We pick through the best of the summer showcases to find interesting games to look out for in the near future
May 2024
What is Manor Lords? The medieval city-building game that sold a million copies in a single day
Developer Slavic Magic’s feudal simulator is Steam’s latest early access sensation, but there’s a seven-year story behind its overnight success
December 2023
Simon Parkin on games
Persona 5 Tactica review – Famous Five-style Jungian urban warfare anyone?
This stylish if undemanding instalment has some nice touches, but its saccharine dialogue will appeal to only the most committed Persona fans
July 2023
Pikmin 4 review – a gardener’s fever dream
Nintendo’s outwardly bucolic strategy sequel may just as well be titled Parental Anxiety: The Video Game
December 2022
2023 culture preview
Street Fighter returns, Link is back and vampires run amok: 15 video games to anticipate in 2023
From space exploration and eerie late night fishing to dungeon-delving and confronting your exes, there’s lots to be excited about – including some long-awaited sequels
Unsocial hours: the best video games to play in ‘goblin mode’
Draw the curtains, pull up your weighted blanket and hunker down with these cosy sims, expansive fantasies or, for actual goblins, subterranean dungeon crawlers
Dwarf Fortress review – a grand chronicle of inevitable disaster
A graphical overhaul offers a gentler way of playing this vast, strange strategy game of staggering intricacy
July 2022
Simon Parkin on games
Neon White review – an exhilarating speedrun through a celestial dreamscape
Timing is all as you wake from the dead and race towards a heavenly finish line, slaying demons en route, in this chaotic yet ingenious anime-inspired game
June 2022
Simon Parkin on games
Influence, Inc review – a mesmerising dive into the world of public manipulation
Your job is to manage a digital influencing agency with commercial and political clients – and ethical challenges
December 2021
2022 culture preview
The 10 best video games coming in 2022
George RR Martin joins forces with the makers of Dark Souls, ghosts take over in Japan and a Nintendo sequel you could be playing all year
November 2021
Age of Empires 4 review – bloodless battles and titanic tutorials
Relic returns with this safe but solid modern revitalisation of the classic real-time strategy series
April 2021
Evil Genius 2: World Domination review – live out your Bond-villain fantasies
Strategy game preserves the structure and jokey vibe of the 2004 classic but adds 2021 slickness and scope
February 2021
Lockdown culture
10 short video games to play with your partner (or housemate)
From detective missions to prison breakouts, playful puzzles to cosy diversions, here are some great games perfect for two
January 2021
2021 culture preview
Refreshingly modern dinosaurs and a cyberpunk cat: our games picks for 2021
An ultra-stylish trip to Gotham, a new Hogwarts adventure and a long-awaited sequel to Psychonauts lead our preview of this year’s most anticipated releases
September 2020
Sid Meier's Memoir review – Civilization creator is all about fun
This enjoyable, if light, autobiography by one of the first auteurs of video games focuses on the games over the man behind them
August 2020
Peaky Blinders: Mastermind review – clunky and not so clever
The player in this TV series tie-in game is more like a frustrated foot soldier than a gangland kingpin
July 2020
Simon Parkin on games
Wildfire review: hide-and-seek in a medieval village of the damned
Simon Parkin on games
Through the Darkest of Times review – join the anti-Nazi resistance
June 2020
Valorant review – mind games and strategy meet competitive shooting
This deeply tactical shooter from the brains behind League of Legends is Fortnite’s latest challenger
April 2020
Gears Tactics review – brains meet brawn in strategic spin-off
It wouldn’t be Gears of War without gore, and combining strategy with viscera dispersal aplenty, this cerebral twist on an old favourite remains true to form
