I Am Dead may falter and become tiresome in places, but it has a huge heart. It’s impossible not to be affected by its stories. It’s the people of Shelmerston who stick with you, far longer than the dissecting and zooming, and there’s a heartening message at its core: when you pass, the world will be immeasurably changed.

Fundamentally, art of rally on Xbox is a more than competent rally game that proves you don’t need a fully licensed game to make an interesting arcade racer. Initially players will be sold on the unique and gorgeous art style, but it is here where the issues reside. The design suffers as a result of porting the game to Xbox consoles with problems we shouldn’t be seeing on this new flagship console.

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.

Ultimately, I had a good time with Twelve Minutes. It's a game that is able to usher forth a great narrative experience and a refreshing change of pace. It's one to give a whirl through Game Pass as while it won't be for everyone, it will connect with a lot of people.

It’s not the best Sam & Max game, or even the second best, but Sam & Max Save the World is a milestone in the series, preserved with love by the best people to do so. If you’ve been looking for a reason to spend time with two of gaming’s best characters on an Xbox, grab it with all four paws.

The music is fun, the art is great throughout, and the general premise is interesting. Then again, none of that is so interesting that it’s worth sticking through the late game combat, yawn-inducing story, and milquetoast characters. Perhaps diehard JRPG fans will find something to love with Dodgeball Academia, but if that isn’t you then this is one you’ll want to dodge.

The Forgotten City is a game that many will thoroughly enjoy. It's got a great story at its centre and keeps delivering a standard of distinction in narrative design and dialogue throughout. The time loop dynamics and puzzle solutions are clever and will always make you smile.

Step back and consider what PAW Patrol The Movie: Adventure City Calls is offering, and there’s only one conclusion: it’s just not good enough. You will be consistently apologising to your kid that, yes, you will have to reset the whole level and start again, as it’s a festering bin of bugs.

You’re certainly not going to be finding any game changing moments with the addition of the Hot Wheels expansion in Beach Buggy Racing 2, but honestly, the game doesn’t need that. What is here though is well-integrated and gives further reason to spend time racing through the adventures at hand – all with some iconic cars and tracks in tow. In fact, the inclusion of this add-on just seems to fit the overall vibe of the game really well.

Cardaclysm: Shards of the Four is a case of Emperor’s New Cards. It’s one of the finest looking card games out there, but it’s hiding a frustrating, buggy experience and a battle system that leans too heavily on a good first turn. It’s not a complete disaster (or cardaclysm) but these are all avoidable problems that hunt Cardaclysm: Shards of the Four down, like one of its Cursed Beings.

Zoffice is one of those games that needs a warning on the packet. “Extremely short, mostly fun game inside.” Know that you’re getting an espresso of a game, and it might hit the spot. It’s a well-observed smooshing of office culture and zombie movies, a few minutes of exploration and then 1000G shoved into your mitts. But expect value for money or high quality, and you’ll be zunderwhelmed.

With all things considered you're probably best off giving Orbals a miss entirely. The gameplay is frustrating when it should have been fun, the precision is off and the lack of consideration given by the game itself is enough to end what could have been a joyous relationship.

For the concept, Mind Maze is probably the best game on the market. Unfortunately, dots-and-boxes isn’t particularly entertaining. It doesn’t do much wrong, but Mind Maze needs more game modes and variety to really excel. Unless you’ve got a friend to play with, expect only a few games of entertainment out of this one.

At the start of Alfonzo’s Arctic Adventure, it’s not quite clear where Bob, the ‘damsel in distress’, went. We can imagine him walking away sheepishly, looking back at the puzzle-platformer he was leaving behind and sighing, sadly. That’s because this arctic adventure is a dismal, weary one, and Bob’s only option was to never think about it again.

Within the Blade has a lot of promise. Sneaking through levels, dispatching enemies silently and then fighting big bosses sounds like ninja game heaven. At least on paper. It’s when that idea is translated into an actual game that the issues seem to have crept in and spoiled the party.

Q-YO Blaster is a game that has a lot going for it. It has multiple difficulties to try your arm at, with an Arcade Extreme mode unlockable in case the regular game isn’t tough enough. There’s a mighty fine couch co-op mode as well. Further, the controls work well, the challenge is high, and above all it’s all damn good fun.

Fishing Adventure is very much on the arcade end of the fishing game spectrum. It looks okay, the fish come across as just about alright and the gameplay is relaxing. The grind is far too real though and whilst the quests are a nice touch, they never have that feeling of jeopardy that you’d want them to be associated with.

Hades is an opus, a delectable action game that rewards your skill and reflexes with a tidal wave of rewards and progression. I can’t recall a game as generous as Hades, in terms of how good it is to play, how much the game changes with each session, with how much it gives you for beating it. It’s a matryoshka doll where every doll holds more awesomeness.

Thanks to creative and inventive storytelling, Doctor Who: The Lonely Assassins offers the best video game experience that the franchise has to offer.

Get Packed: Fully Loaded is lots of fun. Despite not being the most original concept, there’s plenty on offer here for a very reasonable price which should do more than raise a smile.

Fuga: Melodies of Steel is the turn-based RPG that you didn’t know you needed, but most definitely do. Being able to chop and change your team of hearty children makes the action exciting, the harsh difficulty keeps things interesting as you plot a course towards bringing down the Berman Empire, while the ingenious Soul Cannon serves its purpose brilliantly as a last resort.

The fact that a basic cycle of solving puzzles, collecting resources and building stuff is so captivating is a testament to how beautifully immersive the world of Dwarrows and its inhabitants are. With so much to do, so many areas to explore and an entire town to build, it’s remarkably easy to get sucked in. Expect plenty of hours of enjoyment from this one.

A scrolling shoot ‘em up is a great idea for a roguelite, and when’s the next time you’ll be playing as an undead, flame fish? The execution just isn’t enough, though, and Akinofa ends up feeling as pitiful as a fish out of water.

Blightbound is a great co-op experience for dungeon crawling enthusiasts, but if you don’t have anyone to play with, you’re better off skipping this one.

We had a lot of time for Rogue Wizards. It’s unashamedly retro, it’s not the prettiest of RPGs out there, and it has near-gamebreaking faults in its controls and loot. But it’s decided that the best parts of an RPG are in its upgrade systems and randomly generated dungeons, and who are we to argue? Some of gaming’s greatest joys come from diving into a dungeon and emerging twice as powerful as before.

There is a lot of content to go at in Fallen Knight and the platforming action, while not top drawer, isn’t bad. It's just the whole combat loop that doesn’t seem to work as well as the rest of the game, and when you come to market as a bit of a fighter, that's pretty much the kiss of death.

Eldest Souls does what it says on the tin. It’s brutally hard and unforgiving, but play by its rules and learn the cues, and you will make progress. It’ll take you some time to earn all the achievements for beating each boss without taking damage, but it won’t be long before Eldest Souls begins to talk to you, teaching you more as you play.

Worms Rumble is not a badly made game by any means, but it feels like a strange release and may well be a case of being something that nobody has really called for. If you keep an open mind there is plenty of fun to be had here, but whether or not this is able to gather up a player base with enough folk getting ready to rumble is up for debate.