A sleep-destroying puzzle metroidvania of baffling depth, Animal Well may go down in history as one of the genre's best.
A bizarre, confronting and darkly funny descent into hell, Indika takes a lot of risks and mostly sticks the landing.
Combining moody and gratifying ship-on-ship combat with shallow live service trappings, Skull and Bones is great within the claustrophobic parameters of what market forces allow it to be.
Gory and moody, The Callisto Protocol doesn't mess with the survival horror formula, instead embracing all its beats and clichés to tell a grim sci-fi tale that drips with menace.
Elsewhere, there's a mission to reach the stratosphere, as well as five "high-speed, low-level" challenges that are also focused on navigating tricky, mountainous terrain without crashing and exploding and dying.
Spelunky 2 doesn't advance the original's formula, but there's more stuff to sink your teeth into.
The pixel-art is faultless and the gameplay is pleasingly reminiscent of the classics, but Timespinner doesn't offer much that feels new.
A prickly 2D Metroidvania with a curious twist, Dandara admirably finds something new to do with the genre, but it's tough work to get onboard.
An engaging, vibrant and challenging platformer that adds narrative to a genre often shy of it.
A satisfying, moreish take on the roguelike formula, and one that's most likely to appeal to genre naysayers.
A blissfully fluid action game with a compelling twist, let down occasionally by tedious encounters.
Few will see the more remote corners of Rain World’s relentlessly dire stretch, but those who do are unlikely to forget the experience.
A beautiful adventure platformer with a cheerful pixel art veneer, but with very modern themes.
A decent enough expansion, but it doesn't reach the great heights of previous post-launch outings.
A masterful distillation of classic action-platforming gameplay, doling out tension and elation in equal measure.
A satisfying, self-contained adventure that plays to the series' strengths, but doesn't add anything novel outside of its storytelling.
A challenging and atmospheric platformer with a remarkable sense of tension, occasionally let down by finicky controls and unfair fail states.
A big, beautiful, sprawling action RPG full of rich stories, and suffused with an oppressive darkness.
Kalimba is a beautiful, cheerful platformer that finds a neat middle ground between reflex-oriented running and taxing puzzle solving.
Easy going in tone but frantic and stressful by nature, Screencheat seizes on a single novel idea and builds an enjoyable couch shooter around it.