The Z Axis: Continuum isn’t likely to rock your puzzle-loving world, but it does enough to stand out on the merit of its interesting, manipulative mechanics. The game slowly feeds you into the basics of play before throwing larger, more complex levels your way. It may indeed be lacking in the visual department for more reasons than one, but it still goes on to present a brain hammering challenge nevertheless.

One More Dungeon is a basic game that doesn’t even try to evolve its quite frankly dated concept. There are far better roguelike dungeon crawlers available on the market for a similar price, removing much of the appeal that this game clearly doesn’t have to spare. Despite that, if you enjoy simplicity and can forgive the game of its issues and shortcomings, there’s some fleeting fun to be had here.

Maximum Football 2018 is a game you’ll want to avoid for many reasons. Take your pick; extremely dated visuals, daft character animations, puddle-deep gameplay mechanics, graphical faults, technical problems and a complete and utter lack of polish across the board. Sure, the game’s main performance may be passable and it controls well for the most part, but that’s the max limit of the game’s pros.

With today’s modern additions such as leaderboards and online multiplayer for 16 players, Forsaken: Remastered’s 360-degree movement gives it something unique in today’s crowded shooter market. It might just be the resurgence needed for a game that didn’t get a chance to shine all those years ago.

Polygod offers a challenging, randomly generated experience that’s constantly engaging and fun. There’s a lot of variation here across the game’s levels, its enemies and its pacing, which collectively ensures that repetition almost remains completely holstered throughout. There’s certainly a steep difficulty curve to begin with, but its greatly addictive core gameplay loop will keep you coming back for more.

Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes takes a simple concept and makes it something that’s hilarious, tense and massively entertaining. It helps that the game is very accessible and easy to understand for both the direct player and the off-screen participating helpers, alike. This is undoubtedly the best party game in recent memory, one in which losing is every bit as fun as winning.

Treadnauts is a fairly passable couch party-like game that houses some interesting ideas and design choices, but is fundamentally flawed as far as varied gameplay content is concerned. This is the definition of fun in short doses, though, tiresome and boring in the long-run. There’s enjoyment to be had through the use of the game’s various modifiers and maps, but that’s pretty much as compelling as it gets.

Socketeer is fun to begin with, I’ll credit it with that. The problem, however, is that the game is littered with cheap deaths and frustrating elements that punish you for merely being curious or even just slightly careless. This is an unforgivable design choice for a game that incorporates perma-death functionality and boasts hidden secrets. Enjoyable in short doses, yes, but even then you’re likely to leave annoyed.

Planet of the Apes: Last Frontier’s core functionality relays little more than a choice-driven interactive experience. We’ve seen this formula many times this gen, and although it can indeed work when effort has not been spared, here, it just doesn’t add up. Indeed, Last Frontier offers a decent multi-branching plot, but its hands-off approach and its poor production value holds it back, tremendously.

The Videokid is a simple yet competent take on Paperboy’s core design, complete with shed loads of cameos and references from the 80s and early 90s. The gameplay loop can indeed become frustrating when errors occur outside of player control, grouped with its steep difficulty curve, but for the most part, this is a well developed experience that achieves much of what it sets out to accomplish.

Arcade Islands: Volume One is a bundle of over thirty borrowed ideas, spread across a range of themed islands that encompasses them. While some of these games do indeed relay a good degree of fun, several of them either handle poorly, serve as filler or prove to be more frustrating than they’re worth. There’s certainly some value and depth to this collection, but it’s a far cry from both quality and innovation.

The art style is quite good. Characters are well designed and everything is colorful and has a chucky look to it. Sadly, the game around it is just a poor attempt at following a trend in gaming. A good rogue-lite puts the fate of the player in their own hands; success or failure depends on your grasp of the mechanics. Here, unless you are really a fan of the X button, frustration soon gives way to boredom.

Out of the Box’s story is oddly compelling, with its characters just interesting enough to keep you going. Its gameplay loop leaves something to be desired, but if you can work through it, there is an enjoyable time to be had here.

Nefarious is a game that could have been much more than what it is. Instead, what we get is an adventure that does something wrong for everything it gets right. Despite its interesting bad-guy concept, Nefarious handles about as well as a lizard on ice. There’s some good ideas running through the game, but it’s ultimately bogged down by some poor design choices and an overall lack of refinement.

Less of a puzzle game and more of an experience that heavily relies on reflex and cognitive multitasking, Neonwall isn’t half bad, but it’s likely only going to appeal to a very specific crowd. There’s a few technical issues to contend with and some poor camera behavior, however, credit goes to the game’s distinct originality and its constant stream of interesting gameplay mechanics.

RGX: Showdown is a thrilling and wildly fast paced minute-by-minute racer. The game’s generous asking price is easily justified by its healthy content depth, and although some niggling issues hold it back from greatness, I cant think of any other racer on the market that offers this much fun for such little cost. Don’t be alarmed by its lack of promotion. RGX: Showdown is well worth your attention.

Speed Brawl is a fun and inventive take on the side scrolling beat-em-up. Encouraging fast combat by design, skillful play will see competent players likely performing amazing looking feats. Sometimes though, the game just takes the wind out of your sails, leaving you plodding along and scraping by for any chance to get going again.

Pillar’s drawback is that whatever message it’s trying to relay, is completely undermined by its overly basic puzzle design. I commend the developer for creating something unique and somewhat various, but in the face of its sheer simplicity and its vagueness, boredom strikes far sooner than intrigue. The end result makes for a game that seems as though it has a lot to say, but ends up saying very little at all.

Much like how gambling works in real life, if you throw your money at this, the only winner here is the developer.

Comparisons will no doubt be drawn to Overcooked, but to simply judge Catastronauts based on that alone would be somewhat of a disservice. High praise goes to the developer for their clever level design, and in particular, for how well the game’s diverse mechanics come together to produce such an engaging co-op experience. Short it may indeed be, but even so, Catastronauts is massively entertaining.

Jack N’ Jill DX offers quite a decent portion of content in return for its very generous asking price. I take issue with the game’s simplicity and its utter lack of difficulty, ultimately making for an adventure that can literally be completed with just one finger. However, with that being said and despite its repetition, its homage to the Game Boy era remains somewhat endearing throughout.

Armored Freedom is a waste of time, effort, money and HDD space. The sheer lack of gameplay depth, originality and innovation, grouped with the game’s clear focus on chance rather than skill, makes for an utterly underwhelming and overly frustrating experience. There isn’t a single aspect of Armored Freedom that I can commend. It’s a cheap cash grab, and nothing more.

The problem with Gnomes Garden is that, much like the recently released Gnomes Garden 3, its core gameplay loop just doesn’t evolve enough to maintain its initial excitement. There’s certainly enough content for its cheap cost, but even so, it’s content that doesn’t quite meet the standards that games of this type have been setting for years. Fun in small doses, but ultimately repetitive in the long run.

I’ll commend the game for its level detail and variation, but Spencer could have been a lot more than what it is had the developer spent more time refining the game’s mechanics. The game’s repetitive enemies, its rinse and repeat functionality, its disregard as to what makes the jump ‘n run concept fun, together with its technical issues, makes for an adventure that’s more often frustrating than it is exciting.

If you’re on the market for a simple rogue-lite that doesn’t demand too much focus and perseverance, Devious Dungeon will serve you well. If, on the other hand, you enjoy the intricacies that this type of game is usually known to adopt, you’re likely going to feel somewhat disappointed. Devious Dungeon is a passable game at best, but one that’s admittedly fun nonetheless.

Skyhill does a good job with its simplistic foundation, offering a core experience that doesn’t take itself too seriously. The constant uncertainty that looms overhead together with its randomly generated content, makes for some very tense moments. There’s a few issues with the game’s unbalanced systems, but with that in mind, Skyhill still manages to remain both challenging and fun throughout.

Midnight Deluxe’s reliance on its singular mechanic only makes for a repetitive experience overall. The game is too laid back for its own good, so much so that what little creativity it offers is often lost in the midst of its simplicity. That said, there’s certainly some fleeting fun to be had here and I do credit the game for its decent visual and audio design. All in all, Midnight Deluxe is passable, at best.

Super Volley Blast hardly goes above and beyond, but it does indeed offer a fun, colorful, and accessible arcade experience nevertheless. I take issue with its lack of depth and its somewhat incompetent AI when playing solo. However, with that in mind, the game just about manages to meet expectations through both its local multiplayer component and its quirky, play-it-safe concept.

Super Pixel Racers offers a fairly diverse and accessible top-down racing experience. There’s a harsh difficulty spike later on in the game that makes it somewhat harder to recommend to the casuals. However, overlooking both that and the already dead online multiplayer, it’s hard not to appreciate the game for its depth, its fast pace, and its simple yet alluring concept.

Gnomes Garden 2 plays like a cheap, run-of-the-mill Facebook game. There’s minimal depth on show here, and far too much hand holding for it to be considered even remotely challenging. I’ll credit the game for being both accessible and, for its cost, plentiful, but if you’re looking for a deep resource management experience, you wont find that here. Gnomes Garden 2 is just about passable, nothing more.

Gem Smashers fails to build on its otherwise decent core mechanic, ultimately making for a game that feels well out of its depth alongside its more sophisticated and robust peers. It doesn’t help that it’s just far too easy for its own good, which isn’t an ideal characteristic for any puzzle game to bear. Fun at first, indeed, but its lack of both innovation and depth massively holds it back from its potential.

Shadow of Loot Box is a poor joke. Furthermore, it’s a poor joke that costs money. I see nothing funny about a game that’s poking fun at controversial subjects, when in itself, it encompasses everything that makes a bad game, bad. On top of that and with its subject matter to the side, the game is extremely basic, lacks polish, and becomes overly repetitive far too quickly.

Agents vs Villain is a decent game that offers a lot of competitive fun. Its cartoonish design, together with its simplistic controls and its core accessibility, makes it a fitting title for players of all ages. There’s no denying that it’s a relatively bare experience as far as its content depth is concerned, but that said, it does very well with the little that it has.

Noir Chronicles: City of Crime isn’t the best that we’ve seen from Artifex Mundi, but it will indeed scratch that puzzle-solving itch, if nothing else. I take issue with the game’s shoddy voice acting, its lackluster plot, and its poor animation, but with that to the side, there’s little more to scoff at. If you’re coming here purely for the puzzles, you’re likely to enjoy what’s on offer. If you’re seeking more than that, look elsewhere.

World of One is far more frustrating than it is fun. Don’t be fooled by its decent Limbo-esque design, because for the most part, you’re either subject to cheap deaths, sluggish combat, or bugs that are seemingly game-breaking. There’s a few exciting moments and some interesting ideas thrown into the mix later in, but nothing that can be considered particularly redeeming.

I am the Hero takes elements from both the classic beat ’em up and the traditional 2D fighter. The end result makes for a slightly unusual brawler that seems especially out of place as far as its combo system is concerned. Bear with it though, because underneath its somewhat confusing design, rests an accessible, action-packed journey that’s as varied as it is stunningly detailed.

Eternal offers a pretty decent strategy card game at its core. However, the game’s monetary structure greatly holds it back, being that the game is chock-full of paywalls and microtransactions. This is normally acceptable for a free-to-play experience, but there needs to be a fair middle ground between grinding and expenditure. That sadly isn’t present here. You’re either all in or all out, for the most part.

Sitting between the concepts of both Tetris and Space Invaders, NeuroBloxs is a surprisingly decent game, if indeed one that proves to be overly frustrating and somewhat repetitive in the long run. There’s some baffling design choices as far as its difficulty variation is concerned, but if you can overlook that, a well rounded puzzle-action shooter awaits.

Calling Storm Boy interactive, while technically true, is a massive stretch here, almost as if it needed that definition to be allowed on the store. If you are in the market for a new tale to share with your little ones, you’d be better served picking up a copy of the book. The soundtrack is pleasant, the visuals have a charm to them, and the truncated story is sweet, but it’s all over in the blink of an eye.

Youtubers Life is quite an endearing management experience that, surprisingly, doesn’t come across too taxing nor too demanding. There’s a decent amount of depth to be found here, but its lack of gameplay variation is what holds it back the most. Nevertheless, if you can overlook that and forgive the game for its repetition, Youtubers Life will keep you gleefully busy for hours on end.

Floor Kids isn’t a bad game per se, it’s actually quite fun during the initial stages of play. The drawback, however, is that the game fails to shake-up its formula throughout. Whilst there may well be some energetic variety as far as its dance mechanic and its character selection is concerned, there’s little else to get excited about. The end result ironically makes for a very monotonous experience, one that gets old, fast.

There’s no denying that for its cheap cost, you’re getting more than enough content in return, but it’s content that ultimately becomes repetitive before too long. Much like each of its three predecessors, New Home fails to truly evolve its gameplay loop throughout its entirety. That said, I’ll credit the game for its simplicity and accessibility, but this means very little when innovation has been sacrificed as a result.

Energy Cycle Edge is every bit as alienating as it is ignorant. The game is completely without accessibility, largely due to its overly steep difficulty spike and the fact that it’s devoid of any tutorials or tips. This wouldn’t usually be an issue, but for a puzzle-only game that comes with a such a distinct process, it’s disconcerting and confusing to say the very least. Even once you eventually grasp its concept, there’s little fun to be found here.

While there isn’t anything definitively wrong with the game, there isn’t anything that On a Roll 3D can particularly brag about either. It’s your run of the mill side-scrolling platformer, one that seemingly trades innovation for simplicity. If you’re a speedrunner, a leaderboard buff, or generally enjoy ease-of-use games of this type, On a Roll 3D is for you. If, on the other hand, you appreciate something deeper and more robust, look elsewhere.

Desert Child suffers greatly from its poor interconnected structure, which is a shame, because the game oozes potential throughout. I’ll credit the game for its gorgeous retro aesthetic and its brief moments of excitement, but ultimately, much of the game’s fun is bogged down by its constrained flow. Furthermore, the game constantly builds to a fabled event, one that turns out to be puddle deep and underwhelming.

Big Crown: Showdown isn’t without issues. There’s some questionable design choices within, as well as a few bugs that hinder its fluidity. That said, these small problems are easy to overlook in the face of the vast amount of fun that the game consistently relays. I credit the game particularly for its accessibility, making for an action-packed, family friendly party brawler that rarely alienates the younger, or lesser skilled players.

Lazy Galaxy: Rebel Story fails to truly build upon any of its interesting ideas. There’s fun to be had, but these moments of excitement are oftentimes short lived due to the game’s play-it-safe formula. I don’t doubt that this will please die-hard fans of the shmups, but if you’re looking for the genre’s next big thing, this isn’t it. Lazy Galaxy is, at best, just another substandard bullet-hell adventure.

The Atari Flashback Classics Volume 3 is certainly a worthy choice if you’re looking for a true nostalgic hit. There’s a wide selection of retro titles on offer here, with online and leaderboard support added for heightened value and extra longevity. With that in mind, this is a bundle of fifty massively dated games that, by current standards, handle pretty poorly for the most part. This will likely only appeal to a specific crowd.

Kingmaker: Rise to the Throne brings with it the usual drawbacks that we’ve come to expect from its developer and its publisher. The game’s poor writing and its shoddy voice work makes it hard to get truly invested in the story at hand, which at best, is only mildly entertaining throughout. That said, the game’s exceptional artwork, together with its fairly creative puzzles, collectively provide the journey with its much needed grip.

Knights of Pen & Paper 2 feels more like an extension to Knights of Pen & Paper than that of a true sequel. That’s not necessarily a bad thing when we take into account that the first game is a lot of fun, but, poor design choices from the first game do indeed creep into its follow up. By and large, this is a very safely constructed sequel. That is to say that if you enjoyed the first game, you’ll enjoy this. If not, this is highly unlikely to sway you.

Hellfront: Honeymoon trades depth for gameplay simplicity, and in doing so, will likely turn away those that prefer deeper action strategy games. If you can overlook that, there’s a lot to like about the experience at hand. The game’s constant action sits remarkably well with its quick-fire matches. Though, as with any game that’s relatively bare, repetition sinks in soon enough. Still, this is one PvPvPvP that’s fit for those party nights.

The core loop that made Road Rash such a classic is just about present here. However, it doesn’t come without problems. Whilst it’s fun to have a vehicular duel as you tear along the road, such weightless impact, its floaty physics, and the heavy reliance on randomly generated tracks and objectives, massively pulls the game short in the long run. The foundation is on the right track, but it definitely needed more time in the oven.

Planet Rix-13 consists of little more than constant fetch questing, with the majority of its necessities nonsensically strewn in plain view throughout its hour-long run. The problem that this generates, amidst its poorly structured story and its feeble puzzle work, is that it all feels far too guided. Despite its cheap cost, and unless you’re only looking to bulk up your Gamerscore, this game isn’t worth your time nor your attention.

Void Vikings would have been more interesting if its needless debt structure was stripped away to allow the game’s core functionality to shine. However, even if that was so, there wouldn’t be much justification to warrant a recommendation. The game lacks refinement across the entire board, making for an experience that, despite its decent variation, is more convoluted than it needs to be, and a lot less fun than its peers.

JackQuest’s sizable interconnected world, together with its immediately fluid and precise gameplay, collectively go hand in glove to set an instantly captivating stage. There’s a good blend of combat, puzzles, and platforming throughout, making for a worthwhile adventure that rarely loses traction. The only real downside here is that it lacks diversity across all of those aspects, pulling it just shy of greatness as a result.

Disregard the game’s sickeningly inaccurate description. Throughout its entirety, Heroes Trials plays like a horrendously designed Zelda dungeon, complete with a shoddy story, lackluster visuals, and worse, combat that’s dire, and control feedback that’s ultimately imprecise. It doesn’t help matters that the game suffers from some pretty frustrating bugs and technical issues on top of that. Avoid.

Despite housing a generous amount of content, the game’s core systems lack depth and variety, and whilst DayD: Through Time makes a few functional improvements when compared to Gnomes Garden, it still falls short due to its tedious loop. That said, if you’re a fan of this simplistic concept, DayD is certainly going to be serviceable. If, on the other hand, you prefer something robust and challenging, look elsewhere.

This is one local multiplayer bomb-based game that anyone can pick up, play, and enjoy. There’s a nice, steady influx of unlocks to earn through little more than natural play, ensuring that even the youngest and lesser skilled of players will witness everything that the game has to offer. The drawback, however, is that outside of its technical issues, it all becomes fairly repetitive before too long, more so when playing solo.

Whilst the depth and diversity of its content will be bolstered through post-launch community contribution, Animal Super Squad, at its core, feels far too bare for its own good. There’s nothing particularly wrong with its physics-based gameplay, and there’s certainly some fun to be had throughout. However, the big drawback here is that it’s just not exciting enough nor interesting enough to maintain traction in the long run.

Those with patience and a mind for spatial puzzles will no doubt relish the challenge on offer here. Whilst difficulty spikes can frustrate to the point of quitting entirely, this is one of those games that gets that under your skin, you cant help but return. That being said, this is likely only going to appeal to a specific crowd, and if that’s you, you might want to bring your own tunes. The audio here is truly annoying.

Ages of Mages is a mixed bag of pros and cons. Though to the game’s credit, it does indeed manage to get more right than it gets wrong. The gameplay remains fun, fluid, and responsive, with just enough depth present across its enemy variation and its skill tree systems to keep it from repetition. The drawback, however, is that it’s bogged down by poor presentation, minor framerate issues, and unbalanced difficulty.

Access Denied’s varied and intelligently designed puzzles are bound to excite fans of the genre, and although it’s a very short game, it does well with the few tools that it encompasses. It’s a shame then, that its handling can be all over the place, which simply isn’t forgivable for a game that strongly encourages perseverance and precision. That being said, and for its fairly generous price, you could do worse.

Whilst it would have benefited from some variation as far as its visual design is concerned, it’s easy to like Minesweeper Genius for its relatively straightforward and challenging structure. The game takes the classic Minesweeper formula and introduces some simple yet effective mechanics, which goes hand in glove with its randomly generated content. The end result makes for an experience that’s both fun and gratifying throughout.

The biggest challenge you’ll face here is trying to overcome its horrendous presentation. There’s a complete lack of distinction between the game’s foreground and its background, leading to heaps of cheap deaths as a result. What’s worse, there’s almost no depth and variation within. Instead, the game makes a nasty habit of constantly recycling its few dull ideas, over and over, throughout the entirety of play. Heed my advice, avoid.

Creepy Road is a mixed bag of pros and cons. Whilst it looks and sounds the part, handles quite fluidly, and comes with a diverse variation of enemies and weaponry, there’s just too many glaring issues holding it back. Chief among them being lazily designed boss battles, poor hit detection, and several environmental bugs. It’s a shame really, because had the developer held the game’s quality to a higher standard, this could have been a hit.

Daggerhood is a safe choice if you’re a fan of punishing platformers. It does a fine job of keeping its gameplay varied and challenging via continuously introducing new and interesting mechanics. It’s a shame then, that it’s held back quite a bit by its poor boss encounters and its tendency of taking cheap-shots. Overall, I wont go so far as to say that it’s a good game, but it does just about manage to get more right than it gets wrong.

Mars Chaos Menace is too hard to recommend due to being chock-full of cheap deaths, awkward level presentation, and poor design choices. To the game’s credit, and a forefront necessity for any shmup, its handling remains fluid and responsive throughout. That, however, means next to nothing when much of the difficulty within is relayed through little more than its incompetent development. Simply put, it’s a waste of digital space.

RemiLore clearly has some heart. The problem, unfortunately, is that its execution seems to be all over the place. I found myself almost constantly questioning the game’s many systems rather than enjoying them, simply due the fact that they don’t feel very unified overall. Still, I’ll credit the game for its tight combat, its accessibility, its healthy serving of modes, and its lush visuals, but even so, it’s not worth its rather steep and greedy asking price.

Old Man’s Journey is a decent brain teaser that manages to relay such a beautiful and meaningful story without ever uttering a single word. The game intertwines its gorgeous landscapes with its intelligent puzzle framework to great effect, ultimately pushing forward an experience like no other. That said, the game’s lack of basic guidance and its short running time is bound to disappoint those that seek something more grounded and lengthy.

Blood Waves is bloody awful. The entire game confines its players to a single room, and then expects them to be content with killing the same bland enemies, over and over again. There’s some variation to be found in the game’s pool of weapons, traps, and upgrades, but these generic additions lack depth and excitement. It doesn’t help that the game handles very poorly and very awkwardly throughout. It’s a cheap, repetitive, frustrating cash grab.

Whilst it’s slightly let down by its stodgy controls and its dull boss battles, Fimbul has enough going for it to make it a worthwhile investment. The story is simple, but told well enough to keep you in place throughout its short run. Combat, though hectic at points, is satisfying enough to see you through most encounters. It would have been nice to see more from its interesting choice system, but overall, the game gets more right than it gets wrong.

Overload is a wonderful throwback that feels more like a true sequel to Descent than that of a spiritual successor. The content-rich gameplay is as constantly hectic as its inspiration’s gameplay, complete with tight and responsive feedback, and a host of varied upgrades and unique weaponry to utilize. That being said, the developer would do well to swiftly address the game’s rather distracting performance issues.

I and Me goes a long way with the few mechanics that it encompasses, putting forward a solid puzzle game that boasts both quality and distinction. The game’s accessible functionality and its charming design makes it an appropriate choice for players of all ages, but its questionable difficulty curve is bound to frustrate the younger audience. Still, when all is said and done, there’s an endearing journey to be found here, if indeed short lived.

AlienCruise is a decent side-scrolling shooter that does well with the little content that it serves up. The game’s commendable variation of interesting enemies, together with its few colorful and distinct locations, collectively ensure that player interest is maintained whilst repetition is held at bay. Despite some cheap deaths and its generic audio presentation, fans of the concept are unlikely to be dissatisfied with what’s on offer.

The entire journey is based on process and reflection, and speaking of its ambiguity, the game achieves greatness through bonding that with its intelligent level design and its ability to tease perception. It’s a shame then, that the whole experience is massively let down by its clumsy handling, its lack of technical refinement, and its tedious rinse and repeat gameplay structure. This, if anything, is the definition of squandered potential.

Smoking is bad for you. The game clearly relays that message to its players at each and every turn. Whilst its intentions are good and it is indeed free to play, the whole experience is an ugly mess. One Leaves lacks originality, consists of little more than lazy ideas and poor execution, and is chock-full of irritating performance issues. Sadly, because of this, the majority of its narrative gets lost in the midst of its frustrating methodology.

Miles & Kilo offers a colorful and, at times, exciting adventure. Its steep difficulty curve and the simplicity found in its handling sits well with its short-burst level design. However, its reliance on using irritatingly cheap tactics is bound to frustrate even the most forgiving of players. That said, Miles & Kilo does enough right to justify a recommendation, but it’s a recommendation that I can only extend to the patient fans of hardcore platformers.

Despite its varied modes, the bulk of your time spent playing Phar Lap will consist of little more than participating in dull repetitive races, whilst tending to a shed-load of overly linear upgrade paths. The game’s depth is puddle deep, and remains as about as exciting as watching paint dry. Moreover, it relies far too heavily on cheap tactics to needlessly stretch out its longevity, only further emphasizing how quickly it outstays its welcome.

AngerForce is an accessible yet challenging shmup that frequently rewards its players whether they win or lose. Its gameplay is tight, responsive, constantly packed with action, and comes complete with diverse environments, heaps of enemy variations, and a shed-load of upgrades. Not only is it one of the best looking shmups in recent memory, it’s easily one of the most entertaining. Genre fans would do well to have this on their radar.

Whilst Metagal doesn’t stand nearly as tall as the likes of Mega Man, there’s still quite a bit of fun to be found here. The gameplay is fluid and responsive, with just the right level of challenge in place to keep you on your toes throughout. That being said, the game’s short length and its habit of frequently handing out cheap deaths are its greatest drawbacks, which is a shame, because Metagal’s otherwise sturdy framework clearly deserved better.

Where the Bees Make Honey deserves some praise for its fantastical theme and its variation in play, that much has to be said. However, the whole ordeal is massively held back due to its sheer lack of difficulty and fluidity, together with its constantly persistent technical issues. There’s clearly some smart ideas running through the experience, but the complete absence of structural refinement makes it far too hard to bear, let alone enjoy.

Royal Roads is a Gnomes Garden game in a different skin, and as such, the same issues found in those titles are present here. I’ll credit the game for its improved handling, for being visually superior in comparison to its related peers, and for its depth of content, but it still falls rather flat overall. If you’re in the market for a deep resource management game, look elsewhere. If you’re just here for more of the same, Royal Roads will serve you well.

If you’ve played any title from Artifex before, you’ll know exactly what to expect here, warts and all. Due to its poor voice work, its shoddy writing, and its laughable animation, it can be hard to get truly invested in the story that Modern Tales: Age of Invention offers. It’s a shame, because underneath these rather frustrating drawbacks sits an interesting setting that’s really only upheld by the game’s intelligent puzzle design and its gorgeous artwork.

Velocity G is a mixed bag of pros and cons. On the one hand, it’s accessible, it handles pretty well, and it’s got a shed-load of races to take to. On the other hand, it’s got little mechanical depth, its track design is overly repetitive, and its visual and audio presentation is substandard at best. Overall, it’s a valiant effort on the developer’s part, but at a time in which futuristic racers are on the rise, despite its cheap cost, it’s wide of the mark.

Flutter Bombs is a decent top-down twin-stick shooter that manages to get more right than it gets wrong. Whilst the core loop can become repetitive and frustrating due to some fairly lazy ideas, the game succeeds at maintaining player engagement through its commendable overall variation and its rich and diverse environments. That said, its simplicity makes this more suitable for the casuals rather than the hardcore.

The developer should be absolutely ashamed for releasing the game in this state. There’s several faults in Eternity: The Last Unicorn that couldn’t possibly have gone unnoticed during QA. It’s buggy, it’s ugly, it’s boring, and even with its countless issues to the side, it’s got almost no likability. If you’re an absolute sucker for nostalgic RPGs, pick up any recent legacy Final Fantasy title. They’re decades old, and a hell of a lot better than this waste.

The generously priced Iron Snout offers a silly endless high-score fighting experience that, despite its varied modes, is only fun for as long as you can stomach its repetitive loop. Whilst there’s some excitement to be found during the initial stages of play through the introduction of new enemies, new maps, and new cosmetics, you’ll have seen everything the game has to offer after just fifteen minutes. Past that, there’s little else to enjoy.

Purple Chicken Spaceman is a very hit and miss affair. Whilst it’s quite fun, easy to pick up and understand, and sports a vibrant presentation, it’s far too tempting to throw the controller down in the face of its overbearing difficulty and one horrendously annoying track. Bear with it though, because there’s much satisfaction to pull from success here, it’s just a shame that it takes a great deal of perseverance to get there.

Rogue-lites are hardly a rare sight these days, but rarely does one catch the eye like this. With its grindy upgrade system and a few minor issues aside, the game consistently bombards its players with fast and frantic play that’s utterly engaging and constantly rewarding. It helps that the whole ordeal not only looks stunning, but sounds magnificent. Black Paradox, moment to moment, is an absolute blast that should not be overlooked.

Whilst it does manage to offer up a more relaxed take on the likes of Race the Sun, the game’s singular novelty, despite its short length, wears off a lot sooner than it should. Indeed, there’s enough content present to justify its very generous cost, but even so, it’s content that lacks variety, and as such, ultimately fails to remain interesting throughout. Those looking for silly, short bursts of fun, will get the most out of Bird Game +.

Woodle Tree Adventures draws inspiration from the likes of Banjo Kazooie and Mario 64, but well and truly fails at meeting the same level of quality on even a surface level. The game’s utter lack of refinement sees issues such as poor camera behavior and inconsistent handling continuously hindering play. Though, even if you’ve the patience to overlook such blatant faults, you’re left with a dull platformer that’s far more frustrating than it’s worth.

Wacky, accessible, and for the most part, innovative, Brief Battles succeeds in bringing fun that’s appropriate for the entire family. The only real drawback is that it all runs dry a lot sooner than it should, but even then, you’ll be hard-pressed finding a brand new party game that’s as likable, as outlandish, and as distinct as this.

This, at very best, is a decent take on the arcade days of old. It’s a game in which you’re merely dropped into progressively difficult bouts of twin-stick shooting mayhem. Nothing more, and nothing less. Whilst appealing more to the hardcore player than the casual player, and despite a very straightforward structure, some poor design choices, and a few localisation issues, Super Space Serpent SE really isn’t half bad.

When it comes to episodic games, first impressions are everything. Sadly, The Adventures of Bertram Fiddle’s opening episode is a mixed bag of pros and cons. Whilst the art direction is outstanding and the story remains humorously dark, there’s very little complexity on show as far as the game’s puzzles are concerned. Further to that, it’s a relatively short experience that lasts little over an hour. Subsequent episodes certainly need to pick up the slack.

Ascendance’s short and seemingly peaceful journey is often hamstrung by its poor handling, and for a game that focuses its play on platforming alone, this doesn’t at all fare well. Furthermore, there’s a lot of framerate fluctuation to contend with alongside bad lighting, making it very difficult to appreciate the splendor that each world desperately attempts to relay. The whole affair just comes across like a cheap, shallow imitation of Refunct.

Even with its technical drawbacks and its disgraceful design choices to the side, Party Arcade just isn’t fun. Most of the party games included are either too tedious, too repetitive, or too frustrating. Furthermore, the game demands far too much of a grind from its players in order to access more content, likely put in place to encourage the purchase of its needless microtransactions. This is little more than a greedy and desperate cash-grab.

Despite its interesting introduction, My Big Sister falls flat on all fronts. The game seems to be too confused with what it wants to be, and who it wants to appeal to. Whilst the game’s story is mature and tackles some very sensitive subjects, it gets too caught up in its own web of convoluted concepts. On top of that, the gameplay completely lacks mechanical depth, comes with no real difficulty, and is further hamstrung by several irritating bugs.

Much like its predecessor, Devious Dungeon 2 provides a simple yet entertaining rogue-lite adventure that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Sadly, a few poor design choices from the first game have carried over, but in the face of its improvements, these niggling flaws are fairly easy to overlook. In summary, if you enjoyed what came before, you’re bound to find some value here.