Taqoban is certainly one of Ratalaika Games’ stronger releases. It’s a great little puzzler, with the simple, easy-to-grasp mechanics allowing for levels that offer a challenge to even the most adept box pusher.

EA Sports College Football 25 offers a variation of American Football that may be more appealing to those who take issue with the stop/start nature of the game itself.

Overall, I found my time with Kitty Powers fun and unique, whilst leaving my face always smiling. The package the developers have put together is really polished and tight, with some great mini-game fun to be had. I do think the price is a bit too high though and if it were under the £10 mark it would be perfect. The game does drag after a while and you lose the impact of going on the dates and playing the mini games, especially when the stakes get higher.

Whilst One More Dungeon 2 isn’t the most demanding game, and can feel a bit repetitive as time goes on, the bosses ensure things are mixed up a bit. It means that this is a competent game, but it lacks the spark needed to make it truly great.

A modest success, Savage Halloween on the Xbox slaps a spooky mask on a Mega Man run-and-gunner and chucks in some Battletoads-style racing levels for good measure. What it lacks in surprise, it makes up for in charm, and there’s some challenging moments to overcome. It’s more trick than treat, then, and for £4.19 it’s barely more than a family-sized pack of Haribo.

If you’re a platforming fanatic then Inops is going to be a game for you, and it’s nice to see that there is a decent challenge available. I’ve enjoyed what the game has done in the terms of short bursts of fun and interesting gameplay, but certainly found the repetitive elements and unlocking of levels a bit tedious and demoralising at times.

Light Fairytale Episode 2 is a no-brainer pickup for anyone who has played and completed the prequel, as they look to pick up where things left off. Still, the short playtime means they won’t get to experience too much story development, nor will they get to fully dive into the new gameplay systems.

Invest time in it, pay attention to every attack and its benefits, and you will make the slowest of progress. The clouds clear and One Step From Eden starts to make sense. If you have the time and inclination to get there, this becomes a spiritual successor to the Mega Man Battle Network series.

Original and intriguing while at the same time being strange and beguiling, No One Lives Under the Lighthouse works some old-school visuals in the best of ways.

DESOLATIUM is an unusual, yet enjoyable, point-and-click adventure that is well worth getting your teeth into. The visuals are very impressive, whilst the atmosphere and soundtrack are equally good.

Die After Sunset is a roguelike shooter with a bit of a twist. The whole light/dark thing does make a difference to the gameplay, and the way that the events are randomly assigned to the levels means that there is a bit of longevity built in. However, it doesn’t take long for things to become a little bit tedious.

CONVERGENCE: A League of Legends Story is definitely geared towards more casual platformer gamers and as far as metroidvanias go, there are better ones out there.

If you want a period correct, hard to control FPS game, then Rise of the Triad: Ludicrous Edition is exactly the game for you.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky should be seen as an expansion rather than a full prequel, but it is one that fans will enjoy nonetheless.

If you’re looking for a casual platformer with some classic Metroidvania style elements and plenty of varied enemies to blast away at for a bit of afternoon fun, then there is no reason not to jump into Mystik Belle.

As a proposition for adults then, Matchbox Driving Adventures crashes out fairly early. The kids it is aimed at may well find it a lot more appealing though - it is certainly colourful, bright and speedy enough to hold the attention.

Bright Lights of Svetlov is cheap to purchase and over fairly quickly - but occasionally that’s all you want in a game. It’s helped along by delivering an interesting and intriguing short story about a certain time in history, in a country that many won’t know much about.

The Last Kids on Earth and The Staff of Doom does enough to warrant interest from those who enjoy the universe via other mediums. The gameplay is straightforward and the arsenal of moves will be exciting from a child’s point-of-view, while the boss encounters are a real highlight.

ZOE Begone! is a wonderfully created but brutally difficult SHMUP, that despite looking cute and cuddly, will challenge even the most adept players.

Skelethrone: The Chronicles of Ericona is a game that packs a real challenge; a game that will test your patience as well as your reflexes. The basic premise is engaging and it tells a good tale, but the extreme difficulty and numb combat will make you question your life choices.

We Sing Pop is a classic entry into the singing genre, with the experience proving heavily similar to previous singing titles such as the highly popular Singstar series.

Aside from Hatsune Miku Logic Paint S, the Xbox is pretty barren when it comes to picross and nonogram puzzles. This only really leaves PictoQuest. Just as well then that it is a pretty good picross game.

Recall: Empty Wishes does well to deliver multiple interesting layers to its psychological narrative, grabbing your attention in the process.

Overall, Thicker Than Water didn’t just hit a speed bump, it went for a Sunday drive in quicksand. Almost everything is done without urgency, or intensity, and the writers picked wildly inappropriate times for characters to discuss things which are the least of anyone’s worries when there’s a hunt going on. What could’ve been a bad episode, received a lifeline in the form of an enthralling and engaging final chapter of episode four.

Myst on Xbox is far from being the definitive version of the game, as in the process of modernising the graphical and visual presentation, it loses much of the artistic charm of the original 1993 classic. It’s certainly nice to have full 3D movement, but even then, the experience lacks the functionality of the original point and click control scheme.

The end result is a game that gets the adrenaline going at the start, but dumps landmines of imprecision and repetition in the way. By the end, you might have the thousand-yard stare of a war veteran. It’s certainly good value, and there’s challenge and length to the game, but your mileage may differ about whether the mission is worth taking. Dare we say it, Dog Duty on Xbox One might be a better proposition on PC.

Sky of Destruction is sufficiently different from a run of the mill shooter to make it interesting. The composition of your fleet, and the way that you can configure the aircraft you use, add a bit of spice to a stale genre. On the downside, the tutorial is extremely poor and doesn’t really give us much of a clue as to what to do.

I’m not sure there’s another game on the market quite like Hairdresser Simulator. That should mean budding hairdressers will have a lot of fun with it.