Here’s what you can expect.
MySims made a surprise comeback on the Switch last month with EA’s release of the ‘Cozy Bundle‘ and the game is still receiving some post-launch support.
In an official update, the development team revealed how it had been working on bug fixes and also implementing new features to the game including a “new teleport interaction”. Here’s the full rundown of Version 1.2, which rolled out last week:
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
It’s Zelda themed!
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom has been one of the major highlights for the Switch this year, and to send 2024 out with a bang, Tetris 99‘s final Maximus Cup of the year will be all about this game!
The 44th Maximus Cup will take place between 19th December and 23rd December, and if you participate and accumulate 100 points, you’ll unlock a special theme.
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
The developer of recently-announced virtual pet simulator game Catly has responded to allegations that the game’s trailer and marketing was produced using generative AI, saying that no such technology was used in its announcement at The Game Awards, nor in the game itself.
In a statement shared with IGN, a PR representative authorized to speak on behalf of developer SuperAuthenti said that generative AI was not used to produce the trailer, nor the game. Furthermore, the representative said the developer was “very surprised by such speculations,” adding that “We do not think there are any existing AI tools that can produce a video like that. Industry experts have echoed this opinion.”
The PR representative also showed IGN a version of the trailer from The Game Awards that showed in-progress shots interspersed alongside the final version, which did seem to confirm the lack of AI use in the actual trailer production.
Additionally, the PR representative said that other allegations suggesting that Catly was a blockchain game were similarly unfounded. They said that there has been “zero blockchain technology” involved in Catly or the company behind it, SuperAuthenti, and similarly there are no NFTs. “Our company/project has never issued any blockchain currency and any NFTs. Our company does not and has never owned any blockchain currency and NFTs.”
The spokesperson confirmed to IGN that Catly is being made in Unreal Engine 5, and said the developer uses “various software” to produce hyperrealistic fur and hair.
Assertions that Catly was using generative AI technology began to circulate almost immediately after its trailer debuted at The Game Awards last week. The trailer itself featured hyperrealistic cats with brightly colored fur and features bounding around a fantasy playspace and interacting with a human wearing various detailed, high fashion outfits. The art style present was flagged by many critics as reminiscent of the hyperrealistic style often produced by generative AI. That said, Catly’s statement is consistent with the current reality that game trailers of this quality are not within the reach of current generative AI technology without significant, obvious artifacting and other issues.
However, others pointed out that while the trailer may be legit, the other aspects of Catly’s promotion are still giving some off vibes. For instance, the game’s Steam description awkwardly reads, “A Cat Open World, with Beautiful Cats. Hyperrealism, Actions, Cuddle, Speed, Islands, Fashion, Dreams, Snow, Robots, Plants — all with and via Cats.”
And a few of the game’s promotional art pieces had odd details similar to AI artifacting, such as the odd paws and nose of this cat:
And the text on the wall inside the right-hand side of the building in this image:
Others unearthed more images from the official Catly website that appear to raise even more questions about their veracity. Notably, the Catly website was down as recently as Friday, and remained offline over the weekend through today when we reached out to SuperAuthenti to ask about it. The website has since been reinstated, but a number of the old images have been removed.
While SuperAuthenti confirmed to me that it did not use generative AI in either the trailer or the game itself, it did not respond to my question about its promotional images on Steam or on its website.
As for web3, speculation of the game’s ties to the technology surfaced as individuals unearthed the studio co-founder, Kevin Yeung’s, ties to other blockchain games. Additionally, the game’s Steam page features a glowing quote from League of Legends and Arcane producer Thomas Vu, who himself is a prominent web3 investor. However, it also contained a quote from Hearthstone and Marvel Snap creator Ben Brode, who has taken to Bluesky to say that he’s heard nothing about either AI generation or web3 involved in Catly, and that his interest is sincere. “I saw 20 [minutes] or so of gameplay footage a few months back and thought it looked cool so they asked me for a quote,” he wrote.
For now, it does seem that SuperAuthenti is telling the truth about the Catly trailer at The Game Awards, though the question of whether or not, or how much, generative AI has been used in Catly’s overall development and promotion remains to be seen. Generative AI is becoming an increasingly popular tool for game companies, too. Call of Duty reportedly sold an “AI-generated cosmetic” for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 in late 2023, and fans accused Activision of using generative AI again for a loading screen this year. EA said in September that AI was “the very core” of its business.
Unfortunately, as the technology becomes both more prevalent and more complex, it seems likely it will become increasingly difficult to tell the difference between AI-generated and human-crafted work. In Catly’s case, we’ll have to wait for 2025 to find out more about what exactly is behind those hauntingly rainbow cat eyes from the trailer.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
The series celebrates its 30th anniversary next year.
Bandai Namco has kicked off its Tales series 30th-anniversary celebrations with the Anniversary Project Special Broadcast. And while there were no special surprises or announcements, series producer Yusuke Tomizawa did reiterate that the team would be working on more remasters.
In the original Japanese broadcast (reported on by Gematsu), Tomizawa-san stated that he couldn’t reveal specific plans, but did say that Bandai Namco intends to “provide fairly consistently.”
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
December 13 marked a big day for aspiring oil tycoons who also happen to be Xbox gamers. That day, Turmoil, the unique simulation game focused on pumping up oil at the turn of the 20th century, arrived on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and the Microsoft Store. So, we’ve put together five hot tips to get your oil empire off to a running start!
Once you’ve arrived on your first oil field, the first thing you’ll need to do is locate the underground wells filled with that bubbling crude. Your first – and best – method is by deploying dowsers. They’ll scour the field for a while, then once they’ve found a well will attract your attention with a whistle. Note that these dowsers will discover wells approximately in order of depth, so you won’t have to drill too deep for the ones they find first. Later on, you’ll also be able to enlist specially trained moles to dig for oil or use advanced scanners to uncover specific patches of the subsurface terrain. Even so, the trusty dowser will always remain the cornerstone of your oil-hunting escapades.
Then, the time has come to set up your rig and start drilling. Every foot of your pipeline costs money, so the shorter a line you can draw between rig and well, the better. On the other hand, rigs are expensive too, so if you can lead those pipes from one rig to multiple wells, that would also be swell. It’s all about building the most efficient and cost-effective pipeline network, to extract as much oil as possible before your land lease expires. But watch out: there is such a thing as doing too well! Pumping up oil faster than your horse-drawn wagons can haul it away will lead to spillage… which is not only a waste of perfectly good black gold but will incur a hefty fine too.
Of course, Turmoil isn’t just about getting oil above ground. It’s also about selling it… for maximum profit! Those crude-filled wagons can be sent to one of two competing oil companies, the very aptly named Left, Inc. and Right, Inc. Keep an eye on their fluctuating prices and sell wisely to maximize profits. Sometimes, the market can be pretty dire on both sides. That’s where silos come in handy: be sure to store your precious product until prices are back on the rise.
Let’s be honest, you didn’t get into the oil game to make a modest profit every year. In Turmoil, the key to coming out on top is to keep upgrading your operation to increase efficiency and profitability. Luckily, the charming frontier town you return to after each drilling expedition, offers plenty of opportunities to do exactly that. You can invest in faster horses, bigger wagons, wider pipes and much, much more. But do get your priorities straight! Branching pipelines, deeper dowsing and the aforementioned silos should be at the top of your list… while gambling in the saloon is something you should only do once you’ve got money to spare.
Your first patch of land is assigned to you. After that, you choose on which plot to stake your claim… and some of them are much richer in oil than others. Know that once you’ve found a juicy spot, the fields adjacent to it are also likely to be fruitful soil. But be warned that your rivals are aware of this… and you must be prepared to outbid all of them all to lease the most promising land. Eventually, you’ll move on to new areas which introduce even more ways to strike it rich. Parcels containing natural gas, for example, have the potential to be very lucrative indeed. And the Xbox and Microsoft Store version of Turmoil includes the DLC The Heat Is On DLC, with a fresh map that introduces fields with liquid hot magma, further ramping up the challenge… and the temperature.
So, there you have it! These strategic pointers provide everything you need to jumpstart your drilling dynasty, when Turmoil launches this week on Xbox and the Microsoft Store. With over a million players already hooked on its addictive gameplay, it’s your turn now to conquer the world of oil. Join the ranks of dedicated Texas Tea enthusiasts and, if you’ll allow us to mix our beverage-based metaphors, come drink our milkshake!
Gamious
Lease land at the town auction and search for oil. Build a rig, create an efficient pipe network and bring up the oil to store it in silos. Sell the oil at the best times to maximize profits. Then buy essential upgrades in town to cope with rock, gas and ice. Acquire more town shares than your competitors in a bid to become the new mayor.
* A campaign where you build your rags-to-riches oil baron career and beat your rivals.
* Dozens of upgrades and new tools to improve your oil mining operations.
* Meet the town’s characters in the saloon and make shady business deals.
* Play single game mode to get one of literally millions of procedurally generated levels and earn as much as you can in one year.
* Lease land at the town auction and search for oil using a dowser, mole or scanner.
* Maximize your profits by using natural gas to boost the oil price.
* Outbid your competitors at the stock auction.
Turmoil – The Heat Is On is a brand new campaign with tons of oil to dig up and convert into cash! It is designed to make you feel right at home, but at the same time offer lots of new mechanics and fun features. Here’s what you can expect!
* A new town (and mayor!) and a new oil-rich map divided into three areas.
* In each area, new drilling mechanics are introduced, powered by a new underground substance: magma.
* You’ll see familiar faces like Edward and Fred and William. They brought their goods with them in train wagons, so you can instantly stock up on all your favorite drilling gear.
* There are also new people, like Philip, who runs a shady card game in the saloon.
* Jack is a new character that runs a magma tools operation from his shed. He likes chicken.
* Anthony is also back from last time. Instead of dealing in diamonds, he has his own store where you can sell and buy all sorts of underground treasures.
* The new mayor is not quite like the old one. His tips are free, and he uses a different auction system. But shares still cost money!
* There’s a cat walking around the village! He doesn’t do a whole lot, but what can you expect from these creatures?
* And last but not least: a couple of brand new music tracks!
The post Turmoil Comes to Xbox: Here’s Five Smart Ways to Drill Down Deep appeared first on Xbox Wire.
It’s fitting that in the year of the 30th anniversary of the original PlayStation, two of the console’s biggest franchises — Tekken and Final Fantasy — are collaborating once more. The two names are nearly synonymous with the PlayStation brand, and more than that share a development history not many know about.
“I guess we can talk about [it] now since so much time has passed. Back around Tekken 3, a lot of our staff left the team and actually went to Square,” Tekken executive producer Katsuhiro Harada reveals in a sit down interview with IGN. Given Tekken 3 was in development during 1995 and released a year later, there were likely several ex-Tekken staff lending their 3D development skills to what would likely have been the only Final Fantasy game in production around then: the seminal PlayStation RPG, Final Fantasy 7.
“We’re both titles that were synonymous with PlayStation and also the kind of high-level 3D graphics [both series had] at the time were similar,” Harada continues. “And although we were making different games at that point, [the ex-Tekken developers] were still our friends and people we worked really closely with. So [at the time I thought] it would be interesting if we could work together again sometime in the future. It just turned out that it took a lot more time than I initially thought.”
So here we are, decades later and the Tekken and Final Fantasy brands are going head-to-head on friendlier terms. Clive Rosfield, the protagonist of Final Fantasy 16, will be the latest guest character joining the Tekken roster. He’s only the second Final Fantasy character to ever join Tekken, following after Final Fantasy 15’s Noctis, who made an appearance in Tekken 7.
You might be surprised to hear that this collaboration between Final Fantasy 16 and Tekken 8 began much earlier than expected. So early, in fact, that Final Fantasy 16 was still in the middle of development when Tekken series producer Katsuhiro Harada reached out to FF16 producer Naoki Yoshida about a potential collaboration. Yoshida invited Harada and Tekken 8 director Kohei Ikeda to Square Enix to play an in-development build of the game and the foundations were laid for the crossover.
Developed by the team responsible for the massively popular Final Fantasy 14 MMORPG, Final Fantasy 16 is a stark departure for the series as far as gameplay goes, eschewing any kind of turn-based combat in favor of real-time action where Clive can wield his sword and chain combos together. Final Fantasy 16’s more action-forward direction meant that Clive could fit seamlessly into Tekken. His combo-heavy attacks and ability to channel the powers of different “Eikons” — powerful familiars like Ifrit, Phoenix, and Titan — ensures a fairly diverse kit for his Tekken 8 appearance..
“We wanted to make sure that all of the Eikons were available in some way while playing [as Clive in Tekken 8],” says Ikeda. Expect to see Clive use various elemental abilities such as wind, lightning, ice, fire, and more.
While fans of Final Fantasy 16 will find Clive has access to a lot of the same abilities in Tekken as he does in his own game, there were some changes made to the character. Namely, his character model.
“The director of the Final Fantasy team told us that he would like us to adjust Clive’s frame a bit because our characters are quite beefy,” Ikeda recalls. “So we did adjust his legs and lower body to make him more in line with our fighters when they’re both on the same screen at the same time.”
So Clive hit the gym for Tekken, but in payment for those new pecs he did have to make some sacrifices elsewhere. “It’s funny that although he’s gotten more muscular, his sword has shrunk in size because in a fighting game, it would give him way too much of an advantage if the sword was as big as it is in the original game,” Harada adds.
So I guess that means no chance of Cloud and his colossal Buster Sword joining Tekken, then? Well, don’t think so fast. According to Harada, the Tekken team is not limited to just one character from Final Fantasy. He says it “might be cool if we had two,” but for now it’s not something in the cards.
It’s been quite the journey to see games like Tekken and Final Fantasy evolve alongside each other, and now to see them crossover like this. While neither franchises are strictly exclusive to PlayStation anymore, their association with the brand means both Tekken and Final Fantasy feature prominently in our Top 100 PlayStation Games of All Time list.
So of course we had to ask the Tekken developers: “What is your favorite Final Fantasy video game?”
“I actually learned Japanese by playing through the Japanese version of Final Fantasy 7. I think my girlfriend at the time hated me for asking me so many questions about stuff,” joked producer Michael Murray. “But if I had to pick one with memories and everything involved, it’s probably [Final Fantasy] 11 because I think it was around Tekken 4 everyone on the team would wake up early and not go to work yet and we’d meet up online in FF11 and play for a bit.”
For Tekken 8 director Ikeda, he says his favorite is Final Fantasy 4 as he enjoyed feeling the series change to be “more narrative-based. It followed the main character Cecil and his transition from the Dark Knight to a paladin.”
For Harada, Final Fantasy 4 is also a favorite but, from a personal perspective, there’s just no comparison to the iconic entry: Final Fantasy 7.
“There’s so many scenes in the game I can still remember to this day,” Harada says. Perhaps his colleagues working on that title helped make that connection feel even stronger, and being able to return the favor with Clive in Final Fantasy XVI is thanks for those memories.
Matt Kim is IGN’s Senior Features Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.
Every game we scored 9/10 or higher.
Nintendo has officially kicked off its Switch eShop Holiday Sale in Europe, bringing beefy discounts to thousands of games until 12th January 2024.
And yes, we said “thousands“. Indeed, there are so many games currently seeing a price cut on the eShop that it can be difficult to know where to start, but that’s where we come in. Below, we’ve laid out every game in the Nintendo Holiday Sale that we’ve awarded 9/10 or higher, so you can filter through to the cream of the crop in no time.
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
With EA Play, there’s always more! In the spirit of giving this month, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members will earn even more with EA Play’s holiday countdown, running from December 17 through December 26.
Special EA Play Gifts to Game Pass Ultimate Members!
Over a span of 10-days, members can score big by unwrapping digital gifts in the form of fan-favorite EA titles and content, including Battlefield 1: Revolution, The Sims 4 Home Chef Hustle Stuff Pack, Titanfall 2: Ultimate Edition, 500 PGA Tour Points in EA Sports PGA Tour and more.
Gamers: there’s no better way to celebrate the holiday season than with an EA Play membership. Whether you’re a longtime member or gifting a friend, EA Play has you covered with unlimited access to a collection of top EA titles, trials of select new games, in-game member rewards, giveaways and more. And this month is no exception!
EA Sports WRC
Codemaster’s biggest rally game ever, EA Sports WRC, is now on the Play List for all EA* Play members! Racers can immediately take the driver’s seat and hit the throttle in the official video game of the FIA World Rally Championship developed by the award-winning team behind the Dirt Rally series.
In EA Sports WRC, players can design and drive their dream rally car with the debut of Builder mode, take the wheel to overcome recent events alongside real-world highlights and nostalgic throwbacks in Moments mode or battle the elements across dirt, snow and asphalt in the pursuit of the perfect run. Alongside unlimited access, EA members can save 10% on EA digital purchases, including Rally Passes and the latest EA Sports WRC 24 Season Expansion, featuring this season’s cars and thrilling new locations, like Tet Rally Latvia and the Orlen 80th Rally Poland.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard
This month, EA Play* members can explore Dragon Age: The Veilguard with a new 5-hour trial of the game. The latest installment in BioWare’s beloved franchise, Dragon Age: The Veilguard has earned critical acclaim, with Rolling Stone calling it “one of the year’s best,” and Eurogamer praising it as “an astonishing spectacle.” Subscribers can rise up and fight against corrupt gods to save the battered world of Thedas in the immersive single player RPG that has earned TIME’s Game of 2024.
December Rewards
Alongside access to some of EA’s biggest games, EA Play has even more rewards for every type of gamer. A full list of all the great content to EA Play this month can be found below:
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and Xbox Game Pass PC members receive EA Play with their Game Pass subscription.
Visit the EA Play page for more details, and to stay up to date on the latest from EA Play, follow EA Play on, Instagram, or X. Please see EA.com/EA-Play/Terms for terms and conditions.
The post Enjoy A Rewards and Gift Filled Holiday Season This Month with EA Play appeared first on Xbox Wire.
Experience the magic of the holidays in Stellar Blade. Xion, adorned with warm, festive lights, is ready to welcome you with the spirit of hope and humanity. Join us for a special event designed to bring joy and comfort to your everyday life. A Xion filled with seasonal romance awaits you on December 17!
A colorful Christmas tree brightens Xion, transforming the once cold city square into a cozy, festive space with warm lights and decorations. The Last Gulp, where Xion’s citizens gather after peace is restored, is also decorated for the holidays.
In the camp, the seasonal BGM ‘Dawn (Winter)’ and ‘Take me away’ create a relaxing atmosphere. These romantic tunes will enhance your holiday relaxation by melting away battle tension.
A new mini-game has arrived in Xion, offering a break from survival struggles. Enjoy the gameplay and earn rewards upon completion.
The Santa Dress for Eve is designed as an adorable and festive appearance. The I’m No Santa costume for Adam has a humorous twist. Complete the look with the Santa Girl hairstyle and personalize it with accessories such as Snow Crystal Glasses, Wreath Earrings, and Sleigh Ear Cuffs.
The newly added Rudolph Pack cosmetic for the Drone is an endearing item reimagining Rudolph leading Santa’s sleigh. With a red nose and cute horns, this Drone is sure to brighten up your holiday.
On/Off feature has been newly added for the seasonal events and NieR:Automata DLC content. You can now enjoy the game whenever and however you want.
Create unforgettable memories with these gifts prepared in Stellar Blade this cold winter. The dev team put extra touch to this update to deliver a joyful holiday to all. May the streets of Xion that were once cold, and empty be filled with the wonders of the season.
We strive to bring joy to your life. Have a warm and happy holidays with Stellar Blade!
The PC is arguably the definitive gaming platform, deeper and broader than any of the bespoke boxes you stick under your TV. It has become a catch-all for multiplatform games, an inevitable second home for first-party console exclusives, and a bastion for smaller games that may not be able to develop ports. It’s also a destination of its own for unique, mouse-and-keyboard-driven genres that just aren’t quite as comfy to play while sitting on a couch, while also being the place for portable-friendly games thanks to the likes of the Steam Deck. Unsurprisingly, it meant we had a lot of games to pick from when it came to crowning our 2024 PC favourites.
While plenty of incredible games came to both the PC and other platforms this year, our picks for the best PC games of 2024 stand as a mix of impressive experiences across multiple genres – some of which you simply can’t play with a controller in your hand. There’s the intricate, automated empires of Satisfactory; the exquisite puzzle design of Animal Well; the just-one-more-round compulsion of Balatro; the thrilling detective work of The Rise of the Golden Idol, and more besides.
But only one can be crowned the best PC game of 2024. What did the IGN team judge to be the most worthy? Let’s take a look at the results…
With so many excellent games to choose from this year, the spread of votes for the best PC game was understandably broad. The varied taste of the IGN team meant that several games picked up a strong number of votes, but sadly not enough to secure a podium finish. Of those games, the two that only just missed out were 1000xResist and The Rise of the Golden Idol.
Plenty of games tell a compelling story, but it’s the way 1000xResist tells its story that truly stands out. It is a confident and moving tale that isn’t afraid to get deep, blending surreal concepts with emotionally charged deconstructions of the human condition in a manner reminiscent of games like Nier: Automata. Thanks to its narrative-first design being something of a first cousin to visual novels, 1000xResist’s story is able to double down on delivering ideas and plot in innovative ways that raise the bar for its genre.
A follow-up to 2022’s breakout detective game, The Rise of the Golden Idol continues to impress by empowering you to solve its crimes with hands-on detective work. Set in the 1970s, it presents multiple diorama-like crime scenes in each chapter, demanding you to gather clues via close observation and then piece together exactly what happened. Rarely are the actual events as simple as they seem, and the truth can only be deduced from spotting minor things such as an empty gun chamber or the hidden subtext in an angry note. It’s a “puzzle” game that’s not simply about finding the right button to push, with an artistic presentation uniquely its own.
2D pixel art platformers can feel like they are a dime a dozen these days, but Animal Well is different. That may sound like a cliche setup, something you’ve heard before about plenty of other games, but it really is true here. Animal Well wears the skin of a puzzle-driven metroidvania while also twisting all the usual trends that come along with that structure.
You aren’t fighting your way through waves of enemies or upping your missile capacity here, in part thanks to Animal Well’s almost complete rejection of violence. Instead you’ll find bubble-blowing wands that can produce floating platforms, frisbees that can tame ferocious dogs, and firecrackers that illuminate the dark to reveal the hidden platforming challenges ahead.
The real joy of Animal Well, though, is realising that there’s far, far more to each item than their obvious use. And then you begin to realise that there’s far, far more to each location than the obvious objectives. And as you begin to peel back the layers, you soon discover that what initially appeared to be a five-hour metroidvania is instead a gargantuan puzzle with enough secrets to discover that they could fill an actual well. It’s an innovative and endlessly enticing take on otherwise well-worn territory.
After nearly five years in Early Access, Satisfactory’s 1.0 update arrived this year to cement it as one of the absolute best automation games around. It’s a game all about building assembly lines and laying down endless miles of conveyor belts, which is much more of an immense joy than it may initially seem. The subsequent tech climb that sees your factories become faster, more efficient, and inevitably more complicated always keeps you looking forward to that next big breakthrough.
The sight of spaghetti-like factories that span a thousand acres can seem intimidating at first, but don’t let that put you off: Satisfactory’s well-constructed web of objectives helps you build confidence in your engineering capabilities. Within just a few hours you’ll have graduated from novice conveyor belt enthusiast to an automation veteran, capable of troubleshooting catastrophic malfunctions as if they were minor inconveniences.
But while the factories are your primary concern, Satisfactory is much more than the end result. This is also a Minecraft-style open world in which you must delve into caves, survive deadly gas clouds, and stripmine rock formations in order to gather the materials needed to both fund and fuel your colossal creations. Throw in a few friends working together in co-op to pave over every inch of green on this detailed alien world and you’ve got a recipe for “blink and an hour has passed” captivation that rarely quits.
UFO 50 is an almost incomprehensible achievement. The concept of an old-school gaming system being miraculously unearthed and made available today is a cute one already, and I wouldn’t blame you if you assumed the catalogue of 50 games that came with it were largely just quant minigames that make for an amusing but fleeting distraction. But that’s simply not the case.
Each and every entry in this library is essentially the size of an entire retro game of its own, many of which would have surely been standout hits in their era if they actually existed at that time. But this isn’t a collection of games made in the 1980s, and the deeper down the rabbit hole you go the more obvious that becomes. The games of UFO 50 are smart. Like, modern day indie darling smart. Each one weaves excellent new ideas into the canvass of a retro classic, resulting in games that feel like toys of yesteryear but play like a 2024 Steam top-seller. Echoes of No Man’s Sky, Hotline Miami, Into The Breach and more can be found between the scan lines, but each game is more than just a de-make of its inspiration. UFO 50 is essentially a playable examination of the past and present of video games.
There’s just so much to dig into here, with an almost alarmingly consistent level of quality. UFO 50 could have been half as big as it is and it still would have been impressive – instead, it’s borderline stunning.
If you’ve already played Balatro, you probably understand why it’s here. In fact, odds are good you might still be playing it right now. And if you haven’t, I’d recommend you do, but the kinder thing might be to tell you to run. Because once you’ve jumped into its smart mix of roguelite deckbuilding and digital poker, you might find your free time slipping away and the sun creeping up during what was supposed to still be night. But then again, it sure is worth it.
There’s something about Balatro that effortlessly hooks you, the “just one more turn” syndrome distilled into its purest form. Everything about its fairly simple presentation is tuned perfectly to be endlessly satisfying, bringing delight or destruction with every card you play. While on the surface it’s a poker game that’s approachable for anyone who can tell their flushes from their full houses, don’t be fooled into thinking you need to know the rules of the classic casino game to play. In fact, this isn’t actually poker.
Balatro is an entirely original idea, and while poker hands may be at the centre of the screen, the real centre of the experience is building wild game-breaking decks that can send your score multiplier skyrocketing. Each round allows you to tweak and improve your collection of cards, switching out suits to more easily achieve better hands, or using celestial powers to assemble literal wildcards. The options are unbelievably deep for those who then want to break the intuitive tropes open with smart modifiers – you may have put together a four-of-a-kind in your day, but play a five-of-a-kind for the first time and you won’t ever want to go back.
This is the truly impressive trick of Balatro, making you think you know what it’s doing at every step of the way, then teasing you in deeper as more game-shifting Jokers are discovered, more decks are unlocked, and the scores you consider impressive start stretching from the thousands into exponents so large you need a degree to decipher them. Wrap that up in a lo-fi presentation as deceptively well designed as the card game it houses, and you’ve got a game we’re undoubtedly going to be playing for years to come.
