My Singing Monsters Playground is a cute and very fun party game for both kids and adults. The games are simple enough that kids can pick up and play them but also robust enough that they are interesting for all ages to play. Not every game is great but they are all enjoyable enough, and the colourful, bubbly graphics and music keep the joy flowing. Although this is offline only it can still be fun to play with any friends that come over or even just to let your kids enjoy.

Bad North is a fun, challenging RTS Roguelite. The visuals paint a charming picture, giving you a false sense of security until the Vikings begin their assault. As your island is bathed in their (or your own) blood, the game keeps you on your toes despite the simplistic interaction you have. This is absolutely worth your time, even if the genre isn’t usually up your alley.

You’re a pig, and you must eat tennis balls. It’s like Pac-Man on drugs. It very random and super fun! Well worth checking out if you fancy something a little… different.

An engaging sci-fi comedy with a lot of laughs. For fans of the point-and-click genre this will be a blast, despite some minor foibles.

Desperados III is a great prequel to the Desperado series. With great visuals, gameplay and a challenging story line you can be sure you will have a blast with this title. Gameplay is solid, and with memorable characters you can place your cards and know you have a winner.

I enjoyed my time with this game, simple as that. It’s not too serious (see the name) and it provides a nice mix of combat, platforming, and puzzle solving. I particularly like how obtuse some puzzles may seem but once you know the answer they are quite simple. The sheer exploration and process of figuring out the solutions was enough to keep me intrigued for the adequate time this game lasts which is likely going to be less than 10 hours for finding everything. Fans of other popular animal physics based simulators should feel at home here. Don’t expect a AAA budget banger and enjoy the wackiness here that Squirrel With A Gun is offering.

High On Life certainly isn’t an intellectually profound game or a deep and meaningful one (despite a quasi-emotional end-game), it’s just an FPS that wants you to laugh and indulge in silliness for a little while. As long as you jive with the game’s grooves, you will like what High On Life has to offer, but be warned – when you’re playing a game that’s high on its own supply, sometimes it won’t think straight and it’ll leave you yearning for something more.

Get Packed: Fully Loaded finally makes it’s debut outside of Stadia exclusivity. In what is a humorous story that places you into chaotic situations of moving items, you can finally invite friends to play with you in a variety of modes to increase the chaos! If partying up isn’t your jam, the single player story is there and will offer hours of entertainment as well.

Air Twister is a fun and interesting modernisation of Space Harrier. The music by Valensia although at first seemed out of place suits the 80’s vibe this game exudes with the bright colours and vibrancy. It maintains the tricky increasing gaming difficulty of the older games and throws in some rogue-lite elements to level the playing field and help add some replay value to the game.

If you’re looking for a new way to jump into the world of Hot Wheels, Unleashed is certainly not a bad way to go, after all, we’ve seen worse in the series’ history. That said, the price point may prove steep for what feels like a more basic use of this beloved licensed property, and with very basic options for included game modes, a lack of substantial variety in race types, and no suitable way for the community to share their impressive track builds, it feels like Milestone has undercut themselves in a possibly rushed attempt to capitalise on this potentially fruitful racing franchise.

Who doesn’t enjoy a bit of crazy golf in either a virtual or real sense? It’s definitely better played online in a simultaneous manner and preferably with friends though. The many different themes are interesting, and the variety of tweaks and modes do keep things fun for a while, but the pacing of the game or loading times may cause many to lose interest, unfortunately.

Gravity Heroes can be too tough at times early on, but those that persevere will find and enjoyable twist on 2D, wave-based attack arenas. Some lovely pixel art and music help soften the repeated defeats, and while a little unintuitive, the core gameplay is fun more often than not.

Despite some of the glaring issues, MX vs ATV All Out houses a great deal of content. There’s no denying that it’s lacking in performance and optimization, but the weak execution is almost alleviated by its vast and various offerings. MX vs ATV All Out is one patch away from glory, but until that happens, it’s missing out on a lot of its potential.

The Alto Collection is two games in one and is visually beautiful and simple. Yes, they’re old games that are pretty much built for phones and you only really need one button to play, but it was a joy to try and beat your high score. I played Adventure loads when it first came out on Windows and can’t wait to sink more hours trying to beat my score in Odyssey.

Paw Paw Paw tries its best to be an entertaining game that holds up to the standards set by the classic beat ’em ups and the innovative newer titles, but ultimately it falls a little short mostly due to its difficulty. Beat ’em ups are known for their difficulty, but they almost universally feature lives and continue systems that make them accessible to a wide audience. Even on easy some parts of the game can be very tough. This game is designed so you can grind by replaying levels and then level yourself to get stronger. There’s some variety in a few levels but not enough to make me want to go back and grind through them. If you’re a fan of the genre it’s definitely worth a look, and in comparison to some games by the same publisher it’s relatively good. Hopefully Ratalaika will step out of their achievement filled comfort zone and expand their catalogue even more.

Space Crew takes a while to get into but once you do it is fun to play and definitely brings the same enjoy Bomber Crew did. They have taken what was lacking in Bomber Crew and the frustration you had and changed things around. But let me tell you this, even though they have made it so much better gameplay-wise, I think I still had more fun playing Bomber Crew which is bizarre.

The visuals and design may be on the wayside, but the amount of content that’s been crammed into a game that costs just £7.99 / $9.99 is outstanding.

GRAVEN is a lovely little taste of retro shooters that fall outside what we considered to be the standard of the time. An excellent fusion of melee, magic and puzzle solving.

I have to be honest; I was wrong. I fully expected to find a poor man’s Trials but instead, I found a game that provides a more accessible experience to the well-known platform trialist experience, whilst also holding enough of its own character to feel like a fresh game in its own right.

All in all Red Ronin is a fantastic 8-bit styled, turn-based puzzle game that gave me hours of fun all the while challenging me in ways I didn’t expect from this title. The pixel graphics complimented it well, even though I have a bit of a soft spot for 8-bit and 16-bit games, it did impress me. The game did crash quite often at the time of playing on my Series X but the loading times made this more an inconvenience then an issue. The soundtrack complimented the game well and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I’m not a huge fan of puzzle games (with not being the sharpest tool in the shed) but I sure did have tons of fun.

Despite having a vertical drop for a learning curve and looking and feeling kind of average as far as modern gaming goes, Age of Wonders: Planetfall succeeds in being a richly deep and complex space strategy hybrid that will no doubt appeal to long time turn-based strategy fans, and newcomers alike.

Airoheart is one of the better Zelda-likes I have played and working my way through the game has been a trip down memory lane. It borrows so much from the Link to the Past formula, but also adds in plenty of its own ideas and mechanics. Perhaps the biggest issue I have with the game is its price point, $40 is way too steep for this game. I think if it was $20-25 it would sell many more copies and find a much larger audience. There are a handful of other issues, but most of those could be addressed with a patch. If you’ve been looking for a game to satisfy your classic action-adventure cravings then Airoheart could be your game, at the very least you should put it on your wishlist so you can pick it up if the price changes or it goes on sale.

Despite its seemingly grim premise, Regalia goes on to produce a surprisingly witty, well structured and strategic RPG adventure. There’s no denying that this game is better suited on the keyboard and mouse, but if you can overlook these niggling controller issues, a wonderfully written and endearing journey awaits.

Overall, if you want a story set in the gritty era of World War One and don’t want to have to play through a Call of Duty or Battlefield campaign to do so, then Ad Infinitum isn’t a bad way to spend your time. It isn’t perfect and there are areas that clearly need some improvement but for a story that delivers and enemies that offer the chills, this is an experience that’s at least worth the once-over.

Overall, if you like your party games, are looking for a giggle and you want some wacky fun to keep you and some friends entertained for a few hours, Rubber Bandits is not a bad shout. Going further than that might be difficult due to the lack of game modes making longevity a stretch, but there is enough here to warrant a look, especially given the game is available right now on Xbox Game Pass for console and PC.

While it won’t go down in history alongside some of the classics, Voyage of the Dead is a fun arcade light gun shooter that shows of what the MARS can do. It’s a shame that technically the title holds the hardware back, with slowdown and hitches that make aiming much harder than it needs to be. Beyond that though, Voyage shows the promise that the hardware holds, and I can only hope we get further, more optimised titles going forward.

Overall, The Jackbox Party Pack 5 is a great addition to any future party plans, especially for the upcoming festive season. Like all party games, you really need to have a group of people that are up for almost anything, but it does do a wonderful job of encouraging even the shyest of participants to come up with laugh out loud moments. Just be sure to steer clear of Zeeple Dome.

Gamers looking for a puzzle-heavy platformer like Braid won’t find what they’re looking for here; alternatively, players searching for a platforming adventure like Limbo will also be let down. However, if you’re looking for a relaxing, story-driven adventure with light platforming and a few simple puzzles all wrapped in a sublimely vivid art style then this just might be for you. The story touches on topics that many games avoid, and most players will find some way to relate to the protagonist Mo, but the islands and their depictions are the real stars of Minute of Islands – it’s what kept me hooked. I remained intrigued throughout the experience, always wondering how the next area would be presented. The gameplay feels a bit monotonous, but that gives you more time to marvel at the artistic detail of the world.