Last June, Jagex - the developers of medieval MMO Runescape - found themselves at odds with players after deciding not to create any new content for Pride Month. Disputed internally at the studio before the discussion then leaked online, the decision appeared to be a retreat in the face of a world turning on minority groups.
Following up in September, Games Industry asked Jagex CEO Jon Bellamy if he stood by the call to simply re-run existing Pride-themed quests and events. "Ultimately, my job is governance and protection as much as anything else, and so sometimes those kinds of harsh decisions have to be made to protect the imminent future of the game," he told them. "If there are tough decisions to be made next year, we'll make them. If the world has changed a bit and the environment is different, we will react accordingly."
Five months on and with this year's Pride Month on the horizon, we've asked if the environment is different.
This is probably a sentence that could be said literally any day of the week, but a new cosy farming sim is on the block, this time taking the form of Starsand Island. The flavour on this occasion is of the anime variety, with some slightly goofier farming mechanics (i.e. turning your watermelon patch into one singular, 10 foot tall watermelon), some very Pokemon Legends: Arceus looking combat, and some appropriately cute animals to hang out with. And there's skateboarding! But never do launches go all that smoothly, as developer Seed Sparkle Lab have had to do a dash of damage control regarding some concerns over the game.
Crafters and gatherers of Pax Dei, your sun is about to rise and cast its warm rays all over your collective face. That’s because Mainframe Industries has officially confirmed that its next patch, which is a number of crafting updates, is due to arrive on Friday, February 20th. This patch will introduce the master crafting system that […]
The moment I first saw Witchspire was a thing, I knew the exact people in my life for whom the title alone was an alluring promise. I’m not exaggerating with that; there are people who mean the world to me who are here precisely for big witch hats, witch cottages, and everything that goes along with endless […]
Train survival games are all the rage in PC gaming right now, with Chris Livingston spying six railway-related survival sims arriving at platform PC in 2026. But these life-sustaining locomotives were all pulled onto the tracks by Voidtrain, a survival sim in which you drive an interdimensional train through a vast, eerie cosmos.
While it only launched in 2025, Voidtrain is the de-facto grandaddy of train-based survival sims, having chugged away merrily in Steam early access for four years before formally releasing. Developer HypeTrain Digital is still shovelling coal into the engine, too, with this week bringing a small patch, a big discount, and a sprinkling of DLC you can grab for free if you're quick.
The primary change in the patch is a "significantly increased" inventory capacity for both players and containers, which should help address some player complaints that storage becomes overfilled too easily. The update also fixes numerous bugs, improves the crafting UI, and makes changes to railway depots so that they don't always involve a combat encounter— adding a new "peaceful variant" of depot to give players a change of pace.
The DLC, meanwhile, is called 'Tour de Void', and centres around a sequence of activities involving the game's cute 'Rofleemo' pets. Rather than Rofleemo lingering forlornly at depots, the DLC lets them travel with you on the train as passengers. You can build seats for them to ride on as well as a tourist stand, where Rofleemo will give players tasks and challenges they can complete for various rewards. These range from cosmetics like rail skins and train decorations, to more functional perks and upgrades.
Tour de Void normally costs $8 (£6), but you can grab it for free until Monday. If you don't own Voidtrain already, the base game is currently available for 50% off at $15 (£12.50), with that discount ending on March 5.
As for whether you should buy Voidtrain, Fraser Brown enjoyed the early access version a few years' back. "I'm not often surprised by survival games, but this one feels a bit special," he wrote in 2021. "It's full of novelties and oddities, and it's the most fun I've had filling my inventory with junk in a long time." The final version, meanwhile, has a mostly positive rating on Steam, with players praising the concept and character, but criticising its grindy survival progression and clunky FPS combat.
Second Life is full of unexpected moments — but I didn’t expect a raccoon coffee quest after an hour of grinding resources in Decor Forge.
Here’s what happened.
Back to the Grind in Decor Forge
I logged back into Decor Forge, the gather-and-craft RPG inside Second Life, determined to make progress after last time’s frustrating disconnect at the Vordun Museum.
This session was all about one thing:
wood, stone, and fibers.
For a full hour, I searched for sparkles — those little glimmers that mark resource nodes. It was supposed to be a calm, productive grind session.
But the island near the museum? Almost empty.
No sparkles.
Barely any gatherables.
Just running around hoping something would respawn.
Not exactly ideal for crafting progression.
The Museum (That I Didn’t Enter)
Last time I attempted to enter the Vordun Museum, I got disconnected. So this time, I played it safe.
I stayed outside.
Circled the island.
Focused purely on gathering.
No risks.
And technically… no disconnects either. So that’s a win.
Still, avoiding the museum didn’t make the resource situation any better. The island simply wasn’t producing enough materials to make the grind worthwhile.
So I headed back to the main island.
That’s when things got interesting.
The Raccoon with a Request
Back on the main island, I ran into a raccoon NPC.
Not hostile.
Not random flavor text.
He had a quest.
And what did he want?
Coffee.
Yes. Coffee.
Apparently, I could get it from the museum.
The same museum I had just carefully avoided.
You can’t make this stuff up.
From Resource Grinding to Story Hook
What started as a quiet gathering session turned into something more intriguing:
A low-yield resource island
A museum I didn’t dare enter
A raccoon sending me right back there
Now I have a choice:
Do I risk another disconnect to complete the coffee quest?
Or keep grinding safely and ignore the mysterious museum?
Decor Forge continues to surprise me with how it blends slow crafting progression with little narrative hooks like this. Even a simple coffee request adds personality to the world.
Developed by Armenian studio Mandragora, I Am Future transforms survival into a peaceful experience best paired with a cup of tea. The idea differs from the traditionally violent nature of survival games, instead focusing on resource management and socializing with anthropomorphic appliances. The third-person gameplay is well thought-out and I always had a thousand things to do, but as the story unfolded a few problems cropped up for me, and In my experience, the mellow, cozy nature which is ostensibly the selling point of I am Future becomes its biggest flaw.
The tale kicks off on an isolated rooftop where the player wakes up with amnesia and a sky-high sense of confusion. The city around them is completely flooded, and survival is accomplished through a complex system of gathering and crafting.
At first, materials are collected from piles on the floor — simple parts like wood planks, plastic, and metal scraps. These basic ingredients are used to upgrade to higher quality parts and tools.
Quests are usually checkpoints that require certain objects to unlock. This loop of foraging, building, and crafting creates a deliberately slow experience that rewards patience and planning. I enjoyed collecting materials because they cleared up the roof every time I picked them up, and seeing a messy junkyard turn into a clean home served as motivation to gather. Additionally, the story is supplemented with rooftop excursions like fishing and exploration which add another layer of depth.
In terms of narrative, the plot is a little underwhelming. While there are hints of an interesting backstory, lore is delivered through large walls of text that didn’t feel exciting to read. The content itself is also fairly generic and struggles to stand out on its own, piggybacking off of the gameplay instead of being a central part of the experience.
Throughout the narrative, simple obstacles like hunger, health, and basic enemies pose a slight challenge. The player needs to craft meals and sleep, which are quite easy to do. A small mechanic I loved was working to unlock recipes. From simple foods like baked mushrooms to more advanced fish soup, these crazy concoctions provided a nice distraction from the big quests. Besides basic human needs, the player also needs to repel leeches (called electrosites) that appear every night. Alas, electrosites are threatening through quantity instead of quality, and by the mid-game, they stopped feeling like a meaningful enemy. Adding to the annoyance, they spawn even on “peaceful” mode, which kind of defeats the purpose of that setting.
Throughout this review, I have mentioned that in general, the vibe is is slow-paced. Unfortunately, it gets a little too sluggish.
Many progression requirements demand large crafting times while rarely introducing new mechanics, shifting the experience to busywork. The storage system is also poor, as each item gets its own slot inside an inventory menu. However, the beginner inventory and chests don’t have nearly enough storage slots for the amount of items introduced, and I spent ridiculous amounts of energy trying to organize and find materials. This is addressed with upgrades in the mid-game, but I still think the player’s starting inventory should be bigger.
Back to the positives, the graphics and artistic style ofI am Future are phenomenal. The art is colorful during daytime and gloomier at night. In addition, each object has a unique design that makes it easy to keep track of.
Character customization is extensive and I spent more time than I would like to admit mixing and matching hairstyles and mustaches. Yet while the graphics bring the flooded paradise to life, movement sinks it again. I am Future has only one movement option — walking. The walk is infuriatingly unhurried, which left me desperately wishing for running or jumping. I did find out about a teleport button, but it was obscurely hidden in the menu and had a ten minute cooldown which rendered it basically useless.
I am Future targets the fans of slower crafty games. Gathering resources, dismantling objects, farming, fishing… it all comes together to make a non-rushed title, and while I wanted to like it, it just didn’t click. Quests ended up feeling like chores, and the story wasn’t exciting enough to make up for the lackluster gameplay. Overall, I am Future offers a pleasant starting loop, but it never evolves into anything bigger.
Rating: 5.5 out of 10
— Eddie Guo
Disclosures: This game is developed by Mandragora and published by tinyBuild. It is currently available on XBX/S, PS5, PC and Switch. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on PC. Approximately 6 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was not completed.
Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated E. There is nothing explicit or violent here, and it is safe for all ages.
Colorblind Modes: There are nocolorblind modes available.
Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: There is no dialogue, and everything is communicated via text bubbles. No audio cues are needed for play. This title is fully accessible.
Remappable Controls: The game has fully remappable controls.
Whether you’re cultivating life in a desolate wasteland or surviving the vacuum of deep space, the joy of creation is at the heart of the gaming experience. Our latest collection, the Crafted Worlds Bundle, celebrates the architects, the survivors, and the explorers. For just one low price, you can secure five incredible games that challenge you to build, survive, and thrive in beautifully realised environments.
Even better, every purchase helps support Safe In Our World, a charity dedicated to fostering mental health awareness within the games industry and beyond. Your journey through these crafted realms helps eliminate stigma and ensures that no one in the gaming community has to face their struggles alone.
Five Crafted Worlds. One Incredible Cause.
The Crafted Worlds Bundle offers a diverse range of survival and crafting experiences, each with its own unique atmosphere and challenges:
Wildmender: Restore life to a dying world. In this desert survival adventure, you’ll manage your water, plant a vast garden, and explore the sands to bring a withered landscape back to its lush, vibrant peak.
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Build a Better World, On and Off Screen
Every bundle purchase directly benefits Safe In Our World, helping them provide vital mental health resources and support for players and developers alike. By grabbing this collection, you aren’t just expanding your Steam library – you’re contributing to a safer, more supportive global gaming community.
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As with all Green Man Gaming Bundles, your keys are delivered instantly, allowing you to start your crafting journey right away. Plus, your purchase includes an extra 3% off voucher for your next PC game at Green Man Gaming, so you can keep the adventure going.
The Crafted Worlds Bundle is only available for a limited time. Don’t miss your chance to own these “Very Positive” rated hits while making a real-world impact.
So, we know Pokémon Pokopia is looking impressive so far, and we've also been told it's a pretty long game even if you aren't planning on sticking around after the credits roll. With so much to do and a multiplayer option that's promising one of the most relaxing experiences of the year, how do its online functionalities work exactly?
Though it may seem like we just had a big life sim release in Heartopia, 2026 actually has more than one highly-anticipated release in that particular subgenre of cozy game. The next big one on the horizon is Starsand Island, the life and farming sim from Seed Sparkle Lab.
Arknights: Endfield developer Gryphline has a good reason to celebrate, as the upcoming free-to-play action RPG has achieved yet another milestone. The developer announced today that Endfield already has over 35 million pre-registrations.
The Game Awards 2025 ceremony brought us yet more gacha game news, this time a big announcement for Arknights: Endfield. The free-to-play game set in the the universe of Arknights has been in various forms of closed tests for a while, but it finally has a release date.
It's been another strange, difficult, and yet somehow also brilliant year for video games in 2025. Triple-A releases have been sparse again, compared to the boom times of old, with a great big GTA 6-shaped hole left in the final few months of the year. And yet once again, every gap left by the established order has been filled twice over with something brilliantly new.
In a loud world where everyone is battling to be heard, it's easy to forget that the quiet and smaller moments of kindness hold the most power. A lot of the time, it's easy to think that keeping to yourself is the easiest way to deal with things, whether you're dealing with your own pain or trying to find the right way to navigate someone else's. It's never easy to know what to do, we're all trying our best - after all this is all our first time being human. But one truth remains:a little kindness goes a long way. Winter Burrow, the intrepid little mouse game, shows this more than anything else I've played in 2025.
Fydos.io is a multiplayer browser game focused on survival, progression, and exploration. Players collect resources, fight enemies, level up stats, and unlock n...
BitCraft, our winner for Best MMO Crafting of 2025, is focusing on communication among players in its first patch of this year, as the crafting-centric sandbox MMORPG has added support for several languages and added hyperlinking functionality, just in case you’re the sort of person who can’t help but communicate your in-game material desires through […]
Right, get ready for some chatter about where the contents of our collective wallets have gone over the past year. Valve's list of the highest-grossing games on Steam in 2025 has emerged from the great mists, and in a nice revelation, features a larger number of fresh releases than last year's ranking. That's alongside all of the moderately to quite old stuff which more folks keep hopping on the train of with every passing 12 month period.
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