I was considering trying the inventory, attributes, and dialogue assets made by this creator. Before I download them, I wanted to take a look at any tutorials or documentation for their assets. I didn't find much, their github only has a simple readme file in the repos for the three assets that I wanted to check out. And the only other thing I found was the page they said was their documentation on their publishers page. It took me to a site that was flagged as suspicious by MacAfee before I wen
I was considering trying the inventory, attributes, and dialogue assets made by this creator. Before I download them, I wanted to take a look at any tutorials or documentation for their assets. I didn't find much, their github only has a simple readme file in the repos for the three assets that I wanted to check out. And the only other thing I found was the page they said was their documentation on their publishers page. It took me to a site that was flagged as suspicious by MacAfee before I went there, and when I went ahead, I saw it was weird looking, so I got out of there immediately. Does anyone know if their assets or website is safe? Would you recommend using their assets, or should I find others to use? For example, are their assets easy to use and work without many errors or changes to their code, are they high quality?
The Crimson Diamond is a proper old-school style puzzle adventure. It's 2D pixel art, with a limited colour palette as in EGA games, and you control it with a text parser, like King's Quest or one of them other Sierra adventures old men like Graham remember. It's important to mention this up front because it's very possible that, despite The Crimson Diamond's tale of betrayal, murder, and mineral rights in 1914 Canada, the text parser element will be a Rubicon you instantly can't be arsed to c
The Crimson Diamond is a proper old-school style puzzle adventure. It's 2D pixel art, with a limited colour palette as in EGA games, and you control it with a text parser, like King's Quest or one of them other Sierra adventures old men like Graham remember. It's important to mention this up front because it's very possible that, despite The Crimson Diamond's tale of betrayal, murder, and mineral rights in 1914 Canada, the text parser element will be a Rubicon you instantly can't be arsed to cross. A not unreasonable stance - though I think the text parser in The Crimson Diamond is fantastic. Such beef that I have with this adventure game is down to the specificity required to solve some of the puzzles.
The Crimson Diamond is a proper old-school style puzzle adventure. It's 2D pixel art, with a limited colour palette as in EGA games, and you control it with a text parser, like King's Quest or one of them other Sierra adventures old men like Graham remember. It's important to mention this up front because it's very possible that, despite The Crimson Diamond's tale of betrayal, murder, and mineral rights in 1914 Canada, the text parser element will be a Rubicon you instantly can't be arsed to c
The Crimson Diamond is a proper old-school style puzzle adventure. It's 2D pixel art, with a limited colour palette as in EGA games, and you control it with a text parser, like King's Quest or one of them other Sierra adventures old men like Graham remember. It's important to mention this up front because it's very possible that, despite The Crimson Diamond's tale of betrayal, murder, and mineral rights in 1914 Canada, the text parser element will be a Rubicon you instantly can't be arsed to cross. A not unreasonable stance - though I think the text parser in The Crimson Diamond is fantastic. Such beef that I have with this adventure game is down to the specificity required to solve some of the puzzles.
Image: Free League Publishing
The bundle includes Vaesen, Tales from the Loop, and other titles for the Alchemy Virtual Tabletop system
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Arranger is a puzzle game about moving, in both metaphorical and literal senses. Movement is the entire basis for the puzzles in Arranger, and is hard to explain without showing you (if you're able to watch the trailer that will be helpful). The world of Arranger is divided into a grid, and you don't move the main character, feisty misfit kid Jemma, across the squares. Rather, imagine that the row or column Jemma is on becomes a travelator, and you control the direction and speed of it. Jemma
Arranger is a puzzle game about moving, in both metaphorical and literal senses. Movement is the entire basis for the puzzles in Arranger, and is hard to explain without showing you (if you're able to watch the trailer that will be helpful). The world of Arranger is divided into a grid, and you don't move the main character, feisty misfit kid Jemma, across the squares. Rather, imagine that the row or column Jemma is on becomes a travelator, and you control the direction and speed of it. Jemma stands still and you move the ground, and anything on it left, right, up or down - like How To Say Goodbye but with more squares. It's one of those things that makes sense when you're doing it, trust me.
Arranger is a puzzle game about moving, in both metaphorical and literal senses. Movement is the entire basis for the puzzles in Arranger, and is hard to explain without showing you (if you're able to watch the trailer that will be helpful). The world of Arranger is divided into a grid, and you don't move the main character, feisty misfit kid Jemma, across the squares. Rather, imagine that the row or column Jemma is on becomes a travelator, and you control the direction and speed of it. Jemma
Arranger is a puzzle game about moving, in both metaphorical and literal senses. Movement is the entire basis for the puzzles in Arranger, and is hard to explain without showing you (if you're able to watch the trailer that will be helpful). The world of Arranger is divided into a grid, and you don't move the main character, feisty misfit kid Jemma, across the squares. Rather, imagine that the row or column Jemma is on becomes a travelator, and you control the direction and speed of it. Jemma stands still and you move the ground, and anything on it left, right, up or down - like How To Say Goodbye but with more squares. It's one of those things that makes sense when you're doing it, trust me.
Graphic: Polygon | Source Images: Rowan, Rook & Deckard, Mousehole Press, H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society, Free League Publishing, The Arcane Library, Mythworks
The winners of the 2024 Ennie Awards are already available
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We’re so excited to reveal that the electrifying, creative, and action-packed gameplay of Valorant is now coming to PS5. We can’t wait for you all to join us for our Limited Beta, which begins June 14!
Valorant is a 5v5 character-based tactical FPS, where precise gunplay meets unique Agent abilities. Valorant is more than just guns and bullets… I mean don’t get us wrong, you can definitely do some crazy outplays with your guns (five bullets, five enemies, five one-taps… no problem), but Valo
We’re so excited to reveal that the electrifying, creative, and action-packed gameplay of Valorant is now coming to PS5. We can’t wait for you all to join us for our Limited Beta, which begins June 14!
Valorant is a 5v5 character-based tactical FPS, where precise gunplay meets unique Agent abilities. Valorant is more than just guns and bullets… I mean don’t get us wrong, you can definitely do some crazy outplays with your guns (five bullets, five enemies, five one-taps… no problem), but Valorant is so much more than that. In every game of Valorant you’ll get to choose an Agent from our continually growing, unapologetically global roster, and each Agent is armed with unique abilities.
Creativity meets clutch
Every Agent has a different kit that allows you to create opportunities for your gunplay to shine. No two Agents will play alike, just like no two montages will look the same in Valorant. When we initially began thinking about bringing Valorant to PS5, it was never about the technical aspects of building a new game on new platforms—it was about preserving the feeling of what it’s like to play Valorant. Once you start playing Valorant and get more familiar with the gameplay, there’s a special moment that will just click. Moments where you stand alone and outnumbered, but you find a way to overcome the odds and win the round while your teammates watch in silence—before erupting into cheers. These are the moments that make Valorant special, where creativity meets clutch. And we’re so happy that we can bring that experience to PS5 and welcome more players to our community.
The playing fields
In addition to unique Agents, abilities, and gunplay, Valorant also features an array of maps. Each one is a playground for you to showcase your creative thinking. There’s also different modes for you to try out, whether you want to play a quick match or climb the ranks, there’s something for everyone. Currently, for competitive queue, we have a map pool that changes every few months. But all of our existing maps are available in non-competitive modes. All the content that is currently available on Valorant PC, will be available on PS5, and whenever we ship a patch, we’ll be shipping it for everyone at the same time. So when a new map or Agent launches, everyone who plays Valorant will get it at the same time.
For the Beta
While we want to have everyone playing the same Valorant, we also know that with all the different modes, maps, Agents, and guns, there’s a lot to learn. So we’ll be releasing the following modes and maps during our Limited Beta to catch everyone up to speed.
Unrated, Swiftplay, Deathmatch:
June 14: Ascent, Bind, Haven, Abyss
June 25: Patch 9.00, Sunset
July 9: Lotus
July 23: Icebox
Team Deathmatch
All TDM maps
Customs
All maps
How to sign up
Valorant is all about how you want to play. From the Agents you pick, the gun you default to (we prefer the Vandal), to how you customize your collection. We’re excited to welcome you into our community, can’t wait to see all your creative clips, and are so ready to put Valorant in your hands.
Our Limited Beta will begin on June 14 in the following regions: USA, Canada, parts of Europe, and Japan. Throughout our Limited and Open Beta more regions will be made available and we’ll continue to update availability throughout each phase. You can sign up to join the Limited Beta now at beta.playvalorant.com. If your region isn’t listed, we encourage you to still sign up to show your interest, as we’ll be adding new regions over the course of our Beta.
That’s all from us for now. We can’t wait to see you in-game on June 14!
We’re so excited to reveal that the electrifying, creative, and action-packed gameplay of Valorant is now coming to PS5. We can’t wait for you all to join us for our Limited Beta, which begins June 14!
Valorant is a 5v5 character-based tactical FPS, where precise gunplay meets unique Agent abilities. Valorant is more than just guns and bullets… I mean don’t get us wrong, you can definitely do some crazy outplays with your guns (five bullets, five enemies, five one-taps… no problem), but Valo
We’re so excited to reveal that the electrifying, creative, and action-packed gameplay of Valorant is now coming to PS5. We can’t wait for you all to join us for our Limited Beta, which begins June 14!
Valorant is a 5v5 character-based tactical FPS, where precise gunplay meets unique Agent abilities. Valorant is more than just guns and bullets… I mean don’t get us wrong, you can definitely do some crazy outplays with your guns (five bullets, five enemies, five one-taps… no problem), but Valorant is so much more than that. In every game of Valorant you’ll get to choose an Agent from our continually growing, unapologetically global roster, and each Agent is armed with unique abilities.
Creativity meets clutch
Every Agent has a different kit that allows you to create opportunities for your gunplay to shine. No two Agents will play alike, just like no two montages will look the same in Valorant. When we initially began thinking about bringing Valorant to PS5, it was never about the technical aspects of building a new game on new platforms—it was about preserving the feeling of what it’s like to play Valorant. Once you start playing Valorant and get more familiar with the gameplay, there’s a special moment that will just click. Moments where you stand alone and outnumbered, but you find a way to overcome the odds and win the round while your teammates watch in silence—before erupting into cheers. These are the moments that make Valorant special, where creativity meets clutch. And we’re so happy that we can bring that experience to PS5 and welcome more players to our community.
The playing fields
In addition to unique Agents, abilities, and gunplay, Valorant also features an array of maps. Each one is a playground for you to showcase your creative thinking. There’s also different modes for you to try out, whether you want to play a quick match or climb the ranks, there’s something for everyone. Currently, for competitive queue, we have a map pool that changes every few months. But all of our existing maps are available in non-competitive modes. All the content that is currently available on Valorant PC, will be available on PS5, and whenever we ship a patch, we’ll be shipping it for everyone at the same time. So when a new map or Agent launches, everyone who plays Valorant will get it at the same time.
For the Beta
While we want to have everyone playing the same Valorant, we also know that with all the different modes, maps, Agents, and guns, there’s a lot to learn. So we’ll be releasing the following modes and maps during our Limited Beta to catch everyone up to speed.
Unrated, Swiftplay, Deathmatch:
June 14: Ascent, Bind, Haven, Abyss
June 25: Patch 9.00, Sunset
July 9: Lotus
July 23: Icebox
Team Deathmatch
All TDM maps
Customs
All maps
How to sign up
Valorant is all about how you want to play. From the Agents you pick, the gun you default to (we prefer the Vandal), to how you customize your collection. We’re excited to welcome you into our community, can’t wait to see all your creative clips, and are so ready to put Valorant in your hands.
Our Limited Beta will begin on June 14 in the following regions: USA, Canada, parts of Europe, and Japan. Throughout our Limited and Open Beta more regions will be made available and we’ll continue to update availability throughout each phase. You can sign up to join the Limited Beta now at beta.playvalorant.com. If your region isn’t listed, we encourage you to still sign up to show your interest, as we’ll be adding new regions over the course of our Beta.
That’s all from us for now. We can’t wait to see you in-game on June 14!
I could pretend I understand Square Enix's action-RPG series Kingdom Hearts, but I don't need to, 'cos what I do understand is how popular it is. Until fairly recently the nearly 15-game-strong series, where Disney characters cross over with Final Fantasy and go to war alongside a child wielding a key (I said I don't properly understand it), wasn't on PC. After some games arrived on the Epic Games Store in 2021, Squeenix have confirmed that multiple Kingdom Hearts games are coming to Steam next
I could pretend I understand Square Enix's action-RPG series Kingdom Hearts, but I don't need to, 'cos what I do understand is how popular it is. Until fairly recently the nearly 15-game-strong series, where Disney characters cross over with Final Fantasy and go to war alongside a child wielding a key (I said I don't properly understand it), wasn't on PC. After some games arrived on the Epic Games Store in 2021, Squeenix have confirmed that multiple Kingdom Hearts games are coming to Steam next month, on June 13th. Unlucky for some, maybe, but not Donald Duck and Goofy, two of the main characters. Long has Goofy been seen as just a joke character in the minds of people people who didn't watch A Goofy Movie. Hopefully this brings his heroism to a wider audience.
Wacky space station management sim Startopia and wacky hosptial sim Theme Hospital are two of my favourite older games, so I was very pleased with the concept of Galacticare, which is a wacky space station hospital management sim. And you know what? It's great! From early reveals and previews I thought it might veer into being too wacky, but it nails its tone, has some really striking levels, and bugs in earlier builds have been squashed (much as you can manually splat small parasites that mak
Wacky space station management sim Startopia and wacky hosptial sim Theme Hospital are two of my favourite older games, so I was very pleased with the concept of Galacticare, which is a wacky space station hospital management sim. And you know what? It's great! From early reveals and previews I thought it might veer into being too wacky, but it nails its tone, has some really striking levels, and bugs in earlier builds have been squashed (much as you can manually splat small parasites that make their way into your hospital). I can see this becoming a go-to comfort game for me.
I've clocked up nearly 400 hours playing BioWare's big fantasy RPG Dragon Age: Inquisition, which is not a stat I'm particularly proud of. I'm not ashamed either, partly because, as has been identified by artist Corey Brickley, via the Maw, there's a lot of filler. Brickley has collated a list of suggested mods to slim down Dragon Age: Inquisition from a potentially 80 hours-long epic to a trim 40 hour story-focused romp, which means you might be able to play through it again in time for the la
I've clocked up nearly 400 hours playing BioWare's big fantasy RPGDragon Age: Inquisition, which is not a stat I'm particularly proud of. I'm not ashamed either, partly because, as has been identified by artist Corey Brickley, via the Maw, there's a lot of filler. Brickley has collated a list of suggested mods to slim down Dragon Age: Inquisition from a potentially 80 hours-long epic to a trim 40 hour story-focused romp, which means you might be able to play through it again in time for the launch of Dragon Age: Dreadwolf - which is a direct sequel to Inquisition.
I find this list of mods interesting! It's a way to change the game quite substantially without exactly transforming it, and it's very in-keeping with my campaign to make games 60% smaller. Still, there's at least one item on there I'd push back on, but also this isn't really a new problem for Dragon Age as a series.
Fans of odd games with multiple endings and themes of identity and oppression, rejoice! Or, maybe, not rejoice. Time will tell. In the latest issue of Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu, Yosuke Saito, the series producer for Nier, teased that he might be working on something new with Yoko Taro and Keiichi Okabe, the director and composer for the Nier series, respectively.
Via Gematsu and PCGamer, Saito said, “I’ve been talking about wanting to do something with Yoko and Okabe for some time now. I
Fans of odd games with multiple endings and themes of identity and oppression, rejoice! Or, maybe, not rejoice. Time will tell. In the latest issue of Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu, Yosuke Saito, the series producer for Nier, teased that he might be working on something new with Yoko Taro and Keiichi Okabe, the director and composer for the Nier series, respectively.
Via Gematsu and PCGamer, Saito said, “I’ve been talking about wanting to do something with Yoko and Okabe for some time now. I’ll have something a bit more put-together to say in the not-too-distant future, so please stay tuned. It might be NieR, it might not be NieR. (Laughs.) That’s about all I can say for now.” Thanks for the clarity, Saito.
Graham said he wanted someone to write about Little Kitty, Big City, asked if I liked cats, at which point my soul was possessed by some kind of deep animus. "I really like cats, I just hate the internet UWU nonsense about cats," I said. "God it's awful, I can't stand it, Jesus Christ it's just an empty and terrible way to talk about cats, cats don't deserve to be the internet animal-" at which point Graham managed to interrupt and said I was exactly the person who should write about Little Kit
Graham said he wanted someone to write about Little Kitty, Big City, asked if I liked cats, at which point my soul was possessed by some kind of deep animus. "I really like cats, I just hate the internet UWU nonsense about cats," I said. "God it's awful, I can't stand it, Jesus Christ it's just an empty and terrible way to talk about cats, cats don't deserve to be the internet animal-" at which point Graham managed to interrupt and said I was exactly the person who should write about Little Kitty, Big City.
I promise, I approached Little Kitty, Big City with an open heart, because I do really like cats. But given my aversion to their babification by the internet, it may be surprising that my chief complaint about Little Kitty, Big City is that the hats in it are largely not cute enough. This is a bold claim, because there are more than 40 to collect.
The Sims 4 is nothing if not a teetering jenga tower of updates and add-ons and DLC packs, and the latter half of 2024 will be no exception for EA's life sim king. Yesterday saw the release of an update to the base game's swimwear, kicking off the updates teased in the recently-revealed new roadmap, Season Of Love. The roadmap video's vibe is that it and its partner saw you from across the bar and wondered if you'd be interested in joining them, and it kind of weirds me out.
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The Sims 4 is nothing if not a teetering jenga tower of updates and add-ons and DLC packs, and the latter half of 2024 will be no exception for EA's life sim king. Yesterday saw the release of an update to the base game's swimwear, kicking off the updates teased in the recently-revealed new roadmap, Season Of Love. The roadmap video's vibe is that it and its partner saw you from across the bar and wondered if you'd be interested in joining them, and it kind of weirds me out.
My evolving relationship with Vampire Therapist continues apace - much how protagonist Sam's acumen as an unlicensed therapist for the unsettled undead develops at speed. He's a vampire doing therapy for other vampires, while also undergoing therapy, as a vampire, from another therapist (who is a vampire). Vampire Therapist! I've been able to get to grips with a playable preview - I'd say I got my teeth into it, but I'm not that much of a hack fraud - which means I got to see some of the things
My evolving relationship with Vampire Therapist continues apace - much how protagonist Sam's acumen as an unlicensed therapist for the unsettled undead develops at speed. He's a vampire doing therapy for other vampires, while also undergoing therapy, as a vampire, from another therapist (who is a vampire). Vampire Therapist! I've been able to get to grips with a playable preview - I'd say I got my teeth into it, but I'm not that much of a hack fraud - which means I got to see some of the things that creative director Cyrus Nemati told me about in our interview in action. I remain optimistic that, on it's release on June 18th, Vampire Therapist can walk the tricky line it's drawn for itself.
It's balancing on a knife point of humour, the supernatural, and sincerity about mental health, the latter using real cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT; the comments the first time I wrote about Vampire Therapist revealed a lot about our readership) concepts in consultation with licensed therapists. The preview only covered Sam's first meeting with his mentor, Andromachos, and the first client Sam treats himself - a doctor called Drayne, simultaneously self-loathing and self-aggrandising - but it gave a flavour of how the game plays. Rather than a sort of janky template on how to self-therapise, as I'd feared, when you're playing Vampire Therapist it operates more as a sort of language puzzle against different types of theatre kids.
A while back Ubisoft revealed about a billion Assassin's Creed projects. The first of these to leap into the carefully placed haystack of release was Mirage, which I liked. Up next, it seems, is the artist formally known as Assassin's Creed: Codename Red. All we knew about red was that it would be set in feudal Japan, something fans have been clamouring for for literal years. Now we know that it's an AC game set in feudal Japan called Assassin's Creed Shadows, and it's getting an "official cine
A while back Ubisoft revealed about a billion Assassin's Creed projects. The first of these to leap into the carefully placed haystack of release was Mirage, which I liked. Up next, it seems, is the artist formally known as Assassin's Creed: Codename Red. All we knew about red was that it would be set in feudal Japan, something fans have been clamouring for for literal years. Now we know that it's an AC game set in feudal Japan called Assassin's Creed Shadows, and it's getting an "official cinematic world premiere trailer" debut on YouTube tomorrow, at 5pm BST.
Also, because this sort of thing seems to always happen with Ubi, the placeholder text for said YouTube premiere might have accidentally leaked the release date for the game as November 15, 2024.
Like with getting fancy polyhedral dice sets full of all glitter and wool, buying and owning are two different hobbies when it comes to books. I think this has gotten worse (if that's the word?) with the increasingly popularity of BookTok, the book-centric community on TikTok. It's really mobilised young people towards reading (which is good) but in some cases drives a consumption for consumption's sake approach, where one must have read new books to talk about, one must take no breaths between
Like with getting fancy polyhedral dice sets full of all glitter and wool, buying and owning are two different hobbies when it comes to books. I think this has gotten worse (if that's the word?) with the increasingly popularity of BookTok, the book-centric community on TikTok. It's really mobilised young people towards reading (which is good) but in some cases drives a consumption for consumption's sake approach, where one must have read new books to talk about, one must take no breaths between reading, and one must read an astonishing number of books in the smallest amount of time possible (which I think is bad).
There aren't many ways left to put a twist on Stardew Valley, but suffixing it with "in space!" oughta do it. Little-Known Galaxy is out in a week, and currently has a demo on Steam, where you can sample many of the delights that you're used to from a Stardewlike when you're new in town: meeting the locals, growing potatoes, and tidying up the place. Also, raising alien pets, seeking out new life, and new civilisations... It all takes place on a spaceship, you see, and this has some ramificatio
There aren't many ways left to put a twist on Stardew Valley, but suffixing it with "in space!" oughta do it. Little-Known Galaxy is out in a week, and currently has a demo on Steam, where you can sample many of the delights that you're used to from a Stardewlike when you're new in town: meeting the locals, growing potatoes, and tidying up the place. Also, raising alien pets, seeking out new life, and new civilisations... It all takes place on a spaceship, you see, and this has some ramifications to playing the game beyond reskinning everything to be shiny metal instead of picturesque mud. It's an intriguing proposition.
In the grand tradition established by one (1) prior release, Supergiant dropped Hades 2 over the weekend and we at the Electronic Wireless show podcast have all been playing and enjoying it bunches! So we wanted to talk about the game, why we're enjoying it, some of the new aspects over Hades the first, and just generally go 'Ooh, this game is fun, innit?'. Not a complex podcast this week.James isn't here, so Nate makes up some hardware news that's very exciting and yet disturbing, while he doe
In the grand tradition established by one (1) prior release, Supergiant dropped Hades 2 over the weekend and we at the Electronic Wireless show podcast have all been playing and enjoying it bunches! So we wanted to talk about the game, why we're enjoying it, some of the new aspects over Hades the first, and just generally go 'Ooh, this game is fun, innit?'. Not a complex podcast this week.
James isn't here, so Nate makes up some hardware news that's very exciting and yet disturbing, while he does have a mythology-themed mini game in the tower of jocularity. Plus: the games we've been playing this week, including a cute survival horror and RimWorld, still. Also, Nate asks me to explain what the hap was heckening with Helldivers 2, and if Joel remains safe.
My older brother (as opposed to "big"; my younger brother is my big brother, because he's built like the kind of hearty giant in a JRPG who laughs a lot and carries an anchor as a weapon, while my older brother is a loathsome scribbling wizard like myself) is a gamer in a very normal sense. He was way more online when he was younger, and is the one who got me into the games of Lucasfilm, Troika and Blizzard, but these days he plays the games he likes a lot and does not read specialist websites
My older brother (as opposed to "big"; my younger brother is my big brother, because he's built like the kind of hearty giant in a JRPG who laughs a lot and carries an anchor as a weapon, while my older brother is a loathsome scribbling wizard like myself) is a gamer in a very normal sense. He was way more online when he was younger, and is the one who got me into the games of Lucasfilm, Troika and Blizzard, but these days he plays the games he likes a lot and does not read specialist websites that tell him why he shouldn't like them. He used to play loads of League Of Legends, but the game he was most into more recently was Hades. This is because he studied Classics.
I won't tell you how many years its been since he was at university, but for many years - and still sort of now, to be honest - "liking Apollo" was a key part of his personality. It's interesting, therefore, to text him about Hades 2. Partly because he wasn't even aware it was happening.
Tangle Tower was a weird and cute point and click murder mystery set in a big weird tower full of colourful characters, so what better way for the devs to fill time before the sequel comes out than by making a creepy retro survival horror set in a regional theme park? Crow Country is like if Resident Evil was made out of Duplo: more chunky, less threatening, and easier than playing with a fully motorised K'Nex ferris wheel, but darn it, it's still a good time.
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Tangle Tower was a weird and cute point and click murder mystery set in a big weird tower full of colourful characters, so what better way for the devs to fill time before the sequel comes out than by making a creepy retro survival horror set in a regional theme park? Crow Country is like if Resident Evil was made out of Duplo: more chunky, less threatening, and easier than playing with a fully motorised K'Nex ferris wheel, but darn it, it's still a good time.
You know what will really set off your soft furnishings and put further strain on your relationship when you're already worried your girlfriend is more angry about you leaving crumbs around the toaster than she would be if all were well? A 10-foot-tall statue of a video game character to cram in the corner of your living room! To celebrate the impending release of massive gloomy RPG DLC Elden Ring: Shadow Of The Erdtree, Bamco are running a competition for players to edit together a cool traile
You know what will really set off your soft furnishings and put further strain on your relationship when you're already worried your girlfriend is more angry about you leaving crumbs around the toaster than she would be if all were well? A 10-foot-tall statue of a video game character to cram in the corner of your living room! To celebrate the impending release of massive gloomy RPG DLC Elden Ring: Shadow Of The Erdtree, Bamco are running a competition for players to edit together a cool trailer. Best trailer overall wins Big Messmer - the lad in the header image up there. I'm sure he'll make a great home for many happy spiders and their cobwebs.
I'm not sure how to classify Leila, a hand drawn, sort of point and click, sort of puzzle adventure out this summer. I'd say it's maybe a Gorogoa-like, but the demo is also a series of little vignettes that sort of reminded me of Edith Finch, but way less in depth. It's about a middle aged woman navigating her past and present by taking a closer at her mind, which means sorting through a load of magical realist meldings of memories. It's very pretty, and I liked the demo a lot.
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I'm not sure how to classify Leila, a hand drawn, sort of point and click, sort of puzzle adventure out this summer. I'd say it's maybe a Gorogoa-like, but the demo is also a series of little vignettes that sort of reminded me of Edith Finch, but way less in depth. It's about a middle aged woman navigating her past and present by taking a closer at her mind, which means sorting through a load of magical realist meldings of memories. It's very pretty, and I liked the demo a lot.
It's a short week 'cos we all had a Bank Holiday yesterday, and Edwin isn't here today, which means I have donned some thick leather gloves and am standing well back to throw some sticky gobbets at The Maw. The gobbets in question? Some tasty game releases this week! Plus whatever else we think might be interesting enough in PC gaming news to appease it - and you.
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It's a short week 'cos we all had a Bank Holiday yesterday, and Edwin isn't here today, which means I have donned some thick leather gloves and am standing well back to throw some sticky gobbets at The Maw. The gobbets in question? Some tasty game releases this week! Plus whatever else we think might be interesting enough in PC gaming news to appease it - and you.
How like Ollie to volunteer to take over Playing This Weekend and then go on holiday, or whatever it is he's done that means he isn't here today - I don't know, he's a law unto himself. What am I, his mother? Thus it falls to me to ask the other staff what they're playing, and thence communicate that to you. Jeeze, why can't you just text each other or something, why all this middleman-ing. What am I, your mothers? But we're playing a bunch of different stuff, so have at it. Read more
How like Ollie to volunteer to take over Playing This Weekend and then go on holiday, or whatever it is he's done that means he isn't here today - I don't know, he's a law unto himself. What am I, his mother? Thus it falls to me to ask the other staff what they're playing, and thence communicate that to you. Jeeze, why can't you just text each other or something, why all this middleman-ing. What am I, your mothers? But we're playing a bunch of different stuff, so have at it.
Graphic: Alice Jovanee/Polygon | Source images: Various
Keyboards, headsets, controllers, and more are heavily discounted through May 5
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Fabledom somehow passed me by, but darn if it isn't leaving early access in about a week and a half. May 13th (unlucky for some) will see this fairytale kingdom city builder launch into 1.0, after a comparatively short but successful early access run on Steam. It looks very sweet, and reminds me of a kind of Foundation meets Lakeburg Legacies - at least based on the trailer, which puts an emphasis on it laid back and idyllic citybuilding, and love.
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Fabledom somehow passed me by, but darn if it isn't leaving early access in about a week and a half. May 13th (unlucky for some) will see this fairytale kingdom city builder launch into 1.0, after a comparatively short but successful early access run on Steam. It looks very sweet, and reminds me of a kind of Foundation meets Lakeburg Legacies - at least based on the trailer, which puts an emphasis on it laid back and idyllic citybuilding, and love.
Over the past while a few games have had post-launch patches, the exemplars being Starfield and Stardew valley, which have post-launch patches of different kinds and for different reasons. We take some time on the Electronic Wireless Show podcast to talk about this patch of patches, and what it was like in the good ol' days, where a broken game came out and stayed broken, gosh darn it!
Nate isn't here today, which means I can make fun of him for owning fish, or whatever it is he does, but in hi
Over the past while a few games have had post-launch patches, the exemplars being Starfield and Stardew valley, which have post-launch patches of different kinds and for different reasons. We take some time on the Electronic Wireless Show podcast to talk about this patch of patches, and what it was like in the good ol' days, where a broken game came out and stayed broken, gosh darn it!
Nate isn't here today, which means I can make fun of him for owning fish, or whatever it is he does, but in his stead James steps up with an RGB lighting-themed game where I have to guess what accessories people stuck lights on to turn into gamer accessories. This is because Razer stuck RGB lights on a pandemic mask and are in trouble over it now. Naughty Razer. Plus, we talk about the games we're playing right now, and dish you up some juicy recommendations at the end of the show.
Remember that bit in that Guy Ritchie film where Dexter Fletcher shoot a guy and then throws a glowing jar over his soldier that summons a bunch of skeletons to help him out? Me too! Must have been the direct influence for Sea Of Thieves' new Season 12, which launched earlier this week with a bang - from two smoking barrels! Among the additions in this season of the ever popular salty sea-dog open-world adventure are double barrel pistols. They deal less damage per shot but have higher rate of
Remember that bit in that Guy Ritchie film where Dexter Fletcher shoot a guy and then throws a glowing jar over his soldier that summons a bunch of skeletons to help him out? Me too! Must have been the direct influence for Sea Of Thieves' new Season 12, which launched earlier this week with a bang - from two smoking barrels! Among the additions in this season of the ever popular salty sea-dog open-world adventure are double barrel pistols. They deal less damage per shot but have higher rate of fire, and you can charge them up to fire both barrels at once.
On the other end of the weapon scale are new throwing knives, capable of sneak attacks, light slashes, or, you know, throwing. You can nab any throwing knives you see lying around, too, which is fun. But honestly, the Bone Caller tool (the aforementioned jar of skeletons, which has a great Jason and The Argonauts vibe) and the Horn Of Fair Winds are are probably more useful. The winds from said horn can make your ship go faster, but can also put out fires or crowd control enemies, or for some reason make you swim faster? I don't think that makes sense, to be honest, but the horn has limited uses so as not to make you an unstoppable wind machine.
Last week a Catholic media ministry (not sure what that is but okay) called Catholic Answers created a generative AI priest chatbot called Father Justin. Fr. Justin used a large language model to answer questions about the Catholic church and Catholic orthodoxy, and if you have any familiarity with how people love to test AI chatbots - or you read the headline of this article - then you know where this is going. Fr. Justin, who was already kind of controversial anyway, offered the sacrament and
Last week a Catholic media ministry (not sure what that is but okay) called Catholic Answers created a generative AI priest chatbot called Father Justin. Fr. Justin used a large language model to answer questions about the Catholic church and Catholic orthodoxy, and if you have any familiarity with how people love to test AI chatbots - or you read the headline of this article - then you know where this is going. Fr. Justin, who was already kind of controversial anyway, offered the sacrament and claimed to be a real priest to Futurism, and gave the thumbs up to baptising a baby in Gatorade in an emergency.
Catholic Answers (who have the domain Catholic.com; gotta imagine His Holiness wishes he'd moved quicker on that one) then defrocked Justin, making him a lay theologian in a suit jacket, jeans and an open collar shirt that gives him a "me and my wife saw you across the bar" kind of vibe, when before he had the whole dog collar kit and caboodle.
Harold Halibut has the vibes of a game that should be 4-6 hours long and is, inexplicably, 10-12. It's inexplicable not only because it's a slow game low on interaction - the game is really just a plot delivery mechanism; a TV show you can walk around where you advance the story by pressing A - but also because it's a game created using handmade miniatures. It's a sci-fi animated dolls house under the sea, self described as "a cross between a game and a stop motion film", and if my game requir
Harold Halibut has the vibes of a game that should be 4-6 hours long and is, inexplicably, 10-12. It's inexplicable not only because it's a slow game low on interaction - the game is really just a plot delivery mechanism; a TV show you can walk around where you advance the story by pressing A - but also because it's a game created using handmade miniatures. It's a sci-fi animated dolls house under the sea, self described as "a cross between a game and a stop motion film", and if my game required that amount of labour I'd edit that script down. Then again, there aren't that many locations, so maybe you'd really want to show them off.
I love miniatures, and Harold Halibut is beautiful. It's also a lovely story about finding yourself and your place in the world, even if that place is unexpected, and having the courage to take that step. There are unexpected silly bits and strange bits and bits where people break into song, and bits where you read undelivered letters. But, at the same time, I totally understand why some people would find it boring.
According to our schedule, my pick Deathbulge: Battle Of The Bands isn't supposed to be up in the RPS Game Club until June. So why am I here telling you about it? Ollie couldn't do Sid Meier's Pirates! last month 'cos he was sick, and this month he's moving house or some other ridiculous made up thing that grown adults can no longer afford to do, so Deathbulge is stepping up to the plate. And it is kicking that plate into the outer atmosphere and playing a sick guitar riff. If you want to join
According to our schedule, my pick Deathbulge: Battle Of The Bands isn't supposed to be up in the RPS Game Club until June. So why am I here telling you about it? Ollie couldn't do Sid Meier's Pirates! last month 'cos he was sick, and this month he's moving house or some other ridiculous made up thing that grown adults can no longer afford to do, so Deathbulge is stepping up to the plate. And it is kicking that plate into the outer atmosphere and playing a sick guitar riff. If you want to join in you can find Deathbulge on Steam.
Wow, remember Starfield? I do, just about, although any interest in it feels like a distant dream now. But not to Todd Howard! The Bethesboss had a chat with Kinda Funny and confirmed that Shattered Space, the first big DLC for the brave little space RPG that could, has a release window of "in the fall". Shattered Space adds new locations and stories and gear, and is the sort of DLC that was announced before the game came out, and you got it bundled with some of the super mega hyper awesome pre
Wow, remember Starfield? I do, just about, although any interest in it feels like a distant dream now. But not to Todd Howard! The Bethesboss had a chat with Kinda Funny and confirmed that Shattered Space, the first big DLC for the brave little space RPG that could, has a release window of "in the fall". Shattered Space adds new locations and stories and gear, and is the sort of DLC that was announced before the game came out, and you got it bundled with some of the super mega hyper awesome pre-order editions (you can still get it bundled with the Starfield Premium Edition if you want to spend an extra 30 quid).
Before that, though, Howard says we should expect (via VGC via the video) "a big update that's coming really soon", and that "we redid the map stuff, so we have some city map stuff." This is the literal first thing I complained about when I reviewed Starfield. Vindication! This is one of a number of changes teased on Starfield's Reddit community at the end of last year.
A couple of weeks ago I told you about an aquarium-having simulator that is as detailed as it is janky. I was charmed by Aquarist and it's basic-asset using weirdness, and I intended to write a lot more about it. But our adventures in fish keeping are stalled because, well, when something is adorably janky it might turn out that the jank gets in the way of you progressing or playing the game. In the real world, a bug stops me progressing past a very early point of the story. In the world of the
A couple of weeks ago I told you about an aquarium-having simulator that is as detailed as it is janky. I was charmed by Aquarist and it's basic-asset using weirdness, and I intended to write a lot more about it. But our adventures in fish keeping are stalled because, well, when something is adorably janky it might turn out that the jank gets in the way of you progressing or playing the game. In the real world, a bug stops me progressing past a very early point of the story. In the world of the game, my father has locked me in his fish basment and will not let me leave.
Twitter user pl_evil has helpfully translated a recent letter to shareholders from Bloober Team, showing that their new game "Project C" will be revealed later this year. This will be the studio's next original game, after they wrapped up Layers Of Fear last year with, confusingly, Layers Of Fear (the natural progression for a series: Layers Of Fear, Layers Of Fear 2, and then Layers Of Fear again, although it was going to be called Layers Of Fears at one point).
Bloober Team are currently doin
Twitter user pl_evil has helpfully translated a recent letter to shareholders from Bloober Team, showing that their new game "Project C" will be revealed later this year. This will be the studio's next original game, after they wrapped up Layers Of Fear last year with, confusingly, Layers Of Fear (the natural progression for a series: Layers Of Fear, Layers Of Fear 2, and then Layers Of Fear again, although it was going to be called Layers Of Fears at one point).
Bloober Team are currently doing a lot of IP work for other people, with the Silent Hill 2 remake due out later this year, and a game codenamed "Project R" in concert with Skybound Entertainment. Skybound are The Walking Dead company, so I wouldn't give you long odds for a bet on what Project R is about. Neither would I be surprised if Project C is unveiled this summer by a man named Geoff with shiny shiny trainers. I'm interested to see what it is, and honestly I'm hoping it's a brand new standalone thing, rather than a forced sequel to Observer or 2021's The Medium (where I got the header).
James made the observation that Lethal Company, a co-op game about being haunted space binmen, and this month's pick for the RPS Game Club, gets less fun the better you are at it. This is true! It's also janky, and the RNG on the weird, warren-like buildings prompted me to ask "Who designed this? What is this for? What kind of office is this??" out loud, as I faced yet another dead end full of pipes. And yet! There's something about it that endears me to it far more than other similar games lik
James made the observation that Lethal Company, a co-op game about being haunted space binmen, and this month's pick for the RPS Game Club, gets less fun the better you are at it. This is true! It's also janky, and the RNG on the weird, warren-like buildings prompted me to ask "Who designed this? What is this for? What kind of office is this??" out loud, as I faced yet another dead end full of pipes. And yet! There's something about it that endears me to it far more than other similar games like Phasmophobia. Games like this all largely rely on you making your own fun with the tools they provide, but I think we should give the Lethal Company devs props for their tools, because they are weird and make no sense, and allow for some fantastic slapstick.
Graphic: Alice Jovanee/Polygon | Source images: Various
Keyboards, headsets, controllers, and more are heavily discounted through May 5 Amazon’s latest Gaming Week promotion is offering discounts on some of our favorite gaming accessories through May 5, with some items on sale for their lowest prices ever. Hundreds of products are on sale, including gaming monitors, keyboards, headsets, and more, but if you’d like to see an abbreviated breakdown of what we’d spend our mon
Graphic: Alice Jovanee/Polygon | Source images: Various
Keyboards, headsets, controllers, and more are heavily discounted through May 5
Amazon’s latest Gaming Week promotion is offering discounts on some of our favorite gaming accessories through May 5, with some items on sale for their lowest prices ever. Hundreds of products are on sale, including gaming monitors, keyboards, headsets, and more, but if you’d like to see an abbreviated breakdown of what we’d spend our money on, check out the list below.
If you’re in the market for a massive OLED monitor, look no further than the Samsung Odyssey G9. This 49-inch OLED monitor is currently discounted to just $999.99 at Amazon when you clip the on-page coupon (was $1,599.99). The 49-inch curved panel of the G9 supports a maximum resolution of 5120 x 1440 and a 240 Hz refresh rate complemented by AMD FreeSync to reduce screen tearing.
A recent addition to our list of cozy gaming accessories, the Samsung M80C offers a clean, minimalist aesthetic with plenty of features. Usually $649.99, this 27-inch 4K monitor is currently discounted to just $449.99 at Amazon. The M80C is equipped with a built-in camera and can access a variety of streaming services thanks to its integrated Wi-Fi. The M80C can connect with devices using a micro HDMI or USB-C, but it can also access cloud-gaming services like GeForce Now and Xbox Game Pass, allowing you to play games without hooking anything up to an external console or PC.
The latest iteration of the Razer Blackwidow gaming keyboard, the Blackwidow V4, is currently discounted to $139.99 at Amazon (was $169.99). This keyboard is equipped with Razer’s proprietary linear yellow switches, features an 8000 Hz polling rate, comes with a detachable USB-C cable, and naturally, has plenty of RGB lighting.
The Asus ROG Azoth is normally priced at $249.99, but is on sale for just $199.99 right now. This wireless 75% keyboard offers a fantastic experience out of the box with sound-dampening, lubed switches, and an LCD screen built into the corner. And the switches and keycaps on the Azoth can be swapped out if you’d prefer to make your keyboard a little more bespoke.
Many still consider the Xbox Elite Series 2 controller to be the gold standard for customizable controllers. Usually available for $179.99, this wireless controller is currently discounted to just $149.99. The Elite Series 2 can be paired with a variety of devices via Bluetooth, and virtually every aspect of the controller can be fine-tuned for an optimal gaming experience. Adjust thumbstick resistance, change trigger travel distance, or remap the controller entirely via the controller app on PC.
An excellent standalone mic, the HyperX Quadcast S is on sale for its lowest price ever. The $159.99 condenser microphone is discounted to $117.46 at Amazon, and is an excellent choice for streaming or just audio recording in general. In addition to its built-in RGB lighting, the Quadcast S features four adjustable pickup patterns to ensure the best possible audio quality. The mic comes packaged with its own stand, and it also includes adapters to 3/8-inch and 5/8-inch threads so it can be fitted to virtually any mic stand or boom arm.
Sony’s flagship gaming headset for PlayStation, the Inzone H9, is currently discounted to $228 at Amazon (was $299.99). The H9 is a comfortable wireless headset equipped with spatial audio and noise-canceling technology that can operate for up to 32 hours on a single charge. While the built-in boom mic isn’t likely to replace anyone’s standalone condenser mic, the flip-to-mute feature is still an excellent option for in-game chat.
The Sony Inzone H5 gaming headset is a more modestly priced version of the H9 that retains many of the same features. Typically $149.99, Amazon has discounted this wireless gaming headset to $128. The H5 has a slightly smaller battery than the H9 and lacks the noise-cancellation capabilities of its more expensive sibling, but it remains an excellent option for anyone looking for a comfortable gaming headset equipped with 40mm drivers and spatial audio.
Our favorite gaming earbuds, the Sony Inzone Buds, are on sale for their lowest price ever at multiple retailers. Originally $199.99, the Inzone Buds are discounted to $178 right now at Amazon, and $180 from either Best Buy or Sony. Equipped with the same drivers and noise-canceling tech found in the Sony WF-1000XM5 earbuds, the Inzone Buds can be used with PlayStation, PC, or mobile devices.
The follow-up to one of the best budget wireless gaming headsets doesn’t disappoint. The HyperX Cloud 3 Wireless is currently on sale for just $115.99 at Amazon (was $169.99). While it lacks some features found in more expensive headsets, the Cloud 3 offers amazing audio fidelity, robust build quality, and a battery that can last for up to 120 hours on a single charge.
The Seagate storage expansion card is the best and only way to equip your Xbox with 2TB of extra storage, and it’s currently on sale for its lowest price ever. Normally $399.99, the 2TB model of the Seagate storage expansion card is discounted to just $227 on Amazon.
If you’re looking to add some slick accent lighting to your gaming space, the eight-piece Govee Glide lighting kit is currently discounted to its lowest price ever on Amazon. Normally $129.99, this kit is available for just $79.99 when you use the on-page coupon. The Govee Glide lighting kit is packaged with eight interlocking foot-long strips that provide diffused RGB lighting to any space — not that cheap-looking, purely dot-like texture that many other RGB strips have. The lighting can be adjusted via the Govee app, but is also compatible with Amazon Alexa and other home automation systems. The kit also features four corner pieces to arrange your lighting strips into fun designs.
At the end of last year I played the demo for An English Haunting and got very excited. I like horror that has a generally spooky, creeping dread vibe rather than being wall-to-wall cheap jumpscares and gore, and that sort of stuff is thin on the ground. But it'll be less so from May the 15th, cos that's when this ghosty point and click puzzle adventure is out! Hooray! The demo is still on Steam if you want a taste before then. In the meantime, the release date announcement comes with a new tra
At the end of last year I played the demo for An English Haunting and got very excited. I like horror that has a generally spooky, creeping dread vibe rather than being wall-to-wall cheap jumpscares and gore, and that sort of stuff is thin on the ground. But it'll be less so from May the 15th, cos that's when this ghosty point and click puzzle adventure is out! Hooray! The demo is still on Steam if you want a taste before then. In the meantime, the release date announcement comes with a new trailer to enjoy.
Until I played Tales Of Kenzera: Zau I figured people had run out of ways to make original platformers, but an Afrofuturist story-in-a-story framing for a mythological platformer about healthy ways to deal with grief sure did teach me to not underestimate human creativity. I really liked a lot about Tales Of Kenzera, and got annoyed by a bunch of stuff too - and the division seems to be that a lot of the former falls on the story and design side, and the latter on the mechanical side, which I
Until I played Tales Of Kenzera: Zau I figured people had run out of ways to make original platformers, but an Afrofuturist story-in-a-story framing for a mythological platformer about healthy ways to deal with grief sure did teach me to not underestimate human creativity. I really liked a lot about Tales Of Kenzera, and got annoyed by a bunch of stuff too - and the division seems to be that a lot of the former falls on the story and design side, and the latter on the mechanical side, which I guess isn't ideal for a platformer. But still, I think it's worth persevering.
Graphic: Alice Jovanee/Polygon | Source images: Amazon, Etsy, Ember, Lego [a combination of original artwork with multiple third-party assets]
18 awesome gifts to show Mom that you care
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Friday was my final day at RPS, after ten years, so how come I'm posting this on Saturday morning? Reader dear, I'll let you in on a little trade secret: I do not wake everyone up at 7am to ask them what they're playing. I actually make them tell me on Friday. I have felt tremendously guilty about deceiving you across the 353 previous WAWAPTW posts. The weight of that is honestly why I've left. It feels good to finally come clean. Whew! Alright, now tell me, what are you playing this weekend? H
Friday was my final day at RPS, after ten years, so how come I'm posting this on Saturday morning? Reader dear, I'll let you in on a little trade secret: I do not wake everyone up at 7am to ask them what they're playing. I actually make them tell me on Friday. I have felt tremendously guilty about deceiving you across the 353 previous WAWAPTW posts. The weight of that is honestly why I've left. It feels good to finally come clean. Whew! Alright, now tell me, what are you playing this weekend? Here's what we're clicking on!
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