Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles on Xbox Series X|S is a very pleasant experience. It’s a joyful game which will let you wander around to your heart's content, collecting things, talking to things, farming things, and wearing things. The non-threat of death or combat is a nice option to have, and that should ensure that this will make for a brilliant family friendly experience. When you include that the Xbox Series X|S version has the addition of fluid movement and some upgraded visuals over the Xbox One edition, and things get better still.

I have really enjoyed my time with this thoughtful, well written and brilliantly performed FMV game, but the deciding factor in that enjoyment comes from whether you want to watch characters deliver a strange story for 8 hours, without too much in the way of actual gameplay. For me though, that’s what makes The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker what it is.

Wordbreaker by POWGI isn’t just a solid Wordle clone, it is also one of the best POWGI games out on Xbox.

Despite its complexity and challenging learning curve, MechWarrior 5: Clans is a rewarding and engaging experience.

Songs of Silence is an excellent entry into the 4X and strategy genre, even more so when you consider that titles in this niche are relatively thin on the ground on consoles.

Quake II is a great value package, well priced and showered with love and care. It may not go on playlist rotation, but it’ll be hard to turn down a game of Quake II when asked.

For a real challenge, and for a quick blast when you have a few moments to kill, One Finger Death Punch 2 on Xbox One is perfection. It’s not the deepest game ever, but it’s not trying to be: it’s been designed to deliver fast, fun, furious martial arts mayhem, and as such it’s a success.

The Tale of Bistun is not a challenging game, but it's a worthwhile one because the world and story are outstanding.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle: The Order of Giants is bittersweet. Despite getting almost everything right, as did the base game, it’s hard not to feel short changed by the time the credits roll. Let’s pray Indy’s not about to hang his whip up anytime soon.

The lack of features brought by the Xbox Series X|S upgrade does not detract from the fun available in Star Trek Online, but you’ll need to look past the 2007 graphical style.

An investment is needed if you’re going to enjoy Black Skylands. You will need to push past some unorthodox controls not once but twice, as both the on-foot sections and the airship piloting are knotty and need unravelling. But if you persist, and push through the many attached systems, then you will uncover a treasure trove. From the world to the upgrades and story, Black Skylands is a never-ending source of things to do, see and blow up.

The puzzles can verge on the sublime, and the prospect of a season pass and new escape rooms makes us slobber with anticipation. We could arch an eyebrow at the story and controls, but ultimately it’s hard to escape just how clever Escape Academy is.

to a T is a wonderfully weird adventure whose unique visual style, inventive mechanics and wacky characters set it apart from anything else out there. It’s a game that embraces difference, both in its story and its design. If you want true escapism, then a trip with Teen and their fluffy canine companion around its charming seaside town is highly recommended.

I love something a bit different and adore those game developers who take risks. The makers of A Time Traveller's Guide To Past Delicacies do it in truckloads. This is a short, experimental journey into time and food; a journey that will make you smile.

For RTS enthusiasts this is most probably a must-purchase, sending them to heaven. Even for the newcomer - one who is after a challenge - Othercide is well worth a look.

Some of the mechanics in Farewell North struggle, especially those surrounding the platforming side of things, but that matters little when the game is capable of taking you on such an amazing journey; one person and their dog, visiting a magical place

Elliot on Xbox may not look like much at first, but if you give it a try you'll find a brutal platformer that can both entertain and frustrate for hours. The levels are massively creative and shockingly well-designed.

Rune Lord on Xbox One may be a short game, but there’s a lot of juice to squeeze from within. The increasingly difficult levels provide a great challenge that’ll have you hooked, however it does become a pain when you have to deal with levels that make you repeat a stage at least three times. With Rune Lord being a reasonable price at the Xbox Store, it’ll still be an excellent addition to your gaming library.

With a host of weapons to find and buy, lots of fun to be had fighting and an engaging, heart felt story to follow, Cricket: Jae’s Really Peculiar Game comes with a lot to recommend. It’ll certainly keep you playing, as the silly plot and enemies add to the charm of the game.

Retro in design and gameplay, don’t let that put you off Full Void. This is a game that is supremely addictive, as a brilliantly told tale of machines versus humans plays out. Complete with exciting gameplay that is simple but challenging at the same time, this is one of those that will stay with you long after it finishes.

Wildcat Gun Machine is sold as an “explosions rollercoaster” - you get on at the start, hold on tight, scream a bit, and then get off at the other end, shaking from the intensity of the experience.

Lost Grimoires: Stolen Kingdom delivers an interesting adventure involving alchemy, transmutation recipes, mini-games and a new take on Hidden Object scenes.

The Golf Club 2 has been created for the golfer found in all of us. It is with that in which you’ll find a game that may initially seem as hard as nails, but with practice, and as your golfing skills improve, will allow you to see the full fruits of your labour.

If you’re a fan of WRC, want a new racer to keep things a little exciting and fancy pushing your car through some of the finest tracks in the world, then WRC 8 is probably going to be a good buy for you.

6Souls is not ‘different’, then. If we were feeling unfair, we would say that it’s a perfect median of all the 2D pixel-art platformers that came before it. But while 6Souls may not be different, it is often better. It takes things simply but confidently, and delivers a generous adventure that isn’t just competent - it’s ruddy good fun.

With Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War on Xbox you get a hell of a lot of game for your money. It’s a game in which you could easily spend hundreds of hours in, and then you can throw Warzone on top. It's a great package and one that provides a thoroughly enjoyable campaign, a deep multiplayer mode, and tons of the usual Call of Duty theatrics.

It may be a shooter, a platformer and a puzzler, but more importantly Squirrel with a Gun is absolutely nuts. Its shortcomings are more than made up for by the sheer amount of fun you’ll have playing as a squirrel, with a gun.

The tracks are cleverly made and it runs well, but Smurfs Kart needed far more than that to register a scoring position.