The Lord Of The Rings: Return to Moria is less frantic than other survival games, and your wins take longer, but despite some charming jank this is a very cosy adventure to take on with friends.
Jusant's tale unravels through concrete, satisfying climbing that contrasts with ephemeral hints at the past, in a game that marries function, form and story in a most beautiful way.
Repetitive combat in World Of Horror can't entirely mar a unique, stylish and layered horror adventure that makes you want to play more the more that you play.
Assassin's Creed Mirage takes some of the best bits from the whole series and puts them together in a smaller, more focused, stealthier package. This is how big companies can make better games.
Station To Station is a short but lovely train-themed puzzle game, perfectly balanced, and you'll play it in pursuit of a more beautiful engine.
Payday 3 has some good, complex levels to do your co-op heisting, but the matchmaking and levelling systems make it harder to have fun with other players.
A genuinely impressive space RPG that ultimately loses some of its Bethesda charm in the vast reaches of its galaxy. It's so big, it feels small, cold and unlived in.
Immortals Of Aveum lacks focus, and the magical shooting is more chaotic and less punchy than I'd like, but it hits fun often enough for me to respect the big fantasy swings it takes.
Larian's RPG is an incredible world to get lost in, and though it may take you 100 hours, you will want to play again. It's the best Dungeons & Dragons game anyone has made, and probably will ever make. Unless there's a sequel in another 20 years.
A town management sim with some good design ideas, but despite trying to make Love a key resource it has somehow pushed me to becoming a joyless optimiser.
Amnesia: The Bunker is a compact, focused and refreshing horror game that brings new excitement to one of horror's modern classic game series.
The Tartarus Key has puzzles so hard it's basically an immersive sim. Puzzle haters will baulk, but for genre fans it's a weirdo breath of fresh air with distinct and careful design.
Diablo IV is a beautiful, frictionless grey toybox that puts nothing in the way of you playing it for hours and wondering what you've done with your life.
A slightly janky Lovecraftian Holmes adventure in neo-classic Frogwares style, offering decent fun for fans of the studio's work.
An undeniably fun Star Wars sequel with a suitably epic story and smart combat, but a hell of a lot of busywork alongside it.
A surprising prequel that does interesting stuff with rhythm-action and fun for fans of Road 96.
A sloppy, buggy Payday pretender whose USP of using 90s movie stars is probably the worst thing about it.
Storyteller is a lovely, literally story-driven puzzle game with surprising complexity that'll charm you, but it's quite short - whether you like that or not.
The slow pace of Outlanders gets a little too slow at times, but this is a genuinely charming town builder with a modern sense of humour, and a great antidote to towering skyscrapers or technological arms races.
Pharaoh might be a little out of date in 2023, but A New Era is the definitive way to play an absolute classic city builder that nails the fundamentals