Autumn’s Journey on Xbox isn’t long, bombastic or even particularly interactive, but it is a well-crafted visual novel that endears you to its characters. Expect nothing more than a fantastical short story with a hint of romance, and you’ll be on track for a couple of hours of swooning entertainment.

Car Demolition Clicker for Xbox is a cheap way to pass the time and it’s hard to grumble about a game that lets you annihilate vehicles till your heart’s content. But grumble I shall, with a targeted damage feature that’s flawed from the outset and a fairly pointless New Game+ style reset offering little incentive. Fortunately, wrecking cars is enjoyable, with a decent range of upgradable weapons in your arsenal and a welcome support system of drones to give those fingers a rest.

Panzer Dragoon: Remake on Xbox is very much a product of its time, but give it a chance and it will grow on you. The challenge of keeping your dragon alive and kicking to the end of the level is a tricky one, and the desire is always there to go back and do better on the level than you have before, especially on hard mode.

Roundout by POWGI on Xbox by Lightwood Games is another successful and unique word puzzle game, and this time provides a decent challenge in comparison with others. It is still a little light on features – a problem across all three titles – but due to the nature of it, having a crossword-type puzzle up on the main screen of the house can offer interaction between family members.

The world and atmosphere of Goetia on Xbox is something to love. It's a very cerebral, clever, and originally designed point and click adventure. The story and writing are excellent throughout and the puzzles are both interesting and unique. I do however think that it can all become needlessly complicated at times and you really do have to think outside the box in order to find some of the solutions.

Whilst improvements have been made to overall presentation and data analytics in Madden NFL 21 NXT LVL Edition on Xbox Series X|S, this remains largely the same disappointing entry. It is severely hampered by shallow game modes such as The Yard, Superstar KO, Class Franchise and Face of the Franchise. In the months since the initial release these could have been fleshed out, but the only major update comes in the form of Next Gen Stats.

On Xbox, Oniria Crimes’ greatest successes are in the rich world it’s created, and the uniqueness of interrogating the crime scene to come to a conclusion. But neither are enough: the experience tumbles into a nightmare, as poor controls, bemusing design decisions and bugs overwhelm everything.

Empire of Sin has a lot going for it: a jazzy soundtrack, a lovely idea and a nice map. But at present, it is far less than the sum of its ambitious parts and falls short in a highly frustrating fashion.

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.

Habroxia on Xbox is an average game which is reasonably priced. It winds up being a pedestrian affair which, whilst offering some thrills in its couple of hours of gameplay, never quite manages to live up to those which inspired it.

While Shady Part of Me doesn’t quite reach the heights of a Limbo, Inside or Little Nightmares, it more than belongs in that illustrious group of puzzle platformers. For a game that arrived with little hype or fanfare, it’s a welcome and unexpected light at the end of a dark 2020.

Despite the handful of drawbacks, Landflix Odyssey is still a pretty fun journey into the realm of streaming services and it’s worth a punt if you’re interested in any of the shows parodied.

Mørkredd on Xbox is hugely enjoyable in co-op, delivering a delightful game full of mystery, magic, and wonder, complete with puzzles that test both your brain and your friendship. In the single player it’s a little more of a struggle though. My advice? Grab a buddy and play the wonderful Mørkredd right now - It’s both challenging and unique.

If you’ve been waiting for Brain Training on the Xbox, Professor Rubik’s Brain Fitness delivers exactly on those terms. It’s fully featured and well presented, with tasks that stretch your brain to its limits, even more so than Dr Kawashima’s did. There may be a hole at the centre of the cube where a personality or identity should be, but for the puzzle enthusiasts who want to keep their brain limber, this is ideal, cubed.

Microtransactions and frustrating matchmaking issues aside, Rogue Company on Xbox Series X|S is thoroughly enjoyable. It doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it’s so snappy, action-packed, and easy to get into that I regularly convince myself to play just one more game over and over.

Despite the host of new features and ideas, Yakuza: Like a Dragon on Xbox is still quintessentially a Yakuza title. The humour is still here, as are the plot twists on plot twists, and of course the karaoke, which all add up to make it one of the stronger ‘launch’ titles on the Xbox Series X|S. There is a noticeable graphical improvement over previous titles on the Xbox One too; Ijincho is a gorgeous addition to the city roster and returning cities have never looked better.

Who said that single player games were dead? Call of the Sea on Xbox was made for Game Pass: a fantastic story stunningly told, full of well-pitched puzzles, with almost zero replayability. It’s one of 2020’s most surprising genre-reboots, taking Myst and transplanting in a heart, and we’re all for it. You’d do well to buy a ticket to its shores.

NBA 2K21 Next Generation on Xbox Series X is a great addition to an already packed amount of content. It’s visually more stunning than anything that has come before it, with a complete sheen to the gameplay and stunning work in how the players move and react. Everything is just topped off by some amazing work in the audio department.

While the Pokemon structure gives Duck Life Adventure on Xbox some joy and depth, the rest betrays its roots as a mobile game. You’ll be tapping the A button repeatedly in countless casual minigames, all in the name of grinding up levels. Before long, realisation will dawn that you could be doing something, anything else, rather than succumb to its yawning emptiness. Unless you’re a Duck Life fan, it’s best to duck this one.

Wildfire on Xbox is bursting with ideas, and there is a deceptively deep stealthy adventure on offer. Sometimes the pacing can feel off, but once you get your head around it, there’s plenty to enjoy here.

It might seem like I have had very little positive to say about Brawl Chess - Gambit on Xbox, but that’s because it enables players of all ages to play chess, and that’s about it. There are better options out there for the avid player, which makes this very hard to recommend. Don't let the funky visuals fool you: what's on offer here is a skirmish as opposed to a brawl.

In a way, the soundtrack for Katamari Damacy REROLL on Xbox is a pretty good interpretation of the game itself. It’s eclectic, fun, weird and charming but perhaps a little antiquated when looking at it now. With better technology, this could lead us to a great sequel, but for now it’s just a short, pleasant experience.

Twin Mirror on Xbox is a good game, if a little inconsistent. It's not the best adventure game out there, but for fans of the genre, it's still a solid experience. For those who aren't as keen on the genre, nothing here is going to change your mind. Still, this is a good experience with a gripping story, some great characters, decent gameplay and moments of brilliance. It's just held back by some unfortunate issues, and the shadow of its better Dontnod adventure siblings.

For fans of games like Overcooked!, Out of Space: Couch Edition on Xbox will likely hit a sweet spot, though there are question marks about the game’s longevity as there’s a limit to how many houses you can be bothered to clean up. There’s not really a campaign as such, but you do get to unlock new things each time you play and progress.

In many ways My Universe – My Baby on Xbox just feels like a tutorial that never ends and you’ll end up repeating activities far too often; activities which aren’t even that good in the first place. It’ll only last you a few hours maximum, proving there’s not much longevity here either, but the mini-games do occur one after the other to ensure there isn’t any unnecessary downtime.

Mad Tower Tycoon on Xbox is an entertaining and addictive sim game that can well be enjoyable for a good few hours, particularly once you get to grips with the control system. However, the asking price may well place it out of reach of many, and I would suggest sim fans give this a go when it drops in price a little.

If you want an easy 1000 Gamerscore and you have an hour or two to kill, then More Dark on Xbox might be a game worth picking up. It’s nothing special but it’s not an entirely miserable experience. Everything works fine, and at this point in time that’s more than can be said for some triple-A games.

With no properly new features, just new songs, Just Dance 2021 doesn’t come across as a completely new game - just an expansion pack to the previous one. Saying that, the new songs do show a better range of genres than the previous couple of titles and the free month of Just Dance Unlimited means that there is something to get everyone dancing over the festive season.