The LEGO Harry Potter Collection takes players back to LEGO game basics; before voice overs, before depth, before polish, and before just about everything else that makes the current formula so widely appealing. That said, this collection is well worth a trip if you enjoy the source material. There’s magic, there’s humor, and there’s a lot of fun fan service to soak up here, if little else.

As I say, When the Past was Around isn’t the longest game, but it also doesn’t need to be. I enjoyed almost every moment of my time with it, and found the story to be genuinely touching, yet bizarre in its presentation. The visuals and music are excellent, and other than a few slight challenges in terms of drawn out puzzles, it’s just a breeze to play. There’s little replay value outside of achievement hunting, but plop yourself down for an evening and play this through and I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by it.

The story is quite original and kept me engaged just to see what happens next. State of Mind is well written and does have a lot of quality voice talent, despite some audio issues that persist throughout. The technical performance remains very smooth, though its visual details and its intriguing plot is what holds everything together. By and large, this is a game for those that relish single-player experiences.

Andrade games have created a unique 2D homage to the games of yesteryear while adding a fair amount of new ideas and gameplay. The macabre setting is portrayed perfectly with fantastically detailed pixel art. While there are a few questionable choices made in the game’s overall design, anyone who is a fan of old-school 2D action platformers should definitely give this a try, alternatively, if you want to experience an over-the-top, horror-themed 17th-century Europe depicted in fantastic pixel art then Heidelberg 1693 is the game for you.

Stela is a fun experience, if short, and deserves a place up there with such titles as Limbo and Inside. Offering a large amount of depth and atmosphere is a plus and most people would likely find enjoyment from this title.

Monster Jam Showdown is a fun, action-packed racer letting us control the wildest, most over the top vehicles there are. A few quibbles with the controls for stunts aside, if you’re simply after a fun time, then this is an easy recommendation.

Mulaka is stunning in its design and detail, but lacking in its gameplay execution, more specifically its combat mechanics. The problem with delayed control feedback certainly doesn’t help. However, if you can overlook these faults, Mulaka offers up a remarkable journey that boasts distinction, meaning, and ambiguity.

MotoGP 18 offers a refined and diverse motorcycle racing experience that comes with some solid physics and decent elements of play. There’s plenty of options to tune the gameplay however you see fit, which ultimately makes for a very deep and accessible racer. The visuals are hardly impressive and there’s certainly room for improvement, but on the whole, this is one of the better titles in the series so far.

ADIOS Amigos is a fun game that accommodates both solo and local co-op play, across a small variety of well designed modes. The controls take some time getting used to and the entire journey can become repetitive before long, but with that aside, its decent gameplay mechanics coupled with its light-hearted sense of exploration, drives ADIOS Amigos in all the right directions.

Overlooking the occasional technical fault, Sniper Elite V2 Remastered is well worth your time and attention, especially if you’re a fan of the series. The game bundles together the core experience and all its pre-existing DLC, complete with additional extras and wonderfully remastered visuals. Comparing it to its original version is truly night and day, and it remains every bit as deep, as action-packed, and as brutally delicious as it ever was.

Sumo have made some stellar efforts in the past, but Team Sonic Racing is, needless to say, their best effort by far. What’s here is a love letter to all things Sonic, not just in character variation, but stage design, audio presentation, and much more besides. Despite some online teething issues, some questionable AI behavior, and the odd poor design choice, you’ll not find a better kart racer this side of a Nintendo system.

We. the Revolution is a well written, decent narrative puzzle game that doesn’t shy away from the brutality of 18th century France. The game makes an intriguing habit of forcing you to face your actions head-on, with far reaching consequences that can alter the plot in ways you rarely expect. The only drawback is that it’s very convoluted due to its many systems and its abundance of relationship balancing, ultimately making for a lot of guesswork.

The core loop to Sparklite certainly holds some appeal, the loop sucking you into just one more go – time and time again. Fans of procedurally generated rogue-likes will find ample here to keep the interest and perhaps even new players may be drawn into the loop too.

Helheim Hassle is another solid entry in to the gaming world from Perfectly Paranormal. It’s funny, has clever puzzle mechanics and designs, and there’s much more to do here than initial impressions might appear. Switching between the body parts is too fiddly to do with speed, so some sections suffer as a result and can be mightily frustrating, but other than that there’s a lot of fun to be had here.

Landflix Odyssey holds its own in a sea of competitors by combining many ideas, yet never overwhelms the player. If you’ve ever been watching your favorite TV shows and wished you could play a video game version, Landflix Odyssey has granted your wish – in a comedic pixel platformer that will challenge your platforming skills one minute and have you smiling at its parodies the next.

For those willing to overlook its flaws, Atomfall offers a unique and immersive adventure. But if you’re looking for polished combat and a more guided experience, you might find its rough edges frustrating.

DBZ: Kakarot has taken some interesting steps to move on from the Xenoverse games, but only some of them have paid off. While it’d great to follow Goku’s arc through the Z saga’s, the fact remains that this is far from the first time we’ve done so. The graphics, music, voice acting and cut scenes all look great though, and take some of the sting out of the repetition. The RPG elements are laid on quite deep, though the “open world” is hardly as open as first impressions suggest, with proper progression – both in the world and for your characters – locked off until you get to certain beats in the story.

Whilst not quite as deep, varied, or refined as its widely acclaimed contemporaries, Warhammer: Chaosbane still manages to serve up a solid ARPG that packs quite a punch. The game plays well, looks good, and sports heaps of replay value across the board. Despite the odd issue with its combat diversity and its poor voice work, fans of both the genre and the source material will no doubt thoroughly enjoy what’s on offer.

Disjointed is the lingering feeling once all is set and done with Atomic Heart. The articulate opening and the immense effort made to craft an absorbing alternate-history World War II Russia is certainly appreciable and admirable. Dishearteningly though, the FPS experience is weighed down by an awful lot of busywork and obnoxiously annoying characters that it’s hard to feel wholly immersed. As an FPS it certainly has some aplomb going for it, but it gets lost in the shades of comparison with greater games. If Atomic Heart was able to carry the brilliance of its opening twenty minutes it would be an excellent game, but sadly we’re stuck with an entertaining enough but bland and by the numbers shooter.

The Sojourn is a rather pleasant experience, all told. The puzzles are smartly designed, offering a decent challenge without being too obscure – for the most part. The calming backing audio and colourful visuals make it easy to get sunk in, too, with even harder areas a joy to just be in. While the story side fell flat for me, at least it keeps out of the way of the puzzling action.

Unto the End doesn’t mess about, and that will likely divide opinion on it. I don’t think I’ll eve see the end as it’s just too much of a challenge for me, but I absolutely can see the care and work that has gone into making it, and how well put together it is. If you’re into that other game then this 2D side scroller should be on your radar. Just be prepared to have a proper run of things.

Rogue Trader is a fantastic narrative embracing the satire, the self-importance, and the pompousness of the Warhammer 40K world. The turn-based combat is not quite a fully fledged but that doesn’t take away from it being a must play.

Kings Bounty 2 have tried to add a compelling story and RPG element to this game and it hasn’t been executed very well. The slow-moving character is morale-sapping at times and it is only the strategy battle element that saves it. But considering I got to a point where the enemy is so much stronger than me and there is no way to grind or lower the difficulty, I suspect others may also find themselves giving up in frustration well before the end.

After jumping back into the Plants vs. Zombies world, I can safely say this is my favorite way to play the franchise, classic tower-defense style gameplay loop. Not third person shooting or open worlds, just six lanes, some plants and some zombies. An argue can be had to whether we needed this as there are older GOTY editions, but I can’t lie and say I wasn’t excited to earn new achievements for it again. There is a little bit of new content but all in all this is just another repackaging of PvZ which if you’ve never played before … I definitely recommend it.

Pure Farming 2018 is a very deep and diverse farming experience, but it doesn’t come without fault. The visuals are far from impressive, the draw distance remains very limited, and the game can become overly repetitive. With that to the side, Pure Farming 2018 accomplishes everything it sets out to achieve. Simply put, this is multitasking made fun.

Bartlow’s Dread Machine is in all matters intriguing, from its old style mechanical arcade box feel, to its limited movement along rail shooter gameplay. There are a lot of positives to enjoy here, but I worry it may not last longer than a single play through. It is a good dual stick shooter to enjoy with a friend though, so should provide at least an evening or two of fun in that department.

Blades of Fire has all the elements to be a memorable action-adventure game but a few questionable decisions in my eyes have made it slightly fade in the crowd. Great graphics, complex combat, and interesting forging mechanics but the lack of direction sadly steers the game into becoming repetitive.

In summary, Can’t Drive This is a fresh take on an already saturated party game market that’s a ton of fun with friends and gets very addictive, but loses steam after 10 hours with the few game modes it offers. There just isn’t enough content to play this game solo and unlock the majority of the cosmetics. With that being said, I personally absolutely love this game and would love to see the idea further expanded.