I played some Hytale last night and some more this morning. It's fun so far! Very much on the "early" side of Early Access I would say. I wrote a short piece on some of my observations: www.ign.com/articles/7-t...

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 art up for order at IGN Store buff.ly/ARcPLMX #ad

In the original Tomb Raider timeline, Lara Croft is turning 58 years old this year. In Tomb Raider 1, released 30 years ago for the PlayStation in 1996, she was 28 years old.

Halo 1 and Animal Crossing are as old now as the original Frogger and Galaga were when Halo and Animal Crossing first came out (25 years).

Gears of War turns 20 this year (2006 --> 2026), which means it is now as old as the original Zelda and Castlevania were when Gears first came out. (1986 --> 2006)

Took the fam bowling. The man next to us casually bowled a perfect game. I clocked it early and was incredibly afraid my kids would mess him up somehow. After the last strike everyone cheered and he say “first one!” And then packed up his ball and almost literally ran out? Legendary.

We've got a new group of Verge articles that are completely free to read (today only)! First up, from @sesmith.lol: The internet is forever. But also, it isn’t. What happens to our culture when websites start to vanish at random?

Thinking about buying Ys: The Oath in Felghana from the Steam Winter Sale, which has been on my Steam wishlist for *checks notes* 13 years.

Presenting The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Decayed Master Sword Life-Size Statue. The handle is crafted from metal, the blade is made of durable ABS, and the sword can be detached from the base. Preorder now on the IGN Store: https://bit.ly/48KVmzI

You too will be “wheee” when you hold the official Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Esquie Plush Replica in your hands. The long-awaited and MUCH-requested collectible from the 2025 Game of the Year has arrived. And he’s really soft and cuddly! Pre-order now on IGN Store!: https://bit.ly/3KYNdyp

The Indie Game Awards air on Dec. 18th, streaming on IGN, GameSpot, and Six One Indie. It’s not a night for new trailers, but a night to celebrate global devs who swung for the fences with unrestricted creative freedom. 🕐 IGAs Countdown: 6:30 PM ET 🏆 Ceremony: 6:50 PM ET 🔗 www.indiegameawards.gg

Here's a look at what updates are coming to Ball x Pit next year, including new balls, characters, balls, passives, evolutions, balls, and more. And did we mention balls?

Nintendo Switch 2 + Mario Kart World Bundle FINALLY got its first discount: $50 off at Walmart ($449, discount in cart) zdcs.link/z31pvP It's a Cyber Monday miracle.

Introducing the IGN Store's exclusive @kingdomcomerpg.bsky.social: Deliverance II collection, featuring bold tees, mugs, flags, and more! This new lineup features iconic crests and quotations from @warhorsestudios.bsky.social acclaimed sequel. Shop now: https://bit.ly/4rjEB5V

I'm starting to get the sneaking suspicion that the steam machine is gonna be really hard to find at launch www.ign.com/articles/ste...

Cautious optimism....

Started playing Disney Dreamlight Valley again. Genuinely great game.

hot damn, amano-illustrated Expedition 33 prints store.ign.com/collections/...

These prints are up for preorder now at the IGN Store, including 33 signed by Yoshitaka Amano. https://store.ign.com/collections/clair-obscur-expedition-33-ign-artist-series

Absolutely one of the most amazing projects I've ever been a part of.

I regret to inform you all (and any Game Scoop listeners here) that I've been sucked back into Vampire Survivors so all I care about now is watching pixels explode satisfyingly and unlocking increasingly esoteric and unknowable secrets after every run. I'll be back to conveyor belt games soon.

A24 is cooking up an Overcooked reality TV show for Netflix, which will be the studio's first reality series. bit.ly/49z6ccI

Welp I know this is the adult version of a dog ate my homework but I genuinely did just find like 60 fully-written but unsent emails in my drafts from the last several months🤦 Time to go through them and see if any of them can still be sent. 🫥

I've put 25 hrs into Against the Storm and I totally agree with the Overwhelmingly Positive reviews. It's a super clever, satisfying, and addictive roguelike city builder. Semi-random roguelite setup = you get the best parts of a city builder (the opening 1-2 hrs!) w/o it just feeling repetitive.

FINAL FANTASY VII - MIDGAR classic map layout! just the places you visit in the OG game, with some cheating. the game's route goes 1>8>7>4>5>6>7>0. full resolution: www.deviantart.com/vgcartograph...

I played through most of Little Rocket Lab over the last few weeks and enjoyed it. A fun blend of Factorio + Stardew Valley: store.steampowered.com/app/2451100/... It's not as good as either of those all-time classics and isn't meant to last 100+ hours, but it's a very satisfying ~20hr journey.

Making smoked over the top chili.

IDK who needs to hear this but Kairosoft has been publishing their games to steam for a while now and they're discounted as part of the autumn sale. Stacking game discounts + bundle discounts gets them down to ~$2-3 each, which is the right price for them IMO. I just nabbed a bunch!

Upon reflection, I have figured out that my favorite genre of game is "just a bunch of weird little guys, running around." Starcraft, Pikmin, Dwarf Fortess, Tropico, Kingdom Rush, Vampire Survivors. Banished, Civilization, Rimworld. Factorio is technically one guy but it counts thanks to bots.

I just backed Mystery Puzzles: What you see is NOT what you build on @kickstarter.com www.kickstarter.com/projects/odd...

I've started playing Factorio again, this time with the ultra-complex "masochistic" Pyanodon's overhaul mods. (I personally think Py's reputation is overblown). Some shots of my factory - 1. Iron mining/smelting column 2. (Very) Early-game item mall 3. Simple steam setup 4. Ash storage/disposal

I am excited to announce the Games for Palestine charity bundle page is now live!!! Over 300+ games with proceeds going to UNRWA USA in support of Gaza relief. Thank you to everyone for your support. The bundle launches on Sept 2nd 9am PST. Link: itch.io/b/2979/play-...

In Donkey Kong Bananza, Pauline's idle animations evolve over the course of the game as she learns to be more comfortable around DK. In the beginning, she looks around worriedly. After Sublayer 300, she starts ruffling his hair, and after Sublayer 1400, starts tickling him.

I know this is nothing new but it is always quite funny to me how long, 10+ hour international flights operate. They served us a steak dinner with mashed potatoes and asparagus at like 10 am Munich Time and then turned out all the lights. Almost everyone then went straight to sleep.

The Lune Necklace has arrived. ✨ An exact replica of the one worn by Lune from Clair Obscur: @expedition33.bsky.social and handcrafted in sterling silver from @rocklovejewelry.bsky.social. Only 333 exist worldwide, each engraved with a unique number. Get yours today!: bit.ly/475Eq6q

Press X to follow mom.

I’m just going to say it I love World of Warcraft so much.

Sakurai's great. He talks about how Kirby seems too close to Mario Kart and perhaps too much like it. And it seems like he's about to say "but my game is more focused on speed / combat / minigames" or whatever. But instead he just says basically "yeah, it's weird they're both so close. Anyway..."

Pips #1 Hard 🔴 1:22 www.nytimes.com/games/pips/h...

Played and completed Is This Seat Taken? this weekend. www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnpO... Controls a bit clunky on Switch and the core puzzles could have been further explored, but overall I'm a big fan. A surprisingly charming story, good music. Overall very funny and clever.

Thinking about reading Homestuck for the first time.

Arkham, Middle-earth, and more await in the Best of Humble Bundle: WB Play the Legends featuring: - Batman: Arkham Knight Premium Edition - Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor - Game of the Year Edition - Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate Edition - and more! Supports Raiden Science Foundation | bit.ly/3HctGbY

I started Wheel World last night and cleared about ~70% of it in one sitting. Loved it. It's about ~4-5 hours total maybe: www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmL1... It's a perfect Game Pass game imo. Short, chill, vibes-based. Great bike control. Race around and explore. A little simplistic but that's OK.

So apparently, it may turn out that The Wizard of Oz at the Las Vegas Sphere wasn’t entirely made in AI and Google threw the VFX crew under the bus by claiming it was all done by artificial intelligence. If true, then fucking yikes.

Steve Jobs tried to make the reason for Apple’s success as explicitly clear as he could and the second he died Andreesen was like “fuck books”

Beat DK Bananza this weekend. Nintendo has gotten *really* great about endings recently, hasn't it? Epic in scope, genuinely hard but not impossible, satisfying conclusion. Great music. Great game overall. Quick Q - is there even one *real* banana in the game? It's all Banandium Gems...

Holy shit. This guy saved a PNG to a bird. (he drew a bird into a spectrogram, played that sound to a starling, and the starling reproduced it back to him with enough accuracy he got his bird drawing back in their call's spectrogram) www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCQC...

I just backed Flip Voyage + Fliptown: New Frontier on kickstarter www.kickstarter.com/projects/wri...