TSUKIHIME: A piece of blue glass moon is a visual novel masterpiece. It was one of the biggest games in the genre that I hadn’t played at all, and I’m glad to have finally experienced it through this remake on both Switch and PS5. Regardless of whether you enjoy Type Moon’s works or are new to the developer, Tsukihime is an essential.

The Last Express is a game I want my toddler to play in about a decade, and I have renewed hope that he'll get the chance.

While Videoverse might not hit as hard for you if you weren’t around back then, it absolutely delivered in making me think fondly of the past, and delivered a heartfelt story with the closest time capsule experience to the early 2000s internet there has ever been. I can’t wait to see what developer Kinmoku does next. This one is special. The only game to get me nostalgic like this before was Gone Home, and I think Videoverse ended up excelling over that in just about every way. If the premise sounds interesting, just grab it. You won’t regret it.

I've had an absolutely fantastic time playing King of Dragon Pass. Its slow pace makes it a perfect mobile game.

Jetpack Joyride doesn't need any kind of "if you like randomized endless games" or any other disclaimers. It is a game you simply must own.

Chained Echoes really surprised me with its quality. I feel like I have a good sense of what to expect from these indie JRPG-style games that throw back to the 1990s, both their lows and highs. Chained Echoes blew past the upper end of those expectations, and is among the very best RPGs I played in 2022. If you like the genre at all, give it a shot. Between its fascinating world, enjoyable characters, unique and entertaining mechanics, and excellent presentation, this one is a winner from top to bottom.

This is yet another speedrunning masterpiece that everyone ought to own.

If you have even a passing interest in puzzle or physics games, you need iBlast Moki 2 in your life.

It turns out Pentiment, just like good cheese (ask Josh Sawyer about this) and wine, only gets better with age. Not only do I think it is a magnificent experience from start to finish like it was back on Steam Deck, but it has found a new home on Nintendo Switch delivering the full experience with gorgeous visuals on the OLED screen. If you skipped it before, now is the time to rectify your error and play one of the greats. Hopefully Obsidian can add touchscreen support in an update because that’s literally the only thing I’d like to see added in this port.

The sheer amount of content, the amazing graphics, and gameplay that will keep you coming back for more whether you choose to follow the story or rampage through Liberty City on your own is absolutely amazing.

It's possible to grind the fun right out of this game, but if you stick to playing modes you enjoy and challenge yourself with three stars when you want to, there's no reason this skeleton-crushing simulator should lose its charm.

I already thought The Talos Principle 2 was fantastic, but the team managed elevating it into something beyond special with The Talos Principle 2 – Road to Elysium. While the third part of the DLC was a bit too hard for me in parts, The Talos Principle 2 – Road to Elysium is an essential for everyone who liked the base game. This is the best kind of DLC and every puzzle game fan should buy the base game and The Talos Principle 2 – Road to Elysium as soon as possible.

Having only tried out Balatro because a friend of mine mentioned the demo, I’ve ended up not only loving it, but putting it directly up with Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, Granblue Fantasy: Relink, and Tekken 8 in my top games of 2024 so far. Now I should really delete the game like I said I would to focus on other releases, but I need to play more and get laughed at by the joker.

The feeling is once again like that of a puzzle toy along the lines of a Rubik's Cube. There's little pressure involved here, with no timers, an endless supply of undos, and not one piece of IAP to be found. You will probably run into levels that completely stump you when you first approach them. You might even get frustrated enough to put the game down for a while. The next time you pick it up, you may have a break-through. Even if you don't, you can always try another level. Until you run out of those, anyway. Yankai's Peak is a quality puzzle game that feels alien and familiar all at once, and it's well-worth fidgeting around with until you make it to the end.

Regardless of whether you've been vaguely curious about Magic the Gathering or an experienced player, you need to try Magic 2013 on the iPad. For us veterans of the game, it'll also serve as a cruel tease and horrid reminder of how badly Magic Online needs an iPad port.

The Making of Karateka is a deep dive on a single game done in a way I’ve never seen the likes of before, presented like only our medium can offer. It takes you on a captivating journey not just of a legendary game but of a legendary game creator as he finds his strengths and blossoms. I want a shelf full of these Gold Masters from Digital Eclipse. Here’s hoping I’ll get that and more. What did I say about Atari 50 again? “An essential work for all fans of gaming history"? Yes, that sounds perfect here too.

A very tense game. I found myself gripping my phone tightly, jerking it out of the way of this oncoming girder or that platform I hadn't noticed. A prayer under the breath seemed suitable after some tight escapes. It was more than enough to convince me I'm not cut out for BASE jumping, but I sure enjoy the facsimile.

Iron Marines is a very, very good game. It seems like some sort of checkpoint or save system that makes failure feel a little less brutal would be a simple modification, but even without it, the game just forces you to be careful with your decisions. I really doubt StarCraft, in any form, will ever come to the App Store, so provided you can put up with the slightly cartoony art style of Iron Marines, this is definitely the next best thing.

There is just so much going on in Bug Heroes, it's amazing that it all blends so incredibly well.

Quite simply, I’m a huge fan of Game Dev Tycoon and I love that we can finally play this title on iOS. It’s the perfect sort of game for mobile devices and there’s so much to do here in terms of developing personnel, researching items, and making games that there’s loads of replayability for quite a long time. An oldie, but a goodie, all players owe it to themselves to check out this great port.

Cocoon is brilliant. I genuinely cannot believe how much I enjoyed it, and somehow ended up liking it more than Limbo and Inside. If you have even the smallest interest in the game, I recommend not reading or watching anything and just giving it a chance. We may be near the end of the year, but this is another Game of the Year contender.

If you've enjoyed labyrinth games in the past, Labyrinth 2 is a must-own.

It's a more complete 10000000, offering so much improvement all around that it makes the original game feel like a demo.

So many times you play an RPG on mobile and you think to yourself, oh I need to spend several minutes organizing my inventory or I need a few minutes to stop what I am doing. You never get that feeling playing Cat Quest and while it is simple and it feels like it could be generic, it's exactly what an RPG on the go should be. At $4.99 you're buying a game that we'll be telling people "this is how you make a mobile RPG" next year, the year after that, maybe for a really long time.

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio at its peak. It feels fresh while still bringing together the best aspects of my favorite games from the studio. Not only does it manage to deliver a compelling story with twists and turns throughout the massively long main story run time, but the sheer quality of its optional content and mini-games puts some of the best entries in the series to shame. We finally have a modern Yakuza game that matches not only the quality, but also the quantity of Yakuza 0’s awesomeness. It gets my highest possible recommendation. I can’t wait to see what the studio does for the next game.

A fantastic hybrid of Poker and RPG.

Rocketcat is known for great games and amazing app support so I feel confident that this update is not the last nor the biggest nor the brightest we will be seeing to add onto this already fantastic game.

As I dug deeper into my Unicorn Overlord playthroughs across Switch and PS5, it hit me that Vanillaware is like the Australian band King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard who keep exploring different genres with each new album and maintaining the quality. It might be too soon to say if Unicorn Overlord is my favorite strategy RPG, but I can confidently say that it and Balatro are the best Nintendo Switch games of 2024 so far.