SteamWorld Build is a city-builder with heart that successfully mixes various genres. It is also accessible to players who don’t put hundreds of hours into Cities Skylines and for players who have played many games in the genre it is a cute palate cleanser that can be played through in one weekend. The game offers various maps, but the replayability is what’s going to hold this title back.

Poor writing and some technical issues are not enough to hold back what is otherwise a blast to play. Solo or co-op if a turn-your-brain-off type of kill-a-thon sounds appealing I think this one is worth it.

Meg’s Monster offers a heartwarming tale for those that love watching gruff big guys become sweethearts over an unsuspecting intrusion in their lives. And with strong art direction, pleasant music, and a well-paced story, this game is a no-brainer for story lovers.

Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun is a beautiful, challenging, and occasionally infuriating love letter to old-school FPS titles. It’s just the right length and despite a few flaws it is worth a purchase on both console or PC.

Shadow Labyrinth is a solid 2D Metroidvania and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Its edginess has a lot of spunk and charm, level design is solid, platforming is varied, and progression is paced well. If you dig the idea of PAC-MAN eating people as you explore a world purveyed in turmoil, this one’s worth checking out.

As things are at launch if you have a group of friends to play with it will be a fun, albeit easy 30 to 40 hours before you run out of content to push. If they can bring back the grind of needing specific items to have any chance against the toughest monsters then you can add a few points to this final launch score.

Roboquest is a ton of fun, though it never feels great on a controller. It does feel good enough to recommend on Xbox, though. The devs get what it takes to make a solid run-based title, utilizing their years in early-access to craft another title worth checking out on Game Pass.

The Many Pieces of Mr. Coo plays its strengths through its animators’ beautiful work and the somewhat challenging puzzles that accompany Mr. Coo’s surrealist world. For fans of traditional animation, this adventure is a no brainer.

Despite its stingers, Super Bomberman R 2 is a solid package featuring a decent selection of characters, modes and maps, and a great level editor whose levels can be taken online and for offline play. Highly recommended for your party game line-up.

It’s cute, it’s handy, and a spot of fun. Untitled Hand Game is worth the bit of entertainment it sets out to give.

I had fun with the time I spent in Revenants. There are plenty of alternative endings to go for and an easy passage to go back in time and make amends in previous chapters. The combat system is solid and works well with the adventure-like sequences, even if their presentation isn’t the best. For fans of the previous game and those who like games with plenty of narrative avenues to take, I can easily recommend this game.

Dead Take is a solid four or five hours of classic horror puzzle fun, mixed with some excellent (and some mediocre) live-action scenes. It isn’t looking to break any ground, instead targeting a good, scary time, and nailing it.

The accessibility and approachability of MechWarrior 5: Clans then, may come at a cost – at least for now. It may just however, lead to a mainstream rejuvenation the series so sorely deserves, and with its launch into Xbox Game Pass, bring a whole new generation into our Sibko.

Terminator 2D: NO FATE is a gorgeous, fun time, with all the positives and negatives of 90s arcade games. The inclusion of alternate story paths helps the title from feeling too repetitive. Any fan of the franchise would do well to check this one out.

My advice is: come for the gorgeous psychedelic artstyle and stay for the second half of the game, even if it means muscling through the relatively stale early hours. It may not be the most satisfying metroidvania around, but it certainly is a unique experience that I recommend to fans of the genre.

The Last Faith is a mostly good game, with a few moments of brilliance, and a few more that drove me into a rage. It’s a beautiful, great-sounding game with decent combat and a world I found intriguing. In a year of stellar releases, this is one to, at the very least, add to your back catalog.

The game is impressive and an apt tribute to its cinematic roots. Blood spurts satisfyingly as you strike enemies down, burning arrows soar overhead ominously and supernatural sections are sufficiently eerie yet intriguing.

Ultimately, Wheel World is a small and charming open world, presenting a stylish look, an enjoyable biking gameplay loop, and various high adrenaline races, up and down the hills of this magic island. With rather formulaic open-world activities and slightly unpolished physics, the game doesn’t quite reach its full potential, but it’s also a pleasant experience that ends before some of its shortcomings could start to bore or frustrate. And, well, it’s out today and is on Game Pass, so it doesn’t cost much to give it a shot yourself. So, hop on your magical apocalypse-avoiding bikes, and let’s roll.

The game performed well on my Series X, the artwork, music and voice acting is of the usual high calibre and fans of the universe will find this entry as enjoyable to play as any of the others that have gone before it.

This trilogy of somewhat forgotten 90’s platformers are certainly a bit hit and miss – outdated but still often effective humor, a unique but often somewhat clunky gameplay, with even some unexpected narratives and lots of voiceovers and cameos to boot. Given that these games haven’t been properly ported to new systems before, it’s brilliant to see them live once again, but this remaster doesn’t really fix or improve much, with the value added being mainly the impressive depth of original artworks, ad materials, interviews and more. The Gex platformers may have never been timeless masterpieces, but they’re a cool piece of gaming history from a now long gone era of raunchy mascots. A cool time capsule, for sure.

I’m shocked at just how much I have enjoyed Godfall. The melee combat is some of the most satisfying out there and the time since release has been well spent as they’ve rebuilt and tweaked what was a weak new-generation launch title into something far more substantial.

If you enjoy deckbuilding roguelikes, and the thought of one with a competent and voiced story excites you then this is the game for you.

WWE 2K23 continues the series’ upwards trajectory. It’s a massive package full of different things to do. The roster is enormous, the microtransactions seem egregious in familiar “yearly sports title ways”, and the in-ring action almost nails riding the line between sports sim and scripted tv show. There is a love of the genre on display here and for any major or minor fan of sports entertainment, this year’s entry is worth checking out.

UFC 5 is fun to play, looks great, has a ton of fighters, though the career mode is a glorified tutorial. If you love the sport this seems like the best one yet, and should be well worth checking out.

Just Dance 2026 Edition is still just as fun as it always was. It’s a great title to get your friends and family together around the TV all the while losing a few calories in the process. The experience is a bit clumsy this time around and some bugs can get in the way, but that won’t stop you from enjoying the latest round of songs in this year’s iteration of Ubisoft’s popular dancing series. All you gotta do is Just Dance.

As a big fan of cinema and storytelling, I enjoyed the attempt at a mostly well told, if somewhat predictable yarn, full of plot twists and surprises, particularly with friends in tow.

Long time fans of Punch-Out should definitely check out Thunder Ray as it provides a stunning and fun modern day fix at a welcoming price of admission.

Little Kitty, Big City is a short and sweet experience, much like this review. Full of charm and heart, it’s well worth checking out Day One on Xbox Game Pass whether you’re a cat person or not.