Phantasy Star Online's December 2000 release capped a decade of Sega experimenting with online gaming on consoles. www.avclub.com/sega-phantas...

There’s nothing epic about commercials, and that’s what a day in a Disney or Universal theme park can feel like now. www.avclub.com/epic-univers...

Octopath Traveler 0 deploys some familiar fantasy plot beats, but twists them in unique and interesting ways. www.avclub.com/octopath-tra...

Phantasy Star Online's December 2000 release capped a decade of Sega experimenting with online gaming on consoles. www.avclub.com/sega-phantas...

Did Blue Prince get too esoteric with its puzzles? Was its randomness too punitive and player-unfriendly? Two A.V. Club writers hash it out. www.avclub.com/blue-prince-...

Sam Eng, the sole developer of Skate Story, discusses how his hometown of New York City influenced the game. www.avclub.com/skate-story-...

School's out, work's done, after Thursday the year's basically on garbage time: the perfect time to play games. Find something new (to you) on our list of the best games of 2025. www.avclub.com/best-games-2...

Octopath Traveler 0 adapts the mobile game Champions of the Continent for consoles, ensuring it won't disappear like other mobile games. www.avclub.com/octopath-tra...

School's out, work's done, after Thursday the year's basically on garbage time: the perfect time to play games. Find something new (to you) on our list of the best games of 2025. www.avclub.com/best-games-2...

Death Howl proudly calls itself a "souls-like deckbuilder" but its souls-like nature leads to serious pacing issues. Read our review. www.avclub.com/death-howl-g...

Despite an uptick in global popularity and an excellent lineup of shows, the anime industry continued to struggle in 2025. www.avclub.com/anime-indust...

Vince Zampella, the co-creator of Call of Duty and Respawn Entertainment, has died. www.avclub.com/vince-zampel...

Second screens are ruining multiplayer games: what "distracted gaming" says about our tech addiction and inability to pay attention. www.avclub.com/distracted-g...

My top ten new board games of 2025 feature a bunch of great two-player titles, a massive game about fixing baroque instruments, and more, now up at @theavclubgames.bsky.social: www.avclub.com/best-board-g...

Need something new for game night? Check out @keithlaw.bsky.social’s picks for the best new board games of the year. www.avclub.com/best-board-g...

2025 delivered a wide range of worthwhile anime for both newcomers and anime veterans alike. After plumbing the depths, here are the 10 best. www.avclub.com/best-anime-2...

Second screens are ruining multiplayer games: what "distracted gaming" says about our tech addiction and inability to pay attention. www.avclub.com/distracted-g...

Toby Fox's Undertale found evil in video game violence; its serialized follow-up Deltarune looks deeper into the heart with its "Weird Route." www.avclub.com/deltarune-we...

good games www.avclub.com/best-games-2...

good games www.avclub.com/best-games-2...

The Arctic Eggs developers are back with About Fishing, a surreal fishing game that's equal parts Dreamcast and David Lynch. www.avclub.com/about-fishin...

The Arctic Eggs developers are back with About Fishing, a surreal fishing game that's equal parts Dreamcast and David Lynch. www.avclub.com/about-fishin...

Samus Aran doesn't say a word in Metroid Prime 4, an unintentionally funny design choice that makes her seem less stoic than rude, @midimyers.com writes. www.avclub.com/metroid-prim...

Sprawling yet intimate, the new RPG Angeline Era offers sharp, personal design in an age of open world excess. Read @gracemachine.bsky.social's review. www.avclub.com/angeline-era...

Sprawling yet intimate, the new RPG Angeline Era offers sharp, personal design in an age of open world excess. Read @gracemachine.bsky.social's review. www.avclub.com/angeline-era...

Samus Aran doesn't say a word in Metroid Prime 4, an unintentionally funny design choice that makes her seem less stoic than rude, @midimyers.com writes. www.avclub.com/metroid-prim...

Unbeatable is rough around the edges, but it eventually finds its sound through powerful visuals and punchy rhythm gaming. www.avclub.com/unbeatable-r...

John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando seems like a servicable four-player zombie shooter, but it doesn't have quite enough of Carpenter's style. www.avclub.com/john-carpent...

The writing and gameplay of Hades II are a perfect fit for Supergiant’s conflicted heroine. www.avclub.com/hades-ii-div...

Move over, Mario: Nintendo has released another racing game for the Switch 2, and it's better than Mario Kart World. Our review of Kirby Air Riders: www.avclub.com/kirby-air-ri...

Unbeatable is rough around the edges, but it eventually finds its sound through powerful visuals and punchy rhythm gaming. www.avclub.com/unbeatable-r...

Surreal, metaphysical, and often psychedelic, Skate Story has a better understanding of skating's true nature than most skating games. Read our review. www.avclub.com/skate-story-...

Surreal, metaphysical, and often psychedelic, Skate Story has a better understanding of skating's true nature than most skating games. Read our review. www.avclub.com/skate-story-...

Playing in a space largely vacant since 2017's Universal Paperclips, Asbury Pines uses its slow pacing to tell a sprawling Twin Peaks-esque story. www.avclub.com/game-theory-...

Who knows what games await the tabletops of the world? Well, @ckunzelman.bsky.social kinda does, after attending PAX Unplugged in November. www.avclub.com/pax-unplugge...

Yakuza 0 Director's Cut is out on Dec. 8. The issue? Its changes are ill-considered, and it's replacing the original on digital storefronts. www.avclub.com/yakuza-0-dir...

Both a best-seller and infamous, industry-shaking failure, Pac-Man's Atari 2600 port was recently rereleased for the first—and second—times. www.avclub.com/atari-2600-p...

The horror game Horses has been banned from multiple digital storefronts, like Steam, for vague, ill-defined reasons. www.avclub.com/horses-game-...

The White Castle Duel bucks the trend of superfluous "duel" games by smartly tweaking the rules of 2023's best board game. Read @keithlaw.bsky.social's review. www.avclub.com/white-castle...

Interstellar Arc is a new VR exhibit in Las Vegas set in a giant humanity-saving space ship hundreds of years in the future. Although impressive, it just underlines how weightless and hollow virtual reality remains. www.avclub.com/interstellar...

Anime features a wide variety of genres aimed at many audiences, and it's time Western audiences recognize that. www.avclub.com/time-to-go-b...

Scrabdackle's in-game notebook is seemingly hand-drawn by its lead character, adding a human touch that makes the world feel real and lived-in. www.avclub.com/scrabdackle-...

Originally announced 13 years ago, the sci-fi horror game Routine has flashes of brilliance but doesn't stick the landing. www.avclub.com/routine-review

Marvel Cosmic Invasion is the latest beat 'em up from Tribute Games and Dotemu, and it packs a punch thanks to a superpowered tag system. www.avclub.com/marvel-cosmi...

We can't stop thinking about Blippo+, a "game" that simulates channel surfing cable TV in the '80s and '90s. www.avclub.com/best-blippo-...

Of Dungeons & Dragons' two new supplements, the DM-focused Adventures in Faerûn far outclasses the player-targeting Heroes of Faerûn, @ckunzelman.bsky.social writes. www.avclub.com/dd-adventure...

Nintendo's latest racing game won't be dethroning Mario Kart, but it is a study in how great Achievement design can get its hooks in players. www.avclub.com/game-theory-...

Retrace the Light plays with timeless sci-fi concepts driving timely moral debates, like AI and robotics, but doesn't say anything new. www.avclub.com/retrace-the-...

Another PAX Unplugged is in the books. Here's every board game Keith Law played at this year's show, including his pick for the best. www.avclub.com/pax-unplugge...

Demonschool doesn't just credit its designers; it explains what their job actually means. Both are rare for a medium that still doesn't always credit its workers. www.avclub.com/demonschool-...