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.

King Arthur: Knights Tale is a good but not quite great medieval take on the tactical RPG genre. The Skirmish and Local PVP modes add value and longevity to a game that can feel repetitive if you stick solely to the campaign.

Overall and if you’ve played any previous game in the series, then you know what you’re getting into. Sadly Monster Energy Supercross 5 doesn’t offer enough that I’d recommend dropping launch price cash on, however it’s well worth checking out when a sale drops. For newcomers, it’s hard to recommend starting here when other titles are available cheaper frequently, however, if you want something that looks fantastic on your Series S or X, then this is definitely a beautiful way to enjoy Supercross.

This all being said, Tower of Time is dark, rewarding and interesting. It relies on some dark fantasy cliches but offers enough originality to stand out in an over-saturated market. If you like old school CRPGs, this is absolutely worth your time.

For less than a fiver on the Xbox store, there’s not much to lose if you’re even remotely keen on a fun but challenging indie puzzler. There’s not much in the way of extra flash or pizzaz, but what’s here is solid puzzle gaming through and through.

Mugsters offers up a great deal of variety across its sizable portion of well developed, colorful, physics-based levels. There’s a few issues present, such as the daft AI and the counter-intuitive camera, but even so, the game remains fun, engaging and wide open to choice. Whether you’re exploring, innovating or even just messing around, Mugsters’ puzzles will keep you entertained for hours on end.

Overall, if you want to experience all the highs in the life of a bus company without any real punishments to worry about then Bus Simulator 21 is the game for you. It’s a surprisingly engaging experience when it all runs smoothly and there’s definitely fun to be had here as you begin connecting routes and districts together. It must be said the multiplayer experience isn’t fantastic right now thanks to consistent connection issues, although should they not be present at any point the experience would certainly be enjoyable, but this isn’t a game that requires friends to enjoy and whilst there are some questionable occasions that arise, the general experience brings a believable and enjoyable life in the life of a bus company.

Knights and Guns is exactly what you want from a reimagining of a classic title. I loved Pang when it was at the arcades and this game made me feel the same nostalgic excitement I had when playing. It’s simple chaotic fun without being super difficult and overwhelming bullet hell madness. It’s a shame there is no online co-op but it’s still just as fun to play on your own.

A game that was completely developed during the lockdown – and is about it – is worth the current price it is currently listed at. With a total of 762 scenes and several hours of FMV footage to be seen in the game, there are many hours here for the player to experience with various dialogue options leading to different responses and outcomes. I wouldn’t pass this game up if you’re a fan of the Visual Novel genre, as this game is not complicated and provides many laughs in a romantic comedy fashion while raising the bar for expectations for this genre.

All in all, we enjoyed our time with Chasing Static. The retro-stylings hooked us in and gave the creepy atmosphere a more unique flavour, while the gameplay and story were good enough to keep us coming back for more. A little more action wouldn’t have gone amiss, but as it is, Chasing Static comes out as something we’d recommend to those looking for something a little different.

The simplicity and seamless movement between levels and menus, combined with the ambient soundtrack and gently glowing visuals will naturally draw anyone into the game. Considering that the player is essentially just moving a little white block in only 4 directions it is a surprisingly enjoyable experience overall. Active Neurons is simple, yet effective and certainly worth the low entry fee.

Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker captures the essence, the speed and the personality of Naruto magnificently well. It’s deep, engaging and distinct. There’s certainly some adjustments needed for class balance, and matchmaking can indeed drag on for longer than it should, but when everything clicks into place, there’s little else that comes quite as close to the source material as this does.

These niggles aside, Bear With Me still managed to keep me hooked right through. While the obtuse nature of traditional point and click puzzles still rears its head here, they are the exception rather than the rule. The characters are well written, and I found myself really growing attached to Amber, Flint and Ted as well as most of the supporting cast. There’s a surprisingly touching narrative to uncover too, with extra little side stories tucked in along the way that flesh the world out nicely.

While I was disappointed by the horror aspects in Close to the Sun, overall I found my time with it to be quite engaging. The story and characters get their hooks in just enough to keep you playing, and the world building – from the gorgeous visuals to the incidental details and notes left behind – is brilliant. That it keeps its run time brief is to the games credit too, as yet more chase sequences would definitely have harmed the experience.

Sea Salt is refreshing in its gaming style. Combining action and strategy in a simple based setup works great here. The dark artistic style and music serve the evil cult theme well. It has enough difficulty to make the game a challenge and enough variation to make you consider different tactics and replay the game in a different way. Although the graphics are in an 16-bit style, there is something charming about the sprites making the game an interesting play through.

As a recent addition to the Microsoft Game Studios family, Obsidian have put their best foot forward with The Outer Worlds. Solid gun play, an engaging story with great, likeable characters and a world that is fun to explore and interact with. Some missions let the side down a little and the game could be bigger but with so many nods to the great RPG predecessors and taking the best elements from them this is a great game to pick up.

Horizon Chase Turbo doesn’t come without faults, but even so, it’s easily one of the most entertaining retro arcade racers in recent memory. I take issue with the game’s unbalanced AI and its unsteady difficulty curve, collectively presenting infrequent moments of frustration. This, however, is easy to overlook in the face of its deep serving of content, its diverse track and vehicle selection, and its addictive, energetic gameplay.

If you follow Artifex, Queen’s Quest 2 will feel painfully familiar due to its lack of formulaic deviation. Unsurprisingly, the story is its weakest element, with its unenthusiastic voice work trailing closely behind. That said, it’s still a fairly robust and very challenging puzzler nonetheless. One that certainly knows how to motivate your senses through its intelligent design, its commendable diversity, and its expertly detailed locations.

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.

Deep Sky Derelicts: Definitive Edition may not be a graphical masterpiece but it more than makes up for it in tactical gameplay. I found myself quite addicted to the tactical challenges of the maps and in the combat. The difficulty starts of quite tough, but it gradually becomes easier as you buy the upgrades and craft your equipment. DSD is sufficiently long enough to make it good value and you can tackle the game using different job classes for longevity.

Lonely Mountains Downhill is a fun, arcade style challenge that will test even the most hardened of gamer’s nerve. Some bizarre technical issues and dodgy physics let the side down a tad, but it’s far from unplayable. In fact, there’s something rather calming to the whole affair in between the rage that makes playing the game worthwhile – especially as it launches into Gamepass.

Simple, solid fun from Double Fine’s multiplayer brawler, with a charming and easy to use creation suite to boot. Matchmaking can take some time, and playing with random players is far less enjoyable than with a group of buddies, but this is still an easy recommendation for those looking to add a new game to the game night rotation.

Although it’s nowhere near as compelling nor as deep as its inspirational material, Anodyne offers a fun, worthwhile and well paced journey. The game uses its few gameplay mechanics to great effect, and although it would have been nice to see more innovation and depth as far as its combat is concerned, there’s no denying that Anodyne is one of the better examples of Zelda-esque adventuring.

Flint: Treasure of Oblivion is an interesting turn-based pirate adventure, to say the least. The storyline is interesting even if it does go a bit supernatural. The comic book-style dialogue is wonderfully drawn and well-written. I know turn-based combat is hard to keep fresh and interesting but I think this game went a bit too complex with it. Maybe with a bit more on-screen hand it would make more sense but I found it too easy to get lost with the dice roll meanings and the upgrade configuration.

Despite starting off negatively (the bugs and glitches can easily be fixed with patch), overall I had a good time with Sniper Elite 5, I’d highly recommend every Game Pass member download this and give it a go, whilst fans of the series will also be happy with the new content and Nazi ball-busting opportunities.

Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds: Ultimate is a loving remaster/reworking of the original title, it is bursting with content and all of the originals wide-eyed excess. For those revisiting this will be everything they could possibly want (bigger roster, more modes, better multiplayer). For hardcore beat ‘em up fans the combat might not be deep enough for them but they aren’t the target audience for this title.

Overall Antigraviator is a nice, smooth experience of high speed, futuristic racing. I wish it had a few more tracks as even with reverse and mirror modes it’s really only 18 courses, which would have been fine 20 years ago, but I believe players expect more in this day and age. Another thing on my wish list would have been some kind of combat element with limited ammo per lap. The random trap activation’s are fine but I want more control over my opponents demise. Plus it would give a greater sense of your own personal danger. Still the racing is intense and fun so I can’t really complain too much.

SCHiM is a delight of a game. Taking a concept that some of us may have played out in our heads as kids, imaging something jumping across the shadows or us jumping ourselves, and have turned that into a beautiful game. Without words, without facial expressions, and limiting color palettes, SCHiM manages to make something really unique.