While it won’t unseat Forza as king of racing games on the Xbox One, there is a lot of good fun to be had here. Gravel is both visually and audibly satisfying, and comes with a decent pool of content. It’s a shame that the game lacks a dynamic commentary system, but outside of this, only a few technical issues linger, pulling it just shy of greatness.

As a short, narrative adventure, The Last Case of John Morley is enjoyable thanks to a great sense of atmosphere, good story and well paced reveals that keep us second guessing right until the very end.

Though it may not be quite as thought-provoking as the games that inspired it, Somerville is a promising effort from a new studio, capably evoking its themes and happenings through its visual storytelling, in a way that makes you ponder and feel for the characters and their situations. Unfortunately, Somerville can’t remove itself from the shadow of Playdead’s works, so it is inevitably stuck in the position of inferiority, because it doesn’t do much we haven’t seen before. Having said that, it is a worthwhile adventure that may start slow, but picks up momentum the more you play and is backed up by decent puzzles and some pulse-quickening and heart-thumping drama. All told Somerville is a pleasant slice of thought-provoking adventuring.

For a 2-hour story extension and 6 unlockable characters, 3 of which are only available at some point in the future, £39.99 seems a steep price to pay. So, unless you’re desperate to play the fun but way too short expansion story and try the new characters out, in the meantime the free Animalities will be fun to play with until the inevitable sale down the road.

Despite the absence of needed features, despite its lack of replay value, and despite the fact that it’s not all that difficult, there’s still quite a bit of fun to be had in Riverbond. Not only is the game accessible, charming, and unique, but it sports a fair bit of diversity as far as its gameplay is concerned, and manages to spread it well across its handful of varied, gorgeously designed worlds. It’s just a shame it falls short of the mark elsewhere.

Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts has a few fresh ideas, but it takes several steps sideways steps as it looks to make a claim in the sniper game sub-genre. An experience that is often good, but never great.

All in all Townsmen – A Kingdom Rebuilt is a solid playing and nice looking medieval building sim which is fun to play, without feeling too overburdened with menus and otherwise awkward setups. It can get a little taxing at points, but this little hiccups rarely put a downer on things for too long.

The tech art and art direction deserve commendation as Echoes of the End is frequently breathtaking. The gameplay design is similarly breathtaking but in the way that it sucks all the oxygen out of the room.

Solo had the potential to be a fun 3D puzzle platforming game. It has a friendly artistic design and the music accompanies it very well by breaking the silence with its slow calm notes. But sadly, it comes packaged with a thought-provoking narrative around your ideas of love which can make you feel uncomfortable and could be detrimental to a relationship if played with your partner.

A game that isn’t afraid to let players muddle through it on their own is an idea to be lauded, and here there is a core mystery that will provide a compelling enough reason to continue if you can get into the rhythm of the puzzling.

It’s short, the story loses grip, and the puzzles are far too easy throughout.

Rad Rodgers is a good looking, fun, and comical adventure that will please just about anyone that gamed in the 90s. It’s short and suffers from some screen tearing issues, but for the most part, it holds its own ground well. This is one foul mouthed, entertaining, and well rounded nostalgic trip that you don’t want to miss out on.

Overall Dakar Desert Rally is a diamond in the rough. With the upcoming features adding another layer to the game and a little bit of rounding off and Saber Porto/Saber Interactive have come up with a winner. Newcomers and casual racer fans will love how the game looks and have plenty of fun in sport mode while hardcore fans or players who love a challenge will have a great time mastering.

The mechanics of Berzerk: Recharged are excellent and I can’t fault it. Dowside comes when you’ve played a few levels, they are more or less the same. While playing I was reminded how this would be a wonderful 90’s arcade cabinet game and have everyone queueing up to play. But for a modern-day console game, it does hit all the right shots. Co-op was fun and made the game more palatable.

After a decade away, it’s disappointing that Payday 3 feels so insubstantial and unwilling to evolve from its excellent predecessor. The heist variety and enemy types are cool, but the predictably rote objective-following and the continuing practise of shooting bullets into police is tiresome and without change-ups to make them entertaining. For seasoned veterans and newcomers, Payday 3 should grant you a worthwhile exhibition of heists across a smorgasbord of locations, but for everybody else, this’ll be an eye-rolling exercise of the familiar and the banal. If you can band together with three mates then there’s some valuable loot to steal here, but what maybe most apparent is how Payday 3 ironically steals your time without the valuable substance to go along with it.

NBA 2K21 is in the end another basketball simulation game. Nothing here will catch you by surprise and leave you in awe. The biggest thing this game suffers from is the painstaking grind for VC so you can be on par with everyone else, which is not very welcoming to newcomers. It’s an enjoyable game but without any new updates or features it will end up lost in your backlog.

Effie is a decent entry into the third-person action-adventure genre, it features intricately designed levels and lots of satisfying platforming. There is a nice combination of old and new mechanics. The combat can leave a bit to be desired, and there were a few non-game breaking bugs/glitches but overall this is a nice call-back to a classic well-loved genre. Whether you want to get some feelings of nostalgia or you are new to the genre and are curious, Effie is worth a look.

I Saw Black Clouds unfortunately misses the mark more often than not. While the general concept of the story is interesting, messy presentation and confusing, vague stats make it harder to enjoy than it should be. If you’re looking for an enjoyable live action adventure, I’d still recommend checking out The Complex before this.

Police Stories is definitely worth a look if you like tactical shooter-like top-down games. It has a good, fun story and if you take your time with it you will enjoy yourself. Whilst you will find yourself sometimes playing the same level a couple of times, once you complete it you do feel a sense of satisfaction.

In the mashup of the year comes Panic Porcupine which is kind of like throwing Sonic and Super Meat Boy into a blender. Overall the challenge of the game is fun to take on but can quickly become overwhelming if your skill isn’t up to it. If you are one that can keep the rage down and is decent at platforming, I would recommend this game. If you are one to need a new controller after dying over and over … and over again, then maybe save your controller and play something easier.

With the desolate multiplayer population to the side, Flying Tigers: Shadows Over China will help satiate those hungering for a little bit of air combat in a genre that is in need of a few more good titles. Controls are mostly comfortable on the Xbox controller, though it would have been nice to see support for the HOTAS. There’s enough diverse content on offer to justify the generous price tag, but don’t expect to be blown away.

This may indeed be somewhat of a cliché, but this game is the definition of easy to pick up, yet very hard to master. Despite its unforgiving steep difficulty curve, Razed is a fun, vibrant, and engaging speedrunner. The pace of the game is sensational, and its constant introduction of new and interesting mechanics ensures that repetition is kept at bay, throughout.

Gang Beasts is a competitive brawler in a Human: Fall Flat skin. Nothing more, nothing less. The physics-based play doesn’t always suit the multiplayer concept, and as such, the whole ordeal comes across quite tedious and frustrating. Whilst I’ve no doubt that it will find an initial following, I do doubt its ability to maintain a fan base due to its lack of variation. You’ll certainly have some laughs here, but you’ll mostly be laughing at it, not with it.

I really enjoyed Blair Witch, it caught the essence of the franchise and definitely gave me nostalgia from the movies – which now I have to watch again. Visuals look great and it plays well, although being a bit short in length I’d recommend this to any horror or franchise fan. Bloober did a pretty good job and I can’t wait to see what they have in store next.

City of Brass remains visually pleasing throughout and houses some interesting ideas, such as the perk system and the shops. However, tools to make the experience even easier just showcases how fairly dull the actual gameplay is. The lack of a polished structure only leads to unnecessary cheap deaths, which when grouped with the enemy’s substandard AI, emphasizes how frustrating and boring this adventure can be.

Airheart isn’t a bad game, but it could have been much more than what it is if the developer had spent more time refining the gameplay’s systems to better feed into one another. The end result makes for an experience that sounds more compelling in description than it actually is in practice. Still, with its difficulty spikes, its squandered potential and its lack of story to the side, there’s some fun to be had here.

V-Rally 4 is a deep and challenging experience. There’s an undeniable issue with the game’s somewhat overly loose controls, but with that to the side, this is every bit as engaging as V-Rally has always been. Everything from the game’s stunning visual and audio presentation to its dynamic systems and its content diversity, has been developed meticulously to produce one hell of a tense second-by-second racer.

There’s moments of beauty to be found in the parallel stories here, but much of that is lost in the midst of its abundance of heavy-handed sorrow. It doesn’t help that The First Tree is far too basic for its own good. Whilst the game’s several worlds seem diverse and interesting at first glance, the lack of any padding makes for a very empty experience, one that, despite its few highs, ultimately succumbs to its many lows.

For those who persist with it, Headliner: NoviNews will likely draw you in and surprise you by how the characters react to every choice you make and the multiple ways their fates can be altered come the endgame. The brevity may put some off and the day-to-day repetition will get old fast, but the control you possess is very engrossing and will be the main reason for you to play through the game multiple times. You may not be plugging at it for long, but Headliner is worth a shot because it makes players feel like their actions matter. What with many mainstream games going through the motions of diminishing returns and marginalising your status, a modest indie title like Headliner will likely remind you that players should be placed at the epicentre of control – so thus, we doth our caps to Headliner as it aptly headlines the crucial component of empowerment in video games, even it comes with a side of a few irksome kinks.

Obey Me is a fun and fresh take on the Beat-Em-Up genre. It is quite easy for games in this genre to become repetitive and dull, but with the variety of weapons, moves, enemies and dodging of traps things are kept interesting. The story may seem vague at the start, but it builds things nicely and with some humorous dialogue it does keep you gripped. This is a fun game to pick up and play and is much better enjoyed with a friend.

This may well not be a perfect game, but it’s certainly a great one, it’s energetic, thrilling and engaging.

The Sims 4 once again proves that a good PC game that’s primarily designed for keyboard and mouse, simply doesn’t suit the controller. It’s but one of the many reasons that Microsoft needs to pull their fingers out and enable keyboard and mouse support for the Xbox One, not only will it help the transition of games like this and Divinity Original Sin, but it will add more appeal too.

Shikhondo – Soul Eater’s drawback sits not with its steep cost nor its lack of content diversity, but with its lack of gameplay variation. The game’s main mode takes little over ninety minutes to complete, whereas its additional modes are served merely as segments taken from that offering. This game may look great, sound good and perform well, but its lack of basic evolution massively hinders enjoyment.

Redeemer: Enhanced Edition, although not quite as robust as its contemporaries, is one hell of a bloody good game. Everything from its progression, its pacing, and its core functionality, right through to its combat diversity and its play depth, remains constantly gratifying and energetic throughout. Despite some issues with its performance and its insipid level design, fans of the brawler concept will absolutely love what’s on offer here.

Through solid world design and intelligently structured detective mechanics, The Sinking City provides a commendable basis for its intriguing adventure. The game is every bit as seemingly interesting as it is unique, and makes for a strong story that knows how to toy with perception. It’s a damn shame that it sits in the midst of so many technical drawbacks, so many bugs, and so many poor design choices. This, is squandered potential at its finest.

Sigi – A Fart for Melusina’s core formula clearly targets both the speedrunner and the achievement hunter audience. Its very generous price-tag justifies its very short length, and despite some uninspired boss encounters, this game, largely due to its accessibility, its solid design and its tight controls, remains a joy to play from beginning to end. Short-lived indeed, but fun and enjoyable nonetheless.

DCL is a great experience and a lot of fun; with many sponsors, professional players and fans it easy to see how this has become a popular sport, so why not make a game to go along with it.? Many challenging tasks await and if you have the patience, you too can drone like a pro.

Swordship is fun in very short bursts but it soon begins to get too repetitive for my tastes.

Jumanji: Wild Adventures takes us back into the world of Jumanji as the follow up game from Outright Games. When it came to actually playing it, I found myself uninterested after just a short while unfortunately. The levels seemed to drag on and any kind of upgrades were boring for the most part. I wanted to like it more than I did but sadly that wasn’t the case. Fans of the first game have all of the same reasons to enjoy this iteration but otherwise I’d say it’s a pass.

Elex 2 has come a long way from the first game back in 2017. Graphically it looks much better and the storyline feels much more robust. The story mode difficulty has made the game much more accessible for those just wanting to play and enjoy the story. The combat hasn’t pushed on too much but it’s not terrible, but it does feel a bit dated. But if you are a big RPG fan then there is plenty of content to sink your teeth into.

Overall this game really does bring back very fond memories of old school platformers, but after completing episode one of the campaign I started episode two and – even though the comic book style story telling gets you into the mission – I found myself doing the same things over again. The daily Damsel Dash missions are where I found most of my fun, trying to score higher than the person above me on the leader board. The art style and audio in this game is what made it for me, and for their debut big screen game I think Screwtape have really done a good job.

Overall, I’ve had a decent time with Alone in the Dark. The Resident Evil reboots are a clear and massive inspiration, and while it might not be quite on their level, Alone in the Dark still manages to entertain with a weird and wonderful experience. The combat sections are definitely a weak spot, but the exploration and puzzle parts are able to balance this out nicely.

Releasing a PC game on console can work great, but some concessions have to be made for the differing audiences and control schemes. The core gameplay loop is more than capable of holding interest and has been put to great effect in recent games, but here, every opportunity is wasted. If you enjoy obscure interfaces, slow fiddly combat, and dated visuals, then please, fill your boots.

Through the Woods isn’t nearly as scary as it is suggested to be, however, it does provide a tense and uneasy atmosphere nevertheless. This game serves a short story of recognition and understanding responsibility, though its simplified gameplay and lack of depth will certainly leave players wanting for more. That being said, it’s both interesting and detailed enough to warrant a recommendation.

Crayola Scoot suffers from a small range of design issues, but even so, it manages to offer up a fun, accessible, well rounded trick scooter experience nevertheless. There’s a steep difficulty curve later in, which may not sit too well with the game’s target audience, though with that said and despite its few flaws, the game achieves much of what it sets out to accomplish.

If you’re in the market for a first person horror game, you can go much worse than Call of Cthulhu, but be prepared for a lack of any real scares. The game leans heavily on the story and exploration of environments, so much so that when it does attempt the creepy stuff, it mostly comes off underdeveloped and a bit out of place. Go along with it though, and there’s something strangely compelling within.

Hot on the heels of Operencia: The Stolen Sun, Vaporum feels quite out of place, and frankly, behind the times. Whilst the game sports an intriguing framework and houses some commendable RPG elements, the whole ordeal is greatly let down by its poor handling, its ridiculous difficulty curve, and its weakly paced story. It’s not a terrible game by any means, but alongside its vastly superior contemporaries, it’s a hard one to comfortably recommend.

I am not a fan of serious racing sims, luckily this is far from that. But it’s not solely a Micro Machines/Mario Kart clone either. It’s found its niche somewhere in the middle and it’s quite enjoyable to play. With a variety of power-ups and cars, there is plenty of fun to be had. I feel this game would have benefited if it opened up online play other players other than just friends.

First person puzzlers aren’t rare, but Summertime Madness is a great effort from DP Games to add to the growing entries in the genre. Outside of one incredibly sharp difficulty spike I enjoyed my time with it a lot. If you’re in for an evening or two of abstract puzzling then this gets a recommendation for sure, just have a walkthrough ready for that last section so as to not completely undermine the good experience up until that point.

Mia and the Dragon Princess is another solid effort from the teams at Wales Interactive and Good Gate Media. The cast all put in some excellent performances, the story is brief but also full of interesting twists and turns, and it had us laughing far more than expected to with some classic British humour. For our money, this is one of the best live action adventures out there.

In what feels like a love letter to JRPG’s and professional wrestling, WrestleQuest hits all of the right notes. My qualms with it are small but it definitely met my expectations. The wrestling tones are laid on thick but in no way do I think it will be a hinderance to RPG fans. If you can stomach lots of talking and a variety of moves via turn based combat, well you can do much worse than WrestleQuest. OH YEAH!!!

Marvel’s Avengers is a well accomplished game and a must have for Marvel fans. All the characters are fleshed out in their personality and fighting styles and the campaign is a ride any fans of comic book movies will enjoy. I didn’t fully enjoy the combat in this game but I can get past that in order to enjoy the rest of the experience. I am sure they have left plenty of room to expand the game further with extra characters and missions to extended the longevity of the game.

State of Decay 2 is a huge step up from its predecessor. There’s a large and diverse variety of content within, all of which is upheld by well developed systems, fluid gameplay and easy to understand functionality. This isn’t going to be for everyone, however, there’s no denying that despite its niggling issues and bugs, it’s easily one of the best Microsoft exclusives in recent memory. It’s tense, action-packed and thoroughly entertaining.

Skully is a pleasant platforming experience that gives players a delightful slice of platforming and light puzzle-solving that makes for a soothing and worthwhile time. Playing as the skull does tend to feel sloppy at times due to sensitivity of the stick-control and how prone the naked-noggin is to water, but when you’re introduced to Skully’s other forms the game opens up nicely and offers you a scenic tour around an ancient naturalistic landscape that’s hard to peel your eyes away from. Skully is not breaking any ground or pushing any envelopes, but it’s not stationary either. It’s just a pleasing and simple platformer to be enjoyed, and a modest worthwhile curio that certainly deserves a look.

Vesta tends to remain enjoyable throughout the entirety of play, offering up some colorful visuals and decent puzzle design. However, this is hardly a groundbreaking experience, seeing as many aspects of play have already been better achieved elsewhere, time and time again.

I’m a big fan of competitive shooters and this definitely scratches that itch. This is the first time I’ve played search and destroy only matches. I see a lot of potential in Warface: Breakout, but if My.Games want this title to do well they need to get the Season 1 out soon and fix some of the issues that are currently in the game – feeling like you’re walking in the mud while running, foot steps sounds being hit and miss and time to kill at times feeling unfair.

The gameplay lacks finesse and refinement, serving up frustration in place of fluidity. Tennis is a game of endurance, precision and energy, three elements that AO International Tennis fails to deliver. With that in mind, its abundance of content means very little.

Sisters Royale is a fun and amusing bullet hell title that offers up some solid arcade action, but little else. The specific anime styling will either draw you in or put you off (you know what I mean), but the light-hearted tale will likely win over even the most prudish players. Some online leader boards or alternate modes wouldn’t have gone amiss, but even so I still think Sisters Royale is worth a look if you’re into, or curious about, the bullet hell genre.

Paradise Lost manages to keep the intrigue high with its alternate history tale and great environmental story-telling, but is let down by it glacier-esque pace. If you can push through that though, there is an entertaining time to be had here.

Blightbound is a couple of fixes away from being the new hardcore favourite – mechanically demanding, it plays more like a precise competitive multiplayer game than a dungeon-crawler. It is let down by copious crashing and poor pathing from the AI.

Excuse the cliché but Pupperazzi is not the dog’s bollocks – it’s the dog’s dinner. This isn’t to say Pupperazzi doesn’t possess some bright points, as its accessibility and the novelty of photographing dogs doing outlandish things is where the game’s charms shine through. However, once you dig deeper and deeper into what Pupperazzi has to offer, all that remains is a drove of simplistic and weightless objectives with no character or spirit to help salvage it. If you want a cheap and cheery photography game to spend a few hours with Pupperazzi will do in a pinch, but like an ageing show dog, the longer it goes on the more it loses its ability to entertain you.

Strong multiplayer props up an otherwise poor showing from Call of Duty this year. The combat and movement is a good as ever, but a woefully dire co-op campaign drags the experience to one of the lowest points in years, and is only mildly mitigated by the End Game extraction mode that has some good to it, albeit marred by not being the main focus of the release of Black Ops 7.

Party Hard 2 is a brilliant sequel. Pinokl Games have improved things significantly, from the graphics and play style, to the objectives that can be completed as an alternative to killing everyone. The pace is much faster and offering multiple ways to finish a stage makes it far more enjoyable. But hey, you can still go crazy and kill everyone, just don’t forget to DANCE!

Just Die Already with its launch on consoles is a great open-world game within the first couple of hours. Within time its fun factor begins to deteriorate, and there just isn’t much to laugh at anymore. The humor has just gone stale. The difficulty in its controls and lack of features doesn’t help its cause.

There’s a lot to like about Vambrace: Cold Soul. From the gorgeous art work, through the brilliant world building and atmosphere to the deeply involved systems at play, there’s clearly been some love poured into this game. The difficulty – especially early on – and the obscure nature of some elements of the HUD are the main snags in an otherwise brilliant bit of software. If you’ve got the time (and patience), there’s a brilliant experience to be had here.

Some stunning pixel art and music compliment a fun action platforming roguelite title. The aesthetics can occasionally mask enemies, but gaining upgrades and knowledge of what’s to come remains rewarding for its brief runtime.

Scribblenauts Showdown is a lot of fun to begin with, but it doesn’t take long for repetition to sink in due to the lack of content. Despite how innovative and deep the summoning dictionary is, the price tag is too steep to justify a wholehearted recommendation. Nevertheless, this is still a solid family game that’s sure to please gamers of all ages.

Despite its short length, 39 Days to Mars is a game that certainly knows how to boggle the mind through its cleverly structured co-op puzzles. Unfortunately, these intelligently designed moments are frequently broken up by needless, senseless, and boring filler. This ultimately makes for a very hit and miss experience, one that will likely only be appreciated by puzzle enthusiasts.

While it might not be quite the same as the real thing Monster Truck Championship does a pretty good job of replicating the fun. There’s plenty to keep players coming back in the career mode, with loads of challenges to try, and parts and upgrades to unlock. The stunt modes can feel a little too easy to cheese a way to victory but the standard and drag races more than make up for any disappointment here. And plus, who doesn’t love Monster Trucks?

When Yukes and Kenny Omega stated they were looking to bring back the glory days of N64 wrestling titles I was on-board. As a fellow student of those times, there’s a clunky charm to AEW: Fight Forever with its meaty feeling moves and arcade-style action. However, those days were far longer ago than I care to think about, and younger players will have gotten used to a more fluid and fully featured sports entertainment game. If you can work around some of the more pressing quirks there’s fun to be had here, but this feels more like a base to build off of for the hopeful sequel down the line.

I came in with high expectations for this second outing in The Dark Pictures series, but came away ever so slightly underwhelmed. It looks and sounds great, and the atmosphere and tension building is excellent. Sadly the all-important characters just didn’t quite resonate with me thanks to some sudden shifts in tone between sentences, and an overall feeling of disjointedness between scenes. Little Hope may not quite live up to Man of Medan then, but it’s still a passable bit of teen horror to fill up an evening or two.

Saints Row is a new take on the franchise, one that focuses heavily on the RPG aspect of the game. It’s a fun underdog story set in the beautiful Saint Elos about this new version of the Saints. The customization options to make your boss truly your own delivers in such a remarkable fashion. However, it is the number of glitches and bugs that hurt the game’s reputation.

My Hero One’s Justice 2 is well put together and offers a variety of slick game modes. For a fan of the anime it’s sure to be a hit, but if you’re not you may not follow the story or find much to get excited about. The combat is fun, but the novelty wears off pretty quickly when you find yourself spamming the same moves.

Popular games get liberally borrowed from all the time, yet Smash Bros. seems to have avoided this somehow. Brawlout takes on this challenge, but its lack of modes, iffy character balance and poor online offerings, all fail to inspire that same spark that Mario and friends have mastered so well. The basic gameplay is OK, but without the same love, spectacle and reverence to lean on, it all falls flat.

Projection: First Light is a tough one to recommend then. On the one hand it has a lovely visual and audio style that draws us in, and the idea of the core mechanic is great. In practice though it’s too fiddly and unreliable to sustain a several hour+ title, and it likely won’t hold the attention though to its conclusion.

Windbound is a tough and mean spirited survival adventure. The concept is clever in its simplicity and it makes the game more difficult in other ways from the normal methods. The game is quite basic in its design but makes up for it in its challenge. I would have enjoyed the challenge more if the combat was handled a little better, the camera angles weren’t such a nuisance and the sailing wasn’t so slow and awkward. The pace can feel very slow at first but if you commit enough time to it you can speed things up as you progress and learn to balance survival better.

Anthem is one hell of a decent loot-shooter that boasts some ambitious mechanics. Its massively engaging combat and its flow of movement takes center stage, with its several activities, its deep lore, and its diverse and interesting world following closely behind. That said, Anthem isn’t without fault, and BioWare will need to carefully address the game’s issues alongside its community feedback to ensure they maintain player interest.

Three Fields are doing the gaming community a service by keeping the arcade racing genre alive when the big boys seem to have lost interest. Much like their previous entries, there’s a lot to like here – from the fast, responsive action to the sheer thrill of smashing rivals and reveling in that takedown camera. Sadly, its bare-bones approach to modes, its erratic physics, and its barely improved technical aspects, keep it from reaching the heights of its inspiration.

The Story Goes On is a decent hack’n’slash experience that blends together some interesting ideas and ties them to a steady progression system. The boss encounters remain fun throughout, and there’s no shortage of secrets to uncover. However, the game is somewhat let down by bland visuals, overly repetitive gameplay, and a lack of enemy variety.

I Hate Running Backwards’ deep pool of characters, weaponry, power-ups and unlocks will no doubt capture the attention of fans of the genre. Its procedural generated content ensures that subsequent runs, for the most part, remain fresh and engaging. It’s a shame, however, that most of this is almost completely undermined by its repetitive foundation, steep difficulty curve and lack of evolving gameplay functionality.

One Piece: World Gofer would have been a much more befitting title to put to this dull adventure. I’ll credit the game for its gorgeously detailed world, but this splendor is merely superficial. Most of your time spent here will consist of taking on generic missions, picking up fetch quests, and constantly battling against the game’s few boring enemy variants. The end result makes for a repetitive slog that fails miserably to excite on almost all fronts.

Weakless is really colourful and vibrant and shows good promise if the team decide to do more work like this. There’s lots going on depending on who you play as which I found great. The contrast in gameplay between the deaf and blind Weavlings forces you to constantly analyse a situation and using them both to overcome obstacles is satisfying and rewarding. Overall my experience was enjoyable, it’s just a shame that it all ended so soon.

Cyber Protocol is an alright puzzle game, but doesn’t really extend to be anything beyond that. It carries some levels that will keep you busy for a while, but the constant trial and error will soon wear you out and you’ll get bored of it easily. The retro graphics and 80’s synth music creates a great atmosphere, but content wise it’s empty.

Papa’s Quiz is a decent party game that does stand out for me as a good alternative to the Jackbox games. Granted it is just a quiz and there are no other game modes, but I feel that helps make it stand out as it has that singular focus. The dance boasting isn’t for everyone and the automated voices do get a bit tedious after a while, but as a party game that you play in bursts I think this is pretty fun.

Again, I appreciated the retro visual style, and for all the weirdness of the experience I found myself wanting to see what the next ending would bring. That it is so short to run through is a blessing, but once more I’m not sure I could recommend this to anyone who isn’t really into esoteric, indie experiences.

Whether you are playing single-player, co-op online/split screen, Warhammer 40,000: Shootas, Blood & Teef is fun. Light-hearted and a significant change of pace for the Warhammer universe. I really enjoyed playing this with my son. Controls were straightforward and easy to get used to, though I was a bit taken back when I found out A wasn’t jump however this didn’t spoil my enjoyment. I would recommend Warhammer 40,000 if you want a local co-op shooter with drop-in and drop-out functions.

The mixture of exploration and puzzle solving is solid but the unsettling weirdness of its location and story is what makes Broken Pieces a must play for all point and clickers out there.

Ed-0: Zombie Uprising is a nice time killer if you want to play something to take the edge off. The replayability is insane as you can up the difficulty in the dungeons if you want more of a challenge. Sure the zombie slaughter may not be something to scream to the hills about, but it is definitely worth mentioning to a friend or two that love the hack n slash genre.

Where Dustborn works – its characters and story – it really works. Leaden combat and side-missions leave it a little lacking.

Night Call for me is a really tough game to play through as I prefer more – or even some – action. It should appeal to those who like gritty novels and like to play as a detective. For those who can read between the lines and use clues to solve mysteries, it may be better suited. The game plays more as just reading the book with the occasional dash of strategy. But it does have some interesting stories and themes and should appeal to the right audience.

Train Sim World is a robust yet accessible game that caters for a wide range of its material’s responsibilities. The game does a good job at feeding you into its intricacies and once there, rarely fails to maintain its allure. It’s also quite free in its approach, enabling players to explore and drive at a leisurely pace. Not perfect nor groundbreaking by any means, but it does achieve what it sets out to accomplish.

Excellent presentation, storytelling, performances, and some great quality of life touches make The Casting of Frank Stone one of our favourite Supermassive Games releases yet.

Overall, if you’re a fan of the other mechanic simulators and want something you aren’t likely to know about straight away, then Rover Mechanic Simulator is a good shout. It’s not the longest of games with an 8-10 hour playtime, but if you want something to simply play through at leisure, without all the excessive hustle and bustle of most games on the market at present, then this is certainly the tranquil experience you’ll be looking for.

Overall, Super Toy Cars Offroad is just not good, at least not for me. I enjoy a goofy arcade racer intended for children occasionally and love classics like Mario Kart and Cruisin’ USA. This sadly lowered the bar of expectations for me from this developer in their near future. The last game took around 4-5 years to develop while this one was less than two years. It feels rushed when racing through the tracks and learning the levels becomes a chore with trying to manage the dreadful physics on top of normal map memorization. This makes it even more luck based having one lap work flawlessly, then getting thrown around and hitting invisible hitboxes taking the same path lap 2. At least the power ups aren’t overpowered and not a huge threat, which is sad to say about any racer with item usage and combat mechanics. The game isn’t hard, just needs more polishing to work out the issues. I would pick this game up only on new game sale if you love this genre or wait for a better sale in the future. You would have more fun just playing the second Super Toy Cars game, as I believe that’s the best entry yet. The shoddy gameplay for Offroad allows the music and visuals to outshine, even if they aren’t a beacon of light to bathe in.

Pathologic 2, although not as polished as maybe Fallout or Elder Scrolls, still contains all the necessary features for a story driven first player adventure. The games difficulty and time frame can have you sweating under the collar and sometimes become a bit overwhelmed, but you can praise it for its detail to character work and story line.

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.

However, slight technical issues aside I feel confident in saying that Martha is Dead is one of the best titles I’ve played this year. Its gameplay mechanics are simple but put to use effectively, but it’s the narrative, themes, and the way this is all tied together that really stand out. It’s gruesome, grim, and will be hard to stomach for some people, but if you’re up for a truly gripping and thrilling tale, then Martha is Dead is a must play.

Starship Troopers: Extermination is a game full of tremendous potential. Two years after early access that potential seems within reach with a bit more polish. The action can be a blast, but often the bugs, some design choices, and unstable servers act against its overall vision. Often it felt like I was fighting the game itself and not the bugs onscreen.