Submerged: Hidden Depths nails its core aim. It’s an experience that plays more along the lines of an interactive art exhibit instead of a traditional game. That may not appeal to everyone, but it’s a slice of tranquillity we could all benefit from.
For platform fans, Unbound: Worlds Apart will be a delight. It's a challenging game, but completely fair and with some well-worked checkpointing that ensures that dying is not a pain. It's inventive as well, with the use of portals helping your puzzle-solving and way through the adventure.
We have a burning love for Rise of the Third Power. It’s a long, lingering cuddle of a JRPG, doing everything we want from the genre: rich storytelling, chummy characters and a large side-step of ‘the grind’. If you can forgive the lack of any combat, loot or progression depth, you may love it as much as we did.
It may not be that much of a surprise but Taiko no Tatsujin: The Drum Master! is massively enjoyable. While the songs range from easy to “surely only an octopus can hit all these notes!”, the challenge can be tweaked to suit everyone, and it turns out that a little drumming is a surprisingly relaxing pastime.
Undernauts: Labyrinth of Yomi is definitely a game that you need to stick with, being patient, but if you do then you will be rewarded well, as you make your way through more dungeons and face off against all kinds of dangerous beasts.
Cake Invaders is a fun game for a limited period of time. It’s exciting and can be challenging, depending on how the power-ups fall, but equally after about half an hour, you are likely to have seen all it has to offer. For achievement hunters, it’s an easy sell, but for folk looking for a return on their investment, that’s less so.
The Longest Road on Earth is thoroughly enjoyable; an experience that is capable of sincerely touching the player. The music is wonderful and the whole journey a delight.
Hatsune Miku Logic Paint S is exactly the Picross game that Xbox needs. It’s straightforward but absolutely stacked with puzzles, and it brings the trademark jukebox of J-pop hits with it.
Vaporum: Lockdown is a rock solid RPG that will be a delight to anyone interested in a more classic experience. Pretty much everything is done right here - the story clicks, the combat is great, the levelling is fun and the puzzles are layered. If you're looking for a good dungeon crawler on Xbox, start right here.
Space Warlord Organ Trading Simulator is a tense and heart-racing experience that maximizes on its simple mechanics to great effect. While understanding what is required of you is not complicated, the focus and speed required to make the most cash comes in intense short bursts.
