The verdict desk
Finished first, scored second. Every review below reflects the whole game — endings, patches, performance and all.
Farlight Collective's co-op space RPG turns a drifting caravan of misfits into the year's warmest adventure. Four of us set out; none of us wanted to dock.
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Tasman Forge's sailing exploration game bottles the moment the wind fills a sail — and proves New Zealand studios can build worlds with the best of them.
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Ashenvale Workshop's gothic action RPG builds one of the year's most oppressive worlds, then trips over its own difficulty spikes.
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Lanternfish Games' underwater metroidvania trades jump arcs for buoyancy — and delivers the freshest take on the genre in years.
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Velodyne Arts' arcade racer strips the genre back to cornering, commitment and one perfect boost mechanic. It is a night drive you will not want to end.
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Thistledown Interactive's cosy automation sim asks a lovely question: what if a factory game smelled of soil instead of smoke?
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Ironline Studio's tactical shooter risks everything on five-minute rounds of pure information warfare. The risk mostly pays off.
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Gilt Feather Studios' airship RPG soars on a golden art style, a crew worth loving and the year's most generous open sky.
Read the verdictHow we score
Our ten-point scale has no half-hearted sevens. A 5 is a game doing its job; an 8 is a game we would hand a friend; anything above 9 earns a place in the office library and, occasionally, the Editor’s Choice medallion. Scores are set by the reviewer and challenged by the desk — read more about our process.
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