will go down like a fine wine… a very fast fine wine.

If you're a fan of the puns that have featured in previous POWGI games, then Just a Phrase by POWGI sits just ahead of the others that have been before. Now these puns are the answers and help make what would otherwise be a generic Hangman clone far more interesting and funnier.

Mail Mole on Xbox does the job of offering a ‘00s-era platformer - nothing more, nothing less. There’s no innovation here, not even capitalising on the fact that you’re a mole, and you may well groan at the landslide of cliches. But as we came to the end of Mail Mole, we kind of dug it. Aside from the odd control molehill, Mail Mole is a smooth ride and it may well scratch an itch that you forgot you had.

For those who like to build stories of their own, want to work with interesting and unique structures, and are ready to use their mind to create new creative ideas, Memories of Mars certainly works. But on the flipside, it really could do with a few more markers and a ton more help for potential newbies struggling through the early stages.

City of Brass is a game worthy of your time. It may be slightly overpriced for what it is, but it’s a good addition to the roguelite genre. If you are a fan of the genre that is.

Alphadia Neo is a pretty good fishing game with some light dungeon exploring tacked on. The story is pretty standard KEMCO fare, the fighting is what we’ve seen before, right down to different coloured enemies being treated as new species, and all in all this is a pleasant way of killing some time.

A Western Drama aims to bring visually-impaired or plain curious players into the Wild West, immersing them in its grit and machismo. It nails that goal, delivering saddlebags full of Spaghetti Western music, gunfights and duels, without attempting to explain why the visuals aren’t there.

All in all, the Working Hard Collection is something of a success. It’s a generous bundle of two games, fifty levels in each, for less than a fiver. It’s two flavours of one game, but the flavours are distinctive enough that one of them will tickle your tastebuds more than the other.

Be sure that there is a challenge on offer in GINSHA. If that’s your bag, then knock yourself out.

If you’ve played your share of Let’s Sing games, then Let’s Sing 2023 represents a slight stumble. The songs - at least to our ears - err on the side of filler, and there’s no changes to the template, not a single one. The playlist is getting a little tired, Ravenscourt: time for some new tracks.

While Baby Storm is undoubtedly flawed, it gets by through sheer exuberance. You can’t stay annoyed at its controls for long when you’re being swept along by yet another new gameplay mechanic, yet another fiendish level layout, and some of the most high tempo gameplay of any multi-tasking sim. Like the kids in Baby Storm, it refuses to sit still.

The Bonfire: Forsaken Lands is a huge success - a game that is capable of drawing you in and hardly ever letting go. At least not until you've exhausted multiple dozens of days and nights trying to survive out in the most hostile of lands.

It’s not perfect, but it’s not a bad game by any stretch of the imagination, and with a tutorial that is helpful enough to get a genre noob fully up to scratch with the basics, Golem Gates is possibly one of the more accessible card based strategy titles on the market.

Whilst Hidden Cats in Paris is a super tempting proposition, it does fall a teeny bit short in what it could well be. A few more main levels would be preferred, possibly replacing some of the Bonus stages. But then it’s hard to be tough on a game that is incredibly affordable, especially one that is oh-so vibrant.

The narrative, voice work, atmosphere and world of Black Mirror itself are all excellent with some nice touches throughout. The execution of the game isn’t quite so nice, with dodgy controls, frame rate issues, a bit of visual jarring and horrible loading times being amongst the negatives.

The technical hiccups and the lack of interaction in Bluey: The Videogame caused our four-player team to scream “awwww” in disappointment. But it’s testament to the game’s authenticity that they often wheeled away and played with something else in the world instead. From the art to the voice-acting to the painstaking recreation of the Bluey house: it’s all exactly as it should be.

Lawn Mowing Simulator is a brilliantly presented and perfectly designed sim experience. The attention to detail in terms of the vehicles and the varied locations manage to fully complement a solid management experience as well. The problem is that much like most sims, cutting grass day in, day out fast becomes tiresome, especially when you’re always on edge, trying to keep on top of the micromanaging side of things.

Whether or not Aircraft Evolution is worth a purchase comes down to how much you like a challenge and if you’d enjoy bombing a map to oblivion. If both of those things sound good, then Aircraft Evolution’s affordable cost should be all the persuasion you need to pick it up.

Fans of the original Dead Space may find The Callisto Protocol lacking in comparison. The story is inferior, combat isn’t quite on the money and the enemy variation is lacking. That said, there is still a good sci-fi survival horror game hiding within.

Ultimately, Runbow is a strong platformer that leaves you with a general sense of enjoyment whilst playing. The slow burning start of its adventures turns into an experience that should be enjoyed by everybody.

Can Solitaire be moulded into a high-production-value game? The Solitaire Conspiracy doesn’t come up with a conclusive answer. The story and presentation are undoubtedly a winner, but there is some collateral damage: it loses some of the original’s challenge and strategy. It ends up being a high pair rather than a royal flush.

All this adds up to an enjoyable sim builder title. But that is all Surviving the Aftermath is, as it doesn’t provide anything new to the genre, nor to the post-apocalyptic setting it chooses to adopt. There is this constant feeling that something new is just around the corner as its progression and upgrade system speed is spot on, but unfortunately nothing new comes and you are left with a sense of familiarity throughout.

Assault on Metaltron for Xbox One is a simple tower defense game with a simple UI and a simple structure to its approach – there’s really nothing overly special about it. Fortunately though, the tower variety, the rather challenging difficulty, and the swiftness of each level means that there’s enjoyment to be had in short bursts.

It does virtually nothing new, and revels in all the eye-rolling cliches that you may be used to. But in the exploration, hidden object puzzling and minigames, it has all the hits: there’s not a duffer on here, and - for a lot of hidden object fans who are crying out for precisely that - Demon Hunter is something of a revelation.

We can’t help but feel that developers Cosy Computer hit upon a winning formula and then didn’t know what to do with it. Is Pizza Possum a roguelike? An arcade rush game? A campaign? The answer, we suspect, is a little bit of all of them. And that confusion left something of a bad taste in this possum’s mouth.

Don’t be put off by the gimmicky and quirky naming: Raptor Boyfriend: A High School Romance is a heartfelt visual novel, beautifully executed and with a soundtrack that could have tumbled out of Chloe Price’s record collection.

ENCODYA provides an enjoyably sweet story set in a fantastical future, providing access to a world that is great for exploring. There are problems with the difficulty, and it would have been great to have seen more help with interactable objects and ensuring exiting a level was a bit easier, but there are a good ten hours of gameplay to be had here and the price reflects that.

Some of the checkpointing is quite unforgiving at times and the physics occasionally feel off, but power through GRAPPIN and you'll find a decent view from the top.

Feel free to consider Marfusha as a potential stress relieving shooter. Just know it won’t hook you in for too long.

What The Dub?! on Xbox is a one-trick pony, then, but it’s a trick that will keep you and up to five friends cracking up for a good hour or two. Whether you come back to it is another question, but seeing straight-faced actors spouting your drivel is probably worth that low price of admission.

Super Impossible Road is a must-have for fans of old school, fast paced racers. If quick, eye-melting gameplay is your bag, then you’ll find a good range of modes for your pleasure.

Once it gets going, Low Story comes complete with some fun gameplay, a decent shooting mechanic and varied bosses. However it is in the little puzzle elements in which the inventiveness comes.

If you like JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, All Star Battle R is probably an easy sell, as it is if you are predominantly a solo player. But if you want to test your might against the world, there are significant issues.

There are bits that drag towards the end and you may only become emotionally engaged with certain elements of the story, but if you're after a bit of shadow play that's more involved than just making bat shapes with your hands on the bedroom wall, then In My Shadow is the game for you.

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’ve loved the twist on the standard chess mechanics that comes with Shotgun King: The Final Checkmate. It feels like a different game each and every time you play, challenging but not impossible to grasp.

I didn't have very high expectations for the experience found in Daymare 1994: Sandcastle. But the game is more than capable of pleasantly surprising, especially with its more linear, tight exploration and improved visuals. There are problems with the dialogue, which feels a bit dated, and the combat system gets a bit bland after the umpteenth fight. But you’ll mostly have a good time with Daymare 1994: Sandcastle

If you're not too bothered about objective based gameplay and prefer forging your own path, you'll likely enjoy however much time you decide to spend with Tribes of Midgard.

Blades of Fire is a game that you have to adapt to, rather than the other way around. Embrace its systems and it will reward you, but there is practically no scope for playing how you want to play.

As a snapshot of games in the ‘80s The Bard’s Tale Trilogy on Xbox One is a great example, with enough work gone into the remaster to keep them fresh without losing their initial charm.

Any new Cities: Skylines content is a good thing, and whilst this Airport DLC may not be the biggest content pack released for the game, it includes a lot of worthwhile additions. Arguments could be made as to why this pack wasn’t included from the beginning of the game, but seven years late is still better than never.

The Darkside Detective on Xbox will provide you with a decently enjoyable time. It's an old-fashioned game that isn't afraid to use old-time gaming and visuals to tell a fun, unique story; at no point does it take itself at all seriously. Throw in the price asked and there’s a host of content included here, with some great cases to explore.

It does take a bit of practice to become competent with the gameplay especially in the reloading of your guns, and figuring out how to upgrade your wares can be confusing at first, but Mercenary Kings is still a great casual game to pick up in between the epic blockbusters, or when you have twenty minutes to kill.

Mothmen 1966 is one of the better visual novels to have popped up over the last few years. It has a great sense of atmosphere, tone, and characterisation, whilst the subject matter is also clever, mixing fact and fiction well.

Evil Nun: The Broken Mask is probably one of the better games in the whole survival horror genre, all thanks to its interesting setup, frightening main character, and some amazing visuals. But the gameplay mechanics and loop do feel a bit tired.

The sheer level of detail in Democracy 4: Console Edition is very impressive. Fans of menu management strategy games will find this super addictive and highly absorbing, as they look to prove themselves as the perfect leader. For others, it may become a bit tiresome after a few runs.

You have to send credit the way of the development team for tackling a subject like this, dealing with it in a compassionate and heartfelt way. There's no doubt that the story of Inner Ashes is very good, with a great representation of the struggles involved in coping with Alzheimer's. But the pacing can feel too slow at times and if I am being picky there are a few too many Tetris-styled puzzles.

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

If you want to brainlessly toss away an hour or two of your evening, then Hidden Shapes: Cat Realm + Trick or Cats is where it’s at. You’ll emerge from the session afterwards feeling like all of the mental knots and tensions have been massaged into nothingness.

Neon Blood delivers a good mystery set in a well-realised cyberpunk world. The point-and-click gameplay is enjoyable, and the pacing, while occasionally uneven, keeps the narrative moving forward.

Broken Age is a good game, just one which is let down by a few absurdly tough puzzles and a lack of freshness for the second Act of the story.

Hyper Shapes is a great little game, wrapped up in a sleek presentation. It's difficult on the whole, but it never deviates from its trusted method of giving you a pattern and asking you to use it to overcome a boss. The result? A Boss Rush experience that is fun, rewarding and well worth playing.

Alchemist: The Potion Monger is a good, family-friendly game that will satisfy those looking to brew up some magic in the depths of a cauldron.

Last Night of Winter is enjoyable as long as you have something to fight, otherwise what is left is a frustrating exploration game that lacks a bit of focus.

ConnecTank’s central mechanic is surprisingly well realised, backed up with plenty to flesh out the world of New Pangea. However, due to the repetitive and somewhat simplistic gameplay this is one the casual gamers will enjoy the most.

If you have a pre-teen player who loves gaming but struggles to knuckle down on their maths homework, then MathLand adds up nicely.

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.

DETECTIVE - The Motel is a rewarding puzzler for those who enjoy piecing together clues and testing their deductive skills.

For as slow-moving El Hijo - A Wild West Tale on Xbox is, once it gets up to speed and starts throwing clever ideas at you, it can become an enjoyable puzzling playthrough. It’s a shame then that the poor AI, basic visuals and a lack of proper puzzling ideas then creep in.

The concept, story, and writing of Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma are fascinating; enough to keep you hooked throughout. Working mainly as a visual novel, you shouldn’t expect too much gameplay, but Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma is worth a punt if you want to try something different.

OneShot: World Machine Edition does something different with this style of game, working a very clever examination of its 'game within a game' subplot. The story premise and concept are admirable and work brilliantly.

Few games can claim a legacy of nearly 50 years and still be relevant, but Breakout: Recharged is one of those.

SokoPenguin is a cute puzzler that suffers due to an emphasis on quantity over quality. There are a whopping amount of Sokoban-style levels available for a pretty low price, but it runs out of steam too often and doesn’t maximise the potential with the mechanics it does introduce.

There is a very interesting and intriguing premise to Headliner: NoviNews; one that is a comment of the power the media have over world events. It’s also well implemented in how the media make editorial decisions that can help or hinder governments in power.

Redfall is a competent action shooter - the only problem is that the market is filled with other options that do things a bit better. It is one to download and try on Game Pass, especially if you have a few friends willing to play co-op mode. You may well be best off waiting for a patch or two in order to get a more optimal experience. Out the gate, Redfall just doesn’t spark joy.

It’s important to have games created like this; games that won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but are happy to push experimentation and storytelling to the limits. Give me more please.

Yoko & Yuki: Dr Rat’s Revenge can be criticized for being a bit bland in the theme department and for lacking much of a story. Fortunately, launching for such a low price gives it some leeway and that must be taken into account. To deliver 70 puzzling levels for under a fiver, while ensuring new mechanics are thrown into the mix often, is impressive.

If you appreciate multiplayer brawlers and are after something comical to enjoy with the family, Gang Beasts is without a doubt a game you need to play. If, however you rely on the presence of online players or solo adventures to get your thrills, then this is a game that won’t have much for you.

The graphics are good, the sound is excellent and the gameplay is very solid. It just doesn’t have the same wow factor as it did in 1980 in a smoky West London arcade, but if you’re looking for some tank on tank action, then you can do much worse than this.

Through sheer force of enthusiasm, Swordbreaker: Origins smooshes all its half-baked elements together and somehow, miraculously, creates something that we find hard to put down. Blame that node map: we have a borderline obsessive need to find every death, every choice, that is represented on it. Wait, what happens if you bring the freeze spell to the lake?

Puzzle by Nikoli W Hitori is really rather good. It’s not the best in the series: we tend to enjoy the swifter, more elegant puzzle types. But it is demanding with a satisfying sense of reward.

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.

Chivalry 2 is easy to pick up and play, with much of the draw coming from the fact you don’t have to worry about learning a crazy amount of moves. There is nothing better than meeting a worthy opponent on the battlefield and going 1-on-1, block for block, slash for slash, countering each other carefully. Some may need more in terms of game modes and further incentives to keep them there for the long term, but for now, you can't go wrong with a bit of medieval PvP mayhem with Chivalry 2.

Assassin’s Creed III Remastered on Xbox One is a good game which is fun to play. The graphics may be significantly improved but this is essentially the same as it was seven years ago, albeit now up against much stronger competition. If you’ve never played it before, at £29.99, with all the DLC, it’s worth a look.

With beautifully bright, hugely abstract visuals, a pumping soundtrack, a superbly well designed menu system and a huge amount of addictive racing across well detailed tracks, LIGHTFIELD is most definitely one that the racers out there should give a go - especially if those racers are more obsessed with bettering lap times than racing actual opponents.

Hunt: Showdown on Xbox One provides a very solid multiplayer experience, one that fans of this genre will love.

Who Pressed Mute on Uncle Marcus? is another Wales Interactive FMV game that is hugely enjoyable, especially in the way they have worked with the constraints of filming, inspired by it to give the situation the characters are in some form of context.

If you have an aversion to the whole roguelite and roguelike scene, you should be fine with Starward Rogue. It isn’t a game that has the same hook as some of the best twin-stick shooters out there, but there is still enjoyment to be had.

We wouldn’t go so far to say that Lonesome Village is sensational, or better than the other life-sims that have graced the Xbox over the past year. But there is certainly something compelling in the simplicity of its loops, and there’s not an ounce of combat or pressure as you enjoy the merry-go-round.

Merge & Blade plays pretty similarly across all the modes on offer and it is that which is both its strength and its weakness. Fun to play for short bursts, there is no doubt that earning new units is great, but it isn’t long before things start to feel like a drag. As a short term proposition then, Merge & Blade works, but I’m not sure the long-term hook is there.

Despite some of its shortcomings, mainly pertaining to rudimentary combat, Anodyne is an enjoyable and – more importantly – memorable experience.

If you like hardcore retro puzzlers and you want something you can enjoy for a couple of hours, fill your boots with Mangavania 2, earning yourself a cool 1000G in achievements as you go.

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.

What was once the standard-bearer for open-worlds has been overshadowed in the near decade since its first release. Grand Theft Auto V still holds up really well, but playing it now does feel like stepping into a time machine, such is the way that real-world and video game development has changed in the years since.

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.

Flippin Kaktus is a generous, imaginative action-platformer that has a cunning rage-mechanic at its core. If you have the gaming chops, this is well worth the challenge.

Fundamentally, art of rally on Xbox is a more than competent rally game that proves you don’t need a fully licensed game to make an interesting arcade racer. Initially players will be sold on the unique and gorgeous art style, but it is here where the issues reside. The design suffers as a result of porting the game to Xbox consoles with problems we shouldn’t be seeing on this new flagship console.

RainCity is a short, delicate adventure, like a point-and-click you picked up at a craft fair. Everything is beautifully authored and painstakingly cared for. It doesn’t have anything to say, nor does it make you feel much, and there’s nothing new within. But it’s charming and worth £4.99. Dedicate two hours, and let RainCity wash over you.

If you are after a little sim-styled campaign that will happily take you through various locations and stories, Espresso Tycoon is probably just about worth a shot. It’s up for debate as to how long that barista life will appeal though.

Episode 5 is an experience of two very different halves; a slow, slightly boring part talking about feelings and mending the broken team with ease, followed swiftly by an action-packed, fun-filled final half.

As a gateway to the wider Dark Eye universe, Chains of Satinav does a bang-up job, and leaves you eager to hop onto the store and buy its follow-up, Memoria. Logic and control issues aside, it’s a higher-tier point and click, and it tells a story that’ll have you cosying up with a blanket and Andergastian tea.

In a world where every video game idolises the hero, a villain stands up and says “enough is enough!”. Underhero is a playful take on stereotypical conventions that have plagued many gaming genres for years. Developer Paper Castle may miss the mark occasionally, but Underhero on Xbox One is an inventive take on classic gaming tropes.

DreamWorks Dragons Dawn of New Riders does just enough to lift itself out of the cash-in territory. Having the familiar faces from the franchise appear every now and then (even if Astrid is reduced to a potion peddler) will help fans of the series engage with the story, and while Scribbles is a bit of a personality vacuum, Patch is endearing and will worm his way into even the hardest heart.