Let me be blunt: Mondays are rubbish, and the only thing that makes them even close to okay are the video games we get to play at the end of them. That being the case, I’ve gone looking for the absolute best ones you can buy for cheap. Cutting-edge AAAs, older gold you should’ve played but somehow didn’t—they’re all perfect prescriptions for that start-of-week headache you’re experiencing. Take two games and see me in the morning.

In retro news, it’s now been a quarter of a century since we slapped a Crash Bandicoot 2 disc into our PS One. The icy floor/nitro box death route of the ‘Cold Hard Crash’ level sticks out as my most groin-kicking memory of it all.

This Day in Gaming

Aussie birthdays for notable games.

– Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back (PS) 1999. Get

– XCOM 2 (PC) 2016. Get