It’s not quite as novel, but No More Heroes 2 has the same swagger and charm that permeated the original. I wouldn’t recommend skipping the original title, but if you enjoy it you will certainly be happy with this follow-up. The Switch port is solid and helps address most of the technical issues the Wii version had. Good, stupid fun.

The only aspect that might put some off, is in how Sid Meier’s Railroads isn’t as deep as many other games in the genre. Barring that, Sid Meier’s Railroads is an easy recommendation for everyone even remotely interested in train management and simulation games.

Little Luca is a charming, innovative and downright beautiful game – nay, piece of art – that no iOS user should be without.

Sword of Xolan is a fun platformer with great controls and a good variety of enemies. While it's not perfect, it's definitely a great choice for anyone who loves platforming on mobile.

Right now, Coral Island has a fantastic base to build on, but it feels lacking in ways that become obvious as you play more. I know it left Steam Early Access to hit 1.0 and launch on consoles, but it still feels like it needed a bit more of its roadmap before I can recommend it without caveats. The asking price is lower than I expected given everything it has right now, and if you’re ok chipping away at it slowly and taking your time, you will find a lot to love here. Despite the few technical issues, it is a joy to play on Steam Deck, but I feel like it left early access prematurely.

If you enjoy the LEGO games, this is one of the best ones ever. If you fell off the series because it felt like it was treading water, this might be the one to bring you back. And if you’ve never played one before, here is a great place to start. LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is a fantastic game, and serves as proof that TT Games can still serve up some surprises in this long-in-the-tooth franchise. It also runs very well on the Switch relative to other LEGO games, which is just another feather in its cap.

Experience-centric games like That Dragon, Cancer [$4.99], Gone Home and others have found massive audiences of people who love the experimental side of gaming that focuses more on conveying emotions than they do high scores. If those are the sorts of things you're into, chances are you're going to wish Florence didn't end so soon.

Run Roo Run isn't the most original game ever, but it takes the best out of a lot of worlds, and then owns that stuff. Its entertaining in big or small chunks, and those challenge levels are a whole new world of hurt. Give it a shot.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is an easy game of the year contender so far. While I still need a bit of time to test the online when cross play is available from launch day, the gameplay is sublime and Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 looks and sounds superb across the board. Having played it on PS5 and Steam Deck with cross progression, I don’t recommend playing it on Valve’s handheld right now. It gets an easy recommendation on PS5 though. I will be updating this with a full score once I’ve gotten enough time with the multiplayer and some patches. [Impressions]

Cave Bowling is a fun physics game that comes packed with everything we've come to expect of Donut Games. My only real nitpick is I wish it came loaded with Game Center, as Donut Games' web-based scoring system leaves much to be desired.

Sigma is a brilliant looking match 3 game of top notch quality.

But for those willing, Pocket Legends is an extremely rewarding experience that has easily provided me with some of the best online gameplay on the iPhone to date.

I'll fully admit that I'm a total sucker for anything that vaguely follows the Metroidvania formula. Something deep inside of my genetic code just loves navigating a maze-like mixture of corridors and platforms with more areas becoming unlocked as I collect new skills, weapons, and abilities. Robot Wants Kitty plays in to this perfectly, even integrating my love for cats.

The game draws me in because it lets me be creative. It's freeing to play a puzzle game that lets the player decide when a piece is finished.

Duet is good—very good. It's not flawless, but neither does it expect you to be. This isn't an endless strive for a few more moments of perfection. The dance allows a few missteps, and doesn't it feel incredible when you get it just right?

So, I'm simply going to add the proviso that if you absolutely never want to see a block puzzle again in your life, you probably won't be too thrilled here. The rest of you should check this game out.

While I've got a couple of quibbles with it, Sproggiwood is a fantastically well-rounded take on the roguelike genre. It's challenging, rewarding, forgiving, and charming all at once.

I quite recommend Solitairica if you enjoy roguelikes, card games, and/or card game roguelike hybrids. I'm glad this game finally hit mobile, because it's a perfect fit for the platform, and while the solitaire core may be a bit frustrating to deal with at times, the game is overall a very strong experience. And seriously, if you need an excuse to zone out for hours on end, Solitairica may just be the best game you can play right now to do that.

For its asking price, Shotgun King: The Final Checkmate is worth getting if the premise sounds interesting to you. Some aspects of the gameplay could’ve been better explained, but I enjoyed my time with Shotgun King on Switch. I hope potential future updates add some accessibility options though because I feel like most will give up before unlocking anything meaningful.

Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord is an excellent remake, but not one to be taken lightly. In a change from Digital Eclipse’s usual documentary approach, this remake simply offers the original game with a fresh lick of paint and a few new optional features to make it more convenient (not easier!) to play. This is, at its heart, the same merciless dungeon crawling RPG it has always been. Whether that’s a challenge you want to tackle in the modern age is up to you, but there’s no better way to do so than through this fine effort.

On the face of the game is a simple looking castle defense game, but peel that back and you'll find more of a gallery shooter than the flicking frenzy of other castle defenders.

It’s a relatively lengthy game for its genre and the back half will test your patience at times, but as a whole Astalon is a terrific game that may surprise you in some interesting ways. Some issues with backtracking keep it from being a total slamdunk, but if you’re feeling nostalgic for that old style of exploratory action game that can be a little opaque in a good way, you’re likely going to have a very good time with Astalon: Tears of the Earth.

All of these elements come together really well in Axe in Face providing a simple concept with just enough depth and strategy to keep things interesting.

Foursaken's Heroes and Castles does a great job of not only successfully melding third-person combat with tower/castle defense, but also creating a game with a great deal of replaybility via its heroes, upgrade system and online multiplay.

The touch screen controls really do work remarkably well and To-Fu: The Trials of Chi does a great job of working with the touch screen, not against it. The depth of challenges here works well, but it would be nice to have some type of meta-game or leaderboards so you could track your progress against others.

Burn it All is an easy recommendation, especially if you liked Burn the Rope. Similarly, if you download and enjoy Burn it All, you'll ned to give Burn the Rope a try.

It's immersive, it's expansive (I've been playing it for a week), it's simple, it's something you can teach to your grandparents and your three-year old niece. As long as you're OK with some minor quirks, Battleloot Adventure is one that you don't want to miss.

With so few competent dog fighting games on the App Store, both H.A.W.X. and Ace Combat Xi are worth considering.