While Distant Worlds may be a paragon of its style, I can only recommend it to a select few: those with beefy computers and plenty of time to really dig into the meat of this stunningly elegant and impressively wide-ranging bit of software.
If you'd like to pick up just one of the new factions, that'll only run you 10 pounds, and with that you can start playing one of the best World War 2 strategy games ever made... alongside its near-perfect predecessor, of course.
The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing II taps the spirit of classic action role-playing games and delivers a great combat system and an exciting world.
Always Sometimes Monsters isn't the first game to get clever with morality. It's not the first game that's had a few grey areas. It also isn't about either of those. It's about perspective. It's about empathy. It's about who we are and why we do what we do. That narrative is one of contradiction and hypocrisy, because that's what real people are about.
Warlock 2 is a strong sequel that deftly builds on the solid foundation of its predecessor. Unfortunately, not all of its ideas are fully realized.
Cloudbuilt succeeds remarkably in proving that how a game feels and what you do within it can tell stories all on their own. The monologues contextualise the gameplay, and knowing that Demi is pushing through her own recovery maps cleanly onto the difficult jumps, complicated wall-runs and well-placed shots. Cloudbuilt is a game in which you'll die a lot, and that's not an accident. Demi's progress is slow and painful. Yours will be too, but that in itself carries meaning. Sometimes the quiet, narrow victories are the most meaningful.
Fantastic atmosphere and stellar writing make Shadowrun: Dragonfall a great adaptation of its cyberpunk source material.
Banished is a clever network of interlocking systems and mechanics that accomplish a lot with very little.
Nidhogg is a strange, unholy pastiche of lo-fi aesthetics and surprisingly deep, albeit minimal play; taking cues from decades of arcade-style 1v1 fighting games and modern indie darlings.
Violett channels Salvador Dali and Tim Burton in a surreal and challenging tale.
A brilliant, addictive downloadable that is designed to target and trigger the happiness center of your brain.
Speedball 2 definitely has the speed down, but the barebones multiplayer limits the fun.