The Lord of the Rings: Gollum from Daedalic Entertainment sees the titular character roaming Middle-earth shortly before the main events in The Fellowship of the Ring. Initially told through flashbacks as Gandalf questions Gollum about the One Ring, the game explores story beats only briefly referenced in the book and appendices (and Peter Jackson's films), offering a fairly unique take on The Lord of the Rings' canon. Unfortunately, the game is rife with technical issues (even after multiple patches) and fails to deliver any kind of worthwhile experience. 576t5h

For turnips, life is a straightforward path from seed to plate, and the anthropomorphized, emotionally needy root vegetables of new indie life sim Minabo: a walk through life don’t add a lot of pizazz to this essential route. It's a kind of sleepy, allegorical life sim metaphor for human existence but, whenever it should be charming or irreverent or pleasantly absurd, it’s mostly cynical and dim. There are far better examples of this kind of abstracted game experience and narrative, and its comparably steep $15 price tag isn’t doing it any favors.

If players have ever wanted to live in Disneyland or Disney World and befriend beloved Disney characters, Disney Magical World 2: Enchanted Edition offers such an experience. Similar to Animal Crossing, Disney Magical World 2: Enchanted Edition sees players move into a new town, Castleton, right next door to Mickey Mouse, and will gather, fish, and craft furniture and clothing to make the city their own. Along the way, they will meet their favorite characters, collect Stickers that can be used to unlock different areas, and complete favors for their new friends.

The first DLC for Barn Finders, titled Amerykan Dream, adds a few new maps full of new items for players to salvage with their Uncle Billy. Barn Finders takes place on Ameryka, an alien planet similar to the United States. Similar to games like House Flipper, Barn Finders has players explore abandoned barns and bid on abandoned storage units to find treasures they can fix up and sell in their pawnshop. In the background, an Agent named Agent investigates signs of alien activity in these various abandoned places.

Developer Capricia Productions has created a video game experience unlike any other with Of Bird and Cage. This first-person interactive thriller is half-video game and half-experimental rock album, loaded to the brim with intense subject matter. While Of Bird and Cage is fascinating as a concept, however, the final product feels like a thousand ideas thrown at a wall at once just to see what sticks - and very little does.

The line that separates and fuses an artistic statement from any kind of traditional, recognizable game can be a fascinating dimension to explore. That Art Sqool’s own activities were as interesting themselves may have connected the dots of its intention in a more worthwhile or satisfying way. A dreamy, somewhat vaporwave-tinged aesthetic wraps this lightweight interactive experiment, and although it can impart a kind of meditative immersion in its best moments, the resultant feeling the player is left with is notably empty.

In 2007, the Bakugan anime series premiered on TV Tokyo, followed by a line of collectable toys of the same name. Seeking to succeed in the competitive market of collectable monsters, the Bakugan franchise rose in popularity due to the unique transformative abilities of the toys and the action-packed fun of the television series. A series of video games were also produced which varied in style from virtually imitating how Bakugan is played in real life to having the player control the monstrous forms of the Bakugan. However, Bakugan: Champions of Vestroia, developed by WayForward Games and published Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, is a harsh fall from grace, failing to elicit the same type of joy that many of the property's core components and spin-offs are known to produce.

Each year, EA releases a new version of their sports franchises, and NHL 21 is the latest to come out this year. NHL 21 has Alexander Ovechkin as the cover player, with EA wanting to take a cue from his outgoing personality to try and bring it into this game. When Alexander Ovechkin burst on to the scene, he helped change hockey and the way it's played at the top level. Knowing this is what's supposed to be the game's inspiration, NHL 21 is effectively a massively disappointing clone of the last few years with only a few new features to create some momentary, but fleeting, excitement.

Her Majesty's Ship, an 18th century naval management game from indie developer Every Single Soldier, puts players in the role of an ambitious ship captain in a race to become iral. The sim comes to Nintendo Switch a year after the game's release on Steam, bringing some extremely frustrating UI and questionable use (or lack thereof) of the console's abilities on top of what was already a tedious, disappointing experience.

It's only natural to feel restricted in the current situation of the COVID-19 pandemic. After all, so much of day-to-day life has been disrupted, from going to work through to seeing movies at the cinema. For all its flaws (and there are a few), at least Balconing Simulator 2020 gives players a sense of freedom.