I can see Hunting Simulator 2 working for some people, but it doesn’t work for me. It is clunky, slow and glitchy, and whilst there’s a base loop that could be intriguing, the lack of any real depth past the first few hours left me feeling disappointed.

Sadly, whilst Dolmen is a game that may have been well suited 10 or 15 years ago, with a ton of souls-likes already out there such as The Surge, Hellpoint, Mortal Shell, Nioh, and so on, there is a lot to achieve if you want to make it as a memorable experience in the action RPG genre, and Dolmen doesn’t stand up there with the cream of the crop already available.

Gods Remastered is a mixed bag of pros and cons. Whilst the game’s structure and its pace has maintained its quality quite well over the last two and a half decades, the game’s combat and its handling remains far removed from acceptable standards. Still, one has to appreciate the work that’s gone into the remastered aspects here. It’s just a shame that much of the game’s charm is weighed down by its dated functionality.

Car Demolition Clicker is a pick up and put down game, a game you play if you’re distracted and want to kill some time. That doesn’t necessarily make it a bad game though. I was relieved when I discovered that I didn’t have to click my way through 20 gruesome hours. Upgrading my arsenal made me play a little bit more each time with the mindset of wanting to get stronger. Adding factions help the player grind the resets out pretty quickly considering you only need to destroy fifty cars with a faction (plus ten per additional reset), but you do have to go through the levels again. I personally still have some achievements left in the game to unlock, but do plan on doing so since it’s a relaxing game to pick up in an awkward amount of free time, and is okay to leave running with no consequences.

One Dog Story might not have the punch of a modern game but it’s style and arcade mannerisms make for a fun and entertaining experience. Literally, you can see the characters expressions and when it comes to pixels that can be a hard task indeed. Well done team.

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.

Golf Zero manages to be an entertaining spin on golfing, adding in extra platforming elements while removing every other aspect if videogame golf to worry about. It offers a good little challenge, especially adding in the extra objectives, though they are only really there for completionists. Aside from the horrendous audio, I had some fun with Golf Zero, and – cheevo hunter or not – it’s worth a look in my book.

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.

Donuts‘n’Justice is a retro game with a decent retro look and feel. Local co-op is a nice touch. There’s limited replay value due to only a few stages in the game. I think it is good for achievement hunters as you will be able to knock this title out in less than an hour but it’s one you will probably play and forget quickly.

I really enjoyed playing through the challenging puzzles that continued to evolve with difficulty as I progressed through each area. If it weren’t for the hints however, I probably would have been discouraged to push through. Fortunately, Ratalaika has another easy game out there now for achievement and puzzle lovers. Reflection of Mine was quite average, but fun for being a puzzle game.

Hard West is a tough one to recommend; the tactical battles are pretty decent, if perhaps a little lighter in options than some examples of the genre, but it’s also quite po-faced and sterile in its delivery. The in-between map sections are a nice idea though also suffer from the same flaws, as well as not feeling all that engaging or interesting. I liked the supernatural twists across the scenarios though, offering up a little something extra to just cowboys shooting at each other.

Despite these complaints, I have tremendously enjoyed my first 40 hours and feel a sense of accomplishment when I finally get my wash station running and walk away with a pocket full of gold. This game demands your patience and attention, so it will not be for everybody, but for a select few, this game will provide hours of entertainment.

Distraint is a short game, but well worth the time invested. The story kept me interested, and while the mechanics are simple, they work well enough.

Driven Out is a very challenging game and offers good enemy variety and will test your reflexes. But with no backstory or any kind of storyline, it is hard to bond with your protagonist. There is some fun to be had in the sense of achievement by progressing in such a tough game, where it can take you an hour or more to progress past the same 3 or 4 enemies. But constantly dying against the same foe grows old very fast.

Despite deciding not to review anymore visual novels after the poor Strawberry Vinegar, I’m glad I changed my mind for Vera Blanc: Full Moon. It has a great comicbook visual style (even for a decade old mobile phone port) and the extra interaction from the mini-games helps stave off the feeling of just reading a book, letting us actually play something here and there.

InnerSpace is both relaxing and endearing, but fails to truly captivate due to the lack of meaningful progression and pace. It’s a game that encourages players to take a journey into the unknown, yet doesn’t quite relay what the player is journeying towards once there. It’s certainly pleasing at first, but it wears thin far sooner than it should.

Tanuki Sunset started off as a free-to-play game, and like any good games “journalist” I tried it out before writing this review; while there are some major improvements in the expanded, for-purchase version, I can’t help but think that it should have just stayed as a free to play game. Transforming an endless runner-style game into one with semi-procedurally generated levels does not work in this case. The aesthetic might be off the charts and just your style, but the gameplay is a real bummer, not even a cute and furry main character could stop me from wanting to bail at the first chance I got.

With an old school arcade mentality Pity Pit manages to be good fun in short bursts, but those looking for a more substantial experience might be left wanting here. Achievement hunters will lap it up, but it’s probably not something they’ll come back too once that final one pops.

Night Call for me is a really tough game to play through as I prefer more – or even some – action. It should appeal to those who like gritty novels and like to play as a detective. For those who can read between the lines and use clues to solve mysteries, it may be better suited. The game plays more as just reading the book with the occasional dash of strategy. But it does have some interesting stories and themes and should appeal to the right audience.

Explosionade DX is everything you would expect from a 2D platform shooter. The only thing stopping it from becoming too vanilla is the shield floating feature, though you can play most of the game without needing the shield outside of high jumps. Once the buttons were remapped the game was fun to play but the short levels made the game feel too stop-start for me. Fans of this genre and achievement hunters may still get some joy out of this.

I expected so much from the story with it being a Warhammer game. Usually, you are drowning in lore and story but with 40,000: Space Wolf, you barely get your feet wet. Every menu in the game feels so slow and sticky. I know it originated from a mobile game but the menu and story needed way more work for a console version. The gameplay is actually alright, the card mechanic mixed with X-COM style combat is quite interesting. But with dumb NPC’s, respawning enemies and losing a turn just to turn your guy around there are just a few too many bad decisions for me.

OK K.O.! Let’s Play Heroes is a prime example of licence cash grabbing. It’s not a bad game, but it’s clearly an experience that focuses on fans of the show, inadvertently alienating fans of the game’s genre. There’s no depth and innovation within, leaving players with nothing more than a bog-standard brawler that does very little to excite or excel.

CrossKrush is a fun puzzle game which gets your brain working and is good to play for a couple of hours, with or without a friend. It has cute graphics and catchy music. With it being a quick completion I can imagine a lot of trophy/achievement hunters will love this game. Though, with no incentive for extensive play this game would benefit greatly with some much needed additions and online play. I had great fun with this game with a full completion and really hope you do too.

The gameplay is fun for a short amount of time, which it only lasts for sadly. Yet, the music and cute artsy visuals make up for the lacklustre future the game holds and is fun while playing it. You do get your value out of what you pay for the game unlike other games out on the marketplace and is not overpriced by any means.

Flat Kingdom Paper’s Cut Edition has made it’s way onto Xbox and while it’s not bad, it’s not great. Mediocre platforming mixed with simple yet convoluted mechanics that took my brain longer than it should to catch on made this for a very “meh” experience. At least it’s easy gamerscore though!

Yet Another Zombie Defense HD is a bog-standard game that doesn’t particularly do much to stand out. Sure, there’s support for both local and online play across three game modes in total, but its lack of innovation and depth does little to elevate the experience above its peers. In fairness, the game is fun in short bursts and comes with a decent gameplay foundation. Just don’t expect to be blown away.

Tracks is simple pick up and play game and if you have kids who love trains this is something they may enjoy. I still prefer playing with the real thing with my son but if you want to get your creative juices flowing and love trains this is a no-brainer for you.

All in all Balan Wonderworld is uninspiring and boring to play. A lack of instruction mixed with some of the most basic platforming abilities missing at times makes the game a chore.