Games Round Up April & May 2026

April and May have been weird months for me. Before the release of Mina the Hollower there have been many games that peeked my interest but none of them I played to a level that I would want to make a full review on them. So I decided to give them all a small Spotlight in this new Format.

Puzzles Games become a genre I love

I always loved Puzzles but usually it was more in the form of classic Zelda Dungeon. But over the past few years I developed more of an interest in games like Picross for example. Games where I can wind down and focus on one Puzzle at a time without a bigger narrative around it. The Artisan of Glimmith is exactly such a game. Artistically it's beautiful and its music is simply enchanting. Gameplay wise it reminds me a lot of Picross.

You have to solve puzzles that are built around logic and never try and error. If you have enough patience you will always find the one solution that would work. What makes this game stand out however is its variety. This game offers plenty of different puzzles with different rulesets. All of them tickle the same part of your brain. Later on they get even combined from time to time. It's truly a hidden gem of an indie game.

Not so hidden but still a gem is Yoshi and the Mysterious Book. I was really on the fence if I wanted to buy this one as it seemed like a simple child's game. However it's definitely not. It almost feels like a new genre. You play Yoshi in a game that at first seems like a 2d Platformer. However it's more of a puzzle exploration game. 

Each stage has different creatures and you have to find out how these creatures work and how they interact with you and their environment. It's a very clever game and really joyful. It also looks stunning. I'm still early on but it's one of those games I would love to still play more of this year.

The month of big AAA Games

Let's start with the game I had the most fun with and was the most excited about, Forza Horizon 6. It's the ultimate chill game after work. It feels similar in that regard to last year's Assassin's Creed Shadows. Exploring Japan is simply fun and a good time. The game looks stunning and plays great. But it could have needed some more tweaks on its UI. For everything you want to do you need to click too much or encounter one to many loading screens.

Even the weekly challenges have been fun so far. It's hardly a revolution of the genre, but the setting alone together with the amazing soundtrack make it worth playing. This is definitely another game that I will keep on playing for the next year or so.

A game I however didn't expect to play this month was Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight, but the reviews got me interested. It's a really solid game. It mixes old school Batman Arkham Action with the Lego Games. It also includes a really good looking open world.

I only played for around 4 hours, but I enjoyed my time so far. The humor worked, gameplay was solid and the presentation was outstanding. However, to be honest, looking back, I feel like waiting for a discount or the planned Switch 2 release would have been the better call for me.

I have similar feelings about 007 First Light. The newest James Bond game turned out to be an interesting genre mix between action, stealth and the typical Hitman gameplay. Again, with most games on this list, I'm still early on. In the first few hours, I enjoyed the story and presentation of the game. However, the gameplay didn't always feel great for me.Looking at all the releases we will still get this year, I honestly feel like I won't return to this game anytime soon. It's a solid 8/10 but not the revolutionary game I hoped for.

My biggest Surprises in April and May

Now we come to my two big surprises in the past months. We begin with Farever. It's an early access MMO-Light game. So far, I'm honestly very impressed by it. The combat reminds me a bit of Guild Wars 2. It's a more active combat playstyle and depending on which weapon you equip, you get access to different skills. But there are also classes to choose from.

Furthermore, the game already includes a full job system and dungeons. There is a heavy focus on exploration and little handholding so far. The game is divided into small servers. So you will always just see a few people around you. Still, at launch, I really got this classic World of Warcraft feeling. The dungeons also felt really fun so far and offer the typical MMO style boss design. Overall, it's a very promising game with tons of updates on the horizon. I'm really excited to see where this leads.

Lastly, I want to say a few words about eFootball Kick Off Honestly, before this game was released, I never heard of it. eFootball Kick Off is pretty much a new mini PES Game exclusive for the Switch 2. It's still very light on features and in many ways it feels like an early access game. But it's cheap and the gameplay feels great and is fun. I hope Konami will work more on this.

And this is it! My small games round up. Honestly, it's been a great month for games, but I do look forward to the next few months with more heavy hitters.