Night in the Woods and it's one of the most important experiences I've had as an enthusiast of this industry for over 30 years.
I don't think you even have to be a fan of the genre to really get to grips with The Darkside Detective. It does more or less everything very well, but it's definitely aimed at a niche audiences in terms of references and in-jokes. There could be an argument too that it doesn't quite hit the dizzy heights of Thimbleweed Park, but there's certainly nothing else on the system currently that is any closer to reaching that goal.
I don't think it's worth picking up yet. If you're the kind of person who isn't all that bothered about tech issues and will happily watch the game you paid £50 for get patched to high heaven than jump in. You'll find a multi-layered story with characters that are engaging and a world that's ripe for exploration where you get to make your own save points out of alcohol.
For new players, Mercenary Kings Reloaded has its share of enjoyable moments but there are a metric ton of indies on Switch in the same price range that offer a more rewarding and ultimately better experience.
Gravel does precisely one thing well and that’s be a competent, fun racer that’s worth checking out if you’re looking to just find exactly that with very little else sprinkled on top.
Where The Water Tastes Like Wine is a colossal re-imagining of what a narrative driven game can be.
Subsurface Circular isn’t just a good game to kill time but a great all round experience that you can have done in no time – about the length of two TellTale episode. For less than fiver you can get transported into this future dystopia where robots fear the wrath of humans and discuss this on train journeys away from their gaze. What a terrifying thought.
Kite is going to appeal to those who are after a little bit of a nostalgia hit. And in the times where nostalgia is almost a selling point for games, TV shows and movies, Kite has flown in at precisely the right time to hit that sweet spot. It has been designed by a single man with a passion for the genre and it shows throughout. It’s not perfect, it’s not even brilliant, but what Kite does well it does really well. If I had this game as a kid I would have been delighted.
It’s the best in its field and now it’s on Switch, which makes it more or less essential and yet another cracking indie port to Nintendo’s delightful handheld hybrid.
Octahedron is a delightful puzzle platformer with the best soundtrack of the year.
Exctinction does precisely one thing very well. Over and over again.
It’s a game that wears its heart on its sleeve and is full of fun and exciting gameplay, which in its more tricky areas requires your attention. It looks terrific and runs like a dream, you may expect it considering the 2D visuals but there are moments I felt like I was playing a cartoon and the grin wasn’t going away.
So Battlezone Gold Edition is a disappointment, and the more you play through the more it’s apparent that VR is probably where this belongs. It’s a shame, I mentioned up top I was interested to see if this was still as fun as it was when you’re actually sat in the middle of a tank with enemies surrounding you at every turn. I wondered if the experience could translate to our traditional realities. It isn’t. And it doesn’t.
There’s plenty to love about Don’t Die Mr Robot!, especially now it’s on Switch which seems a natural fit for ISG puzzler. I’ve been playing it all week as I travel and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it. I just want to apologise to Mr. Robot as I’ve murdered him many, many times.
If you’re in the market for a Baseball game, or a new sports game at all, you could do a whole lot worse than Super Mega Baseball 2. If you’re a Baseball fan at all and you’ve dreamed of starting up your own team and taking on the world, you’re not going to find a package more enjoyable than this.
There’s plenty of fun to be had if you turn off your nostalgia goggles, but there’s little denying Raging Justice doesn’t do an awful lot else to escape from that particular shadow.
You’re going to want to take some time to learn the mechanics of Death Road to Canada. It’s surprising and tough, charming and intricate, full of depth and stupidly fun. No, it won’t be for everyone, if you want a game where you just straight up bash some zombies into kingdom come then go play Dead Rising, this is far more nuanced and focused on achieving an RPG-esque roguelike adventure that I was ever expecting.
Warmind does little to save the end-game appeal of Destiny 2
Conan Exiles is a staggeringly deep adventure game, but you may get too frustrated to bother making it to the end.
If there’s one type of game I never thought I’d be praising to the high heavens in 2018, it’s a 2D Metroidvania-esque puzzle pinball platformer featuring a Dung Beetle as its protagonist. Even those words written together make very little sense to me, and on paper Yoku’s Island Express should be an absolute trainwreck. Keeping as many genre balls the air as developer Villa Gorilla are doing here Yoku feels like somewhat of a herculean task, and yet here we are. Yoku’s Island Express is my favourite platformer of 2018 so far, and I’m not even sure it’s a platformer at all.