Clustertruck is a really unique concept, and it's one that I enjoy in doses of up to about an hour, but only very occasionally longer than that. It has a decent sized and rewarding campaign, and it can be played with pals in a pass the pad, score attack kind of approach. There is a ton of replay value because the unlockable skills which give the ability to replay levels in new ways. With all that said, there's no way that Clustertruck is going to appeal to everyone. Clustertruck is utterly bonkers, skill intensive, hard as nails and occasionally frustrating, but for me it is still compelling enough to be worth a look.

Twenty years later, untouched and carrying a $20 price tag, Duke feels more like a washed up has-been than the kick ass hero I remember.

Monster Jam: Crush It! is fun for about five minutes and that's only if you skip the stunts and go straight to the hill climb mode.

If you enjoyed Left 4 Dead and it's sequel then a purchase of Warhammer: End Times – Vermintide will likely be a no brainer. It's fast paced action combined with the Warhammer lore and RPG-lite features makes this a great game that should keep you interested for hours or more likely months. The game is perfect for those with a regular crew of gamer friends, though it's low player base may be off putting for some.

A ton of fun. The graphics and design are all perfect for what the designers were going for, and there's enough variety to keep things fresh and interesting for at least one play-through, even if a little more variety would have been a nice touch.

The combat, skills, and crafting system are all so well done that I never felt like I was just grinding and wasting my time. Every fight was enjoyable regardless of how often I had seen a specific enemy or even if it was my third time doing a mission.

There are often laugh out loud moments in the game but these moments punctuated the tedium that defined most of the game.

Reus tries to simplify a complex genre, but loses what makes the genre interesting in the first place.

It isn't a bad game at all, but it does so many things to such an average degree that it is hard to get excited about. There is also the lingering feeling that with just a little more effort and some focus, it could have been so much better. A missed opportunity, and a game for diehard fans of the genre only.

It is incredibly frustrating and ultimately lacking in long term fun.

Manual Samuel starts well but sadly loses steam fairly early on. Which is a real shame as I wholeheartedly loved the first hour or so into Sam's nightmare day. The game is at it's strongest when it's gamifying the mundane aspects of life, but this one trick pony loses its appeal when it tries be a proper game with fighting, boss levels and high scores.

Necropolis is an alternative to the average roguelike, with excellent multiplayer features, lots and lots of depth and a ton of content to wade through for those with the right skills. Unfortunately, it's likely to be too hard for many folks to see through to the end, and as a result, I think it will remain a much-loved niche title rather than a mainstream powerhouse.

Reviewing The Bunker is a bit like reviewing a movie. I've played it once, but like a good movie, I will want to experience it again sometime in the hopes that I catch a few of the little details that I might have missed first time around. It isn't a fantastic game though, and so I don't have any intention to play it again right away.

I loved my first few hours with Toy Odyssey: The Lost and Found, however the grind was too steep and it wasn't long before the lack of real progress dragged the experience down, ultimately becoming boring by the end.

Sadly for a game that is all about memories, Dear Esther just never does much to leave a lasting one.

It's incredibly well-designed, a ton of fun to explore and has its fair share of clever gameplay ideas. If you're a fan of amazing retro titles, this one's worth checking out.

Firewatch is one of my favourite walking simulators because of its engaging script and lasting story, but it is by no means the revolutionary, life changing experience that I had built it up to be in my mind. It's actually more of an ordinary, pedestrian experience, and that is kind of what makes it successful.

It's fun to look at, has some ridiculous puzzles to solve and has the capacity to charm. I'd recommend taking this adventure for a spin over a weekend, though have a pad of paper handy to make note of anything out of the ordinary along with bit of patience. Just make sure to hang in there until the end. Even with the potholes and speed bumps, its worth the trip.

I’d question whether Virginia can be described as a game at all and for that reason it is unlikely to appeal to the majority of gamers. There’s not enough gameplay, even for a walking simulator, to be called a game and the whole thing might have functioned better as a two-hour animation, rather than trying to package in the limited player interactions which serve only to distract from the story’s immersion.

It is still a very enjoyable game that, with any other name, would standalone as a fun, feature rich and exciting title. Unfortunately, what I wanted was something that resembled the first Pac-Man Championship Edition (and the Pac-Man games I love) a lot more closely. Newcomers and speed runners will probably love this version, but those looking for nostalgia will find the game sadly lacking.

Some fun can be had by those who enjoy narrative and puzzle style adventures, especially as we fast approach the spooky season.

I am simply gushing over this game. Awesomenauts Assemble! takes everything I love about action platformers and mashes it up almost perfectly with the MOBA genre.

Solar Shifter EX is a shiny, yet boring entry into the shmup library. It offers a slightly unique mechanic in the form of teleportation that could have made for amazing gameplay, however, the game never really takes advantage of it.

As it is such a blatant Zelda clone, Oceanhorn will certainly appeal to those people who wish to relive the classic 16-bit era of simpler, cuter action adventure games. For modern gamers, there is still a lot of content here and a ton of serviceable action, but the structure and repetition that creeps in later may begin to grate on some.

I am in love with Livelock. It is one of the most feature rich and professional independently developed games I've ever played, whether on Xbox One or elsewhere. At only $19.99, Livelock is worth every penny, punching well above its weight and contending strongly against a lot of retail titles that offer much less and cost a lot more.

The game is rather short one clocking in at around six hours but it's a fun experience.

I really didn’t enjoy my time with The Final Station at all. Combat, whilst not particularly difficult, was still frustrating and often unfair, and the infuriating menus aboard the train meant there wasn’t any point during my playthrough that I was actually having fun. I suspect the story is the real draw here, but the text was too small to read without sitting with my nose to the T.V. screen and the ending just made me want to uninstall the thing as fast as possible.

Armello is an excellent digital board game for anyone who struggles to get friends around the table for paper board games. It's a real shame that there is no local multiplayer mode included, but the single player is very satisfactory, and the online multiplayer excellent, assuming the standard of players remains as high as it was at the time of writing this review.

Hue is a challenging puzzle platformer, but it's one that serves to teach and reward the player rather than frustrate as so many modern platform games do. The puzzles certainly had me scratching my head on more than one occasion, but the leisurely pace of the game allowed me to sit tight and have a good think before making my next move.

Valley is a fun and enjoyable game that will keep you engaged for the majority of the five to six hour journey.

As a returning fan of the original Worms, I'm delighted by what Worms W.M.D has to offer. It's the best Worms game in years and it is a fantastic place for a new generation of fans to begin with.

If you’re already a strategy fan or enjoy the ever growing breed of roguelikes that seem to be springing up everywhere, you’ll almost certainly enjoy Kingdom: New Lands. On the other hand if you’re new to either then I can’t think of a better place to start.

Clearly I loved Anode. There's a great level of strategy to it, and while its feet are rooted firmly in classic falling blocks puzzlers, its got a great new idea to keep you on your toes. It is a shame the overall package doesn't include some more modes, but it's only $3.99 and there's still plenty to like, especially for those that like to challenge themselves to getting new high scores.

It's unquestionably dull and incredibly repetitive with very few redeeming features. But it doesn't feel like it is maliciously or deliberately bad, and it's definitely not broken.

Switching between the two combat styles and exploring the world is a fairly fun experience. However, Mighty Rabbit Studios may have bitten off more than they could chew. Even though all the features made it into the game, a lot of the time it was largely tedious and verging on boring.

I thought it was genuinely going to be the answer to all my gaming prayers when actually, it's just very, very good. It doesn't seek to do everything; it just presents an amazing, frustrating and beautifully crafted world.

The lack of online will clearly put off a few people; however, some odd design choices in scoring and the lack of any true single-player gameplay really stops Overcooked from being the game it could be.

An exceptional game that delivers, perhaps more than any other game I've played, exactly what it promises.

It's a good game, but it isn't likely to impress fans of pure survival games, and it's definitely more intense and demanding than your average walking simulator. As a result, I suggest that you treat it like a low-action sci-fi adventure; the kind of thing that will leave you with a lot of unanswered questions, but that can deliver a lot of intrigue and excitement along the way.

10 Second Ninja X is a near perfect execution of a challenging platformer. While it's certainly never easy, it is accessible and rewarding to players of any skill level. Its short levels make it endlessly addicting, especially when you're only a few milliseconds off from that three-star victory.

Despite its pleasant appearances, Lost Sea is a fairly bland and uninteresting game.

The Magic Circle is exactly what I want from an indie game, and despite being weird and niche, I celebrate the fact that games like this are being made.

While Super Mutant Alien Assault stays true to the arcade inspirations of coin-eating games from yesteryear with fantastic artwork and 2D shooting action, it is cut at the hamstrings from reaching a wider audience by the varying challenge playthrough to playthrough. Random elements, graphical slowdowns from action heavy sequences and a focus on repeating games to grind out for equipment are not for everyone.

Max Damage is good fun when played either online or in short solo bursts. Despite the hefty wedge of content on offer, I do question the game’s long-term appeal, but I would rather run out of interest before I run out of content, as opposed to the other way around, which is so often the case in modern video games.

Song of the Deep occasionally shows flashes of promise, but ultimately they're just that: flashes and promises. Too often it feels like Insomniac was just going through the motions, leaving players with something of an empty shell of a new and impressive adventure.

As much as I enjoyed Tumblestone, I can’t say that it blew me away like I was expecting. I was disappointed with the absence of an Arcade Mode, the mode I was most looking forward to. I can’t help but wonder if its exclusion was a cheeky move for paid DLC, since the rest of the game will be free as part of the Games with Gold program this month.

I hope I've made it clear that I do like 7 Days, and that it has some redeeming features, and it could have been an outstanding game had it been given a longer development cycle. Sadly, though, it’s being launched as a retail release and not via the Microsoft Preview Program despite its many problems.

The Banner Saga 2 builds on the foundation of its predecessor while forging a path for the future. This sequel introduces new ways to play but, unfortunately, keeps some of the troubles that plagued the first game. It’s a good sequel to what’s turning out to be a great series, though: the banner still flies high with a story worth being told weaved into it.

Heart&Slash probably would be a lot more fun if it wasn't a roguelike. Its weapons are really cool, the combat has some potential and the light RPG elements are rather neat. If the level design was more deliberate and there were checkpoints instead of permadeath, it may have negated some of Heart&Slash’s biggest issues. A good roguelike is constantly challenging but always fair., This one is just provides cheap frustration.

Pac-Man 256 is a game that appeals to those who grew up with the original. It also brings in fresh gameplay ideas to keep things interesting. While the chasing 256 glitch changes the focus from strategic use of the maze and power pellets, this infinite runner-style game element lends itself well to the high score chasing without interrupting from the occasional level interludes of the original Pac-Man.

Players who are completely new to roguelike games might appreciate the lighthearted style and relatively forgiving gameplay, but I suspect veterans of games like Binding of Isaac will find Full Mojo Rampage a bit lacking in challenge, even if there is some fun to be had from the inclusion of a fairly rare multiplayer mode.

Whilst Anima isn't perfect, it is a huge, honest and generally very good game that should appeal to fans of third-person action games.

An absolutely essential purchase for any fan of management simulators or strategy games.

What it is is a victim of extremely unrealistic expectations. Perhaps the famous Kickstarter campaign is to blame for that. Or maybe it's our nostalgia-fueled game culture. Or maybe some of us just don't have the patience for really hard games designed for kids.

The prospect of not playing this game is far scarier than whatever Inside's ominous bad guys have planned for that poor little boy.

Deadlight is always challenging, but that the mix of shooting or fighting, climbing, running, jumping and solving environmental puzzles remains refreshing throughout.

If you're up for a challenge and possibly up for the idea of being pushed harder throughout a game, the value could be relatively great despite Green Lava Studios' platformer being a little light on content. The challenge level is difficult but fair, and deaths are rarely attributed to a glitch or a flawed level design. If those points sound great, Fenix Furia would be a great purchase for you.

It tells an excruciatingly sad, very real story about a person who is utterly helpless, and it does so using interesting mechanics and scenarios. The controls, aging graphics and lack of replay value, however, make it a difficult proposition to recommend wholeheartedly, so approach with caution unless you absolutely love similar games.

I’m not the biggest fan of modern platformers, many of which take great pride in frustrating players. However, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Kick & Fennick. Its tight controls, fun physics and progressive pacing made this a real joy to play through, and when the game did get challenging, pushing through felt more like a punch in the air than a kick to the groin. I’d have loved to have seen a bit more personality added, but Kick & Fennick was an overall entertaining experience.

Unless you have an absolute destruction fetish, Dangerous Golf provides, at best, only momentary bursts of fun. The concepts for a good game are there, but they aren’t utilized effectively and are hampered by severe issues. The game doesn’t feel good as a golf game due to the extreme lack of control and precision.

The gameplay gets more tiresome and unimaginative as you play, ultimately becoming a never-ending slog. Things do take a small turn for the better near the end, but if I wasn't reviewing this game I would have given up long before then.

Most video games have a singular purpose of entertaining players. Whilst there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, every so often a game comes along that strives to do that little bit more, bringing with it a political message or a life lesson to be learned. The Worldwide Fund for Nature Earth Hour-inspired TurnOn, the first console release from newcomers Brainy Studio, is one such example.

101 Ways to Die shines brightest when it makes players feel like an evil mastermind; however, it often struggles to maintain this feeling the further in the game players go. Bugs and crashes, similar environments and a high difficulty curve often left me feeling more akin to a child playing with Tinkertoys than a mad genius playing with tools of destruction.

Shantae and the Pirate's Curse embodies the spirit of classic platformers while furthering its own identity as a franchise. Though there are some missteps throughout the journey, Shantae shows that she ages like a fine bottle of wine and only gets better with time.

There is no doubt in my mind that Sheltered is now a very accomplished game, and easily my favourite survival simulator, but due to the control issues and general clunkiness, it certainly won't appeal to everyone.

TrackMania Turbo is a game I enjoyed more the more I played it, with the tracks growing more difficult and complex as I became more skilled. This game can pack more adrenaline into a single sitting than other racing series can pull off in an entire game. Unfortunately, it takes a few wrong turns, displaying more than its fair share of odd omissions, additions and design choices that take away from the fun.

Like a trip to Whole Foods, Organic Panic is not without its share of fun, but its cons unfortunately outweigh its pros. Destroying the environment and flooding out meat and cheese monsters has plenty of charm, but some variety and polish would have gone a long way toward extending it. This is definitely not a bad game, but it does get a little boring — just like veggies.

Sterdenn is a solid shooter. It's perfectly competent and features a really solid and completely unique randomisation mechanic that's worth exploring. Outside that, it is a little repetitive, and beyond the first couple of hours I doubt it has the longevity to attract casual interest.

A sometimes promising, often frustrating, always underwhelming and overly short shoot-em-up that fails to meet the expectations set by its own title. The art style is pleasant, and the weapon combinations are fun, but that's not enough to drag this game out of mediocrity.

Active Soccer 2 DX plays a simpler game of football than its modern peers, making it less entertaining for solo players, but I think the opposite could be said for when you want a quick match with pals – especially when there are lots of them.

Its gameplay is refreshingly different, it has great graphics and a groovy soundtrack and the entertaining story mode is a real hit. Whilst the campaign mode is fairly short, if you have a couch buddy or two or even a whole family of them, Stikbold is a fun party game that could have you laughing for hours.

I don't think that there is really any new content here for fans who played the game comprehensively the first time around, so it is those returning players who should consider their purchase most carefully.

Perhaps the most disappointing thing about Letter Quest is the fact that it really doesn't feel like it makes that much difference when you craft an unusually long or complex word.

This is generally a painful experience. It's painful to see the only MLB option on Xbox One flounder again for a third year in its new lease on life.

Enigmatis: The Ghosts of Maple Creek isn’t horrible, but it isn’t great. It finds itself somewhere in purgatory, floating in between the spectrum. On one hand, you have a game that lets you skip all the gameplay, and enjoy a simple ghost tale. On the other hand, you have a game with roundabout puzzles that are not so fun to play through. Either way, Maple Creek is filled with mystery and trash.

With 30 different levels to play through and a satisfying $4.99 price point there's certainly value here for your money, but it's just too frustrating a game for most players to want to go through the torture of completing. Whilst this in itself may attract a more hardcore player than myself, the clumsy and unresponsive controls sadly make for a deal breaker.

If previous games with randomized elements appealed to you, and you're put off by the big focus on patience and stealth, then Party Hard may be a good recommendation. Players who are up for a challenge and who enjoy action-puzzle games while not minding a slight element of chaos should consider Party Hard — but that's a lot of qualifiers to consider.

I would only recommend Gear Gauntlet to those hardcore gamers that love to be constantly challenged, and who are always looking to shave that extra tenth of a second of their best time.

It seems a bit paradoxical that SUPERHOT simultaneously plays exactly like every other shooter you’ve ever played and nothing like them at all, and yet, this is the case. Its inspired use of time makes for something that is as much a strategy or puzzle game as it is a shooter. And even though, you’ll only bring a few hours of your life to a standstill to be entertainment by SUPERHOT, those are a few hours well spent.

JumpJet Rex is a tribute to 16-bit games from a bygone era of gaming, and it completely nails the feel of platformers from that time. However, JumpJet Rex isn't just a simple homage to classic platformers — it also innovates on the classic genre. The controls and movement of Rex feel superb, and each level is its own delightful treat.

The Park was my first entry to the genre, so I went in with an open mind, but as I gamer I do prefer my games to have less reading and more doing.

A well-presented and generally enjoyable experience for those who typically wouldn't enjoy match-three puzzlers. The story is a bit lame, and the image recognition screens are banal, but neither prevented me from taking pleasure in the otherwise relaxing experience that Azkend 2 offers.

It's a deep, detailed game that rewards perseverance and provides a robust challenge for many hours after you feel that you've mastered the basics. It really only lacks the everlasting appeal of a multiplayer or skirmish mode, and it suffers from a few minor issues that could be addressed in a patch at any time.

Telltale squandered the opportunity to make a great game for one of The Walking Dead's coolest characters. If you haven't read the comics, all you'll get out of the game is a dull story. If you have read the comics, this will likely sting you a whole lot more.

The tracks, power-ups and controls aren't offensively bad; they're just average and lacking in innovation. Coffin Dodgers can be a good bit of quick fun with friends, but don't expect most to stick around for more than a few races or an hour or so for the most dedicated drivers.

If you've already bought The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth and you like it, then Afterbirth is basically an essential purchase. On the contrary, if you couldn't engage with Rebirth, then there is absolutely nothing here to change your mind.

Though the gameplay itself is fun, the lack of any balance to the difficulty at early stages of the game — even on the easiest difficulty — is maddening.

The finest skateboarding experience on Xbox One.

This is a game purely for the faithful who want a return to the days of old-fashioned hardcore Nintendo games. Folks who like modern day advances such as auto-saves, adjustable difficulty and the like should probably skip this if they want to keep their temper under control.