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.

In hindsight, Freddy Spaghetti 2 didn’t improve greatly upon the first instalment. The levels feel short and the game feels too easy. It seems to be more of a cash grab from those who enjoy unlocking achievements, but may provide a laugh for fans of The Office or fans of physics-based games like Octodad or Human Fall Flat.

I love my metroidvania games and The Mobius Machine is definitely a metroidvania game, however it fell a little short for me. The pieces are there for a decent game but the combination of the slow paced progression, combat, and mapping frustrations actively pulled me away from the game. It’s not often I don’t finish a game but with The Mobius Machine it is just something I will have to try after some time has passed.

Just Ignore Them is a fun 8-bit adventure and a great addition to the retro point-and-click genre. Albeit a short campaign, the game shows use of a retro style mixed with a scripted horror experience can work well for the crew at Stranga Games.

Zombie Derby does nothing groundbreaking but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t scratch a certain itch. It reminds me of simpler times and perhaps the type of game I used to play in my internet browser as a kid. Good for short bursts in my opinion and easy to pick up from anybody. The real get here would be the gamerscore as the full completion with all achievments can be had in less than half an hour and the game won’t cost you that much.

All in all, Hookbots is an unreal, action packed fun machine and gives players a chance to be vicious in a fight that will bring clubs, feuds, and challenges for all. Bringing arcade action back in this fashion is necessary in this day of age. Albeit challenging for beginners, Hookbots will have the lounge room in an uproar quicker than you can score a goal. A definite plus for quick game players and achievement hunters.

Don’t mistake Reed Remastered for a quick or easy indie title (or achievement grab – I didn’t mention earlier that this game is published by Ratalaika Games) because there is more to it than that. It’s a solid platformer that focuses more on mechanics than aesthetics, and it’s hard enough to challenge any gamer that prides themselves on their reflexes and skills. Reed, the cute character in the promotional material, looks like a cotton ball or a mini-marshmallow but represents something more like the Stay Puft giant from Ghostbusters.

I wanted to like Gori: Cuddly Carnage more than I did, perhaps my hopes were too high. In the end I found the levels too repetitive for my liking and some technical issues soured my mood. There were some fun parts in the platforming and chase sequences but that’s not enough to be able to highly recommend this game to my friends.

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.

I do love a pixel-art platformer, but the inclusion of RPG elements (which were a little complicated in my eyes) sucked out some of the enjoyment factor from Ginsha. I can see the replayability and the many ways you could customise your character but these just didn’t do it for me. The basic exploration, traversing and shooting is very well executed and enjoyable. The story was fairly interesting however as I kept reading the text I felt myself wandering and losing interest very early on. Some voice acting would really improve the experience and would have also kept my attention for longer.

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.

The soundtrack is annoying and the gameplay does become less fun and more irritating in the later stages of play. With that being said this does indeed provide the best Boom Ball experience to date, and packs enough content to keep you going for hours on end. It’s fun in small doses, it’s well designed, and the visuals are creative and colorful. If you have a Kinect connected, this is worth the investment.

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.

In short bursts, Tilting Tiles offers a decent puzzling challenge that’s enjoyable to conquer, albeit one that a few quality of life improvements such as backtracking steps or a hint system would improve.

Woodle Tree 2: Deluxe+ for me is a sound 3D platformer and is not over-complex, though it does seem to have confused its target market somewhat. With its simple story and cute graphics, you would think the game is aimed at the younger generation. But with the tricky combat and awkward jumping at times, you would need to be a slightly more accomplished gamer to be able complete some areas, as it requires a level of nerve and patience the younger generation don’t usually have.

Overall Curious Expedition is a nice little time killer that can be played casually, in small increments. I’d advise against binging on it because it has potential to become boring really quick for some people. It’s nice that every play through will be different but there isn’t really a whole lot of action – but simply surviving will be a hard enough time as it is. For some reason it kept making me think of that old game Oregon Trail. It’s rare that I rank a games replay value higher than it’s overall experience but it is enjoyable in small doses. If the developers could manage to patch in some sort of multiplayer it would definitely entice me to go back and try some more.

The Council is ambitious, unique, and serves up some truly in-depth functionality. However, the otherwise intriguing story is let down by poor voice acting and daft character animation. The game also puts an awful lot of pressure on the player to learn so much in a short space of time. The Council is off to a good start, but it should have been refined more.

Vambrace: Dungeon Monarch is a really interesting attempt at doing something different with the deck-building genre. Frustrating, absorbing, annoying, engrossing, very fiddly, but also not as complex as it seems. Fascinating game, that I hope gets a refined sequel.

60 Parsecs! overall is a pretty decent game. Its cartoonish graphics and rather dark humor at times are appealing along with its variety of choices you can make with during your playthrough. For a game that’s based on a lot of text talking I figured the music would keep you awake but it just repeats the same notes over and over kind of putting you to sleep. Regarding the situations you can encounter I feel that they are lacking and often are repetitive. I find these kinds of simplistic games interesting nonetheless but I can’t say it’s for those who seek action and more depth with their games. I will say, If you’re an achievement hunter have at this game – the full 1000G could be yours, just be prepared to encounter the same situations repeatedly.

Dakar 18 is held back from greatness due to a number of issues. Chief among these problems tend to revolve around the game’s poor handling and its over-the-top damage system. However, if you can overlook the game’s awkward foundation and forgive the overbearing co-driver, there’s a beautiful vast world to soak up, with no shortage of diverse content to take for a spin. Just don’t expect to be wowed.

A strong opening set of chapters set up an intriguing mystery with the return of Max Caulfield, new powers and friends, and a fantastic setting with some excellent audio/visual work. Unfortunately, it all falls apart by the end, with a confusing mess of threads that sweep the interesting stuff aside in favour of a side story that feels rushed, and a final choice that is set up poorly, leaving us underwhelmed and not entirely sure what fate we assigned ourselves too.

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.

Bombslinger provides a challenging, detailed, diverse and well developed experience. There’s no denying that its unique spin on the formula provides it with a compelling edge, though with that being said, this game does become repetitive, tedious and frustrating before too long. Still, it’s well worth a visit if you’re looking for something to fill the void before Super Bomberman R arrives.

Gynoug is back from it’s Sega glory days with this modern day re-release. Nothing fancy here if you played it back in the day but cheats are included as well as rewind to help you get through the notoriously hard levels. Bonus is that it’s easy to get all of the achievements and gamerscore with the included cheats.

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.

I know I am not the intended audience, however, I did have fun with this kart racer. Controls are simple with the added feature of auto acceleration for the younger players (or the lazy ones like me), while the graphics look good and are on point for the Gigantosaurus world.

If you ask me, if you’re not willing to play MyCareer or even MyTeam, then save your money as NBA 2K23 is not worth it in the long run. You’ll just end up spending more money than you initially thought you would while potentially playing anything but basketball.

Considering its low cost, Skelly Selest offers quite a bulky serving that will no doubt entice fans of slash and dash score attacks, and whilst far from deep, and despite some glaring issues, it’s certainly somewhat entertaining across most aspects of play. That being said, it doesn’t take too long before repetition sinks in, making this more ideal to play when you’ve an hour to spare, or, when you’re waiting for something better to install.