The 7th Guest Remake Xbox Series X Review 9/10 "Stauf is back!" 🔦🕯️

The 7th Guest Remake Review – Wine, Whispers and the Wonders of Stauf’s House

A Haunting Journey Through a Reborn Classic

I can’t believe that it was back in 2023 when I reviewed The 7th Guest VR, of which this game is a port. Awarding it a 9.5/10, it was one of our highest-rated games ever, perfectly capturing as it does the essence of what makes The 7th Guest such a special game for so many whilst bringing it to the eyes of modern audiences. 

A huge boon here for me is that as much as I adored The 7th Guest VR, I struggle with motion sickness when playing in VR, and so it was tough to get through certain sections, and I had to play the game in bite-sized chunks. 

Whilst the move from VR does leave the cobwebs of some elements that now feel unneeded – such as the ability to pick up everything and rotate it in your ghostly hand – this realisation of Stauf’s manor and the guests and puzzles within is so strong that it feels fickle to focus on those aspects. As above, if you want to know my personal history with this title and get a deeper dive, check out my previous review of the VR version as it covers a lot of this ground.

Gothic 1 Remake PS5 Review 7.5/10 "A Throwback in the Truest Sense of the Word"

Gothic 1 Remake Review – A Gritty, Grubby Triumph with Proper Old‑School Bite

Bugs, Quirks and the Lack of Hand‑Holding

I’ve had many a dalliance with the Gothic series over the years, most recently in 2024, when Gothic 2 was released on Switch. Piranha Bytes very much had their own approach and vibe to their creations, and I was gutted when they closed their doors last year, having given us the Gothic, Risen and Elex series of games. Titles that were definitely flawed, but also idiosyncratic and rich with a dry sense of European humour as well as being unique, memorable experiences for better or worse.

I heard of this Gothic remake a couple of years ago, and I have been yearning for it ever since, and reviewing and scoring this game was oddly difficult because…well, it kind of does what you want/expect a Gothic game to do. Still, there are some design issues and other aspects that are lacking. That said, I fully appreciate that there is a large chunk of fans of the original out there that will embrace this and see it as a genuine GOTY, and I completely understand that viewpoint.

The original Gothic was released in 2001 on PC and is set in and around a penal colony that is under a magic barrier. Nothing living can escape the barrier, and the folks who live within it have split into various groups with their own ways and goals. The remake reflects this main plotline whilst breaking away in terms of the various side quests and its own twists on the design of the original. 

Worms Armageddon: Anniversary Edition Review 7.5/10 "Ridiculous Fun, Lovingly Preserved" 🪱

I went to a flat party in 1999 and was in the front room when the host asked me if I'd ever played Worms before. I said, "No". He said, "You're Gonna Love it!" and proceeded to fire up the PS1 and welcome me into the crazy, crazy world of Worms: Armageddon. 

By the end of the night, most of the people in the flat were playing Worms, and the manic action was being fuelled by the many litres of Red Bull & Vodka being consumed (it was the late 90s, after all). From that moment on, Worms was THE party game and all my friends loved to drink and play this; it was essential for a great night out, either pre-party, post-party, post-post party or during party!

Fast forward to today, and it's true that some games age gracefully… and then there’s Worms Armageddon, a title that refuses to age at all. Firing it up feels like opening a box in your mum and dad's loft packed with banana bombs, holy hand grenades, and the kind of ridiculously crafted chaos that not too many video games attempt nowadays. Worms is most definitely still utterly ludicrous, endlessly funny, and capable of turning players into cackling agents of worm-fuelled destruction.

Armageddon remains the perfect expression of what makes Worms tick. The physics are just unpredictable enough to keep every turn tense. The weapons are as silly as ever, and still capable of producing those hilarious local multiplayer moments; it’s as manic today as it was in 1999.

What really elevates this release is the museum timeline charting the history of the series, the unexpected star of the show, with behind‑the‑scenes content that is a love letter to the Worms legacy.

These documentary‑style segments are surprisingly heartfelt. They chart the evolution of Team17’s iconic series with archival footage, developer interviews, early concept art and some cool Stories about how certain weapons and ideas came to be.

It’s the kind of material we've all come to expect from a Digital Eclipse release, and once again, for fans of gaming history, it’s pure gold nuggets. For Worms fans specifically, it’s borderline emotional. You get a real sense of how this quirky British strategy‑comedy hybrid became a global phenomenon.

Worms is Worm, but why does it still work? Well, Worms Armageddon endures because it’s built on timeless ingredients of simple rules, deceptively deep strategy, endless unpredictability, and a tone that never takes itself seriously. It’s the rare game where losing can be just as entertaining as winning, especially when your last worm is blasted into orbit by a rogue sheep or a concrete donkey.

SUMMARY
For me, this is more than a nostalgia trip. It’s a reminder of how inventive, chaotic, and downright joyful games can be. The core experience is still a riot, but the documentary timeline pushes this version into “must‑own” territory for anyone who loves retro gaming, British game development history, or just a good laugh. My kids and I are playing this endlessly as I introduce a new generation to Worms and have more couch chaos with the family!

Right, I'm off to drop a concrete donkey on my wife...

7.5/10

🆒COOL🆒

Worms Armageddon: Anniversary Edition | Nintendo Switch games | Games | Nintendo UK

Disco Simulator PS5 Review 7.5/10 "Can people please stop spewing on the dance floor?" 🕺🪩💃 @GamesIncubator #IndieGame #GameDev

As someone who has a partner that grew up on The Sims games, I quite fancied the idea of settling down of an evening and spending a few sessions with Disco Simulator, a game in which you run your own nightclub (I do really feel that this should have been called Nightclub Simulator, by the way, but it looks like that name was already taken). 

The game begins with a brisk tutorial that lays out the setting, you begin each scenario with certain goals in mind – reaching a certain amount of cash, hitting certain metrics etc. – and from there, you pretty much get free reign of how to run your club, from naming it through to shaking cocktails, unclogging toilets, checking tickets for entry, and ensuring that the power stays on – or will you delegate all this nonsense to your ever-growing team of staff?

Ancient Farm PC Review By Ayden 7.5/10 "This is a FUN Time Sink" 🐖🌱🥬 #IndieGame #GameDev

A lot of us still carry points of fascination we picked up as young children. There's no shortage of dinosaur obsessed young boys, or kids that dream of growing up and making a life among the stars. For me, ancient civilisations were that obsession. The idea of forgotten words and ways of living is something that encourages a particular curiosity. Unfortunately most of the games, movies and TV shows that are based in such worlds rarely focus on immersing the audience within the day-to-day life of these amazing environments.

Enter Ancient Farm. Long before sprinklers and robotic harvesters, early man farmed with rudimentary tools and very few shortcuts. In that respect, Ancient Farm is true to life. This is not a sim in which, after a couple hours of grind, you are able to fully automate your farm and watch your gold grow. But I think this is the strongest selling point on offer here. The continuous engagement required to grow your homestead keeps you actively invested, and truly does lead to a definitive sense of reward as you continue to progress.

Carmageddon Rogue Shift PS5 Review 7.5/10 *Almost thirty years on, the Eagle revs again!* 🛻☠️ @playcarmageddon #IndieGame #GameDev

I’m very familiar with the Carmageddon franchise, the original was something incredibly unique in both its gameplay and style back upon its initial release in 1997, and the follow ups (Carmageddon II: Carpocalypse Now (1998), Carmageddon TDR (2000), and Carmageddon: Reincarnation (2015) tried to modernise the experience visually whilst retaining the same mechanics as the original, which didn’t set the gaming world alight, although those early games still had their fans. 

This newest entry - developed by 34Big Things, the minds behind the Redout series – takes things in a different direction, and whilst I can imagine it will annoy purists, whilst there are still issues, this feels like the right approach for the series at the moment, making it a more focused, linear experience as opposed to the sprawling, slightly clunky vibes of the more recent entries.

Set in 2050, the world is... well, it’s completely buggered, quite frankly. Set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland – natch – your character enters the ‘Carmageddon’ in a bid to win their freedom. The narrative is handled by graphic novel-esque cutscenes and adds to the larger-than-life feel of the whole setup and are brisk in their approach to allow players to get a quick understanding of the basic premise before getting into the meat of the game proper, the violent racing.

Taxi Chaos 2 Xbox Series X Review 7.5/10 *A sequel that steps up to the plate* 🚖🚕 @currentgamers #IndieGame #GameDev

I covered the original Taxi Chaos back in 2021, and whilst the fundamental mechanics and visuals were top-notch; the grating music, irritating voice acting, and repetition of the gameplay loop in such a flat, bland world was pretty wearing, and I awarded it 5/10 at the time. Whilst this sequel doesn’t solve all of those issues, in terms of enjoyment and polish, it’s a far better game, and a worthy sequel to the niche genre of arcade-led taxi driving action.

Beginning with much more of a story than the original – not that a story is particularly what you expect from this genre – you are Vinnie, an old school taxi driver plying his trade in a bit of a junkheap through a futuristic city wherein AI-driven ‘Taxibots’ are taking over from the classic cabbies. 

Determined to prove that humans can do a better job, Vinnie takes it upon himself to pick up the customers scattered throughout the city and surrounding areas, leaping over obstacles, swerving around hazards, taking myriad shortcuts, destroying – or avoiding! – said Taxibots and ensuring his passengers get safely to their destination.

Citizen Sleeper 2 PC Review 7.5/10 "Cracked Dice N Glitches Means Stitches" 🎲🎲 @FellowTravellr #IndieGame #GameDev

Not many games embrace uncertainty as boldly as Citizen Sleeper 2. Following in the footsteps of its acclaimed predecessor, this narrative-driven, dice roller, sci-fi RPG once again places you in the fragile body of a Sleeper—a digitized consciousness fighting for survival in a hostile universe. But where many games punish failure, Citizen Sleeper 2 thrives on it. Every dice roll, every misstep, every imperfect outcome becomes part of a living story that adapts and grows around you.

At the heart of Citizen Sleeper 2 lies its signature dice system. Each cycle, you’re given a pool of dice representing your available actions. High rolls can be assigned to critical tasks—repairing a ship, negotiating with a faction, or uncovering lost technology—while low rolls might be relegated to riskier endeavours. 

Goosebumps: Terror in Little Creek Xbox Series X Review 7.5/10 "Perfect For The Spooky Season!" 🔦 @PHLCollective @GameMillEnt #IndieGame #GameDev

The newest title from the Philadelphia-based developer PHL Collective, the classic spooky children’s franchise Goosebumps is getting the PHL treatment. 

The last game that I played by this development team was DC’s Justice League: Cosmic Chaos which I covered last year, and much like this one, whilst it isn’t a trailblazer in the genre, the respect for the franchise in hand combined with a high quality presentation means that this is another great game to play with youngsters. 

The main difference being that whilst Cosmic Chaos was an entry towards an ARPG style of game, Goosebumps: Terror in Little Creek acts as a gateway of sorts to the survival horror genre, much as the books will eventually pave the way to Clive Barker et al. Good!

Collectible Cars Shop Simulator Nintendo Switch Review 7.5/10 "That Endless Loop Has Become Oddly Relaxing" 🚗 @nostra_games_ #IndieGame #GameDev

Being the father of a four year old that has more Hot Wheels cars in our house than Oliver Reed has receipts from Oddbins in his back pocket, the chance to cover Nostra Games’ Collectible Cars Shop Simulator was one that I leapt at. 

Whilst it feels very ‘assety’ as a lot of the ‘simulator’ games can be, the lack of variety in NPC character models, fiddly controls, and endlessly looping music couldn’t put a dent in my enjoyment of the core gameplay – opening the store, hiring staff, upgrading where possible, and making dosh off flogging those sweet, sweet toy cars before closing up for the night and doing it all over again the next day.

Kiborg Xbox Series X Review 7.5/10 "lock ‘n load...again, and again, and again" 👊💥 @SobakaStudio #IndieGame #GameDev

I was quite a keen follower of Kiborg during its development, developers Sobaka Studio (I previously covered their game Redeemer in a past, pre-GF life) very clearly have a knack for guttural combat, and the trailers promised a silky smooth 60fps title featuring some very involved melee combat that gnawed away at the part of me that still craves visceral versions of the 16-bit brawlers that used to rule the roost such as Streets of Rage, Cadillacs & Dinosaurs... and Crisis Beat. 

A genre that is very much alive today thanks to Lizardcube and Cartel Studios frankly amazing Mother Russia Bleeds (another blast from the past). Kiborg though, leaned into a 3D realm and seemed to encompass the glowing, beautiful future that titles such as Fighting Force merely hinted at. 

What Kiborg ended up delivering, however, was a brawling rogue-lite that has an incredible amount in it’s favour, but feels oddly limited by the very rogue genre that it so leans into. This is a solid and fun game that could have been truly great.

Kemono Heroes Nintendo Switch Review 7.5/10 "hectic swipey-swipey action!" 🦊 @MadGearGames @JanduSoft #GameDev #IndieGame

From the developers that brought us A Hole New World – an 8-bit styled title - comes Kemono Heroes, now making the leap to a 16-bit style, complete with chunky pixels, parallax scrolling, and a lot of weapon-based swipey-swipey action. Good!

Playable with up to four players in co-op, Kemono Heroes has a mystical Eastern vibe in which the main characters are anthropomorphic animals, each with their own special skills, although the main attack of each is a ‘Strider’-esque swipe of their blade - a little nod to one of its influences. 

Survivalist: Invisible Strain Xbox Series X Review 7.5 / 10 "More zombies than you can shake a selfie-stick at!" 🧟‍♀️🧟‍♂️🧟 @bob_the_PR_bot #IndieGame #GameDev

Zombies are very much here to stay! Luckily, I am nowhere near tired of the shambling monstrosities in gaming, and so the chance to delve into Survivalist: Invisible Strain was very much up my strasse.

Casting the player in the role of a wandering survivor, Survivalist: Invisible Strain is playable in both campaign and sandbox modes, with the sandbox mode especially offering an incredible amount of customisation options to suit your preferred approach, with the ability to pretty much knock the zombie element on the head and focus purely on city-building and the more social aspects, should you so wish. 

The game features graphic novel-style visuals, with quite a unique screen layout, including portraits of the characters and enemies taking up a fair chunk of the screen real estate. It’s quite an idiosyncratic premise, but really does give Survivalist: Invisible Strain a sense of identity, and the focus on individuality in the game also ties in with this design aspect.

Trident’s Tale Xbox Series X Review 7.5/10 "Pirate fun for all the family!" 🏴‍☠️⛵@3DClouds #IndieGame #GameDev

The chandler never mentioned the glow in the dark sails at the showroom

My four-year old son has a penchant for open world games in which you are free to do as you please, with LEGO City Undercover, little Kitty Big City, and Goat Simulator 3 being firm favourites that will seemingly never be uninstalled from my consoles. When I caught wind of Trident’s Tale, I snapped up the chance to cover it, as the cartoonish darkness and spookiness appealed to me, and pirate games are always worth a blast of the cannons!

Playing the part of Ocean, a young pirate who yearns to explore the seas, she soon finds herself mourning the loss of her guardian as skeletal pirates hunt her down, seemingly due to her discovering a small trinket that has a lot of otherworldly folks very interested in it!

Peglin Xbox Series X Review 7.5/10 "Can Peglin best Peggle as the king of the ball game?" 🏐 @rednexusgames @BlitWorks #GameDev #IndieGame

The Peggle series of games has been a hit in our household for almost a decade, heck – it even sucked in my non-gamer mum for a few months at one point! Much like word-based RPGs, the pachinko genre is one that always gets my britches twitchin’, and I can’t seem to turn down the chance to play and talk about them.

Peglin begins with your initial character – a little goblin (possible the titular ‘Peglin’, thinking about it) – taking a rogue-like path through various stages. It’s all about how the balls fall, you’ll find treasure, upgrades, stores, random encounters, and of course – enemies to thwart. 

Rendering Ranger R² [Rewind] Nintendo Switch Review 7.5/10 "SH'MUP & RUN ANYONE?" 🔥🏃‍♀️‍➡️🛸 @playziggurat @LimitedRunGames #IndieGame #GameDev #Retrogaming

"George wasn't a fan of the new stand up tanning booths"

Rendering Ranger R² [Rewind] is a revival of a video game from the Super Famicom / Super Nintendo era of 1995, originally released in Japan. Developed by Manfred Trenz, the game combines two distinct gameplay styles: run-and-gun action reminiscent of Contra and also side-scrolling shoot-'em-up sequences akin to R-Type. 

While most people point to Contra as their fave retro run and gun from their childhood, mine was always Midnight Resistance. Specifically Midnight Resistance on the Commodore 64. There was a demo tape on the front of a C64 magazine back in the early '90s that I couldn't get enough of and me and my mate Johnny would endlessly play this demo tape in awe of the run n gun gameplay and the beautiful looking Commodore 64 graphics. 

Eventually I actually located a Midnight Resistance Arcade cabinet in the local Kebab House (which also had a pool table) and once again I fell in love with the run and gunnery of Midnight Resistance.

Blow It Up Xbox Series X Review 7.5/10 "A bomb-based physics title that certainly isn’t a dud!" 💣💥@brainseal #IndieGame #GameDev

Having been a fan of Brain Seal Ltd since I was introduced to them via the wonderful Dark Quest 3, I was intrigued as to what their take on a bomb-centric physics title would be, and would it be enough to take my mind off the hope of a further Dark Quest sequel?

Yes, yes it could!

Blow It Up takes place in Bombtopia, a world populated by voxel bombs that is suddenly taken over by invaders. Your friends are captured, and you must travel the overworld, collecting enough coins to free your friends – all of whom have a special power that can aid you – all the while completing stages by hurling one (or more!)  of your explosive team members into the various structures that hide the fiendish enemies in each level.

Big Helmet Heroes Xbox Series X Review: 7.5/10 "Helmets on, it’s time to rock" 🪖⛑️ @DearVillagers #IndieGame #GameDev

Big Helmet Heroes is the first title from Exalted Studio, a developer based in the south of France composed of veterans of the industry, with composer Pierre Galibert handling the score.

With a genuinely amusing trailer that captured the imagination, the thought of a modern, tasty 3D brawler with a wordless comedic approach that focused on slapstick and absurdity very much appealed to me. Whilst there is a lot to love and as much fun as the game is, it can’t quite shake the creeping repetition that haunts the genre.

Keep Driving PC Review 7.5/10 "The Crazy Gas Fuelled Adventures Of A Sedan!" 🚗 @YCJYgames #IndieGame #GameDev

Keep Driving from YCJY Games is a wonderful turn-based RPG that combines elements of road trips and roguelike mechanics, all wrapped up in a beautiful pixel art package of nostalgia and great music.

You play as a young driver who has just bought their first car around the early 2000s, and your main goal is to meet up with your friend at a music festival on the other side of the country within four weeks. Interestingly, the game features a procedurally generated world with various routes, 'shopping' stops and random encounters along the way.

Eternal Strands Xbox Series X Review 7.5/10 "Eternal Strands That Don’t Quite Weave Wonder" 🧶🧵 @YellowBrick_Qc #IndieGame #GameDev

A cel-shaded open world adventure that features deep lore abounds in this release from Yellow Brick Games (comprised of a team featuring several ex-Ubisoft developers), Eternal Strands excels in performance and world-building; but lacklustre, weightless combat and certain design elements gives this the faint air of a game that started in a more MMORPG style that pivoted to a single player experience.

Eternal Strands casts the player as Brynn, a mercenary accompanying a group of travellers trying to find out the secrets of a long-lost civilisation. Your camp with the travellers acts as a hub, whilst Loomgates scattered around the land allow you to teleport to different areas of the world, each with their own biome, items, and enemies. The opening anime-style cinematic is impressive and engaging, although it hints at a slightly goofy humour that doesn’t exist anywhere else in the mostly po-faced game, where dialogue with the fully-voiced cast of characters is rich, but mostly eventless and dry. That’s not to say there isn’t a lot of lore and world-building to discover and learn, more that doing so isn’t a particularly engaging aspect of the game.