Author: Game Infliction

Assassin’s Creed Reddit Says Ubisoft Statement ‘Exacerbated’ the ‘Tedious Discussion’ About Shadows, Warns Users Against Disputing Yasuke’s Status as Samurai

The main Assassin’s Creed subreddit has warned users against debating the historical accuracy of the upcoming video game Assassin’s Creed Shadows, specifically protagonist Yasuke’s status as a samurai.

Moderators of r/assassinscreed, which has over 700,000 members, locked down a post titled “There is no ‘debate’ – Yasuke was a Samurai. If you disagree, you can do that somewhere else,” due to “brigading” in the comments.

The post followed a controversial statement issued by Ubisoft to Japanese fans in which the company apologized for promotion materials it said “have caused concern” among the community.

The four-page message, posted in both English and Japanese, explained that Assassin’s Creed Shadows is not intended to be a factual representation of history. Instead, it is described as “a compelling, historical fiction set in Feudal Japan. Ubisoft added that it hoped Shadows would “spark curiosity” in players who then research the historical period the game is inspired by.

In addition to the apology regarding the marketing materials, the message also discussed Yasuke, one of Shadows’ two protagonists: “While Yasuke is depicted as a samurai in Assassin’s Creed Shadows, we acknowledge that this is a matter of debate and discussion. We have woven this carefully into our narrative and with our other lead character, the Japanese shinobi Naoe, who is equally important in the game, our dual protagonists provide players with different gameplay styles.”

While Yasuke has often been presented as a samurai in popular media, both in Japan and beyond, his depiction in Shadows has given rise to debate regarding the historical truth. The argument has lived side-by-side with criticism over Ubisoft’s decision to feature a Black man as a lead protagonist in a Japan-set Assassin’s Creed game – a backlash Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot alluded to while condemning “malicious and personal online attacks.”

The statement noted that the Assassin’s Creed series has always taken “creative license and incorporated fantasy elements” into its historically-inspired settings. “The representation of Yasuke in our game is an illustration of this. His unique and mysterious life made him an ideal candidate to tell an Assassin’s Creed story with the setting of Feudal Japan as a backdrop.”

The mod team behind r/assassinscreed said Ubisoft’s statement “exacerbated” what it called “this tedious discussion that has been endlessly talked to death,” and gave users of the subreddit a “final reminder” of what the Assassin’s Creed franchise entails.

Here’s the r/assassinscreed mod team’s statement in full:

With the reveal of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, there has been an influx of certain individuals spilling into various communities online such as this subreddit and raising arguments about “historical accuracy”. As we are all exhausted of this tedious discussion that has been endlessly talked to death, not to mention exacerbated by a recent official statement from Ubisoft, we would like to give a final reminder to those participating in these debates as to what exactly this franchise entails, and why there was never any point to these discussions to begin with outside of thinly veiling bad faith intent.

Assassin’s Creed is historical fiction. This means that while certain locations, events and figures may be based on reality, and can even have a slight focus on accuracy, their depictions are largely exaggerated for the sake of a more enjoyable video game. While all of our player protagonists have been fictional to date, the introduction of Yasuke has given some people the false impression that the above rule does not apply. It still does. Yasuke, who is a samurai as confirmed by multiple reputable historians around the world including from Japan, may not have held as large as a role in the real world as he does in Shadows. This is okay. It is a video game. You are not meant to use Assassin’s Creed as a sourcebook for actual historical knowledge – it is meant to compel you to do your own external research after immersing you in a glimpse of authenticity.

We are not here in this community to debate on historical record. Most of us understand as fans that while these games provide us a great look into what historical settings could have felt like and have fun comparing them to actual record, we do not chase accuracy within this franchise and primarily play for other reasons. So if you are specifically here to leave comments about your displeasure about Yasuke’s inclusion or various other inaccurate details that have been pointed out in Ubisoft’s depiction of Feudal Japan, it is time to understand that this is not the place for this discussion and it never will be. Feel free to take your displeasures elsewhere, away from this franchise and its communities.

Any further comments attempting to dispute Yasuke’s societal status, disparage his inclusion in game or containing statements bordering on concern trolling for historical accuracy will be swiftly removed and met with a ban.

The mod team also provided a list of links to reddit posts explaining how the Assassin’s Creed series has handled historical accuracy in previous games.

The post outlines the subreddit’s firm stance on Shadows, and is a clear attempt to draw a line under what has become one of the big talking points around the game. As Eurogamer pointed out, this debate has spilled over into the real-world, with a fringe Japanese politician requesting the Japanese government comment on the matter. But so far there has been no meaningful result.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows launches November 12, 2024 for those buying the Gold, Ultimate, Deluxe Editions, or Collector’s Editions, while the Standard Edition is available on November 15, 2024. You can learn more about its goals in our extensive interview with the development team, as well as our list of 50 key details.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

The Subnautica 2 developers are hiding teaser images in the first game’s time capsules

A time capsule is a boxful of objects from today’s world, buried or otherwise hidden away so that people from the future can rediscover and understand current Hot Trends such as wearing mismatched socks or electing washed-up businessmen with fascist tendencies. Unless, that is, it’s a time capsule in sci-fi ocean survival game Subnautica, in which case it contains: THE FUTURE. Developers Unknown Worlds have been sneaking pictures of the forthcoming Subnautica 2 into the original game’s time capsules, offering glimpses of its flora and fauna.

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Xbox Fans Wave Goodbye to 360 Marketplace as Microsoft Shuts Down 19-Year-Old Storefront

Xbox fans are waving goodbye to the Xbox 360 Marketplace, which shuts down today nearly 19 years after it launched.

The Xbox 360 Marketplace hit the internet alongside the Xbox 360 in November 2005, and brought with it a storefront that would become familiar to a generation of gamers.

Microsoft shuts down the Xbox 360 Marketplace today, July 29, not only marking the end of an era and the true end of the Xbox 360, but making a long list of video games and add-ons that were exclusive to the digital storefront impossible to buy. That list includes the likes of Aegis Wing, Meteos Wars, and Crimson Alliance.

Fans have taken to social media to reminisce about the Xbox 360 Marketplace, including former Microsoft employee Larry ‘Major Nelson’ Hryb, who for years would write posts about sales and updates for the Xbox 360 Marketplace and became the face of Xbox for so many fans.

“Almost 19 years on, all good things must come to an end,” Hryb tweeted. “It was my pleasure sharing all the thousands of marketplace sales and updates I’ve given over the years. Thank for having fun, playing fair and filing feedback.”

Others have gone on one last spending spree, buying games and DLC set to disappear from sale forever.

It’s worth noting that despite this shutdown, you can redownload previously owned titles and DLCs, buy backwards compatible games on the Xbox One and Series storefront, and still play online on Xbox 360. So, only games unavailable via backwards compatibility on Xbox One / Series and Xbox 360-era content such as avatars, icons, and themes are gone forever.

Alas, digital preservation evangelists are again proven correct.

Ahead of the shutdown, Microsoft-owned video game developer Double Fine offered Xbox 360 owners free digital codes for Kinect Party, the sequel to Happy Action Theater. The Psychonauts and Brütal Legend developer warned Xbox 360 players that they should download any games ahead of the closure. Because Xbox 360 Kinect is not supported by subsequent Xbox hardware, Kinect Party is one of the games lost forever amid this shutdown.

And in a nod to concern from some quarters that Microsoft’s closure of the Xbox 360 Marketplace would have a significant impact on video game preservation, Double Fine tweeted: “Alas, digital preservation evangelists are again proven correct.”

X/Twitter user @Kalyoshika provided a helpful list of video games that haven’t survived the shutdown. It includes the likes of The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai, Death Tank, and Diabolical Pitch.

Do you have any fond memories of the Xbox 360 Marketplace? Did you buy anything last minute before it was lost forever? Let us know in the comments.

Photo by Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Disney Lorcana’s Shimmering Skies Starter Decks Spices Things Up with Lion King, Wreck-It-Ralph, and More

The upcoming Disney Lorcana set, Shimmering Skies, is upon us with the early release on August 9 in hobby stores followed by the wide release on August 23. This is the fifth set since Lorcana launched almost one year ago. Alongside a new expansive set, two starter decks will be released: An Emerald/Steel deck featuring The Lion King’s Scar and The Emperor’s New Groove’s Kronk, and an Amethyst/Ruby deck featuring Frozen’s Elsa and Wreck-It Ralph. Starter decks are always a good jumping-off point when getting into a new card game; these two new decks are no exception.

Starter decks usually have a theme, and the hope is that the included cards have a unifying playstyle. Usually, starter decks will get you part of the way to an optimized deck before players begin to brew some ideas. The Emerald/Steel deck, for instance, focuses on keeping your opponent’s characters damaged throughout the game and capitalizing on that board state. The featured Scar character has an ability that allows the player to draw a card whenever one of their characters challenges a damaged character. Another example includes Scar’s hyena minion Ed, who is protected from being challenged if the opponent’s character is damaged. There’s even a location card, Tropical Rainforest, that forces opposing damaged characters to challenge if able. All of this disrupts the opposing player from playing their cards how they want to.

And those are just some of the emerald cards in the deck. Regarding steel, there are some cards that can help with this overarching damaged character control strategy, like Tug-of-War, which gives the player a choice of dealing damage to all opposing characters with the Evasive ability or without, or Yzma, who can deal 1 damage to a character if any of the player’s characters banish another character through a challenge. This disruption deck is kind of interesting in the sense that you somewhat dictate how your opponent plays some of their cards if the setup is there. The only potential concern with this deck is that the player is leaving all of these opposing characters on the field. So if the player were to lose the ability to disrupt, all these surviving characters can now wreak havoc.

With the other available starter, the Amethyst/Ruby deck doesn’t synergize as much as its counterpart. The new Wreck-It Ralph characters Vanellope and Snowanna, for instance, have the rush ability to challenge opposing characters as soon as they are played, but don’t have a huge benefit like the current Amethyst/Ruby decks do when potentially trading characters in this way, such as drawing when banished. Sure, there are amethyst cards that exert characters to make them targets, but the rewards seem disappointing compared to what the new Emerald/Steel starter deck can pull off. With that said, there are just some good cards in the Amethyst/Ruby starter deck that players can most likely use in their own constructed decks. For example, The Sword Released is an item card that lets the player gain lore as well as force your opponent to lose lore if the player has the strongest character on the board. Another useful card is Finders Keepers, which lets the player draw three cards. Drawing and filtering the deck down is always useful when fishing for certain cards at pivotal moments in the match. Although the deck itself isn’t great on its own, the guaranteed cards can be useful in deck brewing if your options are limited.

…if the player were to lose the ability to disrupt, all these surviving characters can now wreak havoc. 

Both Shimmering Skies starter decks, like other starters, continue to give players a pre-constructed taste of what their respective set will be like. We have new characters and abilities to mess around with, and that’s always exciting for any card game. Although one starter deck seemingly plays better, both work as a means to get into the game for those looking to try out the latest Disney Lorcana has to offer. For more Disney Lorcana, check out our interview with one of the game designers on how the card game came to be.

Each Shimmering Skies Starter Deck comes with:

  • 60 cards
  • 11 damage counters
  • 1 paper playmat
  • 1 paper tracker token
  • Game Rules

Amethyst & Ruby

  • 2x 36 – The Nokk – Mythical Spirit
  • 2x 39 – Archimedes – Exasperated Owl
  • 2x 40 – Bruni – Fire Salamander
  • 2x 41 – Earth Giant – Living Mountain
  • 2x 42 – Gale – Wind Spirit
  • 1x 46 – Anna – Mystical Majesty
  • 2x 47 – Archimedes – Electrified Owl
  • 1x 48 – Elsa – The Fifth Spirit
  • 1x 50 – Olaf – Happy Passenger
  • 2x 54 – Maleficent – Vengeful Sorceress
  • 3x 56 – Anna – Eager Acolyte
  • 2x 57 – King of Hearts – Monarch of Wonderland
  • 3x 59 – Hypnotic Strength
  • 2x 60 – Finders Keepers
  • 2x 64 – Retrosphere
  • 2x 68 – The Library – A Gift for Belle
  • 2x 103 – Taffyta Muttonfudge – Ruthless Rival
  • 1x 104 – Wreck-It Ralph – Demolition Dude
  • 2x 106 – Turbo – Royal Hack
  • 2x 108 – Rancis Fluggerbutter – Chocolate Charger
  • 2x 110 – Snowanna Rainbeau – Cool Competitor
  • 2x 111 – Daisy Duck – Spotless Food-Fighter
  • 2x 112 – Mickey Mouse – Enthusiastic Dancer
  • 3x 114 – Taffyta Muttonfudge – Crowd Favorite
  • 2x 117 – Taffyta Muttonfudge – Sour Speedster
  • 2x 122 – Donald Duck – Daisy’s Date
  • 1x 124 – Vanellope von Schweetz – Random Roster Racer
  • 3x 125 – Simba – Adventurous Successor
  • 2x 126 – Minnie Mouse – Dazzling Dancer
  • 2x 130 – Glimmer vs Glimmer
  • 1x 133 – The Sword Released

Emerald & Steel

  • 1x 69 – Robin Hood – Timely Contestant
  • 2x 70 – Shenzi – Scar’s Accomplice
  • 3x 71 – Little John – Camp Cook
  • 2x 72 – Zazu – Advisor to Mufasa
  • 3x 73 – Ulf – Mime
  • 2x 74 – Ed – Laughing Hyena
  • 3x 77 – Robin Hood – Archery Contestant
  • 1x 81 – Ed – Hysterical Partygoer
  • 3x 87 – Banzai – Taunting Hyena
  • 2x 88 – Robin Hood – Sneaky Sleuth
  • 1x 91 – Shenzi – Head Hyena
  • 1x 93 – Scar – Vengeful Lion
  • 3x 94 – Hypnotic Deduction
  • 2x 95 – Night Howler Rage
  • 2x 102 – Tropical Rainforest – Jaguar Lair
  • 3x 173 – Simba – Lost Prince
  • 2x 174 – Rudy – Groove Disrupter
  • 3x 175 – Royal Guard – Bovine Protector
  • 2x 177 – Sleepy – Sluggish Knight
  • 3x 178 – Kronk – Unlicensed Investigator
  • 2x 179 – Heihei – Protective Rooster
  • 1x 184 – Yzma – Unjustly Treated
  • 1x 185 – Kronk – Head of Security
  • 2x 190 – Arthur – Wart
  • 2x 192 – Simba – Son of Mufasa
  • 2x 195 – Pete – Games Referee
  • 1x 196 – Tug-of-War
  • 3x 197 – When Will My Life Begin?
  • 2x 199 – Food Fight!

PlayStation Portal Launch Details in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand

Hi Everyone,

We are happy to share an update on PlayStation Portal launch in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand. 

PlayStation Portal will be out on 4th September 2024 in Singapore and on 9th October 2024 in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand with suggested retail price (SRP) of SGD 295.90 / MYR 999 / IDR 3,599,000 / THB 7,790. 

Pre-order for PlayStation Portal will start on 5th August 2024. Please check with your local retailer for details on pre-order. 

PlayStation Portal remote player

PlayStation Portal remote player brings the PS5 experience to the palm of your hand. It includes the key features of the DualSense wireless controller, including adaptive triggers and haptic feedback*. The vibrant 8-inch LCD screen is capable of 1080p resolution at 60fps, providing a high definition visual experience that’s expected from the high quality games created by world-class developers. 

PlayStation Portal is the perfect device for gamers in households where they might need to share their living room TV or simply want to play PS5 games in another room of the house. PlayStation Portal will connect remotely to your PS5 over Wi-Fi**, so you’ll be able to swiftly jump from playing on your PS5 to your PlayStation Portal. PlayStation Portal can play supported games that are installed on your PS5 console and use the Dualsense controller. It also includes a 3.5mm audio jack for wired audio. PS VR2 games, which require the headset, and games that are streamed through PlayStation Plus Premium’s cloud streaming, are not supported.***

For more details on PlayStation Portal, please check the product page here (https://www.playstation.com/accessories/playstation-portal-remote-player/). 

*Haptic feedback and adaptive trigger features are only available when those features are supported by the game being played.

**Requires broadband internet Wi-Fi with at least 5Mbps for use. For a better play experience, a high-speed connection of at least 15Mbps is recommended.

***Games that require a VR headset (PlayStation VR or PlayStation VR2) or additional peripherals (other than a DUALSHOCK 4, DualSense, or DualSense Edge wireless controller) are not compatible. Games that must be streamed on PS5 using a PS Plus Premium membership are not compatible.

Daily Deals: PlayStation VR2, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Spider-Man 2, and More

After a long week, the weekend is finally here, and we’re rounding up some of the best deals you can find. This weekend, you can expect to save on new video games, accessories, and monitors. The best deals for Sunday, July 28, include the PSVR2, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Kingdom Hearts All-in-One package, Final Fantasy XVI, the Sony 27″ INZONE M9 Monitor, and more.

PSVR2 for $349.99

You can score a new PlayStation VR2 headset for a record-low $349.99 right now at Amazon. This VR headset has all sorts of high end features, including a 110 degree FOV, 4K HDR visuals, eye tracking, and more. Plus, the PC Adapter is set to release in just a few days, which will allow you to play Steam VR titles through the PSVR2 headset. While it’s certainly a tough buy if you play exclusively on PS5, the PSVR2 can make for an excellent PC headset, especially at this price.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth for $54.99

For the second time this year, you can pick up Final Fantasy VII Rebirth on sale. This sequel to 2020’s Final Fantasy VII Remake brings Cloud, Tifa, Aerith, Barret, and Red XIII outside of Midgar for the very first time, with Sephiroth looming and moving in on his goals. This experience offers well over 100 hours of content, with 36 sidequests and a main story over 40 hours long. If you haven’t played Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, now is the time to score one of the best 2024 titles out there at a discount.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 for $49.99

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is also on sale, priced now at $49.99. This matches the previous low, which occurred during the Days of Play sale earlier this year. Spider-Man 2 features both Peter Parker and Miles Morales as playable characters, with a whole new area of New York to explore. You can swing through the city with new suit abilities like Web Wings and take down criminals all around. You’ll need to be prepared, as both Kraven the Hunter and the symbiote Venom are prepared to take you down and rule over NYC.

Kingdom Hearts All-in-One Package for $39.13

If you’re itching to start a new series, Kingdom Hearts is one of the best out there to jump into. From Tetsuya Nomura, Kingdom Hearts mashes together the worlds of Disney and Square Enix to tell the tale of light and darkness. This All-in-One package contains a total of ten games, with everything up to Kingdom Hearts III included. Now is the perfect time to get caught up before Kingdom Hearts IV, so pick up the All-in-One bundle today and jump into Sora’s journey.

Save 57% Off Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart was one of the first major PlayStation 5 titles, releasing in June 2021. This title featured Rivet for the first time, another Lombax who exists in the universe. Together, Rivet and Ratchet must work to take down Doctor Nefarious and save the galaxy once again. With the classic action gameplay and new features, Rift Apart is an excellent platform you should play if you are a fan of the genre.

Star Ocean: The Second Story R for $29.99

Star Ocean: The Second Story R is an HD-2.5D remake from Square Enix. Taking the HD-2D sprite style found in titles like Octopath Traveler II, this game adds a 3D camera and 3D environments. There are a total of 99 different endings for you to discover, which makes this adventure one that can last for dozens of hours! Explore the world with fantastic quality-of-life updates, new battle mechanics, and more in this gorgeous remake of Star Ocean 2.

God of War Ragnarok for $39.99

Years later, God of War Ragnarok is still one of the best PS5 games you can pick up. This action game acts as the sequel to 2018’s God of War, following Kratos and Atreus as Fimbulwinter looms. If you’ve yet to play this game, this is a great time to pick up Ragnarok at a discount and see why so many players love this series. $39.99 is a fantastic price, and you’re not likely to see anything lower outside of major holiday sales toward the end of the year.

Final Fantasy XVI for $29.99

Final Fantasy XVI for PlayStation 5 has hit a new all time low at Amazon at $29.99. As one of the biggest titles of 2023, FFXVI brings a wide variety of new systems and elements to the world of Final Fantasy. You play as Clive Rosfield on a mission to track down the one who killed your brother as a child. You can expect larger-than-life setpieces, mesmerizing boss battles, and a memorable soundtrack from Masayoshi Soken.

27% Off Sony 27” INZONE M9 4K HDR 144Hz HDMI 2.1 Gaming Monitor

The Sony INZONE line of monitors is a fantastic choice for anyone looking to upgrade their display arrangement. This M9 model features a 4K HDR display with a refresh rate of 144Hz. With HDMI 2.1, the PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X|S can take advantage of higher frame rates. Backlighting is a major focus as well, with 96 local dimming zones to ensure no detail goes unnoticed. This is the lowest price the M9 has been at, so now is as good of a time as ever to pick up a new monitor.

PowerA Kirby Controller for $39.99

You can always use an extra controller, and this PowerA Kirby controller is perfect for Nintendo Switch! One of the best features of this PowerA controller is the addition of two mappable buttons on the map, which can come in handy in fighting games or any other title. Additionally, two AA batteries will power this device for over 30 hours, so you won’t need to charge it.

Spider-Man: Miles Morales Ultimate Edition on Sale for $39.99

Amazon has Spider-Man: Miles Morales Ultimate Edition listed for $39.99, which is one of the lowest prices we’ve seen. This is an amazing deal since you’re essentially getting both Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Spider-Man Remastered for under $20 each. Both rarely go on sale for that low, so this is your best option to pick up these games.

Save $50 Off a PS5 Slim Console

Alongside deals on games and PSVR2, you can also save on a PlayStation 5 Slim! Both the Disc and Digital versions are available on sale for $50 off, which is likely the best deal you can grab outside of the Holiday season. If you’ve been thinking about picking up a PS5 for College Football 25 or the upcoming Astro Bot, now is an amazing time to save $50 and grab a new system.

Demon’s Souls for $29.99

Demon’s Souls has returned to an all-time low with the PlayStation Back to School sale. For $29.99, you can expirence this Bluepoint Games remake of one of FromSoftware’s most memorable titles. Since this title is only on PlayStation 5, you won’t be able to play Demon’s Souls on PC or other platforms. Slay the demons and explore the world of Boletaria like never before.

One Piece Odyssey for $19.99

This deal on One Piece Odyssey is fresh, being the lowest we’ve seen this RPG yet. Offering turn-based combat, One Piece Odyssey looks to create a fun experience with an original story featuring the beloved Straw Hat Pirates. If you’ve already played Pirate Warriors 4 and are itching for a return to the world of One Piece, now is the time to do so with Odyssey priced at just $19.99!

The Best Quick-Playing Board Games in 2024

Time is one of the great enemies of even the best board games. It’s often hard enough to get a group of people together in the same space for a gaming session, doubly so if you need to find several hours to play the latest heavy, epic title. So there’s an instant market for faster-playing games. They’re also great for family play or for casually breaking out for a quick game before you head out for the evening. But as you’ll soon find out from our list of suggestions, small and fast doesn’t mean light or boring: from timer-based games to hilarious dexterity games, you’ll soon discover that fast often equals fun.

TL;DR: The Best Quick-Playing Board Games

Scout

Ignore the pointless circus theme; this is a fantastic little set collection card game with a devious twist: You can’t change the order of cards in your hand. Nevertheless, you have to work with what you’ve been dealt to try and beat whatever’s in the middle of the table, with higher value cards beating lower value, and longer runs and sets beating shorter ones.

If you can’t – as is often the case – the person who played those cards gets a point, and you have to pick a card up, making it easier for the next player and allowing you to slot it into your hand where you like, creating new combos for future plays. It’s fast, furious and surprisingly hard to master, with timing your best plays properly critical for success. No wonder it was a nominee for the prestigious Spiel des Jahres award the year it was released.

5-Minute Dungeon

One way to ensure a game is quick playing is to run it to an absolutely punishing timer, which is how 5-Minute Dungeon manages to do exactly what it says on the box. Build a deck of dungeon challenges, pick a character, start the timer, and then it’s down to the adventuring party, working together, to defeat the dungeon in real-time.

Each trap or monster needs a particular set of symbols to banish, but you don’t have time to coordinate your plays properly, leading to a desperate slapping down of wasted cards, cries of woe, and forgetting of special character abilities in the heat of the moment. You’ll need to try and slow down just enough to chart a path through the chaos while still keeping up with the clock, and finding a moment to delight in the hilarious artwork and fantasy meme riffs.

Fuse

Another timed game, this one sets the clock at 10 minutes, which your group must use to try and defuse as many bombs as possible from a deck of bomb cards. On your turn you’ll draw and roll as many dice, which come in different colors, as there are players, then discuss and divide them up while the timer ticks down. Each bomb card comes with a dizzying array of color and number requirements for dice to defuse it, from simple addition or equality to actually making stacks of dice in particular combinations.

The uncertainty of drawing and rolling never fails to give this game a thrilling edge, while probability ensures there’s some good strategy to doling out the dice. If you want to up the ante, there are some super-hard bombs to shuffle in for extra challenge.

Kites

A whole different take on the cooperative real-time mechanism, Kites comes with several sand timers of different lengths and colors, which represent different kites that you’ve got to keep in the air. On your turn, you play a card and flip any timers that match its colored icons. Your goal, as a group, is simply to stop any one of the timers from running out.

This is much easier said than done, and the game has an extraordinary spinning plates feeling as you desperately speed round the table, trying to flip timers trickling out their very last grains. Once you’ve mastered the basics, you can add more colors and special challenge cards to keep your game in the air for longer, just like the titular kites.

Klask

Possibly the shortest game on the entire list, with almost no setup time and games that can be over in seconds. But that’s no problem when it’s so addictive you’ll want to go again right away! Klask is a simple dexterity game where you use a magnet to steer a paddle that knocks a little plastic ball around the playing area, aiming to get it into your opponent’s goal while defending your own.

To add even more skill and amusement value to an already breakneck experience, there are also magnetic obstacles to avoid, lest they stick to your paddle and make your shots even more unpredictable. It’s such a fast, fun, fickle game that you’ll be using that short play time to host mini-tournaments.

Strike

Strike is a fast-paced push-your-luck game that gets even faster the more players choose to tempt fate. Everyone starts with a fistful of dice and, on your turn, you throw one into the “arena”, an oval box insert, possibly aiming to knock existing dice there around. What you’re looking for are matching numbers, which you can add to your dice collection, ending your turn.

If you don’t get any matches, you can pass or continue throwing, which ups your chance of matching but also risks leaving more options for others if you don’t. Each dice has an X instead of a 1, meaning it’s removed from the game instantly, and the last player left with dice wins. It’s an addictive combination of luck, dexterity and playing the odds and once it’s reeled you in there are tournament rules for extended play.

Sail!

Most folks are familiar with the common playing card mechanic of trick-taking, which really helps this two-player cooperative game run faster. You’re working together to steer a pirate ship through dangerous seas, pursued by a hungry kraken. The symbols you pair on your trick might inch your craft forward, injure the sea monster, cause it to attack you, or do nothing at all.

But you’re not allowed to tell your shipmate what’s in your hand, only pass one card to them at the start of each turn, which has to try and speak volumes as to your plans. This makes every single play a mini-drama of tension and release in an overall arc of terror as you try to balance tricks won, movement and keeping the beast at bay. With six scenarios of punishing difficulty, this is a lot of game in a small box.

Coup

Bluffing on hidden roles is a great way to fit a lot of game into a small package, and Coup give you the biggest bluffing bang in the smallest box. Each player gets two role cards which give special powers like taking extra coins or cheap assassinations. The aim is to knock out your opponent’s roles, putting them out of the game.

The genius twist is that, whatever roles you’re dealt, you can execute any power in the game, providing no-one catches you at it. Most roles have the chance to block one another, which is fine until it becomes clear that someone is claiming one they don’t have. Then all hell breaks loose as the accusations start flying and no-one wants to be first to make the actual challenge. Because if you’re wrong, it’s you that looses out and not the target.

Love Letter

Another bluffing game but with much more dynamic roles, Love Letter sees the players competing to get the titular epistle to the princess, who is also the highest-valued card. You start with a card and, on your turn, draw another and choose which to play. Each card has a number and a special effect, two of which knock other players out of the round based on whether you can either guess what card they’re holding or beat the value of that card against yours.

Other cards protect you, let you swap cards with another player or peek at their held card. The last two players left compare card values, and the highest wins. It’s a devious little game of social engineering, just like real courtly courtship, and while the rules suggest you play the superfast rounds multiple times to determine an overall winner, it’s also easily fun enough to play a single quick-fire hand.

Draftosaurus

Games of Draftosaurs begin with players grabbing a handful of dino-meeples – which are cute enough to justify owning this game on their own – at random from a bag. Then, you take it turns to roll the dice and place a dinosaur on your dino-zoo playmat. The dice-roller can place where they want, but all other players have to obey the rule on the dice face. There are a number of different enclosures, each with their own simple placement rules and scoring opportunities. Then, everyone passes the remaining dinosaurs to your left and repeat until all the pieces have been placed, and the scores tallied to find a winner.

The combination of random roll and passing on gives the game some interesting teeth as you ponder whether to risk pieces in higher-scoring options or keep back something your neighbor is collecting. Easy to learn and fast to play, it’s a quick filler that can easily end up being popular enough to play all evening.

Ticket to Ride: London / New York

The enormously successful Ticket to Ride franchise is based on players collecting sets of colored cards and playing them to claim routes on a map. Most of your points come from tickets that you score if you connect their printed destinations, but fail to complete the route, and you’ll lose those points instead.

It’s a brilliant recipe that forces you to balance the desire to collect against the risk of other players slapping down the cards before you. These two variants keep that addictive core gameplay loop, but make it quick by giving you only a tiny, cramped board to play on, leaving you feeling like you’re scuffling in a phone booth. Each has its own unique twist to the recipe, with London offering bonus points for completing districts and New York for linking up tourist hotspots.

How to Speed Up Slower Games

Medium-length games can become quick-playing games with a few house rules, or tweaks to your setup and your play style, although all the players will have to be on board with the changes, and you’ll need to go through it with them beforehand. Here are some hints on places you can make up time.

Firstly, you can mimic what a lot of the games on this list already do and add a timer, limiting the amount of time a player has to complete their turn. Some people will absolutely hate this, but others won’t mind, and a few will even thrive in the pressure cooker environment that results. This is a particularly good trick for games that have a negotiation element, as the timer ups the skill required to communicate your deals as concisely as possible.

A surprising number of games are also amenable to turn overlap, especially ones that have limited player interaction. While one player is collecting the resources earned during their turn, for example, the next player can begin working on theirs. You can overlap at any point of the turn where parts of the game that might impact the next player – like cards available in a market, say – aren’t changing. In low-interaction games, that can be a surprising amount of time saved.

Finally, it can also help to ban mobile devices, and even things like pencils and paper, at the table. This ensures everyone is focussed on what needs to be done in the game at all times, not spending time taking notes, or – worse – scrolling social media, and can actually improve the atmosphere and sociability around the game. And if you can’t do that, you can consider embracing it and playing online instead, using a service like BoardGameArena to take care of all that painstaking setup and administration time for you.

Matt Thrower is a contributing freelancer for IGN, specializing in tabletop games. He’s also been published in The Guardian, Dicebreaker and Senet Magazine as well as being the author and co-author of several books on board games. You can reach him on BlueSky at @mattthr.bsky.social.

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