Barry the Bunny does nothing spectacular here for gaming but you probably didn’t expect it to. It looks like a very basic game and plays as such. Not much meat to this bone but if you are here for achievements or trophies, the completion is just a short game away.

Shoot 1UP DX is a short and sweet game that is good for a quick pick up and play session. I did enjoy trying to max out getting 30 ships at once but I actually found the mode where you only control one ship more fun.

Demolish and Build may have its issues, but the game can be enjoyed on many different levels. Fun and creativity can be found in this title, and it’s good to see some more simulators of this calibre to come to Xbox.

Despite some eye-catchingly colourful visuals, Flowing Lights is unlikely to keep you around for long. Too many niggles in the moment to moment gameplay mean that any fun we might be having is quickly undone by frustrating failure.

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.

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.

While the idea is novel and decent on paper, God of Rock left us wanting thanks to a tricky learning curve and music that fails to inspire replayability.

Decay’s biggest drawback is that it hasn’t aged very well at all, in fact, it’s aged terribly, and for as scary as it can be, it’s a tough one to recommend. If you’ve a soft spot for the series, the game’s comeback, with all of its additional extras, will no doubt please you. If you’re a newcomer, on the other hand, and you’re looking for a horror that’s engaging, deep, and diverse, there are far better options available in the storefront for around the same cost.

Heavy Duty Challenge is at best just fine, and at worst actively off-putting to play. A dreadful opening might put players off, but the course on the other side of it can be somewhat fine, if not all that taxing. There are better physics-based vehicular games out there to play, though if you’ve had your fill of them, this may fill the gap for a night or two.

All in all then, I came away from Transient: Extended Edition underwhelmed entirely. What could have been an interesting mix of two popular genres ended up missing the mark on both aspects while also just being really rather boring to play. It’s short enough that people keen to give it a go won’t have to waste too much time on it, but I can think of many other titles I’d rather give my evenings up to play.

Generation Zero sports many of the components that you would expect to see in an open world shooter with online play. Whilst entertaining in short doses, and fairly interesting when it wants to be, the whole ordeal has a tendency of being massively undermined by its poor design choices and its several technical issues. Indeed, it’s a serviceable loot shooter at its core, but the developer really should have held the game to a much higher standard.

At best, Gekido Kintaro’s Revenge is a passable game that should please just about anyone who enjoyed the original. The additional features within deserve a special mention and they certainly make the price of the game much more generous. However, there’s no denying that the game’s age shows far too much and despite its limited capabilities, the difficulty can make for one hell of a frustrating and repetitive experience.

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.

Hot on the heels of Bloodstained, Paradox Soul comes across quite simple, especially for a metroidvania. The game lacks many of the qualities that its contemporaries house, and it’s perhaps a bit too straightforward for its own good. That being said, if you’re looking for a much less serious take on the loved concept, you’re unlikely to be disappointed. This, at the absolute best, is merely a serviceable adventure. Nothing less, and certainly nothing more.

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.

Waking has almost convinced me that I’m not very good at reviewing games, because it is so difficult to convey what it’s about and how it plays. I’ve taken more time than I normally would thinking about this game and how I was going to explain and grade it. It’s definitely an unenviable, uncomfortable position that I find myself in because indie developers live or die by reviews. In the end I had to ask myself if I enjoyed playing it and the answer is that it wasn’t exactly fun, but it wasn’t exactly bad either because I got what Jason Oda was trying to do. The reality is though, if a developer creates a game meant to be personable, that’s a hard thing to nail down. It will only impact head-on with a sliver of players, and those on either side will like or dislike to varying degrees.

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 +.

Dawn of New Riders will likely please its young target audience, and to its credit, it just about manages to capture the fantastical vibe of its source material. It’s a shame then, that outside of its well designed puzzles and its distinct locations, there’s little else to praise. Whilst its technical issues hinder the experience, it’s the game’s lack of depth, its weak gameplay variation, and its poor overall quality, that greatly holds it back.

The World After is a good attempt at a point and click adventure using live footage, there is some good dialogue and the puzzles aren’t likely to slow people down. Unfortunately, the plot doesn’t reveal much and it ends with more of a shrug than a bang.

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.

Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion‘s remaster here is really only going to serve fans of the original release, being as it is a bare bones up-spuff of a game that isn’t all that memorable or worth rushing out to pick up. It’s not a bad shooter as such, just one that has since been outclassed at every turn in the years since.

Whilst its story is both welcoming and gripping, and its dialogue remains on point, Beat Cop fails to build where it truly matters. The core loop, although very serviceable, becomes tedious and repetitive before long, with little mechanical depth in place to keep things fresh. There’s certainly some fun to be had here, but it tends to be quite fleeting. In essence, it’s a generic management sim that, to its detriment, rarely ever attempts to innovate.

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.

Zeroptian Invasion wears its inspirations on its sleeve, but never really attempts to stand out as anything other than a clone. Still, for those of you specifically looking for a Space Invaders-like affair, you cant at all go wrong here, just don’t expect much originality.

If the waves were a bit shorter, or if there was more variety in the gameplay – and no over-heating main guns – I could probably have stomached more time with XenoRaptor. As it is, before too long I found my mind wandering to one of the many other unplayed titles on my hard drive. In short bursts, XenoRaptor is fine, but there are far more enjoyable examples in the twin stick shooter genre already out there.

If you loved the remastered Tomb Raiders I-III released last year, then you’ll definitely want to grab IV-VI remastered as well. The nostalgia and the novelty of revisiting the old Tomb Raider games is certainly worthwhile, but with IV-VI you’re witnessing three Tomb Raiders that gradually lose track of what the series was all about. The Last Revelation and its new ideas are successful, and you’ll enjoy your explorations in Egypt, but Chronicles and Angel of Darkness reek of missed potential and both of them come off as rush jobs. The remaster efforts are good enough in terms of uplifting these relics visually, and the framerate is crisp as well, but you’ll still need to wrestle with terrible design choices inherent within these three games, and the pounding desire for these Tomb Raider games to be remade for a contemporary audience.

Does Thief Simulator succeed in bringing out my younger self and bring back that same joy and excitement that I felt five years ago? No, no it does not. That doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy myself though. What it lacks graphics-wise and in replay value it makes up with its game mechanics. Who doesn’t want to rob houses and pretend to be a thief in the night?

Neverout isn’t all that challenging, which, for a puzzle game, doesn’t fare too well. Further to that, the game recycles its few tricks too often and rarely offers much clarity. That being said, the crux of its concept is certainly interesting enough to maintain traction, and its surprisingly low cost makes its drawbacks somewhat easier to bear overall. Bottom line? Neverout is a passable puzzler at best. Nothing more, and nothing less.

The game blends its few mechanics together well enough to maintain traction, and includes support for co-op play to bolster its worth. The problem, however, is that it lacks the depth found in many of its contemporaries. Furthermore, its visuals are fairly poor and its handling can be sloppy. If you’re in the market for a run-of-the-mill tower defense game, Hell Warders isn’t a bad choice, but you can get much better elsewhere at around the same cost.

Albert and Otto doesn’t do much that hasn’t already been better achieved elsewhere. It’s an average puzzle platformer at best, but one that will no doubt please fans of the genre.

Be careful what you wish for. As an Xbox gamer, I am continuously jealous of the amount of interesting-looking indie games that come to Steam. I would always say “Why can’t we get more of those?” Well, we got one, but it’s not one of the good ones. I normally enjoy retro platformers and the games that Fireworks draws its inspiration from are some of my favorites. The art style is bland, and the gameplay is both tedious and difficult, while also being unoriginal. There is some humorous storytelling throughout the game, which is one of the only highlights. If you’re at all tempted to play this Mega Man clone, buy it on Steam where it costs roughly $10 less than it does on the Xbox store; honestly I think the publisher Fantastico studio should be embarrassed that they jacked up the price and published this generic game. They should just let the whole thing go up in flames.

Sword Art Online: Fractured Daydream Story Mode acted more like an extended filler episode than anything. Nothing to “Wow” a casual SAO enjoyer and nothing I’d personally believe would make a hardcore fan’s jaw drop.

Although short, Blind Postman is a passable puzzle game that’ll do you for an hour or two in between meatier titles.

There are already plenty of excellent first person puzzle titles on Xbox, and so Don’t Touch This Button! struggles to stand shoulder to shoulder them. If you’re after something in that genre that’s short to get through this might pique your interest, but those looking to settle in for a night or two of puzzling would do best to look elsewhere.

Samsara is just another standard puzzle game that never really evolves throughout the entirety of play. Despite a few interesting mechanics, the lack of innovation is what lets this experience down in the long run. Fans of the genre will most certainly enjoy what’s on offer, and it truly is a visually pleasing journey, but that means very little when there’s just not much of a challenge within.

A bit of style over substance, with Zoe Begone!’s controls proving too big a hurdle in getting to the fun for my tastes.

Warborn is a basic tactical-strategy game with an interesting story, but it doesn’t do enough to make it stand out from the others. The hexagonal battlefield could have been made more interesting, but it doesn’t do it for me. I think it’s the simple enemy AI and lack of variety in the missions that suck the life out of the experience. But it is a clean and functional tactics game, and it would benefit those new to the genre gain some experience.

Even The Ocean has some good ideas within, from the polarising energy mechanic to the OK platforming. But it all feels like it’s trying too hard to wrangle a heavy tale out and as such end up bogged down under characters that waffle on for too long, and boring interludes between levels that add very little to the experience.

Ary And The Secret of Seasons makes for a tough recommendation. There’s a pleasant premise, a decent sense of adventure and a surprising sense of humour nestled underneath the exterior if you search for it. The bamboozling problem for Ary though is that searching for a good time is buried beneath a gloomy fog of presentational flaws that do a service of drawing you out of its pleasant and colourful world, that undercut all the lovely ideas Ary has going for it. There are just too many flaws here to heartily approve Ary to anybody but the most patient and dedicated of players.

The Grand Tour Game sports a unique content delivery system, but it’s one that goes in and against the game’s favor. That being said, this all means very little in the face of its undefined framework. Whilst the game does a good job of representing the show’s stylish character and imitating its format in fun ways, it predictably falls short where it really matters. This is, at very best, a mixed bag of pros and cons.

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.

Considering that it’s a sequel, and despite its efforts, Monster Energy Supercross 2 doesn’t feel wholly refined overall. The game suffers considerably due to its loose handling, its steep difficulty curve, and its excessive loading times. That said, there’s enough diverse content on offer to keep die-hard fans entertained until next time. Just don’t expect the quality to have come on in leaps and bounds in comparison to its predecessor.

While there are a few mini-games here that are fun to play, the slow unlocking of more levels, the randomness of the rewards, and there being a couple of dud games in a small selection early on puts a downer in Pureya for us.

Shoppe Keep is a management game that delivers depth, innovative gameplay, and decent functionality. The problem, however, is that it doesn’t come without a fair share of issues; lengthy loading screens, poor UI, and wonky controls. This would have been a much better game had the developers spent more time optimizing and fine-tuning it for console.

With mixing ingredients, laying down machines and belts and money management Big Pharma certainly keeps you busy. However, when you get to a point where you are short some cash, you will be left to wait until you earn more money – and this means a lot of waiting. This isn’t helped by already slow gameplay and the meticulous amount of attention to detail needed, leading to easily made but hard to rectify mistakes. In the end, the time invested rarely feels worth the reward.

All in all Virtuous Western is a nice game. The gameplay loop is easy enough to get to grips with, but it’s also not a title that’ll hold the attention for a long time. Achievement hunters will likely blast through it, but those looking for something to sink their teeth into are best of looking elsewhere.

Brutal Rage does share some basic common themes with other games of this genre, but seems to lack the overall appeal and replay value due to its repetitiveness and absence of variety in gameplay and development. Perhaps, with some slight alterations, it could potentially transform into something rather enjoyable and entertaining, but in its current condition it just feels like a very dull and lengthy demo. It has promise, but is missing the unique qualities that would make it distinctive, such as an expansion of the above mentioned fight-talk-walk game mechanics or any development of the original concepts. Thank goodness for the local co-op option making it much more motivating and rewarding to play as a team and share the endurance of surviving the inescapably drawn-out captions!

Legend of the Skyfish began promisingly, skilfully luring the player in with tales of exciting music, beautiful visuals, intricate action puzzles and epic boss battles. Combined with the strange controls, technical glitches and much of the former mentioned missing, however, it became increasingly frustrating to play and slowly chipped away at my sanity. Sadly I wasn’t hooked as my patience soon wore fin, but at least the game wasn’t a complete pile of carp.

Zombie Derby: Pixel Survival is a fun in short bursts, though any longer and the simple fact we’re just grinding to progress rather than using much in the way of skill means it likely won’t live long on the SSD.

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.

Now that I think about it I don’t think I’ve ever played a game advertising itself as dark, sexy, and mature that’s actually any good. Demoniaca: Everlasting Night continues that trend. There was a lot I didn’t like about this game, but I have to give them credit for trying something different. I think most players should steer clear of this tower of terror, but if you are looking for a Metroidvania that’s a little different as well as a frustratingly challenging experience then it might be worth checking out. It’s not the worst in the genre, but it’s far from the best.

Without Escape has some great ideas and at times keeps you on your toes, but unfortunately doesn’t offer much in the way of excitement or thrill, at times feeling more like having a read through the family photo album.

Defiance 2050 has all the markings that you would expect to find in a game of this type. There’s an interesting story to soak up, heaps of weaponry and enemy variations to enjoy, a large sprawling map to traverse, and decent gameplay mechanics. The drawback, however, is that it looks very dated and comes with far too many technical issues. If this truly wants to survive, the game’s performance needs to be much better.

Cardaclysm’s deck building and tweaks to the formula are good, but this is weighed down by far too much grinding and not enough excitement.

It’s lazy, it’s uninteresting, and it’s utterly underwhelming.

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.

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.

While the open-world transition was a welcomed concept it wasn’t utilized to the best of its ability. YouTubers Life 2 is exactly what it is. A YouTuber simulator. A constant grind to fame. Day in and day out it’s the same thing only a different trend than yesterday. It’s the smaller things that give this game life while the major elements such as the story end up lacking in the end.

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.

Time Carnage seems much better suited for VR platforms. Though, nevertheless, even with that support in mind, I dare say that the novelty would be almost instantly chased away by the game’s repetitive structure and its sheer lack of evolving gameplay. The game’s arcade mode and challenge mode offers some fleeting fun, but before that, you’ll need to hit the tiresome campaign to unlock needed features.

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.

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.

Too slight to be seriously considered a Ja-copy of Jalopy, Road to Guandong has some adorable visual-novel moments that focus on family. It’s just a shame, then, that the road trip sections to reach them are so lifeless.

Asemblance does a good job at hooking you during the initial stages of play, yet fails miserably to maintain its creativity. Despite the decent visuals and some interesting moments throughout this confused experience, the game doesn’t quite live up to the quality of other psychological thrillers, such as Layers of Fear. The bottom line here is that if this truly is the beginning of a franchise, the second serving doesn’t have much to live up to. Make of that what you will.

Straimium Immortaly is a very odd game and a lot of it doesn’t make sense, though the weird designs and colourful layout has some charm about it. However, the game is not very fair and is downright tough when you can’t tell on screen what can or can’t hurt you and what is a power-up. The game has an old-style feel to it that you always strive to do better than your previous attempt. But with such childish writing and busy screens it may put a lot of people off.

Ravensword: Shadowlands is a passably playable RPG considering it is an aged mobile port. If you ever want to play an RPG that you can complete in days rather than months for a fraction of the cost then this could be something to pick up. But stiff NPCs, random hit detection/animation, bland storyline, and vast empty lands really make it challenging to fully immerse yourself into the game.

Those Who Remain puts on a passable front, but once we get past that there’s nothing here that’s worth getting worked up over. With a dull story, tedious searching of areas using unresponsive inputs, scares that never really come and some technical hiccups that make it feel like a last gen title, you’re best off looking elsewhere for your pulse racing thrills.

While Mekabolt has some nice, colourful visuals and snappy controls, there simple isn’t really much else going on here that I can recommend. Level design is basic, there’s no real challenge and it all just feels a bit of a slog to get through. As with other Ratalaika games, achievement hunters will likely lap up it up, but anyone looking for a solid platformer is best off looking elsewhere.

All in all, Orbibot is tough to recommend. For those willing to persevere the physics foibles, there’s a decent puzzle game here. But the issues are so frequent that unless you’re here for the very easy 1000g, then you’re probably best off looking elsewhere.

Casey Powell Lacrosse 18 is a poorly designed sports title at best, despite showing initial promise. This game’s tough difficulty spike and lack of fluid functionality alienates series’ newcomers. Veteran fans will more than likely appreciate what’s on offer, but for those that enjoy quality and quantity, look elsewhere. Copy and paste characters, shoddy visuals, meaningless commentary and much more, awaits those that don’t heed this warning.

Phantom Trigger looks great and plays well for the most part, that much goes without saying. However, the game is far too taxing and fails miserably to fill its interesting world with meaningful content and lacks exploratory structure. It doesn’t help matters that the core loop remains dull and repetitive from the get-go. In a nutshell, this game is sub-par at best.

EMMA: Lost in Memories simple premise means it is easy to get to grips with, but some vague collision detection and dull visuals/music lead to it all round feeling rather bland and frustrating to play.

The steep price tag and the inclusion of microtransactions will certainly raise eyebrows, especially for a game that’s as repetitive and as bland as this. There’s heaps of content to get through and no shortage of interesting characters and upgrades to unlock, but due to the lack of evolving functionality, the game fails to maintain its initial allure.

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.

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.

North may indeed offer up some unique design choices, but the overarching plot is messy and underwhelming. Gameplay requires minimal effort, and even the puzzle aspects remain far too simplistic throughout. That being said, the game’s heart is in the right place, it’s just a shame that its structure is far removed.

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.

Vera Blanc: Ghost of the Castle is the second in the Vera Blanc series. Despite being a port of a 10 year old game there are seemingly zero improvements or additions here. If you’ve played the first you’ll know what to expect; follow the story prompts to progress, earn some quick cheevos, and that’s about that. The story is passable at least, all ghost and murder mysteries, but it won’t last long enough to really get us invested.

Mages and Treasure is a lovely retro Zelda-inspired game but lacks the punch, depth and storytelling to really make it stand out as something worth checking out.

Steels Rats is the definition of a ‘meh’ game. It has some nice ideas and elements, but nothing is really pulled off particularly well. Combat is fine, if repetitive, but the awkward camera view, the unreliable collision detection, and the general lack of any real character, collectively brings the whole thing down.

Robots at Midnight brings little to the genre that is new. It is decent enough but lacks the spark to elevate it.

If I’ve discovered one thing playing Balancealot it’s that physic’s based titles like this are not for me. The controls can be highly frustrating, with the triggers used for movement and the analogue stick used to keep our balance. Having enemies to avoid adds some variety though, and the helpful checkpoints do alleviate some of the frustration, but certainly not all. One for those with patience then.

Masters of Anima has a decent concept and a worthwhile story, but sadly falls short almost everywhere else. The combat is tedious, often unfair and utterly frustrating. Take into account that outside of light puzzle solving and exploration, this is pretty much all that you’ll be doing. It doesn’t help matters that Masters of Anima rarely evolves as you proceed, making for a game that’s not only annoying, but repetitive too.

Must Dash seems to have a framework of a decent game, and it’s clear that multiplayer is the way to go here; though there is just not enough content for this to remain appealing. With no interesting single-player options, no online multiplayer and very little content, you will be hard pushed inviting friends over to play this for more than a couple of goes before your amigos say “I would love to stay and play more, but I really must dash”.

Doodle God: Crime City just isn’t challenging enough nor interesting enough to recommend. There’s no doubt whatsoever that Doodleheads will find enjoyment here, but if you’re on the lookout for a compelling puzzle experience that innovates and excites, you’re not going to find those qualities in this game.

Outbreak: Epidemic has a concept I can get behind, being a fan of survival horror titles. Unfortunately, attempting to stand next to the giants of the genre only shows just how flawed the end result is. Poor visuals and repetitive gameplay mean it’s unlikely to have you sticking around for long, though if you’ve enjoyed the previous entries in the series you may find some fun here too.

Random Heroes: Gold Edition is a simple platform shooter with an easy to medium difficulty. It is very easy to pick up and play with simple controls and a basic storyline. There is a nice variety of characters to play as and guns to use, but this game can be completed quite quickly and some of the levels don’t differ too much from each other. The achievements, however, can be collected quite easy for any hunters out there.

All in all, Bouncy Bullets 2 is a fun enough title, acting as a good palette cleanser in between other, meatier experiences. It might not be quite worth checking out before a sale if you’ve still got plenty to play, but cheevo hunters will be happy grabbing that sweet, sweet 1000G no doubt.

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.

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.

Horror Tales: The Beggar has its moments (mainly thanks to some half-decent world building) but the introduction of combat, and its slow moving puzzles, underwhelmed me completely. Go and play The Wine instead, and hope we get more of that for the next outing.

Destiny 2: Warmind is better than Curse of Osiris, but only marginally better. We’re still fighting the same reskinned enemies within recycled locations, day in and day out. The same can be said about the design choices here, being that new activities are akin to the activities found in The Taken King and vanilla Destiny. Despite its interesting and compelling premise, Warmind is lazy, rushed and underwhelming.

Tiles would have been a standard puzzle game, at best, had it not have been for the lack of innovation and depth. It will no doubt please a few fans of the genre, but if you like your puzzle games to challenge you and captivate you, stick with Tetris.

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.

Elea’s opening episode serves as an interactive trip into a fractured, nonsensical story, in which consistency seems to be almost completely absent. While this alone wouldn’t be a bad thing if the storytelling was better produced, the main drawback is that barely any of the game’s aspects come together well at all. Despite its impressive visuals, the end result makes for a very awkward and bland experience.

Super Street has a lot of potential. Though, as it stands, the developers need to address the game’s many problems before this racer can be taken seriously. The most notable of issues being the game’s horrendous physics, its terrible handling and its overly aggressive, T-800 AI. Praise goes to the game’s DIY concept and its impressive list of parts, but this means very little in the face of its several downsides.

Nowhere near the classic the true Alfred Hitchcock – Vertigo was, this pretender does an unsatisfactory and un-compelling job of providing a worthwhile experience. The story takes its time to truly materialize convincingly, and the payoff isn’t worth the effort. From an appearance standpoint, the game looks atrocious and will not have the looks your mother could love either. The act of controlling and playing Vertigo is passable, but unfortunately it hasn’t been properly optimized for console – which goes for both how the game looks, and the absence of a proper cursor when pointing and clicking the environment. Despite flashes of intrigue in the story and some enjoyment with the past memories Ed relives, Vertigo is a shoddy game that fails to live up to lofty standards – and as it shows you quite vividly, this one has fallen off a bridge and splattered on the ground below.

Even though I love indie horror, this was a bit too broken to appreciate properly.