Matthew Smail

Nioh 3 on PlayStation 5 is the most confident, ambitious, and wide‑ranging evolution of Team Ninja’s so-called “Masocore” formula to date. It draws heavily on the precision and intensity of Nioh and Nioh 2, folds in lessons from Wo Long:…

Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon is a sprawling, atmospheric open-world RPG that reimagines Arthurian legend through a lens of darkness and decay, drawing inspiration from the rich board game and RPG lore that inspired it. Tainted Grail:…

Republic of Pirates on Xbox One is a promising blend of city builder, light strategy, and basic real-time naval combat, wrapped in a breezy Caribbean aesthetic that often feels about as crusty as Barnacle Bill. Developed by Crazy Goat…

Yogi is a physical (and occasionally hilarious) party game by Bez Shahriari that has most recently been published by Hachette. It challenges players to twist, contort, and balance their way to victory — a bit like a spiritual successor to…

Lost Eidolons: Veil of the Witch is a bold and atmospheric spin-off that reimagines the tactical RPG framework of its predecessor through a roguelite lens. Developed by Ocean Drive Studio, it trades the sprawling narrative and persistent…

Diver Go! from Itten and designer Mashiu is a light, family-friendly memory and dexterity game where players dive for treasure coins on the ocean floor — balancing quick observation, recall, and a touch of luck against the mischievous curse…

Endangered, designed by Joe Hopkins and published by Grand Gamers Guild, is a cooperative game that wears its heart entirely and unapologetically on its sleeve. It is about saving animals, yes, but not in a vague, feel-good kind of way.…

Escape from Projekt Riese is a tense, narrative-driven solo/co-op campaign game from Raybox Games that blends tactical combat, horror, and historical fiction into a modular, campaign driven experience that builds on its predecessor, Escape…

Club Manager, designed by Colin Webster, is a football management game that aims to capture the long arc of running a club rather than the moment‑to‑moment tactics of a single match. It’s a game about seasons (up to ten), not an individual…

Moon Colony Bloodbath, designed by Donald X. Vaccharino and published by Rio Grande Games, is a tableau-building and deck-destruction game that thrives on its clever arc of play, tongue-in-cheek retro-futuristic art style, and the way it…