Gears of War: E-Day is a shot in the arm for the franchise. It pushes the franchise while returning to its roots and finding what is core to the heart of the series.
"Black Jacket's main allegory about gambling addiction working in synergy with its enrapturing gameplay deserves more attention. It is one of the most emotionally resonant Roguelikes on the market and the most underrated title of 2026."
Combolands is the best in the Balatro-like subgenre thus far since it understands the need for build diversity and variance between runs. It does this by ingratiating the Guild system into the core gameplay itself, making it a hopelessly addicting game to play.
The audaciousness of Blood Dungeon makes it unique whilst feeling much like a fever dream. It is to the game's benefit, since it stands out well above the pack of other Survivors-likes. It adds its own distinct spin on the formula by blending the Survivors gameplay with that of a fast-paced 2D Platformer.
Beast of Reincarnation is a game which deserved better. This is not a case of laziness and labeling it as such would be bush league. This is a game with wonderful ideas and heart but it was rushed out with a lack of polish or time to expand upon those ideas. GameFreak intends to patch Beast of Reincarnation, but some of these issues aren’t fixable in a mere patch or two.
Within the first chapter, you see Desktop Explorer have all the tools to make its mark as something unique within the Horror genre, yet it dips disappointingly into tropes we’ve all seen before, retreading ground which has been walked thousands of times.
Scritchy Scratchy understands exactly what people want from an Idle Clicker game. It understands the genre perfectly, and deserves to be scored relatively with this in mind. If you like this genre, you can't really go wrong here.
First Light instead shines by blending the influences it has together into a cohesive Bond experience. IO Interactive shows an incredible understanding of what 007 should be. From the way the story is written and structured to the way they seamlessly transition from gameplay into their Action setpieces, it is simply superb in every aspect of being 007.
"Mixtape is a game which understands its influences but not why they work. The discourse around it has made that harder to see clearly. It is a game made by people with clear passions. Having love for your inspirations does not equate to creativity or good execution, though. With Mixtape, it results in a mediocre coming of age film in the form of a video game."
"Saros is a game where it dances on the line of head-scratching design decisions along with intriguing ideas. Its influences from The King in Yellow are wonderful and its core gunplay is excellent, yet it fails to coherently bind together its gameplay along with narrative in a way which makes it enjoyable at length."
Though it has grabbed the attention of the masses through the usage of the ‘rubberhose’ artstyle, Mouse: P.I. for Hire strives most by knowing what it takes to be a good game within the boomer shooter genre. Although very flawed, it would be a game that succeeds regardless of the artstyle it used
Dice a Million has a plethora of potential, more so than other games that attempt to emulate Balatro. As it stands, its lack of balance, punishing bosses, and almost near-absence of build diversity make it hard to recommend.
Raccoin isn’t a bad game by any means, and it stands as being good, actually. It is inherently disappointing when you consider what it could’ve been if the concept strived to be more unique rather than largely reusing an existing formula.
Esoteric Ebb shows that the spirit of Disco-likes can be done in a way that is incredibly potent and resonant with the player in the same way the original game was. It is a game that will inevitably stick with me as the months go on, and although 2026 is far from over, I believe you'll be hard-pressed to find anything else with this level of high quality writing this year. Games such as this come very rarely and they need to be harbored for how special they are as narrative experiences.
High on Life 2 is unfortunately a game not worth recommending. For a price tag of a full $60, players should expect a level of polish, content, and quality that the game simply does not harbor for itself. Along with regressing in many areas and doubling down on an identity that doesn’t entirely work in 2026, one begs to question who High on Life as a franchise is exactly for.
Hell Is Us is a unique beast for that reason. It is hard to slot into one genre specifically, for it formulates a thrilling mesh of several at once. At heart, it is an immersive sim. If there is any takeaway to be had from Hell Is Us it is indeed the idea of its atmosphere and tone. Immediately your experience with this game will feature its bleak and almost unsettling world.
The reality of things here is that MindsEye was simply not ready to be released. It needed more time in the oven. In fact, I’d even go as far to say that if it had more time in the oven, it wouldn’t be as critically panned. Do I think it would’ve been good at all? Not necessarily. There are many core issues MindsEye suffers from that are key to it not hitting its full potential. MindsEye is a game that exists, a game that didn’t deserve the fate it received, but it is what it ended up being.
Marvel Cosmic Invasion is an excellent little beat ‘em up game that I believe people who enjoy retro-styled arcadey games of this sort will quite enjoy. There is genuine passion for the Marvel IP shown here by Tribute Games, and as a fan of the IP myself, I appreciate their work. Though, I unfortunately cannot over the aforementioned lack of polish and shoddy voice work audio mixing.
I do believe Titans of the Tide is a fun little game, but I highly recommend that you wait for a sale before purchasing it. Purple Lamp has certainly made noticeable marginal improvements since Cosmic Shake, but it’d be nice to see them try to make a game that is more fully-fledged in their next outing.
Though, it speaks numbers to the quality of Ball x Pit that a game that drags at times is still worthy of recommendation. The sections of this ploddingly dull variety can be excused if you consider that the game has an arcadey style and tone to it. This is a game you’ll jump into and enjoy yourself for your play session with the pure intention of having fun. It is not a game with a deep overarching plot or meaning and it does not need to be. It sets out to be a whimsical little game and it pulls off that rather well.