Hello! Welcome to the latest Geeky Brummie Games Release Roundup!

It’s the final Games Release Roundup of 2023!

We’re officially at that point of the year where the best games lists get written, published and debated, especially as last night will have been the big Game Awards ceremony (although at the time of writing most of this, I have no idea of any winners).

As such, releases begin to fall off, leaving us with a handful of strays landing at the last minute. Snacko and Born of Bread look cool, as does the Game of the Week. Obviously. Beyond that, the rest of December looks barren, so this will be the last of these roundups for the year.

So what happens for the rest of the month? On the site things will go quiet, but behind the scenes, the real work begins. Because now is the time to compile the Top 50 Most Notable Games of the Year roundup. Every year, I gather data from Metacritic, Google Trends and countless end-of-year lists to make a handy list of 50 games that defined the year. I’ve already started working on this, and I’m pretty sure I already know what’s making the top 3 from how consistently these games keep showing up in the data. Place your bets now.

When can you see the final list? Check back on the 29th December. It’s going to be a big one. Until then, here are the final games of 2023.

New Releases

Outer Wilds arrives on the Switch this week, bundled with its Echoes of the Eye DLC. Mobius’ beloved sci-fi time loop game about rustic space travel and existential dread is now available on Nintendo’s system. There’s a lot to love about this one.

Also, getting a surprise release during the Game Awards, Baldur’s Gate 3 is on Xbox! The year’s biggest RPG, the DnD inspired CRPG with a cast of characters so beloved their presence has taken over all social media. If you only own an Xbox and have yet to play this game, you need to play this game.

Releasing in Early Access on Steam, Snacko is one of those cute cosy games we hear so much about these days. You play as a little cat guy who sets up a farm to revive a ruined island.

Born of Bread (PC, PS5, Switch, Xbox X/S) is a fun nod to the Paper Mario franchise, starring a flour golem named Loaf as he explores a new land full of intrigue. Expect a lot of goofy humour and adorable characters.

Believe it or not, there are more Warhammer games. Warhammer 40k: Rogue Trader (PC, PS5, Xbox X/S) is a dense CRPG from the developers of Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous. It promises an open-ended story built on the Rogue Trader system from the original games.

Because James Cameron isn’t content with making roughly 20 movies in the franchise, here’s a game too. Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora (PC, PS5, Xbox X/S) is based in the land of Cameron’s sci-fi franchise, where you venture forth as a blue tribal alien. From all accounts, it’s basically Far Cry, so expect a game as pretty yet derivative as the movies it’s based on.

Game of the Week

The final Game of the Week for 2023 is A Highland Song (PC, Switch), a platformer about the Scottish Highlands.

You play as Moira, a young Scottish girl who’s decided to run away from home after receiving a mysterious letter from her Uncle Hamish urging her to visit his lighthouse. So she journeys across the Highlands in a 2D platformer built around narrative and music.

A Highland Song looks like such a beautiful game. It’s a sweet little adventure wrapped up in Scottish identity and featuring some gorgeous environments. This is a game simply about being on a journey through the hills that’s been getting a lot of great reviews, so it’s only right it gets the final award for 2023.