None of the five sports in Superstars is likely to keep you hooked for the long term—though, saying that, I got so obsessed with World Tour a couple of drizzly summer holidays ago that I was dreaming about teeing off with bob-ombs for golf balls—but, for your 20-minute time-killing needs, they're pretty perfect.

We Happy Few doesn’t work because it doesn’t feel cohesive. It’s one game bolted onto the foundation of another, and it shows. The game world is massive because the developer doesn’t have the budget or resources to make good on the dense nature of BioShock’s detail-oriented environments. The side quests are generic, often lacking unique NPCs, because the work required to build, animate, and implement them would be too much. Even the glitches seem to fit this theme: a game bursting at the seams, unable to contain itself. We Happy Few's ambitions are large, but it's only that: ambition.

It’s got an interesting narrative that goes off into some unknown territory. While I’m sad I didn’t get to pilot the ship at any point, it doesn’t make Flint: Treasure of Oblivion any less of a great addition to an already fantastic genre. If you’ve been looking for a fun new pirate game to play after a year of disappointing entries, be sure to check this one out. [Recommended]

A bad remaster of a good game that recreates old mistakes while adding loads of new glitches.

Wales Interactive’s latest is neither an interactive movie nor a video game, but as a curious experiment it shows potential.

The racing portion Mario Kart Tour is bad, it’s Mario Kart with guard rails. Maps are pulled from the series greatest hits and races are limited to two laps. The finger controls work well. I placed my finger below the racer, holding before the starting gun to get a little boost, and drifting side to side to toss blue sparks and blast ahead of the rudimentary competition. But there is no sense of stakes or risk thanks to the guardrails on the levels. Mistakes didn’t send me careening into a field or off a cliff, but bounded me back on to the track.

BioWare's take on Destiny doesn't have enough "BioWare" to make up for its countless missteps.

The core game is so much fun, but I would have rather spent $20 and had the game, its levels, and its characters open to me from the start.

A dynamic stealth-action approach to Ubisoft's template, with frustratingly ambivalent politics.

Top to bottom, Sonic Forces didn’t click for me, and even now, I stand by that. I’ve never been convinced by Sega’s meandering attempts to convert Sonic into 3D, believing the Mario-esque Sonic Adventure to be the most successful attempt. Sonic Forces only underscored my original issues. Sure, some have been better than others— Lost World, Generations—but for a franchise about speed, it’s never been able to meaningfully capture that feeling for more than a few moments.

Skater XL comes at skateboarding from the angle that it’s extremely important. It’s serious, and in cutting out the extraneous pieces and paring the mechanics down to the most basic elements of real skateboarding, they try to get the player to take it as seriously as they can. But in my heart of hearts, I think that a good skateboarding game should feel like skateboarding culture. It should be a little destructive. It should be goofy, and the things that seem so important to the culture should look absolutely goofy in 10 years. It’s as important as you make it, as Boulala says, and my ideal skateboarding game treats it as slightly less important. By treating it with less importance, we might get a bigger world of possible tricks and ways of playing with a skateboard. That game would be closer to what I love about skateboarding.

It has a lot to say about women, sexual violence, the power dynamics of sex between genders, and how society often views gay sex through the lens of straight men. Rather than coding its ideology in metaphor or subtext, it’s danced right in front of you. Agony knows exactly what it’s saying. Fortunately, you don’t have to listen.

There are likely dozens if not hundreds of games that came this close to greatness, and quite a few great ones that came just as close to irrelevance. Games journalists all have their lists of games that disappeared after an amazing E3 presentation or demo, or games that proved to be inexplicable disappointments on release. A lot of career developers end up working on an amazing project that never sees the light of day, and only exist on hard drives full of unused assets and documentation. What makes Abermore so unusual is that it so clearly embodies the intangible qualities that separate greatness from mediocrity. I can't recommend it, but it still has value as a collection of almost-beautiful fragments that, in a kinder world, might have been more.

It’s such a bad fu.king video game, too. You spend 95% of Agony waiting for poorly designed AI enemies to walk past you, so you can sprint to the next area. It’s not scary, it’s not fun, it’s not interesting.

Bucket Detective isn't as abjectly disturbing as The Static Speaks My Name, but you don't exactly feel great while playing it, either. It's not a game about winning, it's about inhabiting someone's world. How you feel about your time in that world is up to you.

There’s a certain joy in enjoying both modes side by side, the tightness of the puzzle boxes next to the floatiness and abstraction of the 3D spaces, which evoke both the 3D platformers of the 32-and-64-bit era as well as much less cheery work, such as the haunting landscapes of Connor Sherlock and Kitty Horrorshow’s works.

Future Aero Racing S Ultra is a fun, but unremarkable, homage to F-Zero. But why does it sound like that?

I think some people might say that Orcs Must Die 3 is more of the same, and those people are right. But it is more of the same with a fine level of articulation and polish. It’s a well-oiled machine where every part of it works, ready to operate in perpetual motion seemingly infinitely. More of the same is not a negative here. It’s a blessing.

Controversy aside, Schedule 1 is a much more charming game to play [than "Drug Dealer Simulator"]. On a fundamental level, it’s much more accessible and enjoyable. [Early Access Impressions]

But a fun story, witty dialogue, fantastic visuals and controls, and a great premise make SEDAP! A Culinary Adventure one of my new favorite multiplayer games to play. Chaos rules in this kitchen, but it’s not as overwhelmingly terrifying as something like Overcooked. Katie tends to lose her cool quickly in stressful situations, but she was always on top of her duties in SEDAP!. Having a game that fully dives into the more chaotic elements of multiplayer gaming, while also still being easy enough to digest for newcomers, is a blessing. [Highly Recommended]

For me? This is art. Surrealism encroaching on the cusp of perfection. A concept that could only be accomplished through the medium of video games. While I would watch a big-budget RATSHAKER film adaptation with Chris Pratt as The Rat, I don’t know how many other folks would be in the same boat. If you’ve been eagerly searching for something that will scare you, make you laugh, all while being one of the most outlandish concepts imaginable? There’s no better way to spend $3.49.

It throws so much at you, but you really do have everything you need to get the highest score possible. I’m fully engaged in unlocking every perk and ship I can to keep getting better. It’s a game that tests your skills and willingness to get better. [Highly Recommended]

Don’t get me wrong. There are some creepy moments here. But Office After Hours is a fun, albeit simple, spot-the-difference horror game. But the things that they’ve added, the collectibles to find, and the progression system make it far more interesting than many others out there. Give it a try, and see if you may be able to survive. Pro tip? Hit the blue button. Trust me. [Highly Recommended]

Steel Wool has proved to me that they genuinely care about the franchise. It isn’t about making a quick buck. It’s about evolving a franchise that fans have known and loved for years into something bigger and better. It doesn’t matter if you’re a Five Nights at Freddy’s fan from day one or someone eager to get into the series. Secret of the Mimic is one you don’t want to miss. Pro tip? Run the ending twice, remember about the grayed-out option on the H.E.L.P.E.R. screen. You’ll thank me later. [Highly Recommended]

Fever Meme feels like it’s created for a hyper-specific group of people. Those who love goofy internet humor. Speedrunners. Folks who are terminally online, like me. A game that can make me chuckle is one that I’ll cherish, and Fever Meme had me rolling at times. Sure, some of the jokes don’t always land, but they hit more than they miss. For a game to have me laughing just moments after getting ready to toss my keyboard across the room in a fit of rage? That’s something special. [Highly Recommended]

It’s a bold reimagining of Missile Command. Rather than just creating a newer version, akin to the Recharged series, it pushes in an interesting and unique new direction. Even with the issues I had with the game, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. If I wasn’t playing Missile Command Delta, I was thinking about it. I just hope that one day, it can reach its full potential and become a classic, just like the original game in the franchise. I’m proud to be the Missile Commander. I know my job isn’t done, and I’ll do what I must to protect the world. [Recommended]

Mycopunk has my favorite movement system in an FPS since Neon White, and that’s saying something. Sliding, jumping, leaping, soaring; everything here feels buttery smooth. For a small team of college kids, Mycopunk has the potential to take the FPS scene by storm. It’s like an overly caffeinated version of all of my favorite FPS games mixed into one, with killer music, great art direction, and plenty of creeps to blast through. [Best In Its Class]