If you like word games and dungeon crawlers, Cryptmaster will likely be one of your favorite games in years. It oozes humor, charm, and constantly keeps you engaged with its striking aesthetic and mechanics. I also like how the developers cater to those who play with a controller here, though I recommend a keyboard for the smoothest experience.

Read Only Memories: NEURODIVER feels like a weird sequel in how it didn’t end up being what I hoped for, but still had me glad it exists and enjoying it more or less all the way. The music, art, and interactions elevate this to an essential for fans of 2064: Read Only Memories, but I still like the original game more.

I don’t know how Simogo keeps doing it, but Lorelei and the Laser Eyes, like every other game I’ve played from the studio, gets my highest possible recommendation. It is one of the best games I’ve ever played on Switch and Steam Deck. If you have the smallest interest in unique experiences and like puzzle games, buy Lorelei and the Laser Eyes and grab a notebook. You will not regret it.

Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengance of the Slayer remains a fantastic boomer shooter, and is the most 90s thing (compliment) on the eShop right now. I hope it can see some performance improvement for docked play and gyro support added in potential updates though.

If you enjoy rail shooters or Cotton a lot, you’ll probably find enough in Rainbow Cotton to enjoy to make it worth your while. It’s as good as it can be, given the source material. That’s really the catch here; this is an excellent version of a deeply flawed game, and despite its fixes and improvements it’s not really enough to save it from being the worst shooter in the Cotton series. Not entirely without its charms, but not a game I can muster much enthusiasm for either.

Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- Sweep the Board! has a lot of potential, but it is lacking for online play right now. If you have folks to play with locally and like the IP, this will be a good purchase. The team at CyberConnect2 did a great job translating Demon Slayer to this setting, but I hope there’s more added through the year and the online is improved.

My Time at Sandrock is an excellent life simulation game that improved on everything in My Time at Portia. It is bigger and better, and the recent updates have made it one I can recommend on Nintendo Switch as well. If you held off on it after hearing how rough things were at launch, you can now grab it. It isn’t as good as My Time at Sandrock on Steam Deck, but it is worth getting for handheld play now.

Given how rarely Falcom seems to let the original Wanderers out versus Oath in Felghana, it’s nice to have a chance to play this game again. It’s grindy and there are parts that don’t quite work, but that Ys flow that runs through just about all of the games is present and accounted for. This release only offers Japanese language support in-game, so make sure you know what you’re getting into if you decide to pick it up. If you’re okay with that, then this is worth the spin.

It’s unfortunate that a niche series has finally made a return after so many years in a market that should be more receptive to its charms, only to make some big changes that significantly weaken the overall package. There’s still something to Endless Ocean Luminous, things you can’t find in this exact form anywhere else, but the loss of a properly designed world to explore and the sometimes tedious nature of the tasks it requires of you make this a difficult game to recommend with much vigor.

I absolutely recommend Tales of Kenzera: ZAU, and the Switch version was a lot better than I expected, but the Metroidvania aspect isn’t as well-realized as the rest of the game. You’re here for the narrative, music, art, and voice acting more than the Metroidvania bits that felt too linear.

Surmount ended up surprising me constantly, and I will be playing the daily challenge and getting back to it often on both Switch and Steam Deck often. If the premise sounds good to you, I recommend downloading the demo for sure. You will not regret it and the climbing mechanic is just so good.

As a value add to Netflix, Braid, Anniversary Edition is an amazing boost to its gaming catalog for newcomers to the puzzle-platformer, and another fantastic game on the service that likely wouldn’t have hit mobile alongside other platforms. Playing Braid, Anniversary Edition has been just as much fun as it was experiencing the Xbox 360 version years ago, and I hope it gets a physical release in the future. I also hope the mobile version sees some touch control improvements in potential patches though.

Right now, I can see myself playing Foundry daily for a session or two solo or with others as a nice way to chill. It has a solid base already, and I hope to see it improve even on Steam Deck support with the many patches and content updates planned to arrive in the future. If you’ve wanted a solid base building and automation experience that is a lot of fun even early on, Foundry is worth checking out. [Early Access Review]

Footgun: Underground is a clever spin on a formula that is getting to be very well-worn indeed. Even setting the sheer novelty of blending soccer moves with the roguelite action genre aside, the actual mechanics are fun to learn and take some technique to apply well. It’s not as immediately enjoyable as some games in the genre, but take some time to learn the nuances and unlock some of the more interesting abilities and you’ll be well rewarded.

In its current state with the visual issue caveat, I recommend TopSpin 2K25 if you really like tennis. It could’ve been better, but I’ve enjoyed the time I’ve put into it. I’m not sure if this will become a yearly series for 2K, but I’m glad to see TopSpin return. I look forward to seeing what future updates bring for the game.

At this point, Vampire Survivors DLC is a lot like Dead Cells DLC where it is hard to not recommend buying any of it. Vampire Survivors Operation Guns, like the Emergency Meeting DLC, is a must-have regardless of whether you are familiar with the source material or not. It enhances the game and made me play a lot of Contra Hard Corps on Nintendo Switch Online today. It is an essential purchase if you like Vampire Survivors given the value and quality.

Cyber Citizen Shockman 3 closes out this quirky trilogy on as high of a note as it can muster, and one that I suppose is appropriate given what came before. I think it’s the smoothest game of the three to play, but it’s a bit irritating that it more or less pushes out the interesting elements of the first two games in favor of a very plain design. Still, there’s just enough of that early 90s CD vibe here to carry what is otherwise a rather bland side-scrolling action game. If you’ve played the first two, you might as well see it through with this one.

Get the requisite people in place for the four-player local multiplayer, and Armed and Gelatinous is pretty fun. It gets a little repetitive after a short while, but as long as you play it in managed bursts there are good times to be had here. I feel like the core concept isn’t quite as balanced as it should be, but growing to be a giant blob with guns sticking out of every bit of your bloated body is enjoyable enough that you might not care. Popping another player who has hit that size and stealing all their artillery is definitely a good feeling. There’s something to this game, even if it doesn’t quite stick together the way one might hope.

El Shaddai has always been a game that divided opinions, and that’s just as true of this HD remaster as it was for the original version. The beautiful presentation carries a lot of the load here, and the story certainly has its charms. The repetitive gameplay is the biggest issue here, as it fails to offer both the diversity of moves and expanding arsenal of many of its peers in the character action genre. For me, the good outweighed the inadequate here, and nothing was really outright bad about it. But if you think a game needs to get by on its mechanics, you might want to pump the brakes on this Ascension.

A certain type of player is going to love Class of Heroes 1 & 2: Complete Edition, but it’s important to keep in mind what these games are and aren’t. They’re fundamentally not all that different from their original PSP incarnations, and the new localizations aren’t great. Beginners will want to proceed with caution, as despite the colorful look and school theme these are extremely unforgiving experiences. If you feel like modern dungeon crawlers aren’t nasty enough or just miss the friction of the classic Wizardry games, this is going to be right up your alley.

If you already played Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, this remake isn’t really worth buying at full price. If you’re new to the game, I recommend this remake as your first experience. After a few updates and improvements on Steam Deck, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons Remake is definitely worth grabbing. I’ve enjoyed revisiting it after many years, and the co-op feature has been a nice surprise, though I still think it works best as a solo experience.

In its current state, ENDER MAGNOLIA: Bloom in the Mist in Steam Early Access feels more like a lengthy demo. What I’ve played is amazing and it absolutely shines on the Steam Deck OLED right from day one. I cannot wait to play more of it and see how it evolves through updates in the early access period. If you enjoyed Ender Lilies, ENDER MAGNOLIA: Bloom in the Mist is essential already as long as you’re ok with the content included in the early access version so far. [Early Access Review]

While Rusty’s Retirement is definitely better suited to playing on PC or Mac (this has its own issues), I’ve enjoyed dipping into it on Steam Deck. I hope it eventually gets proper Steam Deck support letting you play it like a normal idle game rather than one that’s designed to be played at the bottom of your screen. This may go against what it was designed for, but that’s the only path I see forward for it on Steam Deck. As for what it aims to do, Rusty’s Retirement is excellent and definitely worth buying right now. It is a few small updates away from being perfect right now.

Another Crab’s Treasure is superb. It has a few polish issues holding some areas of it back, but I can’t recommend it enough at its asking price right now. I’ve already spent nearly 25 hours with it across platforms, and can’t wait to keep doing more as I play it on Steam Deck and PS5. Just avoid the Switch version for now. Another Crab’s Treasure feels like this year’s Lies of P at a smaller scale, and that’s about the best compliment I can give a soulslike right now.

Loop Hero feels like a game that was always intended for mobile, and the conversion from Playdigious is almost perfect. At a fraction of what it costs on other platforms, not only does Loop Hero feel right at home on mobile, but it is the best version of the game. It is going to be a mainstay on my iOS homescreens for a long time. I just hope portrait mode can be added eventually because it would make Loop Hero absolutely perfect on mobile.

Dadish 3D takes the series into the third dimension with a surprising level of competency, and while it isn’t without its flaws it’s a really strong little 3D platformer for those looking for one. “Little" is a key point here, as it feels very pick-up-and-play thanks to its concise, well-paced stages. There are some growing pains here to be sure, particularly with the camera and gauging distances, but I have faith Dadish will overcome them in future installments.

If you are a fan of the arcade game and just want to play it at home, then yes, Wrath of the Mutants is a full win. Buy it, be happy. For everyone else, it’s impossible to deny the fact that both Shredder’s Revenge and the Cowabunga Collection are available on the Switch at comparable prices and offer considerably better takes on this exact concept. Indeed, given how many exceptional beat-em-ups there are on the platform, it’s very hard to recommend this one. It’s okay, but “okay" doesn’t really cut it at this stage.

Lunar Lander Beyond is… fine. I wish I could say it’s more than that, or that it has the capacity to do more than preach to the Atari choir, but I don’t think it’s quite there. Some of its attempts to add some complexity to the concept don’t really click, and while the graphics and sound are pretty good, it feels like the core gameplay can’t fully live up to the level of ambition seen in other aspects. Still, if you have the requisite fondness for Atari and/or thrust-based spaceship games, you’ll likely enjoy your time with this well enough.