In the simplest terms, Dead Dungeon is an incredibly affordable game that will provide a few hours of fun. It’s by no means perfect, but it does a good job of providing a variety of challenging levels to get through. If you’re looking for a challenging platformer that can be beaten in a weekend, then Dead Dungeon on Xbox One might be the game for you.

The opening stages have that gleeful abandon that a lot of mining games have, as our pockets filled with gold and unlocks made us into mining deities. The game kept widening out to add more and more things to do and we were smitten with how generous it was. That generosity had to come to an end, though: as Cave Digger ran out of surprises, the feelings of grinding started to take hold. Treat these feelings as a canary and get out before they choke out the enjoyment, and Cave Digger becomes a glittering recommendation.

All in all, if you have a group of friends to play with, Can't Drive This on Xbox is worth a shot. It’s a giggle for sure, and deliberately driving your partner round the bend (literally!) is as fun as it gets, especially as you get further, the pace increases and things get pretty tense. But if you’re a solo player, this hits party games' cliche number 1: it’s just not as much fun on your own.

Gilly’s Island is a decent experience for anyone who enjoyed the base game. With more of the same enjoyable gameplay and some exciting new characters, there is enough to go on to get a bit more time out of the game yet, even if it is only a short experience.

eFootball PES 2021 Season Update on Xbox One should be overlooked by those who own PES 2020 because it’s not worth the hassle of starting all over again for a selection of kits and partially updated squads. On the other hand, the gameplay and the modes combined with the updates makes it slightly more alluring to newcomers who haven’t experienced any of it. Even then it’s not a must-have and you may be best picking up PES 2020 on the cheap.

If you don’t have many other kart games on the Xbox, and your kids love the charms of Gigantosaurus, then don’t hesitate: this is a no-brainer. If that doesn’t describe you, however, then you might want to be more wary. Gigantosaurus: Dino Kart is a fine racer, but not a great one.

Void Gore on Xbox will slap you in the face with its intense difficulty, but persistence, consistency and utilising the powers and upgrades available makes this retro title a dream to spend ten minutes or ten hours with. What it lacks in beauty, it makes up for with its retro vibes, charm and the ability to suck you in, making you frustrated but providing you with sheer enjoyment at the same time.

Overall I enjoyed my time playing HUMANKIND and would recommend it to both strategy game veterans and beginners. It can be extremely enjoyable however it is held back by some bugs and half-baked gameplay mechanics.

I loved my short time with this delightful little game. Yes, it’s a swift experience, but sometimes the shorter packages are the best ones. The gameplay is great, but I can fully understand that this won’t be for everyone, and I think you can count that sentiment for the game as a whole.

Atomfall is an intriguing concept done just about well enough. It won’t be the clunky first-person combat or the fetch quest-esque approach that will be what it’s remembered for, but the surrounding mystery and how you as the player choose to uncover it.

It’s cheap, it’s cheerful and it’s a blast to play and whilst it may be yet another short adventure, the fresh appearance of the new world and the new challenge included is certainly one I’m all for.

I’ve enjoyed my time with Rocket Arena on Xbox One, especially in terms of the short, sharp games that suit the game composition. My immediate concern though is just how busy the servers will be in a few months and whether or not those who are already dominating the scene will put off any newcomers.

Pick Dreamland Solitaire: Dark Prophecy up if you somehow need more Spider Solitaire after the first two Dreamland games. Otherwise, this can sit cozily on a wishlist for a while.

CATAN - Console Edition is mighty lovely to look at, a CATAN board carved out of finest materials and then comes to life, and the game itself has lost none of its charm. You can play in any permutation you can think of, with local players, online players and CPU bots all waiting to stiff you on lumber.

I’ve liked the way Night Lights manages to tell a very simple story over a few hours. That’s complemented well with the use and manipulation of light and the need for a bit of clever puzzle solving.

The weakest of the LucasArts remasters, Grim Fandango Remastered on Xbox One has aged the most in terms of its visuals and obscure puzzling. There’s a fantastic story being told here, with Glottis, Manny, Chepito and the rest being absolute belters. But they’re stuck in a limbo of bloated sandboxes, plodding character speeds and puzzles that should have come with a pre-packaged walkthrough.

At the end of the day, It’s Quiz Time isn’t a game you’ll be playing every single day for the next year. It’s been made for a purpose – filling time during those holiday gatherings when you’re stuck in the same room with family. And it fulfills that purpose brilliantly.

Random dungeons, random perks and continuous progress: it’s a winning mix, and it elevates Space Robinson beyond mediocrity and into the realms of ‘just one more go’.

If you have the reflexes of a ninja, if you eat Mega Man games for breakfast, if you are young and limber, then OkunoKA Madness on Xbox One will challenge you. If you are riddled by the ravages of time, however, it will break you... without a word of a lie. It plays well, controls brilliantly, but is absolutely unforgiving, so if you want to challenge your reactions and your finger dexterity, OkunoKA Madness is the game for you.

Aluna: Sentinel of the Shards is quite enjoyable. It isn’t good enough to sit at the top table of the ARPG world, but can quite comfortably be found on the second tier. With better balancing through the game it would have been a contender, but the extreme difficulty spikes spoil the experience somewhat.

You’ll have fun with Lumo 2, even if the isometric visuals do prove to be a persistent nightmare during the more demanding platforming sections. See through that and this is a well-crafted, retro-themed surprise.

Rack N Ruin on Xbox is fairly enjoyable. The storyline is fun to follow, the combat pretty interesting, and apart from it being far too easy to get lost, the design of the world and enemies is pretty spot on. With a better map Rack N Ruin could well have been a star, but frankly that element in itself is enough to bring it down a notch or two.

Imp of the Sun's puzzles will satisfy you, and by the end of the game it sticks in memory not because of its weak points, but because of the strong puzzling and platforming.

What starts off as a seemingly impossible challenge quickly becomes one of the best POWGI games for logical thinking. Word Web by POWGI not only ramps the difficulty up, but also the satisfaction of completing a puzzle.

There are enough levels to keep you entertained, and it is this which more than justifies the price, meaning even the hardiest dog lovers should embrace the other furry friends and give I and Me a go.

There isn’t a bad Yakuza game, but Yakuza 3 Remastered on Xbox is the weakest in the series. Its lengthy introduction takes up about a third of the entire story, whilst it also lacks some of the quality of life improvements found in later versions. But it is still a solid entry, and worth playing through to see the foundations of Kiryu’s later life beginning.

RiffTrax: The Game is one to bring out in the holiday season with the family, or after a night out drinking with friends - something which will make the whole experience even more hilarious.

State of Decay's formula has so much potential to be special in the future. Its zombie survival and RPG mechanics are uniquely applied to an open world but there's too much repetition and bland environments in State of Decay 2 to make it the zombie apocalypse of our dreams. More narrative missions to add gameplay variety and focused map design can go a long way in State of Decay's future, but for now the Juggernaut Edition on Xbox One is a welcome improvement to the 2018 game.