Make or break

Any game that gets finished is a minor miracle. Developers often say that 90 per cent of a game comes together in the last ten percent of development time: just this month, Nathan Vella tells us that Sworcery would not have been the success it was without a five-month delay. In many cases, a studio won’t know whether something is working until the 11th hour. And not everyone is fortunate enough to be able to postpone launch if it isn’t.

That explains why we get games with great ideas that don’t always capitalise on them. So it is with Hood: Outlaws & Legends, whose robust stealth game is spoiled by the structure of its multiplayer heists, tempting players towards its weaker action elements. And sometimes you can see a developer straining to find that secret sauce. Biomutant throws as many ingredients as it can into the mix, and the result is a strange-tasting gumbo, albeit one that wouldn’t be quite the same had Experiment 101 been less cavalier in its approach.

Sometimes, experience helps devs compensate. Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart has issues with the implementation of its dimension-hopping hook, but the rest of the game sees Insomniac playing to its strengths: it’s that rare triple-A game that feels light on its feet. Similarly relaxed and easygoing is Inkle’s Overboard, a side project put together with the confidence of a team that’s done this sort of thing before.

Doubtless even the team behind this month’s best game will look at it and see things they wish they could improve. So it’s fitting that Chicory should prove a heartfelt paean to the creative process, one that encourages us to appreciate that making something – anything – has real value.