In the roiling waters of the northern sea, a mysterious oil rig has appeared whose lights can be seen for miles in the darkness. The foreman is a bit jittery, clearly worried about the platform's somewhat shoddy construction and his overbearing boss docking his pay for being behind schedule. When the drilling does begin, it's not oil they strike, but something far more sinister that splinters the sea floor with an ominous red, volcanic glow. And the resident scientist and his corporate suit boss only seem to want to feed this supernatural terror, the safety of their fellow workers be damned.

To some, I've just described the plot of The Chinese Room's recent walking horror, Still Wakes the Deep. But in a strange coincidence, Dredge is now following the same trajectory with its latest DLC, The Iron Rig - albeit with fewer left hooks throwing errant Coke cans to distract wandering nasties and more actual hooks reeling up yet more fresh horrors from the deep. This new chapter in Dredge's faintly cursed archipelago finally puts the spotlight on the mysterious Ironhaven Corporation, whose CEO is a dead ringer for Wake's weaselly boss Rennick, right down to his last-minute escape on the corporate helicopter. It's all profits before people in this unfortunate corner of the ocean, though unlike Wake's poor Caz, at least you can share in some of those benefits this time thanks to the plentiful supply of upgrade opportunities for your boat.

Over the course of three to four hours, The Iron Rig will see you revisit each of Dredge's main island clusters, hunting for fresh fish in new micro-habitats created by pools of ungodly ooze that have sprung up from the fissures created by the rig's drill. Each time one of these clearly very bad cracks opens up, the rig's scientist will task you with collecting various samples to bring back to him for further analysis, but some of these aren't easily won with your default set of equipment. Cue, then, a gentle and well-paced upgrade back and forth that will see you construct new buildings on the rig to unlock enhanced versions of your rods, nets and winches, as well as blueprints for new engine parts, bait types and other gadgets to help speed the process along.

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Lo, a ripple in the release date sands. Stand still a moment while we study this phenomenon. Yes, yes, it is the unmistakable rumble of a large survival MMO pondering its release date. Dune: Awakening is having a think and has decided "early 2025" is a good non-specific time period to come out in early access. That could mean January or February. Or March, I guess. April? Now don't be silly, that's spring. Not April, surely. This beast seems hungry. It will eat before then. I have foreseen it. Mostly by watching the trailer that dropped at Gamescom.

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Everyone loved Half-Life yet no one in 1998 was brave enough to say: "Okay, but what if this was an early access crafting survival game voiced by a bunch of New Zealanders?" Those 90s cowards. Abiotic Factor is the courageous game that has been correcting this historic oversight. It's fun, and the fun just got funnerer. The "Crush Depth" update, released yesterday, adds a heap of new areas to the game's messed-up scientific facility, including a dangerous Security Sector and a vast reservoir zone called the Hydroplant. On top of that there are new weapons, tools, workbenches, drivable vehicles, fishing rods, and quite a bit more. It's all shown off in the trailer below.

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Everyone loved Half-Life yet no one in 1998 was brave enough to say: "Okay, but what if this was an early access crafting survival game voiced by a bunch of New Zealanders?" Those 90s cowards. Abiotic Factor is the courageous game that has been correcting this historic oversight. It's fun, and the fun just got funnerer. The "Crush Depth" update, released yesterday, adds a heap of new areas to the game's messed-up scientific facility, including a dangerous Security Sector and a vast reservoir zone called the Hydroplant. On top of that there are new weapons, tools, workbenches, drivable vehicles, fishing rods, and quite a bit more. It's all shown off in the trailer below.

Read more

You're a long time undead. 7 Days To Die was shuffling along in early access for 11 years, until version 1.0 finally burst through the windows. In that time, many other survival games have sprouted, blossomed, and gently faded away. I first visited the burnt-out ruins of this zombie-infested world a decade ago and I returned to it this week to find a tree-puncher that, despite bearing the pockmarks of early access, retains much of what made it enjoyable back when the survival genre was still wearing its baby onesie. Instead of a review, I figured I'd scribble together a mini starter guide for new (or returning) players. Partly because the game is a proper time sink and it was taking me so long to get through everything. But mostly because I wanted to use that numberful headline. So, here you go: 7 dos and 7 don'ts in 7 Days To (7) Die.

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You're a long time undead. 7 Days To Die was shuffling along in early access for 11 years, until version 1.0 finally burst through the windows. In that time, many other survival games have sprouted, blossomed, and gently faded away. I first visited the burnt-out ruins of this zombie-infested world a decade ago and I returned to it this week to find a tree-puncher that, despite bearing the pockmarks of early access, retains much of what made it enjoyable back when the survival genre was still wearing its baby onesie. Instead of a review, I figured I'd scribble together a mini starter guide for new (or returning) players. Partly because the game is a proper time sink and it was taking me so long to get through everything. But mostly because I wanted to use that numberful headline. So, here you go: 7 dos and 7 don'ts in 7 Days To (7) Die.

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Once Human's maintenance is now complete, and the F2P open-world shooter is back online with a plethora of QoL improvements and optimisations, including a desperately-needed revision to vehicle handling.

Whilst players received a bundle of Stardust and health-related items to make up for the downtime, Once Human's long-promised controller and Steam Deck support is still nowhere to be seen (although, confusingly, the "controller" in-game item remains in place).

In terms of Memetics, you can now pick up memetic specialisation memory fragments in the wild and trade them between players. All memetic fragments will be destroyed at the end of the season – which is in a couple of weeks time – and cannot be sent to Eternaland, so be mindful of that.

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It looks like Unknown Worlds is posting sneaky screenshots of Subnautica 2 in the original game.

Whilst Unknown Worlds is being, ahem, coi, eagle-eyed fans think they've discovered sneaky peeks of Subnautica 2 in the first (and currently only) game via its time capsule feature.

Originally it wasn't clear where these mysterious images were coming from, but moderators of the Subnautica subreddit have since confirmed "screenshot[s are] from the upcoming Subnautica 2" and not fan-made mods.

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Once Human's maintenance is now complete, and the F2P open-world shooter is back online with a plethora of QoL improvements and optimisations, including a desperately-needed revision to vehicle handling.

Whilst players received a bundle of Stardust and health-related items to make up for the downtime, Once Human's long-promised controller and Steam Deck support is still nowhere to be seen (although, confusingly, the "controller" in-game item remains in place).

In terms of Memetics, you can now pick up memetic specialisation memory fragments in the wild and trade them between players. All memetic fragments will be destroyed at the end of the season – which is in a couple of weeks time – and cannot be sent to Eternaland, so be mindful of that.

Read more

It looks like Unknown Worlds is posting sneaky screenshots of Subnautica 2 in the original game.

Whilst Unknown Worlds is being, ahem, coi, eagle-eyed fans think they've discovered sneaky peeks of Subnautica 2 in the first (and currently only) game via its time capsule feature.

Originally it wasn't clear where these mysterious images were coming from, but moderators of the Subnautica subreddit have since confirmed "screenshot[s are] from the upcoming Subnautica 2" and not fan-made mods.

Read more

Every time I step out of an elevator, I accelerate wildly in case the elevator falls without warning and chops me in half, leaving the frontal and, all things considered, inferior portion of my body swaying in place for a second before collapsing in a cloud of bisected bone and organ. Don't laugh: I know you do this too. Kletka isn't helping: created by in404, it's a horror scavenging game reminiscent of Lethal Company and Golden Light, in which you ponderously plummet through the layers of an "endless" post-Soviet Gigastructure, scrounging fuel, parts and provender for an elevator that wants to eat you.

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Edwin spotted this game called Beta Decay that's not got a release date yet or anything, but looks very cool. It's being developed by Rotoscope Studios and it's a low-poly, 90s-inspired mix of dystopian RPG, survival, third and first-person shooter, with some roguelike bits slapped in there, as well. Whew, that's a lot. Potentially too much. But hey, I am here for something ambitious and interesting, of which it ticks both boxes.

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How do you like your survival games? A nice bit of wood chopping while the birds chirp? Gathering some mushrooms while you deflect a little goblin's swings? Stumbling parched through a desert as a bed of scorpions prick your ankles with deadly venom? Well, Enshrouded may provide some or none of these experiences, but what its latest update does is capture their spirit. You'll now be able to choose from several difficulty presets to dampen or spice up the game's challenge. Otherwise, there's new customisation options and some quality of life tweaks, too.

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I don't know what the longest-running early access game in history has been (perhaps Project Zomboid?) but I know that zombie survival game 7 Days To Die is definitely up there. We first reported its appearance back in the dark ages of 2013. For context, that was the year Grand Theft Auto V came out. Whoa! Okay, calm down, sorry, I didn't mean to panic you. Yes, the arrow of time is inviolable. We are all marching steadily towards our graves, I know. But at least now 7 Days To Die has finally released its fully baked version 1.0.

Read more

Every time I step out of an elevator, I accelerate wildly in case the elevator falls without warning and chops me in half, leaving the frontal and, all things considered, inferior portion of my body swaying in place for a second before collapsing in a cloud of bisected bone and organ. Don't laugh: I know you do this too. Kletka isn't helping: created by in404, it's a horror scavenging game reminiscent of Lethal Company and Golden Light, in which you ponderously plummet through the layers of an "endless" post-Soviet Gigastructure, scrounging fuel, parts and provender for an elevator that wants to eat you.

Read more

Edwin spotted this game called Beta Decay that's not got a release date yet or anything, but looks very cool. It's being developed by Rotoscope Studios and it's a low-poly, 90s-inspired mix of dystopian RPG, survival, third and first-person shooter, with some roguelike bits slapped in there, as well. Whew, that's a lot. Potentially too much. But hey, I am here for something ambitious and interesting, of which it ticks both boxes.

Read more

How do you like your survival games? A nice bit of wood chopping while the birds chirp? Gathering some mushrooms while you deflect a little goblin's swings? Stumbling parched through a desert as a bed of scorpions prick your ankles with deadly venom? Well, Enshrouded may provide some or none of these experiences, but what its latest update does is capture their spirit. You'll now be able to choose from several difficulty presets to dampen or spice up the game's challenge. Otherwise, there's new customisation options and some quality of life tweaks, too.

Read more

I don't know what the longest-running early access game in history has been (perhaps Project Zomboid?) but I know that zombie survival game 7 Days To Die is definitely up there. We first reported its appearance back in the dark ages of 2013. For context, that was the year Grand Theft Auto V came out. Whoa! Okay, calm down, sorry, I didn't mean to panic you. Yes, the arrow of time is inviolable. We are all marching steadily towards our graves, I know. But at least now 7 Days To Die has finally released its fully baked version 1.0.

Read more

Station wagon survival 'em up Pacific Drive has received a summer update which adds a photomode, new upgrades for garage machinery, a new sideways dodge manouver for the car, and a piece of paid cosmetic DLC. This is the first of a new roadmap of post-release updates still to come.

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Station wagon survival 'em up Pacific Drive has received a summer update which adds a photomode, new upgrades for garage machinery, a new sideways dodge manouver for the car, and a piece of paid cosmetic DLC. This is the first of a new roadmap of post-release updates still to come.

Read more

Pocketpair could be bringing Palworld to PS5 sooner rather than later.

Palworld's community manager Bucky recently posted to X, wrapping the word Palworld with black, green, and white hearts.

"I want to add more hearts, but not sure what colour would fit…" Bucky said. "Hmm… How about…"

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Ten years ago, we were drowning in early access survival games about chopping trees and crafting camp fires. Rust pit monstrous players against one another, DayZ had us dashing around for beans and bleach, while The Forest creeped us the hell out in a dark jungle. There was even a week-long celebration here at RPS called survival week to get the genre out of our systems. A lot of those games have since graduated to a full 1.0 release, but one survivalist shambled on. 7 Days To Die is a solid sandbox craft 'em up with zombie hordes, and it never left the comfort of its early access log cabin surrounded by spikes and land mines. But a (tentative) release date is finally on the horizon, according to the developers. And it's quite soon.

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Ten years ago, we were drowning in early access survival games about chopping trees and crafting camp fires. Rust pit monstrous players against one another, DayZ had us dashing around for beans and bleach, while The Forest creeped us the hell out in a dark jungle. There was even a week-long celebration here at RPS called survival week to get the genre out of our systems. A lot of those games have since graduated to a full 1.0 release, but one survivalist shambled on. 7 Days To Die is a solid sandbox craft 'em up with zombie hordes, and it never left the comfort of its early access log cabin surrounded by spikes and land mines. But a (tentative) release date is finally on the horizon, according to the developers. And it's quite soon.

Read more

The maker of superb village builder Dorfromantik has lifted the lid on its next game, Star Birds.

Unveiled at the PC Gaming Show this evening, Toukana Interactive's new space puzzler is being made in collaboration with German YouTube science channel Kurzgesagt: In a Nutshell, who are providing the cheerful, cartoon visual style for this asteroid-themed base builder.

Designed to offer a "fresh and accessible" approach to resource management games, Star Birds is all about helping its titular avian explorers establish a thriving mining empire on as many asteroids as they can sink their beaks into. The asteroids in question will be procedurally-generated, and you'll need to work around their unique shapes, sizes and terrains in order to tap the precious materials they hide beneath the surface.

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Up and atom! There is a British Fallout-like game on the horizon from Sniper Elite studio, Rebellion.

It's called Atomfall, and it was revealed at this evening's Xbox showcase. The team describes Atomfall as a single-player survival action game which will see players exploring a post-nuclear environment, and then scavenging, crafting, bartering and - of course - fighting to survive.

While Atomfall's story is fictional, it has been inspired by a real-world nuclear disaster that occurred in northern England in 1957. Players will experience Britain five years after this event, and find that "everything has changed" after that fateful day. You can check out the trailer - complete with British hymns, bunting and phone boxes - below.

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Developer Black Salt Games has confirmed that Dredge's highly anticipated second DLC, The Iron Rig, will release on 15th August, 2024.

The indie fishing adventure will, ahem, "lure players back in" with new fish, new boat upgrades and gadgets, and a brand-new storyline.

Playable at any time in your Dredge adventure, The Iron Rig sees you join the Ironhaven Corporation to "collect resources to build a formidable base of operations, unlocking new tiers of equipment, abilities, gadgets, and consumables". And as part of the adventure, you'll get to "revisit every area from the base game with renewed purpose".

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Shown off at the PC Gaming Show the other day, Generation Exile is a sustainable turn-based citybuilder with some real talent behind it. It's being developed by Sonderlust Studios, headed up by Mark Of The Ninja's lead designer Nels Anderson, alongside other talented developers like Karla Zimonja, who worked on Gone Home. Yeah, it's definitely one to watch.

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When the Summer Game Fest trailer for "narrative-centric cosy game" Wanderstop said it was from the creator behind The Stanley Parable, I thought I had surely entered a different dimension where The Stanley Parable was actually a wholesome shop-keeping sim rather than a zig-zagging office-based nightmare. Then Wanderstop started to get rather bleak, and I finally stopped pinching myself. See for yourself.

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A French game about mountain climbing? No, not that one. This is Cairn, not Jusant, and it’s actually a very different beast. Jusant could be tricky, but climbing was more the way you experienced its story. In survival climber Cairn, the ascent is the story. It seem to mainly be a story about how bad you are at climbing.

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Taking that famous quote from Romero’s Dawn Of The Dead, then sticking a ‘2’ on the end because that’s how sequels work, No More Room In Hell 2 is an eight player co-op horror from Chivalry 2 bods Torn Banner. It’s been teased for a while now, but now it’s got a release month: this October, 2024. Shamble hungrily toward the trailer below

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I should be further in than this. My supposed rebellion has thus far eked out a territory that could be described as "where?". My personal reputation is great only among people who love mushrooms and hate deer. It's been long enough that I should probably be a fierce warlord running a large chunk of the kingdom in opposition by now, but instead, I have the skillset of fifty peasants, and the outstanding work of fifty three. And I know why. Bellwright has taught me what I already knew in theory, but had not truly appreciated:

Good managers are rare and precious. And I'm not one of them.

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Fae Farm and Dauntless developer Phoenix Labs is undergoing a significant restructure, cancelling all other projects and laying off around 140 staff.

The studio shared the news in a LinkedIn post, stating that after a "long period of evaluating how to navigate our economic environment, we have had to significantly restructure the company to pave a path for a strong future."

The statement does not specify how many staff are affected by layoffs, but principal engineer Kris Morness posted "about 140" people have been impacted. What's more, one of the cancelled projects includes a game set to be announced in a month's time.

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As promised and/or threatened, depending on your perspective, open world game Fallout 4 has gotten some new graphics tweaks and bug fixes to smooth out the bumps caused by its previous “next gen update”. The update broke a bunch of mods, delayed a few interesting overhaul projects like Fallout London, and generally made everyone shake their fists at the sky and shout “Howaaaard!” Remember folks: auteur theory unduly credits a single creative for a group effort - the dice that Todd rolls every time he decides whether or not to break the game are also clearly to blame here.

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Cheese and loyal pets (two important items on Maslow's hierarchy of needs) have been added to the co-op survival crafting game Abiotic Factor. The dairy product manifests as various suspiciously coloured cheese wheels which you can cook and eat, while loyalty comes in the form of freakish pets that can now follow your every move. The pets themselves are technically not new to Abiotic Factor, but their player-tracking behaviour is. "There is, as far as we know, no limit to how many pets can follow you at once," say the devs. Hmmm. I wonder if any scientifically minded folks will test such a hypothesis.

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V Rising was finally released in full this week, and so many players have jumped into the open-world survival game, it's breached 100,000 concurrent players for the first time since it released as an early access two years ago.

Developer Stunlock Studios marked the milestone on social media with a "Thank you!" and a simple graphic that confirmed there were "100,000 vampires in-game".

So far, the 1.0 edition is sitting on a "very positive" Steam rating, with almost 4000 recent reviews bolstering the early access release's similarly positive score.

Read more

Are you a cosy game addict? Welcome in and take a seat among your fellow enablers as I, fellow addict Zoe Delahunty-Light, kick off my new weekly series Cozy Corner! This series follows me as I finally try to clear my backlog of 47 (and counting) cosy games in my steam library, and decide whether these games are relaxing enough to warrant the label 'cosy' at all. Cosy games have blown up over the last four years and because of it, there are more to try than ever before, and thus more competing for your attention. I'm going to find the best of the best so tune in for this new weekly series full of blankets, relaxation - I hope - and surprisingly harsh judgement.

Garden Life: A Cozy Simulator is the first game that's being subjected to the cosy interrogation. In it, you are responsible for bringing back life to the dilapidated garden belonging to the previous gardener Robin, and the spirit of the local community as they convene around you, the new gardener. But you're not on your own - Robin is unable to move on while the garden remains uncompleted and neglected, so they'll be there to guide you as you find your green thumbs. From creating bouquets to opening up new sections of the community garden, Garden Life: A Cozy Simulator is dedicated to gradual floral farming with heartfelt story elements. But just how cosy is Garden Life: A Cozy Simulator? Even though the word 'cozy' is in the name, it's time to put it to the test!

Read more

V Rising was finally released in full this week, and so many players have jumped into the open-world survival game, it's breached 100,000 concurrent players for the first time since it released as an early access two years ago.

Developer Stunlock Studios marked the milestone on social media with a "Thank you!" and a simple graphic that confirmed there were "100,000 vampires in-game".

So far, the 1.0 edition is sitting on a "very positive" Steam rating, with almost 4000 recent reviews bolstering the early access release's similarly positive score.

Read more

Are you a cosy game addict? Welcome in and take a seat among your fellow enablers as I, fellow addict Zoe Delahunty-Light, kick off my new weekly series Cozy Corner! This series follows me as I finally try to clear my backlog of 47 (and counting) cosy games in my steam library, and decide whether these games are relaxing enough to warrant the label 'cosy' at all. Cosy games have blown up over the last four years and because of it, there are more to try than ever before, and thus more competing for your attention. I'm going to find the best of the best so tune in for this new weekly series full of blankets, relaxation - I hope - and surprisingly harsh judgement.

Garden Life: A Cozy Simulator is the first game that's being subjected to the cosy interrogation. In it, you are responsible for bringing back life to the dilapidated garden belonging to the previous gardener Robin, and the spirit of the local community as they convene around you, the new gardener. But you're not on your own - Robin is unable to move on while the garden remains uncompleted and neglected, so they'll be there to guide you as you find your green thumbs. From creating bouquets to opening up new sections of the community garden, Garden Life: A Cozy Simulator is dedicated to gradual floral farming with heartfelt story elements. But just how cosy is Garden Life: A Cozy Simulator? Even though the word 'cozy' is in the name, it's time to put it to the test!

Read more

As a lover of medieval history and swords, I was attracted to Manor Lords from the very first time I heard about it. Manor Lords is a city builder strategy game that has you fostering a thriving medieval village and ushering it into a new dawn filled with trade, farming, and - of course - at least one Manor. After picking it up for myself and getting fully into the medieval ambience thanks to some tavern ambience YouTube videos, I was surprised to find that on peaceful difficulty it could actually be considered a cosy game, just like Stardew Valley and similar farming simulators. Manor Lords also has surprising similarities to Cult of the Lamb, so if you're up for something less cult-like but still with lambs involved in one way or another, look no further.

Describing Manor Lords as a city builder is an oversimplification. It's much more than just putting buildings down and making the good numbers go up - over the seasons you can transform a bundle of tents to a thriving village in a thoroughly organic manner, from putting winding roads through the houses and workshops to planning out which of your fields are going to be fallow from year to year. At peaceful difficulty, Manor Lords really is a slow living cosy medieval game, with some valuable additions that make it novel amongst the typical city builder video game genre.

Don't believe me? Watch our video to see all the reasons Manor Lords should be your next go-to cosy game, or at the very least be in consideration - with a couple of caveats.

Read more

Today brings Fortnite's biggest Star Wars crossover yet, with new content from the galaxy far, far away in all of the game's four main modes.

Access to play most of this content is free, including Lego Fortnite's major new Star Wars world, but there's also more than £60 of new cosmetic items to splash your cash on, should you fancy.

In terms of skins, there's a new version of Luke Skywalker available featuring his Return of Jedi swamp clothes - and most notably, featuring Yoda as a backpack. The Dagobah Luke bundle includes the Jedi apprentice and wizened Muppet master for 1800 V-Bucks (around a tenner). I feel like this really could have been a new style for the existing Luke skin, especially as Yoda is available separately (for 1000 V-Bucks). Epic Games may be hoping you cough up for Yoda then choose to grab the new Luke bundle to get his skin for just 800 more.

Read more

V Rising was finally released in full this week, and so many players have jumped into the open-world survival game, it's breached 100,000 concurrent players for the first time since it released as an early access two years ago.

Developer Stunlock Studios marked the milestone on social media with a "Thank you!" and a simple graphic that confirmed there were "100,000 vampires in-game".

So far, the 1.0 edition is sitting on a "very positive" Steam rating, with almost 4000 recent reviews bolstering the early access release's similarly positive score.

Read more

Are you a cosy game addict? Welcome in and take a seat among your fellow enablers as I, fellow addict Zoe Delahunty-Light, kick off my new weekly series Cozy Corner! This series follows me as I finally try to clear my backlog of 47 (and counting) cosy games in my steam library, and decide whether these games are relaxing enough to warrant the label 'cosy' at all. Cosy games have blown up over the last four years and because of it, there are more to try than ever before, and thus more competing for your attention. I'm going to find the best of the best so tune in for this new weekly series full of blankets, relaxation - I hope - and surprisingly harsh judgement.

Garden Life: A Cozy Simulator is the first game that's being subjected to the cosy interrogation. In it, you are responsible for bringing back life to the dilapidated garden belonging to the previous gardener Robin, and the spirit of the local community as they convene around you, the new gardener. But you're not on your own - Robin is unable to move on while the garden remains uncompleted and neglected, so they'll be there to guide you as you find your green thumbs. From creating bouquets to opening up new sections of the community garden, Garden Life: A Cozy Simulator is dedicated to gradual floral farming with heartfelt story elements. But just how cosy is Garden Life: A Cozy Simulator? Even though the word 'cozy' is in the name, it's time to put it to the test!

Read more

As a lover of medieval history and swords, I was attracted to Manor Lords from the very first time I heard about it. Manor Lords is a city builder strategy game that has you fostering a thriving medieval village and ushering it into a new dawn filled with trade, farming, and - of course - at least one Manor. After picking it up for myself and getting fully into the medieval ambience thanks to some tavern ambience YouTube videos, I was surprised to find that on peaceful difficulty it could actually be considered a cosy game, just like Stardew Valley and similar farming simulators. Manor Lords also has surprising similarities to Cult of the Lamb, so if you're up for something less cult-like but still with lambs involved in one way or another, look no further.

Describing Manor Lords as a city builder is an oversimplification. It's much more than just putting buildings down and making the good numbers go up - over the seasons you can transform a bundle of tents to a thriving village in a thoroughly organic manner, from putting winding roads through the houses and workshops to planning out which of your fields are going to be fallow from year to year. At peaceful difficulty, Manor Lords really is a slow living cosy medieval game, with some valuable additions that make it novel amongst the typical city builder video game genre.

Don't believe me? Watch our video to see all the reasons Manor Lords should be your next go-to cosy game, or at the very least be in consideration - with a couple of caveats.

Read more

Today brings Fortnite's biggest Star Wars crossover yet, with new content from the galaxy far, far away in all of the game's four main modes.

Access to play most of this content is free, including Lego Fortnite's major new Star Wars world, but there's also more than £60 of new cosmetic items to splash your cash on, should you fancy.

In terms of skins, there's a new version of Luke Skywalker available featuring his Return of Jedi swamp clothes - and most notably, featuring Yoda as a backpack. The Dagobah Luke bundle includes the Jedi apprentice and wizened Muppet master for 1800 V-Bucks (around a tenner). I feel like this really could have been a new style for the existing Luke skin, especially as Yoda is available separately (for 1000 V-Bucks). Epic Games may be hoping you cough up for Yoda then choose to grab the new Luke bundle to get his skin for just 800 more.

Read more

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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In its continuing quest to become Everything to Everyone, Fortnite has shapeshifted, The Thing-like, into a new Lego Star Wars game. The Lego Fortnite survival mode has been expanded with a new, permanent Star Wars world, with this weekend - which includes May the Fourth, don’tcha know - also kicking off a new battle pass and bringing additions to every other part of Fortnite: whether you’re playing it as a battle royale shooter (remember that?), racing game or music-rhythm successor to Guitar Hero.

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Despite my desire for a real life herb garden, I don't really like farming or gardening games. Distant Bloom could be an exception, except I'm not sure it even qualifies as either, really. It is a little bit about exploration, a little about very light puzzles, and mostly in its heart, about cleaning up and making everything pretty.

Read more

Today brings Fortnite's biggest Star Wars crossover yet, with new content from the galaxy far, far away in all of the game's four main modes.

Access to play most of this content is free, including Lego Fortnite's major new Star Wars world, but there's also more than £60 of new cosmetic items to splash your cash on, should you fancy.

In terms of skins, there's a new version of Luke Skywalker available featuring his Return of Jedi swamp clothes - and most notably, featuring Yoda as a backpack. The Dagobah Luke bundle includes the Jedi apprentice and wizened Muppet master for 1800 V-Bucks (around a tenner). I feel like this really could have been a new style for the existing Luke skin, especially as Yoda is available separately (for 1000 V-Bucks). Epic Games may be hoping you cough up for Yoda then choose to grab the new Luke bundle to get his skin for just 800 more.

Read more

Lego Fortnite, the survival crafting experience found within Fortnite itself, is adding a huge new Star Wars mode this Friday, 3rd May.

The permanent addition comes as part of a Star Wars celebration across all four of Epic Games' main Fortnite modes: battle royale, Lego Fortnite, Rocket Racing and Fortnite Festival. But it's the Lego experience which looks by far the most impressive.

A fresh Star Wars-themed Lego World will become available within the Lego Fortnite mode that offers a Rebel Village for you to build up and grow using Star Wars parts and materials, and which features unique Star Wars characters.

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I didn't realise this while I was recording the video, but this week's VR Corner subject, ConVRgence was made by the same developer as another game that I previously featured in my Corner, Paradox of Hope.

'Monkey-With-a-Bomb', as the solo studio is called, released Paradox of Hope in Early Access exactly two years ago this week and, while it was only a slice of the full experience, its Metro-inspired gameplay was obvious to see. So obvious in fact that Metro rights-owner PLAION (aka Embracer) slapped the developer with a take down order, presumably due to the upcoming release of the VR exclusive spin-off, Metro Awakening.

ConVRgence then is a clean slate for Monkey-With-a-Bomb and it is a game that, despite being set in a similar post-apocalyptic world to Metro, is now unique enough to not warrant a slap on the wrist from some angry men in suits. In this week's VR Corner, you can watch me try out the first hour of the game, which focuses on proceedural, single-player extraction shooter gameplay, mixed with a heavy dose of realistic gunplay too.

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