We were a little caught out by how smurfing playable The Smurfs - Mission Vileaf is. So, get out the blue make-up and white gloves and play this one cooperatively. You won’t smurfing regret it.

The Riftbreaker does enough in a new and interesting way to be worth your time. With four biomes to go at, and a survival mode to try out (although you’ll probably want to stay away from the ultra hard difficulty!), there’s a lot of content to go at. The campaign is a decent length too. All in all, if you want something a bit different to the norm, The Riftbreaker might just be it.

Play it once without the cheats, then flick a few on and go on a tour of Gynoug’s hellish spaces.

Even though it doesn’t really excel at any one thing, it’s hard to fault Amazing Breaker, mostly as it does exactly what it has set out to do. If you’re after some quick arcade fun though, then Amazing Breaker could well be your ice breaker.

The word ‘masterpiece’ gets rolled out too often, and - thanks to some bugs and navigation issues - Treasures of the Aegean doesn’t quite earn that laurel. But we have no qualms with calling it a series of masterclasses. It has mastered the slick platformer, bringing a Mirror’s Edge flow to the pages of a Tintin comic. It has mastered the Metroidvania, by getting rid of all the obstructions and opting instead for a fifteen-minute time loop.

As an absolutely mindless time killer, Lord of the Click II cannot be criticised. Yet for near everything else, it can. There's no requirement of skill, no need to worry about tactics or strategy and certainly nothing that will cause concern to anyone who is familiar with a controller. It really is a waste of time. But then, perhaps that's the point…

In conclusion, play Forza Horizon 5. There has never been a better looking game, and it plays like an absolute dream. It’s full of cars, full of challenge, full of glorious visuals and played out across a world like no other.

If you’re after a chance to put the robots back in their place and stop their rise against humanity, then Danger Scavenger should be considered.

Its one redeeming feature is its career, which swaps out the party mode for the tale of Merek, on a quest to become the best labourer in town. It’s through the gentle tug of this story that Merek’s Market might get some customers. But it wasn’t for us: we would have dropped out of the queue long before the end.

AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES has been an interesting game to play through. Whilst the visual look may not immediately be appealing, give the narrative a chance and you’ll become invested. Just don’t expect the theory you form throughout your play time to hold up...

ENCODYA provides an enjoyably sweet story set in a fantastical future, providing access to a world that is great for exploring. There are problems with the difficulty, and it would have been great to have seen more help with interactable objects and ensuring exiting a level was a bit easier, but there are a good ten hours of gameplay to be had here and the price reflects that.

Can Solitaire be moulded into a high-production-value game? The Solitaire Conspiracy doesn’t come up with a conclusive answer. The story and presentation are undoubtedly a winner, but there is some collateral damage: it loses some of the original’s challenge and strategy. It ends up being a high pair rather than a royal flush.

Moonglow Bay is not without its flaws. It’s too undercooked, with bugs and knotty boss moments. But its story of fighting back from grief and depression swells the heart, and we could happily spend a half-hour every day in its world. We can feel our blood pressure sink as we play it.

It’s been a pleasure to play Pumpkin Jack on Xbox Series X|S. It looks and sounds brilliant, comes with decent combat opportunities and will have you dipping in and out for a while, all as the exploration and hunting of skulls becomes all consuming.

Despite the slow nature of the first half of House of Ashes, when it gets into its stride it is a homage to classic science-fiction action horror titles that will leave you on the edge of your seat. The scares may not be as obtrusive as the previous titles in the anthology, but this may then appeal to those that aren’t necessarily horror fanatics.

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy could’ve easily ended up being a lacklustre attempt at recreating what makes this group of oddballs so endearing to the Marvel community, but that’s not the case. The acting is top drawer, with a script in place that can make you laugh one minute and bring a tear to your eye the next.

My Singing Monsters Playground is charming as pie. Even if you’ve never been in its universe before, it will win the family over. The party game collection, too, is fun with absolutely nothing in the way of complexity. With a few extra modes and some unlocks, it would really sing. As it stands, it hums along nicely without much in the way of additional frills, and that may be enough for your little monsters.

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.

Riders Republic on Xbox takes the basic framework of Steep and adds a whole load more to it to create a very fun arcade sports title. The skiing and snowboarding events feel like the SSX games in their heyday, the rocketsuit and wingsuit events are exhilarating, and the bike events ensure you are constantly one wrong move from total disaster.

Tangle Tower is a fun and polished little game. A great weekend afternoon adventure. The care that’s gone into the visuals and audio make up for the simplistic gameplay, the puzzles are engaging, and the cast is excellently characterised. If only it had allowed itself to be weird and live up to the expectation it set itself - then it would be an absolute gem.

Dazzling visuals, multiple storylines and one pretty cool protagonist are sadly not enough to compensate for the entertaining, but ultimately underwhelming, gameplay in Aeon Must Die.

Airborne Kingdom on Xbox is a unique experience for the platform, and one that executes its gameplay ideas comfortably on console. It’s got a great vibe and setting, and the gameplay itself is engaging as you relish in the satisfaction of seeing your sky kingdom come alive. It also helps that the hands-on gameplay has plenty of depth to it, complemented by a fascinating lore.

Bassmaster Fishing 2022 is a very good simulation of the sport, but even keen anglers will want to have some interest in the bass side of life for it to really come to life. Yes it plays well, for the most part it looks good and Bassmaster Royale brings something new to the table, but there are still some better fishing titles out there.

If you’re in the mood for making sense of a mess of a game, with little moments that might - might - make it worth it, then this is The Good Life.

QUByte Classics – The Immortal by PIKO on Xbox is a restoration of a weird and interesting retro game, which by no means is a classic by any stretch of the imagination. It’s not the kind of game you want to go out of your way to experience, as it’s not a must play title from yesteryear.

We’re trying to imagine playing Princess.Loot.Pixel.Again one more time. Would it be so bad to jump into its roguelike loop and give it another go? We can’t muster the energy. There’s no sparkle in its miserable combat, no reward or unlock to tempt us back in. There are just so many better things to be doing with our lives. Nope.Not.Playing.It.Again.

If you’ve 100%’d a Dark Souls game, or you’ve written snarky comments on Reddit threads about why games hand-hold too much nowadays, then pick up In Celebration of Violence. It’s double-concentrate masochism, and you will love it.

If you enjoyed Dadish, go and fill your boots with Dadish 2. It's a worthy way to follow-on, letting you take in another tale of a radish dad and his troublesome kids.