Do Not Feed the Monkeys 2099 is an excellent blend of ideas and watching the various cage narrative is thrilling. There’s enough of them and they are randomized at the start of a new run, to encourage replayability. The game makes mass surveillance immersive and engaging, which is icky on a conceptual level but makes playing the game very fun. The survival and interference mechanics also mesh well with the dystopian future world. I wanted more future wikis to explore, with even weirder concepts and incidents. Do Not Feed the Monkeys 2099 is weird and compelling, with cool ideas for both the cage stories and the meta-narrative.

Planet of Lana is sure to capture players'attention with its visuals and music, which are on par with those of modern big studio animation movies. The game’s world is shrouded in mystery and players will have to work to find all the shrines to get a full picture of what’s happening. At times, finding a kidnapped friend seems too flimsy a motivation for Lana to continue her adventure. But gameplay is good enough, with limited reasons for frustration and some very clever puzzles, to keep players engaged. Planet of Lana has heart and engaging gameplay sequences, although these could have used extra variety.

Firmament is clearly designed to appeal to players who loved the concept of Myst, showing them how impressive such a narrative-driven puzzle experience can be when built using modern tech. Stepping out into the three realms creates a powerful sense of wonder and there are plenty of moments when the world impresses with its scale and beauty. But these feelings do not last forever and the core gameplay loop struggles to keep players pushing forward. There’s some clever puzzle design to wrap one’s head around but there’s too much friction when it comes to the implementation of the solutions. I wanted Firmament to be more ambitious, with more twists to its narrative and puzzles that require less grunt work and more exploration of its gorgeous levels.

Although I would have liked to see some visual changes too, there’s nothing wrong in using the same assets if they proved to be so popular among players. Fuga: Melodies of Steel series remains an indie gem that has yet to receive the attention it deserves. If you love turn-based strategy games with serious themes, I can’t recommend this enough.

Blooming Business: Casino is a good tycoon management game and will satisfy gamers who want to create attractive gambling rooms, keep them in tip-top condition, and find the best ways to satisfy customers and VIPs. The title’s mechanics are good and the presentation and narrative offer a laid back atmosphere. Given these strong foundations, I’m a little disappointed that the developers at Homo Ludens didn’t include at least one big twist to the genre. The VIP focus is about half an innovation and I wanted a bigger new idea to work with. Blooming Business: Casino is a perfectly pleasant game with strong core concepts but should have aimed for more.

Miasma Chronicles is one hell of a ride from start to finish. Although the package comes with a compelling story, my number one enjoyment was to find new ways to finish a fight faster since I treated these as puzzles with complex solutions. If you love turn-based games, Miasma Chronicles is a must-play.

A true masterpiece by today’s standards, the newest Zelda game is a technological wonder considering it’s been made to run on a rather outdated console. This is a must-play even if you haven’t played a Zelda game before, but you might not enjoy it if you’re not into sandbox experiences.

Dead Ink’s core gameplay is built on ideas inspired by the very popular Dark Souls but it is not part of the forgettable recent wave of titles that simply copy them. The vertical layout of the tower is a big twist with major consequences for exploration. Players need to move carefully and pay close attention to ladders and ledges that will lead to new places. Combat is all about careful dodging and strikes delivered at just the right time. The narrative is pretty limited. But I like the feeling of discovery and how the game encourages players to create mental maps and unlock shortcuts. Dead Ink should have tried to tweak the formula it’s working with a little more but it has enough unique elements to keep fans engaged.

This Means Warp is designed to appeal to players who can get a group of friends together and get them to join in cooperative play. The main mechanics of combat and repairing are easy to understand but as soon as more than one human is involved, everything can quickly devolve into chaotic fun. Time and energy will allow groups to become expertly-drilled crews. The title’s biggest issue is how repetitive the gameplay loop is. This is mitigated when more than one player is involved. But a solo game with computer companions will be frustrating. Get This Means Warp if you have a group of friends who like science fiction and ship-to-ship combat and are ready to get together for some controlled chaos and some laughs.

Tin Hearts has clever puzzle design, interesting ways to interact with the environment, and a good ramp-up for its difficulty level. The time manipulation system makes it easy to try out new ideas and see how they play out. There are no difficulty spikes and the level of frustration is kept to a minimum. The title’s presentation works well with the mechanics but the narrative never made an impact. The focus on toys makes the game well-suited for younger gamers, even if they might need help when it comes to figuring out solutions. Tin Hearts is a carefully calibrated puzzle experience and offers a great way to unwind.

Arto is the rare indie that impresses visually without relying on the classic pixel art style with a layer of nostalgia. Each of the deities creates its own picket universe, with a unique theme, and the idea that players are constantly spreading color while moving works well with all of them. I literally spent one full hour simply making sure that Goya’s world is fully covered in color. The spectacle only works because the game also has good mechanics. Combat is fast and Liv is responsive, able to deal with bosses without generating too much frustration. The game’s fantasy world also meshes well with its mechanics. Arto is bright and fun, a lovely experience that shows the power of a great idea combined with an impressive presentation.

Ravenlok is a great introductory experience for players who might be interested in the action-adventure genre but don’t want to take on the bigger titles in the genre. The story is familiar but mostly works, with some nice characters. The voxel graphics are a big initial draw. The biggest problem for me is the very shallow combat system. But, again, this might actually draw in players who want to battle bosses without encountering any annoying setbacks. Ravenlock is a collection of good ideas and weird choices that fails to deliver on its initial promise.

Mia and the Dragon Princess is limited even when it comes to the classic full-motion video approach. There are some player choices, the narrative does branch, and it can take some time to put together the best way to get characters to one of the positive endings. Even with the ability to skip scenes, there’s little incentive to play through it for more than 2 or, maybe, 3 times if you really feel a connection to one of the main characters. The biggest problem is the lack of narrative coherence. The villain is just a collection of ticks and tropes and, while I like the central pair, their characterization is also scattershot. FMV experiences can be interesting and engaging, both in terms of story and gameplay. Mia and the Dragon Princess fails to deliver on either of those fronts and would have worked better as a straight-to-streaming movie.

Although it doesn’t reinvent the wheel, Showgunners adds its own twist on the formula, and I think it works pretty well. If you’re an XCOM fan, this is a no-brainer.

Darkest Dungeon II is everything I expected and more. An evolution of the series that introduces so many new mechanics that I can hardly believe that this is a sequel to the original Darkest Dungeon. Less punishing and frustrating than the first game, Darkest Dungeon II offers fans of the series a myriad of options when it comes to creating the perfect party. The thing that didn’t change from the first game is the pain you feel when your most powerful hero fails a “death’s door” check because you thought it would survive one more hit. Darkest Dungeon II is a near-perfect roguelite that’s hard to surpass.

Labyrinth of Zangetsu is a complex and tough game designed to appeal to players who know and love classic dungeon-crawling experiences from the past. The presentation is an asset and the narrative is decent. But the real draw is the well-designed combat and the many challenging encounters.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is an amazing game. I had a lot of fun with the new stances and the story is enthralling. If not for the performance issues, this game could have been easily among the best released this year.

This is the kind of experience where gamers will often know how to get to the base but will struggle mightily to remake the environment or defeat enemies while keeping all the darsanauts in line and alive. Moons Of Darsalon is clearly a labor of love and I like much of what it’s trying to do, even if I think the effort should have been spent on another core gameplay loop.

Dungeon Drafters delivers on its core concept of mixing turn-based tactics with card play. It takes a little time to get going and get a clear idea of how to modify the deck and what kind of cards are best suited to a particular strategy. But there’s a wide variety of approaches and the tactical puzzles are fun and challenging.I would have liked some navigational aids for the hub town and more help from the game when it comes to deck building. But Dungeon Drafters rewards players who are willing to invest time with beautifully crafted dungeons and engaging card and tile-driven battles.

The sound design is the most interesting part of the title’s presentation. All weapons sound weighty and the chorus of multiple types firing at once makes every encounter feel deadly. The soundtrack is also very good, keeping the tension up and pushing players to move fast and kill efficiently.

The gameplay is addictive and innovative, while the controls are simple and tight. Perhaps the game needed a few more tunes, but the pixel art is very well done. There’s no voice-acting, but there’s a little bit of an unconventional story to discover if you’re a fan of mysteries. The only downside is that Nuclear Blaze ends very fast. It’s like a very short SCP novel that you read while commuting. It took me less than two hours to finish it, but I had a lot of fun. Get this if you’re looking for a good platformer.

God of Rock’s big idea, to mix fighting game and classic music concepts, is a very good one. I love how it manages to evoke stardom when I hit the notes at just the right time, groove to the music, and watch my favorite fighter pummeling an opponent. It’s easy to understand the mix of mechanics but it’s not easy to master them. The soundtrack is also great, both in terms of quality and variety. The game does need to improve its interface layout to accommodate more players. For anyone looking for innovation in the fighting game genre, God of Rock offers a good mix of mechanics as long as players have a few friends to battle against.

City of Beats mixes a good set of gameplay mechanics with atmosphere and some great music. Dashing across the rooftops, noticing a sound at the last second that lets you avoid an attack, and striking back at the perfect time, is very fun and engaging. The rogue-lite elements are very familiar and deliver a sense of progression but don’t add much otherwise. Despite the spareness of its classic cyberpunk narrative, I felt immersed in this universe. City of Beats has an innovative idea that’s very well implemented and will satisfy anyone who loves fast-paced combat, cyberpunk worlds, cool beats, and rogue elements.

With all its evident flaws, Graveyard Keeper Last Journey Edition is dangerously captivating. It is a shame that the developers did not spend more time making sure that the technical issues presented by the new content are ironed out. Fortunately, everything seems to be fixable by patches, that hopefully will soon be released. With its morbid humor, geeky puns and quirky characters, spiderweb likes mechanics and character arcs, this game managed to grow and stand on its own. There are still moments when it succumbs to grind but snaps out and makes you push forward. With plenty of content and just the right amount of challenge it makes it really hard to put down the controller.

Unwording is a short experience with a small number of puzzles and a barely sketched-out narrative. Tom is entirely unlike other video game protagonists, uninterested in most things around him and unexceptional. I’m not sure if he is depressed or if the spartan nature of his existence simply signifies his disgust with the modern world and its demands. The two types of puzzles are initially interesting but after solving two or three of them they become busy work. The game needed either a bigger world, with more variety in terms of puzzle design, or extra focus on mechanical innovation. I wanted to like Unwording more but its core ideas are limited and the story is too simple.

Mail Time is a delightful experience, filled with interesting characters and almost no conflict. All the different quests are fun to engage with and the game offers a nice sense of discovery. I love being helpful and trying to make this small patch of forest a better place for everyone. The party at the end is also a great reward for all the exploration. The gameplay is relatively limited and the title is short. It can serve as a great way to introduce younger players to platforming and a bright and colorful open world. It can also warm the heart of jaded veterans of the genre. Mail Time is nice and fun enough that I wished there was more of this world to explore and really hope the developers are thinking about a sequel.

If you’re looking for a card battler that looks gorgeous and has a captivating story, Ash of Gods: The Way is a must play. Just make sure you have graduated with a master’s degree in strategic turn-based battles and puzzle-solving.

Teslagrad 2 is both a rewarding and frustrating experience and how players feel about it will depend a lot on their tolerance for failure and repetition. Most of the movement puzzles look easy but, especially later in the game, take almost perfect execution to solve. Boss fights break up the pace and offer some great moments but also ask players to repeat the same moves to win. It’s often hard to stick with such a demanding game and the relative lack of narrative does not help. The game’s world is intriguing, with its mash-up of Vikings and electric powers. Teslagrad 2's minimalist approach creates a certain purity for gameplay but might make it hard for players to care about Lumina and her journey.