We couldn’t get in sync with RUNOUT. Try as we might, the screen was too hard to read, the mechanics too quick to come and go, and the basics of the platforming too fiddly, contorting our finger positions into shapes that we haven’t encountered since playing Goldeneye on N64.

Soccer Story is one of those rare soccer games where almost everything apart from the action on the pitch is pretty good. It manages to conjure up a lovely world filled with a host of creative tasks and activities to keep you busy, whilst telling a fun little story along the way. That’s why it’s a shame to see a myriad of technical problems chipping away at the overall enjoyment.

Trails and Traces: The Tomb of Thomas Tew is a solid retro point and click adventure. Yes, it looks basic and the voice work can be patchy, but the game works and the adventure narrative that is found within is ambitious, It's also very cheap, so it’s worth considering strapping yourself in for a very little, but enjoyable, adventure.

There’s a chance that newcomers will get a bit lost in what is required with Lumberjack's Dynasty, put off by the grind. But stick with things and this is a good relaxing lumberjack experience, that has the added fun of life-sim implementation.

Will you like Cat President: A More Purrfect Union? Well, personally I think it's important to have games like this on the Xbox. It harks back to a time from years gone by in which gaming experiences never took themselves too seriously.

With a short Challenge Mode, a very brief Arcade offering, and less than an hour of gametime required for everything to be done and dusted, there’s little that Super Destronaut DX-2 is able to muster up. If you enjoyed the swiftness of the original game, and fancy picking up some cheap and easy Xbox Gamerscore, you’ll want to get shooting here. But otherwise, this is a Ratalaika Games title that will fast be forgotten.

This game is great for those younger players, but adults may find it a little too samey, a little too quickly.

There’s a charming, tactile little tower-defence game here somewhere. But you have to play pass-the-parcel to get there, tearing off layer after layer of poor controls, shoddy UI and innumerable game modes to get there. On PC and mobile, we suspect that Broken Universe - Tower Defense is bordering on a must-buy. On Xbox, we’d suggest it’s one to bypass.

Rivenaar’s Grove is an extremely simple yet mildly enjoyable puzzler. It provides a way to kill an hour or two, and isn’t remotely taxing on the old grey matter.

To recommend Can Androids Survive on Xbox would mean understanding it, and we don’t. Not fully, anyway.

Zeroptian Invasion on Xbox One is rewarding to those who approach it as it should be: like walking up to an arcade cabinet in the ‘80s where every coin you insert matters.

Fin and the Ancient Mystery is so middle-of-the-road that it could be roadkill; we could squint and imagine ourselves playing the flatter moments of a Rayman or Sonic the Hedgehog. If that pricks your ears up like a fennec fox, then consider this a recommendation.

You know exactly what you're getting with a Serious Sam game, and Serious Sam 4 is no different. Issues aside, fans of the series should still have a blast with this one.

Goat Simulator 3 - Baadlands: Furry Road has a lot to offer, but even for a Goat Simulator game, it is somewhat janky. Too janky.

We couldn’t shake the feeling that we’d been here many, many times before with Ghost Files: The Face of Guilt, but that was thrown for a loop by visits to the spirit realm. Suddenly, we felt like we were experiencing - whisper it - new ideas, and the experience got elevated.

Brews & Bastards is both good and bad. The actual shooting action is hugely enjoyable, but the platforming aspects and - frankly, stupid - multiplayer system weigh the scale down more towards the bad side.

Cluedo has never been a fantastic fit for console, and this version only underlines that fact. Fanatics won’t regret a purchase, but we’d advise anyone else that they Cluedon’t.

Sure, Bricks Breaker Puzzle’s twenty levels won’t last more than a half hour or so, and those levels don’t do anything particularly interesting, but we’ve paid more for much less on the big black box. Just don’t expect any achievements.

The fifth edition of Jackbox Party Pack brings some notable additions in the forms of Mad Verse City and Patently Stupid. These two can stand up with some of the best from other collections such as Trivia Murder Party and Monster Seeking Monster. The others in this pack don’t feel as good, or in YDKJ’s case, don’t offer anything new. Still, the overall package is good fun for when you have a few friends over.

Tiles doesn’t bring anything revolutionary to the table, with bog standard coloured squares being the order of the day. The puzzling nature involved is mildly enjoyable though, figuring out the ideal route of some crazy layouts. My main issue lies within the ridiculous speed needed to overcome levels featuring those darn yellow tiles and just how early on in the game it ramps the difficulty up to frustrating heights.

Akuatica: Turtle Racing is a very strange game. The main single player element is worth a playthrough – and the price pretty much dictates that you may as well give it a go – but clunky controls and a tacked on Turtle Racing mode that never sees any turtles raced, really does bring nothing but bewilderment to the table.

Tinker Racers on Xbox is a fun little game despite its limitations. However, when all is said and done, it doesn’t do enough to escape from the shadow cast by the game which inspired it.

Switch 'N' Shoot on Xbox One is a neat idea and for the most part the single button premise and design has appeal and replay value, but in order to get used to the mechanic and pace, it does demand a considerable amount of effort. And so, unless you’re a seasoned veteran looking for a clever take on an Atari 2600 classic, then there’s really not much here to encourage players to stick around for the long term.

There are some things to like about Tunnel of Doom, as the hybrid of the two game types actually works quite well. The fact that it is different every time you play is a bit of a draw, but to be honest, the tower defence part is the weakest link.

If Cats Around Us: Giant Cat can find a solution for its biggest failing - that it’s kitten-sized, even for the price - then it might move closer to the top of its cat-egory.

There is an almighty caveat to purchasing A Sketchbook About Her Sun. It is a thirty minute-long music video to an album. The interactions that it offers - and there are only a few - all detract from the experience. But arrive with that knowledge, perhaps as a fan of the band Red Ribbon or a prospective fan, and you may consider it £4.19 well-spent.

Cold Silence on Xbox One has some great ideas, however in much of its execution it does not stick the landing; that is sad because you can see there is a truly great and new kind of experience in the seams of this game.

Angels of Death on Xbox will likely win over horror fans who are after a compelling and twisted narrative, featuring a cast of characters that are just as complex as they are nefarious. It’s easy to see how the storyline has spawned so many related media, but as a video game this feels like a conceptual RPG Maker effort at best; one where some of its best ideas are held back by the inherent limitations of the engine.

Despite all the frustrations, this is an enjoyable little racer in both single-player and multiplayer. The achievements are unnecessarily grindy, the menus are confusing, and the graphics aren’t pretty, but the gameplay and driving mechanics are solid enough.

Project 13 is a game that is quite different in its approach, working with a very simple concept. It’ll be whether you embrace it or not, as to whether it lives or dies.

Vagante has a lot of potential that it doesn’t manage to live up to. It looks nice enough, if a little like you are viewing things through the wrong end of a pair of binoculars, and the setup is interesting. But the numb combat, instant death traps and lack of anything resembling tactics - even in the boss fights - marks it down.

Replica is a game that will have you intrigued, especially in terms of its concept and writing.

Truck Driver: Heading North is an okay expansion. It adds in a good number of extra missions and some bits and bobs of story

Perhaps things would be a bit more positive if you picked up the Nintendo Switch version of Football, Tactics & Glory, as it suits that "on the train" type experience, whereby on the home console it doesn’t quite feel right. That all said, if you're a football fan, want something a bit different and love to have a challenge then consider seeking out Football, Tactics & Glory.

Ultimately, A Winter's Daydream is harmless, short and non-interactive, and - like a daydream - we will completely forget about it by this time next week.

A step-up from the first game, Garten of Banban 2 introduces several of the mascots, whilst drip feeding you the story. It is clear that there is a long way to go though, as this game is much more focussed on trying to scare you than relinquishing story and lore.

A lack of challenge means that Sokobear Winter doesn’t quite stand out as much as it could have done. Sokobear Winter is middle-of-the-pack, when it had so much more promise.

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.

Horned Knight is a strange one. It’s a game that suffers from an extreme lack of variety, story and replayability. It’s a game that becomes repetitive rather quickly. It’s a game that does nothing to set itself apart from the hundreds of games of a similar nature that already exist on the market. And yet at the same time, it’s fundamentally solid from a pure gameplay perspective, with smooth, responsive controls and naturally difficult platforming sections that really test a player’s skill.

For all its initial promise, Foxes Need to Eat exits out of the mind as quickly as it arrived. Unfortunately, it doesn’t screen-wrap back into the mind afterwards.

Kitten Island is a cheap, brainless frolic. As a platformer, it’s colourful and cute, with the difficulty tucked into hidden parts of the level. There are no complicated mechanics to learn, no surprising levels. For a casual player or someone who wants a vaguely nostalgic workout for their fingers, it will be enough.

Things are better as a multiplayer proposition, but Armed and Gelatinous: Couch Edition does still struggle in terms of a hook. There’s no doubt that the game modes can keep you busy for a little while, but after that…?

POMBERO: The Lord of the Night is a good indie horror game that allows you the chance to experience a different culture. The gameplay, exploration and story are to be liked, but the whole thing is too dark at times and the combat/chase mechanic becomes weary.

Retrace: Memories of Death on Xbox takes the basic structure of Happy Death Day and makes it into a video game, giving you the chance to save everyone from horrific deaths. But what could have been a web of strategic choices instead turns out to be a few single threads, and the promise fades a little.

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.

Tribal Pass on Xbox is an endless runner that feels like a prehistoric boot camp, pushing you to get up, get better and keep going. It’s far from easy, and it is particularly unfriendly in its opening moments. But push beyond them and there are morsels of enjoyment.

If Roller Champions was a real sport it could easily attract many eyes to its events. Unfortunately, it just does not bring enough to the table as a ‘game’ in its current form.

There’s a lot listed in both the pro and con column for ChronoBreach Ultra, but they end up largely negating each other. The result is a mediocre little action-platformer, speckled with ideas but none of them burning brightly enough to really make a difference.

Robo Revenge Squad is an interesting game with some clever ideas. Playing with friends is good fun, but going solo is very hard. Just be aware that the online scene is seemingly dead too.

Toy Soldiers HD is genuinely worth playing if you have never done so before; there is a huge amount of fun to be had here. This HD title could have been a lot more too, and honestly might work less well than the original ever did. But what’s there is still a good time for strategy fans and it’s still able to provide a very unique experience.

DREAMERS is a good family-friendly open-world adventure that will - mostly - soar the spirit and put a smile on the face.

Mutant Football League sits within this limbo where it looks at what it can be, and just shrugs. To be fair, if somebody were to ask me if they should buy this game, I’d shrug too. It’s not the best game on the market in this genre, and I’m sure it’s not the worst. It’s just a mediocre attempt at making a spoof-esque game.

Stray Blade has a lot to recommend. The protagonists are likeable enough, the story is good and the action pretty cool, but the rough edges take the shine off. With a bit more polish this could have been a contender, but as it is, it will have to be satisfied with a middle of the road mark. There is fun to be had here, but frustration in seemingly equal amounts.

DYE or DIE? Whatever it is, it’s a rock hard game that will keep you busy for many a week – but only if you like a challenge. If you don’t, then it’ll be best that you stay away.

The base mechanics of REDO! aren’t inherently flawed and everything plays like it's supposed to, even if it doesn't always feel like it.

It’s fine for a bit of quick shooting, especially if you’re after mini missions and quick level satisfaction. It can also be enjoyable at times, with a good range of different weapons and upgrades. But ultimately it didn’t keep me interested long enough – mostly because of the simple story, mechanics and level design.

You’ll have a good time with Prison Loop, and the cost outlay feels about right for the amount of time you will get to spend with it.

For fans of Saints Row combat, Doc Ketchum's Murder Circus is an opportunity to maximise its output. For those who weren’t impressed – and there were many – then this DLC is one to avoid. It is just pure combat, with very little in between.

It would be easy to find Cosmos Bit guilty for a series of gaming crimes. It’s got an unhealthy love for Metroid; it’s reasonably rough to look at; it invites grind; and the save system is as creaky as Resident Evil’s doors. But, like the parent of an ugly child, we can’t help having some affection for Cosmos Bit.

Caligo does a good job at taking you on a journey, but the lack of any other gameplay choices could be a bit off-putting. The themes of the narrative can be quite deep too, at times overplayed, however, Caligo is certainly a game that will stick in the mind long after play.

Unfortunately, everything about Infinite - Beyond the Mind on Xbox One screams average. It’s lacking ambition and gets repetitive quickly. Even at a modest £7.99 it’s hard to recommend, as beyond the lovely retro skin it’s not got a lot else going for it.

A great idea sadly lessened as an experience by dodgy controls and game breaking issues held within. Perhaps a future patch to optimise things for a controller might increase playability but with Mr. Prepper we sadly didn’t escape Murricaville… we got trapped in our own bunker.

There will be plenty of people just buying these games for the easy achievements, but if you want more brain teasing goodness, Ladders by POWGI offers a suitable challenge.

Destiny 2: Lightfall is a let down. The blessing is that the gunplay and action are as good as ever, but stupid difficulty spikes and poor writing make Lightfall a chore to play.

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

Path of Sin: Greed is your standard murder mystery, albeit one infused with a vast amount of puzzles to solve in order to catch the criminal(s) involved. The luxurious setting is wonderfully portrayed via hand-drawn visuals, but the characters residing within them are terribly boring.

The fast-paced combat is fluid and smooth, the visuals are a spectacle to behold and the sound effects can make you feel like someone just crashed a TIE-fighter into the side of your house. But with very little in the way of change when compared to the first Star Wars Battlefront and a story that falls flat once you look past the protagonist, Star Wars Battlefront II is a major disappointment, and a poor effort from a studio who have become renowned for making top quality shooters.

The narrative and setup of the main game must both be applauded and this means Cannibal Abduction will be of appeal to hardcore retro fans.

Star Wars Episode I Racer on the Xbox One appears to be missing a lot of crucial information that would likely have been in an instruction booklet when originally released. Thanks to the internet though, you’ll be able to find out what buttons are required, but considering this is a re-release, this information should have been added in. It doesn’t detract from the racing itself which still stands up today, but other than HD upgrades there are literally no other improvements to the overall package.

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.

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.

I expected Mecho Tales on Xbox One to be a bad take on a good formula, but it proved me wrong. Instead, it provided a fun couple of hours of an unimpactful yet joyous action platformer which should attract anybody looking for a unique art style. It is an indie game which has the self-awareness to know what to accomplish from a gameplay point of view, but not perhaps from a storytelling perspective.

There is a great concept with wonderful moment to moment gameplay behind NARAKA: BLADEPOINT. It’s a game that is capable of providing a fun time, but only if you can manage to get over a myriad of other issues.

Foreclosed is a game of two halves. The story and world are both intriguing, hooking you in from the very start. The writing and its use of comic book framing are good too, as are the inclusion of some clever gameplay devices which are used in terms of hacking, movement, and augmentations. But it's the shooting that completely lets Foreclosed down.

If you want a dramatic interactive novel, full to the brim of lore and dialogue options, then Echoes of the Fey: The Fox’s Trail is possibly good enough to be given a look.

Bright Memory is a very impressive achievement from one-man dev FYQD Studio, and is a great sign for things in the future. As it stands though, it has far too many issues and is far too short to offer an experience worth the price of entry. If you are anything like me, you will open it up to test out your shiny new Xbox Series X and finish it in the same time it took to install.

The art style is simplistic and the game is brutal to the point of almost being impossible. I’m sure some out there will enjoy the visuals and others may find the punishing difficulty a breath of fresh air, but I doubt the two will go hand in hand too often.

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

Whilst the videos included in Vol.2 once more offer decent content, they don’t quite compare to the first content drop in the Banned Footage Vol.1 DLC. It’s also worth noting that even though both DLCs are available as part of the Season Pass, those buying them separately will find a £4 price increase for this one. Given the slightly lacking quality over the first Banned Footage Volume, that feels rather unjust.

The big problem is that racing, while seemingly breathtaking and urgent, is actually a little dull in Fast & Furious: Arcade Edition.

If you’re bored of the usual superheroes and are just looking for something a bit different, a bit funny and a bit, um, button mashing, then Deadbeat Heroes delivers. It’s far from perfect, and the issues with gameplay advancement are hugely annoying, but it’s just about worth a play if you fancy a bit of mindless comic violence.

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.

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.

The ambition of Sephonie as an indie title is great and should be applauded. It tells a unique and interesting story that mixes sci-fi and real relationships successfully. And it's a game that will drag you along, as the story hooks. But there's a big retro vibe going on here.

The Adventures of Gunslinger Joe doesn’t provide the exciting extension to the Wolfenstein II adventure we all hoped for. Sure, the gameplay is the same and it’s an equally fluid experience, but content wise, Machine Games have dropped the ball with a protagonist who's too similar to B.J. Blazkowicz - but without any of the brilliant background.

Valkyria Revolution only really exceeds in providing a ton of content to work through and a whole load of story to watch unfold.

Those who missed out originally should certainly consider purchasing the full game and Final Battle DLC bundle which offers much better value for money. As an upgrade for existing owners though, it’s a hell of a lot of cash, so I’d wait for a sale.

If you have always wanted to prove your parenting skills once and for all, then, to a certain extent, Think of the Children lets you do just that. Just be aware that it only really works in cooperative form so single parents will need to call on the help of friends and family. Just like in real life.

Ed-0: Zombie Uprising is built on sound ideas and there’s so much to love about the setup. However, the brutal, inconsistent difficulty coupled with the repetitive, imbalanced gameplay prevents it from reaching full potential.

You’ll like the puzzle solving and overall theme of Seduction: A Monk’s Fate, but may find that the QTE sections get a tad annoying.

Escape String is missing some quality-of-life features that would make it a more satisfying coding game. What remains behind is too thorny, too drab and too short to really justify purchasing.

Cyber Complex is a neat little puzzle game, with tower defence elements thrown in over a tiny hint of Pacman. When I finally worked out how to actually play the game, I had a lot of fun with it and it’s a great title to dip in and out of for five minutes at a time.

Garden Gnomes 5: Halloween runs a relaxed, simple, city-builder formula, one that we’ve enjoyed in flashes, but it’s also one that has frozen us stiff with boredom on occasion. Much like a garden gnome, we suppose.

A game dedicated to getting out of the way? It’s not exactly a killer pitch. But if you can find some fun in the dodging then there’s an upgrade system in Mighty Mage that sprinkles magic on top. We’re just not sure it’s quite enough.

Not quite the text adventure that SELF: Where’s my father on Xbox pitches itself as, it’s instead a surreal and stripped-back visual novel that beckons you to reveal its mystery by finding all of its endings. But while it has some wonderful moments on the way, it succumbs to the problems of many poorly structured mysteries: once you’ve peeled away the layers of the onion, you’re often left with nothing but a sense of dissatisfaction... and a tiny onion.

Occasionally there are gameplay experiences which you take in, but then require a nod to not just the asking price, but the size of the development team. Sanity of Morris on Xbox is one of those games; a game that at times feels like a triple-A title in scope and ambition.

While there is always a place for a new side-scrolling beat ’em up in the world, Brutal Rage on Xbox One will only scratch a fan’s itch for a little while, with the addition of some two player couch co-op delivering a little more welcome fun. With the shortcomings it has though, this is ultimately a game that will eventually succumb to a sucker punch, left flat on its back as other more vibrant fighters trample all over it.

As a one-shot, Excessive Trim is incredible fun. You will go from confused to dumbstruck in roughly thirty minutes. But, like the alien in the game, it only functions in short, sharp bursts. Once you start asking what’s next, what will keep you playing Excessive Trim, then it shrugs and holds its empty hands out wide.