Helltaker

Hell is full of block puzzles.

Your goal in Helltaker is to amass a ‘harem of demon girls’, by delving down through the layers of Hell. It’s a potentially dodgy premise, but surprisingly OK in its execution, as the women aren’t really sexualised, and will tag along for their own reasons.

With a limited number of moves, you have to collect a key and reach a lock on each stage, while avoiding timed traps and bashing any skeletons that stand in your way. After clearing a level, you also have to make the correct (not really obvious) dialogue option, or else you have to play the damned thing again.

While it’s refreshing for a turn-based puzzler to be given such a lavish presentation, when it comes to its mechanics, Helltaker is a little uninspired and lacking in features compared to the best the genre has to offer – I’ve been spoiled by PuzzleScript’s undo feature, essentially. To an extent, it makes up for it with its puzzles, and colourful cast of characters, but this still feels like an odd mash-up that doesn’t really excel in any area. TOM SYKES

Give it a pass unless you feel like being punished.