At its heart, Empire of Sin does a little of everything and does none of it well.
Interesting indie game that’s not quite as good as it wants to be, but still aims for the sky and hits.
This may be Paradox’s best game and it’s about…family.
Fun combat and colorful world, but not a lot of depth outside that.
Fewer vampires and more Greeks! It’s Bronze Age Total War.
Relentlessly stylish and relentlessly grindy turn-based tactical roguelike.
Easy to start, but miles deep. THAT’S WAR, BABY!
It’s XCOM but less intimidating and overwhelming.
Surprisingly playable and fun for a reasonably complicated wargame.
Arcade-style giant fighting robot action overcomes repetitive missions and a sometimes-nightmarish HUD.
A thoroughly decent-to-good mech game with some weird design choices and a not-always-good retro feel.
Finally, a roleplaying game where you play a role instead of “press button, make the number go up.”
The timeline idea is a neat gimmick but this is a pretty basic strategy game. If you want something simple or are a John Wick completist, it’s worth a gander. Otherwise, get back into the Long War mod for XCOM and blast alien scum.
We’re through the initial burst of Blood/Souls enthusiasm and into the second era, when “It’s like Bloodborne/Dark Souls, but…” is the pitch on the lips of every would-be cash-in. Code Vein is one of those.
Untitled Goose Game is one of those quiet little games that come along and shake everything up, the kind of hit a major publisher would kill for.
This one’s pretty niche. If you need action and accomplishment, give it a pass. If you like atmosphere, dialogue trees, and sometimes running into cats that tip well, you will enjoy.
With space combat that feels just like the 90s and some nice, new quality of life features, Rebel Galaxy Outlaw is the game your 14 your old self would’ve killed for.
Close to the Sun wants to be Big Important Art, but it tries so hard to be Big Important Art that it undercuts itself.
This one’s a very niche game, but if a puzzle game that could turn into a six figure salary sounds intriguing–or if you just like dressing up cats–it beats another run through CodeAcademy.
The tongue is in cheek but not far enough.