Real-Time Stratember is fully wrapping up soon. But in the meantime, here are the games that didn't make the cut. From WWII classics waiting for their Definitive Editions to campaign AI so brutal I had to quit. Here are the five major cuts, five honourable mentions and five dishonourable mentions from the month. One review and a full wrap-up still to come!

Warcraft 3 Reforged pulled me back into Eternity's End, the Night Elf Campaign for Real-Time Stratember. The Night Elves kinda play by their own rulebook and Reign of Chaos had been steadily building to their arrival. Twenty years on, there's one mission that STILL lives in my head rent free.

Real-Time Stratember is headed to a galaxy far, far away with Star Wars: Empire at War. Real-time battles clash with galactic grand strategy as Darth Vader tears through anything in his path hunting the Rebel Alliance. Does commanding Palpatine's Empire hold up 20 years on?

Next up, Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War. The Blood Ravens have their work cut out for them with a sinister plot slowly brewing. Relic kinda threw out the usual RTS playbook with this one. Does bridging the gap between new and old work out?

Command and Conquer is next up, playing as the Brotherhood under Kane himself. Man, those cheesy FMV cutscenes and deadset banger soundtrack. Simple resource management, faction asymmetry and a sidebar that helped build the genre. How does it hold up today?

I'm nearly a decade late, but I finally ripped through StarCraft's Terran campaign. Does Blizzard's iconic sci-fi RTS manage to bridge that gap between story and strategy? Or should it have stayed on that video game rental shelf?

Dark Reign is an interesting piece of real-time strategy and Australian gaming history. It's packed with insane technical ambition and brutal, reactive AI. Behind those brilliant ideas is an unfortunately rough and clunky RTS that'll test your patience more than your strategy.

Next for Real-Time Stratember is a trip back to Warcraft 2's Orc campaign. Oh yeah, Bloodlusted Ogre-Mages ready to roll again! The story is surprisingly bigger than you'd expect from 1995 and the remaster has its issues. But a much younger me would still be very proud.

Real-Time Stratember continues with Command & Conquer: Generals, the follow up game from the same core team behind Red Alert 2. We have a bold new setting and a variety of changes, but does swapping Tiberium and FMV sequences for a modern military style pay off? Well, it's finally time for me to find out.

Released by Westwood Pacific as opposed to the main studio in late 2000, Command and Conquer: Red Alert 2 remains the gold standard for the real-time strategy genre. Campy FMVs, vibrant graphics and Frank Klepacki's legendary soundtrack, Red Alert 2 delivers unmatched RTS perfection.

Another themed month? You bet your ass. This September it's Real-Time Stratember and I'll be playing RTS games exclusively. Campaign by campaign, in no particular order. There'll be cuts, curveballs and probably way too much 'one more mission'.

Far Cry 2 has a reputation and it's all over the place. Some call it a deadset classic, others call it unplayable. I was determined to find out which side was right. With low expectations and my trusty Steam Deck, I went in to see for myself.

Discworld Noir manages to blend an enthralling detective story with Pratchett's trademark wit and humour, with enough film noir parody to keep the mood light. It's backed by one of the best clue and notebook systems I've ever seen in an adventure game. While it may be a little rough to get going, it's still one of the best point and click adventures out there.

NBA 2K26 on the Steam Deck feels just as familiar as it did on my Xbox a decade ago and that's... exactly the problem. Still, it runs great and plays comfortably, but 2K26 is yet another expensive roster update with a fresh coat of paint.

Mechanism's Kickstand 2 and the JSAUX ModCase Adapter can turn your Steam Deck into a super flexible desk setup. Solid build, endless viewing angles and full access to Mechanism's accessory ecosystem, all for a low buy-in.

Super late, but here's my Q2 2026 wrap featuring Dishonored, a whole month of Nintendo Wii, Ayn Thor Pro nonsense and paying full price for a video game for the first time in... I don't even know. What a ride.

This one will be a little different to the rest. More Dad than Deck. I recently picked up hand, foot and mouth disease. The short of it: it fucking stinks.

After a few months of refreshing my email, the Steam Controller finally landed on my doorstep. Was it worth the wait? Here's my first impressions primarily as a Steam Deck user. I'll be covering the hardware, the feel in hand and how I'm actually going to use this thing.

Another Steam sale, another wallet massacre. It's a bloodbath. I walked away with nineteen new games. Indiana Jones, Far Cry, Resident Evil and an absolutely absurd pile of point and click adventure games. Why? Exactly.

The Longest Journey is often remembered as one of the greatest point and click adventure games ever made. After finally getting to it, I found an ambitious adventure severely hamstrung by frustrating puzzles, sluggish pacing and execution that rarely matched its ideas.

IO Interactive have delivered the James Bond game fans have wanted for, uh... ever. 007 First Light blends confident storytelling, satisfying gameplay and cinematic presentation into an adventure that feels every bit as authentic as the films while confidently forging establishing its own identity.

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars proves there's more to Rockstar's handheld experiment than most people remember. Nearly twenty years later, it still feels fresh. It's packed full of clever ideas and it's perfectly suited to modern dual-screen devices like the Ayn Thor.

Dishonored sat in my backlog for years before completely blowing me away. I rated it a 9.5/10, I figured the best way to pay that recommendation forward was with a giveaway.

The Tragedy at Deer Creek blends classic point and click adventure design with a compelling mystery, pretty distinct visuals and an atmosphere which is heavy on isolation. Sparrowland's debut manages to deliver rewarding puzzles, strong storytelling and a haunting Alaskan setting that's difficult to forget.

When I started Dad with a Deck, I fully expected to crash and burn before hitting ten posts. But, here we are at post number one hundred. This is a bit of a retrospective, some highlights, a few blunders and there might even be a giveaway at the end.

After a two month wait, my Ayn Thor Pro is finally here. With dual OLED screens, powerful performance and premium build quality, this Android handheld is shaping up to be something special.

I spent May revisiting the Nintendo Wii and it proved something I'd known for years: the Wii was FAR better than its reputation suggested. From overlooked classics and underrated motion controls to Super Mario Galaxy, this month proved that some of gaming's best experiences are hiding in plain sight.

Wii Sports wasn't a simple pack-in game. It accidentally became a cultural phenomenon and managed to pull non-gamers into the hobby. It survived the Wii Tax and remains just as fun nearly twenty years later.

I missed Super Mario Galaxy on release, but it still plays like it was made yesterday. The level design, mechanics and the soundtrack all combine into something that feels more like a statement about video games as a whole.

Ghost Squad is a faithful arcade port that really nails the feel of the genre and makes unreal use of the Wiimote. It's a blast while it lasts, just don't expect it to last very long.

Does Valve's forgotten Steam Link hardware still hold up in 2026? After pitting the original not-so-rectangular box against the Steam Link app across older and newer devices, the results are... surprisingly inconsistent and occasionally impressive.

Capcom took Resident Evil's survival horror atmosphere and forcibly shoved it into an arcade on-rails shooter. I went in blind with a Wiimote shoved into a revolver attachment... and somehow it works.

MadWorld is the most violent game on the Nintendo Wii and it delivers its gratuitous brand of carnage in stark black and white with Greg Proops screaming filthy nonsense over the top of it all. It's unlike anything else on the console.

Call of Duty on the Nintendo Wii sounds kinda ridiculous until you actually play it. Revisiting Black Ops and the wider Wii releases in 2026 revealed nothing but surprisingly solid ports, enjoyable motion controls and a side of the franchise that deserved far more attention.

ALT: Childish Gambino's Surprised 'Good.'

The Force Unleashed provides a genuinely compelling Star Wars story wrapped in solid combat with Wii motion controls that make you feel like the most powerful Force user in the galaxy.

The House of the Dead: Overkill is loud, trashy and completely self-aware. It fully embraces its grindhouse roots. It's short, dumb and endlessly replayable, delivering a chaotic arcade experience that proves sometimes the simplest games are the most fun.

This guide will walk you through setting up your Steam Deck, or other handheld, as a Nintendo Wii using Dolphin, a real Wii Remote and a USB sensor bar. Everything you need to kick off Wii're Going Back and the steps to get you there.

The Nintendo Wii launched nearly 20 years ago and we haven't seen a console like it since. This May, Wii're going back and we're doing it with the Steam Deck.

After many failed attempts at Bioshock, a friend's recommendation landed me in Dunwall and I'm legitimately furious it took me this long. Dishonored is a masterclass in player freedom. Yeah, this one is a deadset banger.

Fallout 1.5: Resurrection is a fan-made total conversion mod for Fallout 2 set in post-apocalyptic New Mexico. If you've been looking to get it running on your Steam Deck, here's a step-by-step guide to do exactly that.

Nine games down. This quarter had Steam sale gambles, nostalgia deep-dives, nowhere near enough hours of Fallout and one unexpected standout. Q1 was a mixed bag, but still a great time. Read on for the full wrap-up.