Tiger Woods 11 Wii

Tiger Woods 11 Wii crafts an addictively unique swing. It's most impressive because it responds to real golf technique, and has me practising even when I'm not playing.

Red Dead Redemption 360

Red Dead Redemption is a pulsating vision of another era that stuck in my mind even when I wasn't playing. I was expecting the GTA play style, but not the way it unsettled my comfortable modern life.

Demon's Souls Black Phantom PS3

Demon's Souls for the PlayStation 3 finally comes to the UK after gaining cult status in Japan and America. The atmosphere of this challenging action-RPG captivated my imagination long after I had finished playing it. Even between play sessions I was perpetually playing it in my imagination. No other game can offer such an experience that drips with tangible fear but gives you such ultimate rewards.

Alan Wake 360

Alan Wake 360 gets the light and dark gunplay right before worrying about the fear factor. And it is the jubilation of shooting fun that stayed with me more than the zombies.

BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger 360

BlazBlue 360 is clean understandable fighting. Unusual for a fighting game, it hooked my psyche and made me consider it between sessions. The result is a game I better understand and enjoy. A fighter gateway drug of choice.

Super Street Fighter IV 360

Super Street Fighter IV is a game of the moment. When it has your attention there is nothing else in the room, but after playing very little stayed with me to ponder. My post-game strategising had been spent on the previous game.

Mirror's Edge 360

Mirror's Edge create tense first person platforming. But it was the way my mind kept the experience alive me between games - wrestling with the architectural puzzles - that I most enjoyed. I had been infected with parkor visions where the architecture I passed through was no longer practical but instead now offered a puzzling play space.

Resident Evil PS1

The original Resident Evil on PlayStation 1 infiltrated my life. Not so much perpetual gaming, but a game I couldn't shake from my head. It's awkward either-or mechanics, and plodding zombie foes stayed with me when I wasn't playing. But rather than disturbing me, this simply gave me time to think through the delights of each level and how I was going to tackle them next time I played.

Chess.com PC

It's not often you review a game dating back to the 16th Century. But what I'm bringing today is the wonderfully slick massively multiplayer experience that Chess.com has turned this board game into. Three words sum it up for me; tournaments, rankings stats and community - if you've never been into Chess now is the time because Chess.com takes this board game and fits it into your life, even into your phone.

Section 8 360

Section 8 (like it's filmic namesake District 9) is a shooter that walks its own path. Although this has resulted in a slightly muted single player, it is more than made up for this by a raft of fresh ideas for mutliplayer gaming. This game with its heart on its sleeve creates so many new ways to loose yourself in perpetual multiplayer bliss.