While the slow, awkward pace and systems might put off some early on, Vaporum: Lockdown is worth sticking with and investing the time to get to grips with. The grid based gameplay is somewhat refreshing in this day and age, and the sense of satisfaction in solving puzzles off our own back is good. UI and presentation wise things could have been better implemented for sure, but get lost in the world and there’s a lot to enjoy here.

Sadly, Mini Madness utterly squanders any sort of promise it may have had with dull driving icing the cake of boring track design, terrible music, and shoddy UI and modes. Even those looking for a simple racer to last an evening will likely turn this off after only a handful of races.

Aluna: Sentinel of the Shards is an uncomplicated hack’n’slash action RPG. It has enough elements to make it visually nice and simple to play, but the lengthy levels and repetition may cause you to suffer burnout pretty quickly. It can be played differently if you want to try melee, ranged or magic focused but I can’t see many wanting to revisit the game to play it a different way as it offers little replay value. But in terms of content, I can’t fault it definitely has plenty of hours worth of gameplay.

Despite its lacklusterness, it’s hard for me not to recommend Record of Lodoss War – Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth considering that it’s on Game Pass. If you like Metroidvanias, or action platformers, then it’s definitely worth a look. But if you are expecting a top-of-line experience like its inspiration Symphony of the Night, you’ll be disappointed. Wonder Labyrinth checks all the boxes and features some unique Team Ladybug ideas, but nothing about it stands out from the pack.

I was totally underwhelmed with the single player part of Asteroids, until I stumbled upon challenges. Short sharp specific focused game mode. These were exciting, with the fact I had a goal to work toward made playing it more enjoyable.

Serious Sam 4 almost had me with its fast gunplay and over the top action, but a reliance on sheer, overwhelming numbers and repetition meant that I began to get bored and frustrated far too quickly.

The crux of the matter is simple; Ball laB is a basic game with basic qualities. It has simplistic controls, a basic idea and some pretty common gameplay concepts that make up the entirety of the core experience, but all in all, Ball laB is a simple and effective game that comes bearing a wallet-friendly price, enjoyable and engaging gameplay and enough content to keep you interested just long enough to see the end. If you can handle basic pixel visuals, can bring a little patience and are happy to part with a little pocket change, you could find yourself enjoying a fairly decent platforming experience to see the year out. It’s not going to be one of the biggest games this year, it’s unlikely to even be remembered come the start of next year, but it’s not a bad way to spend a couple of hours.

Overall, if you are looking for a game that can provide a high-quality storytelling experience, whilst remaining engaging throughout, then there will be few better than The Letter – A Horror Visual Novel. Sure, you can blast through it with skip-text options and auto-play if you’re just here for the Gamerscore, but if you want to make the most of that money spent, then this is not a game that will disappoint. It brings classic horror to a complete narrative adventure, and it does it in a way that even few books manage to achieve. This is the first time a visual novel has left me anything but resenting its existence, and somehow this one even manages to be impressive. Hopefully, we see more horror visual novels given this same development effort.

For spoiler’s sake, I won’t go too much into the secret of what exactly is going on at Happy’s Humble Burger Farm but what I can say is that it is definitely an experience I enjoyed. A mixture of horror and a fast food simulator proved itself to be a very nice combo and I think any fan of horror games will thoroughly enjoy themselves.

Tunnel of Doom is a tight little package that has found a flourish on the roguelite formula that feels like more developers should be paying attention.

A round of applause is needed as Skunkape did a phenomenal job with giving Sam and Max a makeover while still keeping that original charm. While it’s still a shame that some of the jokes were left out and there was a change in voice actors, the original fans will still get a kick out of the many new changes while at the same time introducing the game to a whole other generation.

Overall, Evil Genius 2 is an enjoyable game. Having not played the original I can’t say if it was or wasn’t worth the lengthy wait for this sequel, but as someone who has played his fair share of city builders and management sims, this is certainly no bad effort if you’re looking for something a little more casual, whilst still providing enough to keep you engaged for several hours. With multiple characters, each playthrough has its own twists and never did I feel like things were becoming too much of the same, which is all too frequent in gaming these days. Sure, it may not be quite so taxing for veteran city builders, but it’s certainly a welcome experience on Xbox consoles.

Rune Factory 4 Special is a mammoth game with tons of content for those that are fans of the genre. It is hobbled by some strange High-definition upgrade choices.

Aspire: Ina’s Tale doesn’t bring anything new to the table. The graphic design is superb, but I can’t recommend you play a game on graphics alone. I think fans of the genre could enjoy this, and for the amount of content I think it is fairly priced, but if you are interested I suggest you wait to pick it up in a sale.

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.

Space Crew takes a while to get into but once you do it is fun to play and definitely brings the same enjoy Bomber Crew did. They have taken what was lacking in Bomber Crew and the frustration you had and changed things around. But let me tell you this, even though they have made it so much better gameplay-wise, I think I still had more fun playing Bomber Crew which is bizarre.

Overall, if you like dark, dystopian and gritty gameplay experiences, platforming that comes with a difficulty curve that takes some learning, and controls that are simple enough for even gaming casuals to pick up and want something short enough that you can sit through in an evening or two, then White Shadows may be the next game to add to your list. It’s not revolutionary, and there may be better out there, but it’s a good first effort from Monkel.

Grow: Song of the Evertree feels like a mobile phone time-killing game that has been plucked out spruced up with some gorgeous graphics, added some great orchestral background music, pumped the game full of things to do and gives you free license with how you want to play create your worlds. As with these types of games, some things can get quite repetitive but if you want a stress free pretty looking game then you could easily lose some hours with this game.

If you like Metroidvanias and/or 2D precision platformers then Trash Quest should be on your radar. The fantastic movement mechanics give the player the appropriate amount of control for working your way through the maze-like space station on your compact quest. The game is reasonably priced at $9 USD, but if you want to check out the game for less you could pick it up on steam where it’s only $3.

The Gunk is a perfect example of a developer that can make tired mechanical tropes sing with master craftmanship.

Fans of simpler puzzle/platformers would do well to check out Night Lights. It may lack a bit in the audio department, and some sections feel overly long thanks to padding back tracking, but overall I had a good time with the game and would definitely recommend others check it out.

Little Bug starts of well enough, but some awkward controls and frankly annoying difficulty spikes towards to end mean it’s only a mild recommendation for those who enjoy checking out smaller indie titles. Those looking for a decent platformer to play already have a plethora of better options to choose from.

Overall, if you like your party games, are looking for a giggle and you want some wacky fun to keep you and some friends entertained for a few hours, Rubber Bandits is not a bad shout. Going further than that might be difficult due to the lack of game modes making longevity a stretch, but there is enough here to warrant a look, especially given the game is available right now on Xbox Game Pass for console and PC.

Clone Drone in the Danger Zone is simple in nature, offering up some slightly unwieldy physics based combat that is fun enough in short bursts. The story mode offers more than we expected going in and is worth a shot, and there are plenty of challenges for dedicated players to check out as well as online play, but the rinse and repeat nature of the combat means we’ve likely had our fill before the evenings up.

Upon reflection, Beyond A Steel Sky may well be a tale of two games. One side of the equation sees it as an interesting narrative adventure with strange characters, a bustling metropolis, intriguing gameplay elements and a welcome sense of humour. On the other side meanwhile there’s the flatness of those personalities, unexplored ideas, a dearth of reasons to care, a mediocre protagonist and a game you can brush off and forget about. There’s enough here for you to be welcomed in but there are far greater alternatives out there – especially ones that aren’t dragging and lugging about a twenty-five-year-old design. It’s worth a shot then, but much like the game itself you will refer it to the past once you’ve finished it.

The Oddworld has finally graced the Xbox platform with it’s newest entry into the franchise with Oddworld: Soulstorm Enhanced Edition. This is a reimagining of the classic Oddworld: Abe’s Exoddus. It improves on the prequel remake, Oddworld: New ‘n Tasty, in every way. Hands down the best 2D Oddworld game and I think fans of the franchise will love it.

Encodya is an unabashedly retro point-and-click adventure. That brings with it all of the warts of early-mid 90s gaming along with any nostalgia.

I would recommend this title to LEGO fans that love building, but hate the mess. This game is a brief story of a bond between two characters and coping with everyday life as a Lego. I enjoyed the silent story the player witnesses as the levels roll on and was impressed mostly by the vivid color usage in the visuals and level design. If you’re not into puzzle games or an avid Lego fan, then you might find it hard to find value in this short game and will quickly lose interest. Once the credits roll, the game resets right back to the beginning again with no other mode or extra content apart from the main 35 levels. I felt it was a tad short for the asking price, but the game is impressive for what it is and is an official LEGO product. If trying to get a young child to play this, they will most likely lose interest in comparison to the standard LEGO game due to the lack of familiar characters, voice acting, and the subtlety of the story delivery. This game was made for the fans of the hobby and puzzlers alike.