Nicola Ardron's Reviews
Chicken Police is a noire style point and click visual novel. It features a dark and compelling central mystery and a superbly voice-acted cast of bizarre characters. It is a clucking good time!
Tropico 6 on Switch has a lot of content and a highly customisable sandbox mode, however it suffers some slight performance drops particularly in handheld mode that makes the port difficult to recommend fully.
The Red Lantern is a suvival-roguelite where you will have to face the harsh landscapes of Alaska with your dog sled team. You can pet the dogs, but most of the action feels very much down to the luck of the dice rather than any active participation from you.
Jurassic World Evolution: Complete Edition comes packed with content even for the most ardent of Jurassic Park fans. Frontier has an eye for detail and although there's a small compromise in terms of total dinosaur population the payoff is a surprisingly smooth experience.
Supraland is a delight with a world that is brimming with secrets to discover. It is slightly too long and does have combat that feels largely superfluous, but the puzzles are consistently inventive and fun.
Röki is a wonderful fairy tale adventure with an affecting story, delicately told. It's a shame that this Switch version doesn't take advantage of the unique console features, but it does nothing to diminish this lovely, warm point and click adventure.
The Survivalists is the latest in a crowded genre. Bright visuals can't hide that it is a fairly light experience at present, but there is some enjoyment to be had if you can look past the slightly uncomfortable sub-text of its central mechanic.
Little Big Workshop is an enjoyable entry in the management sim game. It features cute diorama style visuals, but has surprisingly deep systems to tinker with that will keep you focused and strategising for the best way to grow your factory.
Welcome to Elk is an interesting biographical game about how stories help shape communities. It features some interesting mini-games and a good cast of characters, but the stories feel a little too personal and at times you feel like an intruder.
A confident first game from Indian studio Nodding Heads Games. Raji: An Ancient Epic features a thematically appropriate player viewpoint, which unfortunately hampers some of the platforming elements, but a simple and surprisingly versatile combat system keeps things interesting.
Paradise Killer is a singular experience. An open-world detective game set in a weird, neon world where everyone is a suspect and each piece of evidence feels genuinely earned.
Windbound is a story based survival game set across five procedurally generated worlds. It features a cool boat building mechanic and a strong sense of discovery, but some of its systems and mechanics get in the way and can strip the fun away.
Spiritfarer is a unique and special game. A management sim that manages to blend its various systems with a poignant and bittersweet look at life and death.
Tannenberg offers an authentic World War 1 experience of the conflict waged on the Eastern Front. It features excellent attention to detail in the map design, character uniforms and weaponry, but the dogged commitment to historical accuracy means its appeal is limited to a very small niche of player.
Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town takes a while to reveal its charms. The pace may put players not familiar with the rhythm of farming and relationship sims off, but for those invested they will be treated to a lovely, relaxing slice of idyllic rural life.
Farmer's Dynasty could have some appeal with a blend of RPG, farming and life simulations, but it is a woefully optimised piece of software with frame rates that judder to a halt after thirty minutes of play.
Summer in Mara is farming and crafting sim with a lovely message around sustainability. It features some beautiful Ghibli-esque visuals and strong character writing, but ultimately descends into endless, over-lapping fetch quests with a lack of direction that make it more of a chore than the relaxing experience it promises.
House Flipper is a simulation game where you purchase and do up houses to sell for profit to do it all over again. It is mindless and monotonous, but there is catharsis in cleaning things up and returning them to some semblance of order.
Beyond Blue is an overtly educational game that has a message worth sharing. The experience is pleasant enough, but other games manage to convey the majesty and beauty of the ocean more elegantly.
Project Warlock is a real delight; impeccably put together, looks fantastic, and feels great to play. Some niggles over high difficulty at the beginning and a clunky radial menu but retro fans will be delighted.