Dicey Dungeons is the sort of game that looks inviting, then seems a little silly, and then gets lodged into my head like a song I keep humming. These basic ideas are being explored in many games right now, but Dicey Dungeons proves once again that execution, not originality, is often the most important thing.
I came to this game imagining it would be a clever take on the Turing Test, a scenario designed to see if a machine can pass for a human intelligence. Instead, I explored the possible outcomes of trying to treat mental health problems at scale.
At worst, you’ll spend a few hours having fun putting together some charming cardboard toys and seeing what parlor tricks your Nintendo Switch can do with them. At best, you’ll dive into one of the most inexpensive, yet engrossing, VR experiences out there.
Roguelites teach their lessons in often devastating ways, and Slay the Spire is no different. Each new run can feel punishing and, at times, unfair. It wasn’t until I learned how to trim the fat and come up with counterintuitive deck ideas that I really started falling in love with the game.
Old School Musical is a rhythm game that revels in its retro roots
With everything I've played so far, Dragon Ball FighterZ made me feel as powerful and unstoppable as one of the series' lauded heroes. .
A handful of the ideas in LawBreakers seem like concepts that are past their sell-by date, from the dubstep soundtrack to the cyber soldier aesthetic. That's a genuine shame because beneath all that, is a mechanically exciting game. The aerial combat feels fresh, and the twists on standard shooter game modes are solid attempts at flipping the script. But LawBreakers' confusing hero design, poor tutorial system and unbalanced maps all sabotage an otherwise good game.
In some ways, Gigantic is a jack of all trades, pulling influences from half a dozen different disparate games and genres. That mixture might sound messy on paper, but in practice developer Motiga pulls it all together to create matches that feel tense, challenging and hugely rewarding.