Camper Van: Make it Home is squarely aimed at Unpacking fans: people who want the zen-filled joy of finding a home for a range of items. This time, though, you're dealing with the limited space of a camper van. It's great fun and it looks wonderful, but the fiddly controls and camera can sometimes take some of the meditative spirit away.
Still Wakes the Deep: Siren's Rest takes you back to the Beira D 10 years later, exploring the wreckage as it lies on the sea bed. It's an incredibly clever way to introduce an expansion, and the Beira D is perhaps even more eerie and atmospheric than it was the first time around. I've loved every moment with it — I just wish it was a little longer.
For the most part, Puyo Puyo Tetris 2S is the same game as it was when it released back in 2020: a great deal of fun for fans of both Tetris and Puyo. But the addition of a new mode and the implementation of Switch 2's excellent GameShare functionality make this absolutely the best version yet.
Absolutely heaving with personality, it's clear a lot of heart and soul has gone into making Date Everything. Its characters are beautifully brought to life, but trying to meet everyone (which you'll want to do) can feel a bit of a slog.
One of my favourite roguelikes of recent years, Lost in Random: The Eternal Die takes the world of 2021's excellent Lost in Random and turns it into something new. It's a whimsical, action-packed adventure, with combat that feels smooth and satisfying. Even facing the game's ferocious bosses is seriously exhilarating. It's just a shame there's not a little more variation between runs, but that's to be expected.
You likely won't have played anything like Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo before. Combining puzzles, combat and adventuring, this game is an utter joy — and using a yoyo as both a weapon and a tool never gets old. Well written and incredibly accessible thanks to its difficulty options, this is a true indie gem.
The Duck Detective is back, and his down-and-out personality is as wonderful as ever. Unfortunately, the mystery on offer here isn't quite as good as last time, but there are still plenty of pleasing puzzles and investigations to get your beak stuck into.
Featuring fantastic voice acting, excellent puzzles and a narrative that keeps you gripped, Kathy Rain 2: Soothsayer deserves a place in the point-and-click adventure hall of fame. Those who prefer grounded, realistic stories might rue its sharp turn into cosmic horror towards the end, but it's hardly a dealbreaker.
Blue Prince meets Vampire Survivors: that's the best way to describe Into The Restless Ruins, a roguelike deckbuilding game with a twist. You place cards to build your dungeon, then explore it to gain experience. It's perhaps not as challenging as it could be, but it's a great deal of fun nonetheless.
An underwater survivors-like game with a twist, Ocean Keeper will also have you digging for resources alongside facing off against fearsome enemies. With meaningful upgrades and a fun gameplay loop, it'll keep you coming back for more.
Two Falls tells the stories of Jeanne, a French settler making her way to Quebec, and Maikan, a young hunter from the indigenous Innu community. While told separately, these stories intertwine and overlap in impactful ways, making for an enjoyable and emotive narrative that delves into an often-underrepresented part of Canadian history. What it lacks in gameplay, Two Falls more than makes up for in narrative and visuals.
Unlike any other game you've played before, Blue Prince is something very special indeed. An exploration roguelike game filled with puzzles and intrigue, it's all about making your way around an ever-changing house in order to discover its secrets. This is a seriously clever game, and its layered puzzles and narrative will constantly surprise and delight you. You won't be able to pull yourself away until you've uncovered all the mysteries that Blue Prince holds.
If you loved Two Point Hospital or Campus, you're going to love Two Point Museum, too. This might be the best game in the series yet, allowing you to go wild in a series of weird and wonderful museums where you can display everything from dinosaur skeletons to actual ghosts. With the same humour, fun and ease of accessibility we've come to expect from the Two Point team, this is another smash hit.
Dawnfolk is a brilliant simplification of the city-building genre with satisfying, short scenarios to play through without skimping on difficulty.
Never has putting a family tree together been so much fun. I couldn't put down The Roottrees are Dead once I started playing it, leaving me feeling like a true detective, searching web pages, library archives and more to piece together this intriguing family's history. This is a must-play for any puzzle fan.
An open world sandbox that lets you run free around Bikini Bottom, there's plenty of fun to be had in SpongeBob SquarePants: The Patrick Star Game. It's packed with minigames and activities, but it's just a shame the whole experience feels rather rough.
The Holy Gosh Darn may well be Perfectly Paranormal's best game yet, and it's clear the team has learned a lot from developing Manual Samuel and Helheim Hassle. This is a seriously slick adventure: it looks fantastic, its puzzles are fun to solve and it will have you laughing out loud every step of the way.
We've been absolutely spoiled by excellent platforming games recently, and The Plucky Squire is up there with the best of them. Controlling Jot in this fourth-wall-breaking adventure is an utter delight. It's a shame a few bugs persist, but they're not quite enough to stop The Plucky Squire being one of the highlights of the year so far.
The Casting of Frank Stone has a compelling story, some fantastic acting and some of the best visuals that Supermassive Games has ever delivered. This is an utter success, and welcoming to all players regardless of how well you know Dead by Daylight. Not even the slightly headachy multiverse shenanigans could stop us coming back.
Cat Quest 3's selling point is also one of its biggest detractors, depending how you feel about the series: it's simply more of the same. It looks fantastic, and exploring its cutesy world is a joy, but the addition of sailing a ship isn't enough to make this stand out from its predecessors.