Category: IGN

Engine building is an amorphous genre of board games in which you acquire resources that you spend on things that will net you more resources. At some point, you’ll start to convert resources into whatever the game’s victory condition is, turning it into a race to get the best score. Often there’s a whole lot of extra mechanics attached to this basic framework in order to make the game richer and more strategic.

Given the rather wide-ranging nature of this definition, it can be hard to pin down what an engine building game is: after all, war games where you capture territory could qualify! But as the famous saying goes, engine building is something you’ll know when you see it, particularly in the subset of games that put it front and center among their mechanics. And among those, there’s a smaller subset of the very best that we’ve picked out for recommendation.

Furnace

Why not start with an engine-building title that involves building near-literal engines? In Furnace, you’re magnates during the Industrial Revolution, bidding in an auction to gain machines and businesses to add to your growing empire. The purpose of these is to either generate the game’s basic resources or to take those resources and process them into higher-level products with the aim of creating a sort of production line that eventually spits out money, which serve as victory points. It’s a fascinating setup, with the auction providing the sort of tension and interaction that these kinds of games are often lacking, while the production line brings a new dimension to the way you have to build your engine.

Century

Engine-building games include some of the most complex and intense titles in strategy gaming. But the concept itself is straightforward and there are some excellent entry-level engine games that are suitable for the whole family. Century: Spice Road is perhaps the best. Everyone starts with two cards, one which gives them basic spices and another that lets you upgrade a spice for a more valuable one. There’s a selection of cards available to buy that let you do more complex variations of these two actions, feeding in certain spice combinations to get more valuable ones in exchange. Players are aiming to get card combos that feed into one another, snowballing chains that result in more and more valuable spices at each step in a race to afford the most valuable victory point cards. If the faux-historical theme doesn’t do it for you, there’s a fantasy version with gorgeous art.

Splendor

Another family-weight engine builder, Splendor casts the players as jewellers, trying to make the most impressive pieces from a range of gems. On your turn, you can either pick up some of the delightful poker chips that represent different types of gem, or spend them to get a jewellery card from a face-up display. Once gained, jewellery cards also act as permanent gems to help you in future purchases, and this is the fuel that powers your engine, allowing you to afford bigger and better cards which will, eventually, be worth victory points. It’s a simple setup that hides a surprising amount of angst as you wait to see if you’ll get the cards you want before other players, and even if those cards are as valuable to your growing engine as you hope. The game plays perfectly well with two, but there’s a strategically richer two-player version available called Splendor Duel.

Wingspan

Million-selling hit Wingspan earns its place on this list through the wide appeal of its ecological bird sanctuary theme. It might seem a strange subject for an engine-building game, but the structure is there: each time you add a bird to a habitat the rewards of that habitat in terms of food, eggs and bird cards, get stronger and most birds have a special power that’s activated as part of that same step. So, the more birds you have, the easier it is to get the resources to play even more birds. Purists might find that the game ends just as the engine you’re building gets complex enough to be interesting, and it’s true that part of your strategic focus is on racing to be first on each round’s scoring criteria, but you can’t argue with the beautiful art, the variety and those million-plus copies sold.

Res Arcana

Res Arcana is a bizarre game that feels like it shouldn’t work. Players, representing wizards racing to gain magical power, get dealt or draft a random selection of cards depicting random spells, minions and artefacts. Many of them give you access to additional resources to play more cards or, as the game progresses, grab some victory points. There’s no way that such a slapdash collection of cards ought to synergise well enough to make an engine and yet, they do. The onus is on you to try and figure out how your hodgepodge collection of magical minions will best synergise to put you ahead in the sprint for magical power. It’s never anything less than a fascinating puzzle which, as the race enters its final stages, becomes surprisingly exciting with a plethora of additional powers including limited player interaction.

Anachrony

However complex an engine-builder might be, they all operate on the same basic principle of using resources to buy things that get you even more resources. But Anachrony has a genuinely fresh, thematic twist: in a sci-fi setting with time travel, what if you could borrow those resources from your future selves? Doing so will let you get a step-up on your competitors as you prepare to escape a global disaster but fail to pay them back in time, and you’ll be hit with instability penalties. The game builds a demanding framework around this concept, challenging you to recruit workers and score points from a variety of sources as you research and build futuristic technologies to power your game engine.

Underwater Cities

Another sci-fi take on engines, Underwater Cities has you constructing, well, cities underwater in the near future. There’s a novel colour-matching mechanism whereby you can send your workers to any space to take the action there, but if that space is the same colour as the card you spend to take the action, you also get the card effect. This forces you to work with the cards you’ve been dealt, prioritizing effectively to try and get an edge over the competition. The engine is based around industrial plants that you can build around your developing cities, which fire into production at various points in the game, boosting your efforts to colonise the undersea before your opponents by using the game’s rich and satisfying palette of strategic options.

It’s a Wonderful World

The Wonderful World you’ll be building isn’t a feelgood winter narrative, but a near-future Earth in which you’re governing a new state. Your raw materials are a draft of cards from which you’ll be selecting likely candidates to slot into your engine to generate resources and points. Some you’ll start building, others you can recycle for the resources they’ll cost, but you’ll need a plan because the turn unfolds in phases, each of which generates a particular resource type, so long as you’ve got a building that creates it. This combination of draft and staged building offers a lot of crunch for relatively few rules, especially with a huge stack of cards in which you can hunt for synergies on your way to build a powerful, satisfying nation-state.

Race for the Galaxy

This perennially popular sci-fi card game is an early example of the “following” mechanic, where each player picks a type of action and everyone gets to do it, in this case with a small bonus to the picking player. Early on, you’ll mostly be playing alien worlds and technology upgrades, which are the starting fuel for the engine you’re going to develop over the course of the game. Unusually, cards themselves are a key resource which you pay to put other cards into play, although some of your worlds will also produce goods that will feed into your growing machine. There are a lot of tricky synergies to manage between the tableau you’re building and the phases you’re picking, ensuring you’ll stay engrossed in a very varied diet of strategy until your stellar empire-engine is churning out tech and settling worlds at a satisfying rate.

Tapestry

While there are other games on this list that wear a civilization theme, Tapestry is the only one that really evokes that narrative in any detail. You’ll take actions each turn which, as well as providing the resources typical of engine building games, can net you exploration tiles to build the map, city pieces and military units you can fight on the map with. Your engine is based on uncovering. Tapestry’s other draw is the staggering variety of different ways you can build your engine, with different civilizations offering differing starting points, unfolding through the titular “tapestry” cards and bonuses you can get through climbing the four advancement tracks, making sure every game offers brand-new challenges to explore.

For more, check out our roundups of the best 4-player board games, and if you’re in the market for a deal see our best cheap board games roundup.

Matt Thrower is a contributing freelance board game and video game writer for IGN. (Board, video, all sorts of games!)

Just Cause developer Avalanche Studios Group has pledged to sign a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with its unionized workers…though the signing itself won’t happen for another year.

Avalanche Studios employees first began contract bargaining with management last fall, following a history of collective action at the studio, but many of them had been union members for much longer. Union membership in Sweden is a bit different than United States union membership. In Sweden, most workers are allowed to join a trade union that represents their line of work at any time. Union members receive some benefits automatically, such as unemployment insurance and career advice, regardless of whether or not others in their workplace have joined that union.

As a result, union membership in Sweden is high (around 70% of the country), and the unions are able to influence national laws governing minimum wage, sick leave, and other working conditions. But employees can also elect to form a union “club” within individual workplaces, and if enough members join, they can choose to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement directly with their company that offers further protections.

Avalanche Studios Group Union chairman Love Arvidsson tells me despite the popularity of unions in Sweden, the games industry in the country is running a bit behind on adopting them. But it’s starting to catch up. Last October, over 100 developers at Avalanche Studios announced that they had formed a union club at the company through Swedish union Unionen. Other employees similarly had joined a different union, Sveriges Ingenjörer (Engineers of Sweden). Together, the group asked to bargain with Avalanche management over a collective agreement that would grant them even more rights and protections in the workplace. Avalanche accepted, becoming a part of employer organization Almega, and negotiations between all involved groups have been ongoing since then.

Many of the benefits of such a contract, Arvidsson says, are what you might expect: there’s a good pension increase, improvements to sick pay and parental pay, and others. And both Arvidsson and Avalanche confirmed to IGN that a number of the benefits in the CBA are ones the company already offers, or very close to them. But the most important benefit for many at Avalanche is something called co-determination. Essentially, this forces Avalanche management to negotiate certain organizational changes with the union before making them, such as the appointment of new executives, large layoffs, and others. Additionally, the union gets at least one seat on the Avalanche board of directors, voting power and all. Essentially, it gives the workers of Avalanche a meaningful and legally protected voice in how their company is run.

This voice is especially critical to Avalanche workers because of the environment that led them to unionize in the first place. Arvidsson explains that the workers felt there had been “various systemic issues” at Avalanche that had created, over time, dissatisfaction with management.

“It’s more like a series of small things and some big things, where there’s been a general feeling that management has not felt compelled to listen to and take into account the feelings and the opinions of the employees, and we didn’t really see that improving,” Arvidsson says. “That feedback was also given to management. And management, a lot of the time, had the response of, ‘Our doors are open, just come and talk to us whenever you want.’ And a lot of people were like, ‘We did come and talk to you and you didn’t do anything, so this relationship is not working.’

“So I think that was the main reason, we decided if they’re not going to voluntarily listen to the workers, then we will organize, and then they will legally be forced to listen to us, because we’ll have that legally-protected influence in the company.”

Agreement, Deferred

After several months of negotiations, the union’s negotiations with Avalanche have been successful. Mostly.

As Arvidsson explains, the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that Avalanche is being asked to sign onto isn’t an outlandish one. In fact, it’s a standard bargaining agreement that numerous other companies and unions agree to, with the option to additionally sign a local bargaining agreement at a later date that includes more specific provisions. But Avalanche has been taking its time deciding whether or not to sign it, and Arvidsson says he walked into negotiations on April 10 unsure whether or not he’d have to organize a strike. Fortunately, he didn’t, but he didn’t walk out with a signed contract, either. The good news for workers is that Avalanche has committed to signing the CBA.

“As a Swedish-founded company, Avalanche’s values are well-aligned with the Nordic model, wherein CBAs provide a longstanding framework for constructive relations between employers and employees,” said Petra Skoglund, interim chief HR officer at Avalanche, in a statement to IGN. “We consider this step a natural progression in our growth journey. Over the past years, we’ve made significant strides toward making Avalanche one of the best workplaces in the gaming industry. Entering negotiations to implement a CBA in Sweden underscores our commitment to this goal. We’re dedicated to being an exciting yet stable employer for top gaming talent everywhere we operate – and for Sweden, this path made sense to us.”

The bad news is that the company wants to wait until Q2 of 2025 to do it.

Per Skoglund, the reasons for wanting to hold off are largely administrative. Because CBAs are so general and cover multiple companies, they typically have a validity period between one to three years, after which they are renegotiated for everyone. Currently, they are smack in the middle of one of those periods. Avalanche wants to enter the agreement at the start of the next validity period rather than entering now, and immediately changing the agreement a year later.

“The time frame allows us to have a dialogue with Avalanchers about what it means to be covered by a CBA,” says Skoglund. “Our leaders, in particular, will receive training to ensure they are set up to succeed, and the many Avalanchers in Sweden who have international backgrounds (some 40 countries are represented just in Stockholm and Malmö!) may be unfamiliar with the Swedish CBA model. We see this time frame as a great opportunity to bring everyone up to speed.”

In our conversation, Arvidsson acknowledges Avalanche’s reasoning has some merit to it. Because of Swedish laws and the content of the CBA, he continues, it does take some work to set up the internal systems needed to comply with what Avalanche is about to sign, and gaming companies especially can be less equipped to handle that due to the industry’s overall lack of union experience. But Arvidsson adds that he’d normally expect to wait a few months, maybe half a year – a full year is a long time to hold off such an agreement, and says the workers are “disappointed” that Avalanche wants to delay it this long.

“It’s not great. It would’ve been better if they had committed to signing earlier and then if they felt that they needed some time for transitionary stuff, like they weren’t sure that they would be able to comply with the agreement properly, we could just all agree to chill,” he says. “Because we’re going to be learning as well. It’s not like we know how to do all of this stuff, either.”

Filled With Co-Determination

On the bright side, Avalanche has made other concessions that take effect now. The company has committed to acting as if it is bound to participate in co-determination, and has promised to negotiate with the union and allow the workers to be more involved in various internal processes. “It would be better if they were legally bound to this, because at the end of the day, this is the thing that they’re saying,” Arvidsson says. “It’s noted in an official protocol and it’s something that they have committed to, but it is not something that they are legally bound to comply with. But it’s better than nothing.”

It’s a major step forward for Avalanche, which has had at least one studio-shaking issue in the past few years where workers expressed deep dissatisfaction with the lack of company transparency. Skoglund acknowledges that the company had room to improve after that inflection point, and asserts that giving employees a legally-recognized voice is just one part of that.

“The union club members have confirmed that it’s one of their main priorities and we welcome their commitment, as this is one of the ways we can improve as a company and employer,” Skoglund says. “The Swedish CBA framework provides standardized ways to exercise employee influence, which we hope will contribute toward making Avalanche one of the best workplaces in the games industry.”

Dragon’s Dogma 2 is a wacky puzzle of a game, full of secrets and interactions that were still surprising players weeks after launch. And while it seems like most of its major twists have already been uncovered, one player claims they’ve found an obscure Dragon’s Dogma 2 secret that’s taking them to previously unexplored parts of the game’s map.

Warning: Massive Dragon’s Dogma 2 ending spoilers follow. Do not scroll down if you do not want to know about the entire premise of the game’s final hours. Seriously, we’re just going to spoil the crap out of it!

LAST CHANCE! BIG SPOILERS STARTING….now.

In the final hours of Dragon’s Dogma 2’s “true” ending, players are transported to a bizarre place known as the “Unmoored World.” There, an advancing red fog representative of the murderous Brine slowly creeps across the land, consuming more and more of the map until either the player stops it or the game ends. Players already have some wild theories about what’s going on with the Unmoored World, the characters in it, and what’s really happening here. But it all got weirder a few days ago, when someone seemingly managed to walk into the red fog and explore what lies beyond, unscathed.

Reddit user Temporary-Class3803 claims in a post to the Dragon’s Dogma 2 subreddit that they’ve found a way to safely traverse the red fog. Per their post, they were initially just exploring theories on how to reverse the fog’s encroachment, something that is currently thought impossible. But while they were experimenting, they found an area where Capcom seemingly forgot to code in the “Brine consumes you now” functionality, allowing them to just walk into the giant fog sea and wander around.

Here are Temporary-Class3803’s instructions on how to find the precise spot:

To get into the red mist in that location, start at Seafloor Shrine. You’ll need a staff to use the levitate skill from mage/sorcerer.

At Seafloor, begin by looking East of the portcrystal and jumping up the side wall in between the vendor area and the vocation guild.

Once you get to the top, you’ll float over to the far wall and take an immediate right, stopping at the tower. Once at the tower, hop off of the wall to the land below, and take another immediate right, follow the edges of the cloud southward and eventually you’ll get to a point where the Brine doesn’t try to eat you.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like you can actually do much in the big cloud of fog. The Unmoored World is effectively a mirror of the real one in most ways, with the red fog starting where the ocean used to be and slowly eating up the map. As a result, most of what’s inside the fog cloud just seems to be…nothing. They report trying to walk to Melve and being unable to do so without Brine eventually consuming them.

Still, even if all this just seems to be an unintended goof, Temporary-Class3803 is continuing their exploration in hopes of finding more secrets in the Unmoored World. They’re digging into lore, examining the many strange, caved in archways around the continent and pouring over notes and lines left by the Harve Village hermit, looking for unfound secrets.

Even if it’s unlikely their search turns up any fruit at this stage, the hunt itself has other Redditors curious about secrets, lore, and the potential for either cut content or future DLC content. The primary running theory at the moment (which Temporary-Class3803 is trying to dig into) is that there might be something to do in the Unmoored World with a number of mysterious, caved-in archways dotted around the map. It’s been pointed out that at least a few of these archways are only accessible in the Unmoored World, but so far, no one’s been able to figure out what they’re for. Could they be entrances to a secret dungeon? Possible DLC content? Triggers for another ending? Even if Temporary-Class3803’s exploration into the red fog itself is unrelated, their stumbling into it triggered a number of individuals to give the archways a second look. If there’s a secret to be found there, the community is on the case.

There has already been plenty to find in Dragon’s Dogma 2, arches or otherwise. Players are still working out exactly how the mysterious, village-murdering disease Dragonsplague works, and it took weeks for the internet to realize that catapults could be used to uncover secret areas. More recently, players figured out that Capcom has a built-in system for making sure everyone’s Pawn gets hired sometimes. And others are making incredible mods to customize Dragon’s Dogma 2, such as creating Dragonsplague warnings, silencing chatty Pawns, and obtaining unlimited teleportation.

There’s a whole score of incredible Xbox deals to check out right now, including discounts on controllers as part of Target Circle Week, over 60% off the Xbox Series X Mini Fridge at Walmart, Xbox’s Spring Sale has kicked off, and so much more. When it comes to picking up new games, hardware, or accessories for your Xbox, it feels good when you can find those items at a discounted price. Here, we’ll keep you updated on all of the latest discounts for Xbox, from games to controllers and so much more. Let’s dig into the best Xbox deals that are happening right now.

TL;DR – Our Favorite Xbox Deals

Navigate to:

• 2-Months Xbox Game Pass for Free
• Xbox’s Spring Sale & Video Game Deals
• Xbox Console Bundle Deals
• Should I Buy an Xbox?

Score 2 Free Months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate (New Members Only)

Walmart is now offering two months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for free for any current or new Walmart+ members. If you’re not currently a member of Walmart+, the retailer offers a 30-day free trial (which will make you eligible for the Game Pass offer), alongside plans for $12.95 paid monthly, or $98 paid annually.

For those interested in the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate offer, it is worth qualifying that this code will only apply to those who currently don’t have an active Game Pass Ultimate membership, and Walmart stresses that this is for new members only. If you’re on Game Pass Core, it should be fine to apply to your account. Otherwise, if you’re a current Game Pass Ultimate member, the code won’t be applicable. If you do qualify, it’s a pretty simple process if you’re looking to bag the two-month free trial, here’s how:

Steps:

1. Visit the Walmart+ Offer Page and select ‘Get Offer’ next to the 2 free months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate listing
2. On the ‘Offer Page’ you will see a unique promo code, copy this code and keep a record of it
3. Hit the ‘Redeem Offer’ button on the page to go to the Xbox Site
4. Sign in to Your Account
5. Your promo code will autofill — if it does not then paste/type
6. Redeem your offer and receive your 2 Free Months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate
7. Disable auto-renewal afterward to avoid being charged at the end of the trial — this can be located in ‘Services & Subscriptions’ in your Microsoft account. You should also do this for Walmart+ if you used a free trial to access the Game Pass offer

Xbox’s Spring Sale Has Kicked Off and More Xbox Game Deals

There are several Xbox games on sale right now that are worth adding to your collection, especially now that Xbox’s Spring Sale has officially begun! This sale features discounts on some excellent games, including a few of last year’s biggest hits like Baldur’s Gate 3 and Alan Wake 2, so make sure to pick up your favorites when you find them before the sale ends on April 18. We’ve also included a few of our favorite physical deals at the moment, including a fantastic deal on Star Wars Jedi: Survivor at Best Buy. To see more from the Spring Sale, though, head to the Xbox Spring Sale main page.

Xbox Spring Sale:

More Xbox Video Game Deals:

Back to Top

Get Over 60% Off the Xbox Series X Mini Fridge at Walmart

It looks like a fridge, and it kinda is a fridge (mini), and it’s also down to $29.98 at Walmart. Plus, c’mon, who doesn’t want the Xbox Series S toaster for their kitchen as well? Not only is it a fun addition to have in your home, but this is a discount you definitely don’t want to miss out on, either! It’s currently marked down over 50% at Walmart to just $40, which is an excellent deal. What better time to pick it up?

Back to Top

Xbox Console & Bundle Deals

There are a few deals on consoles and bundles that are worth taking advantage of right now. One of our favorite deals leftover from the Black Friday/Cyber Monday season is on the Diablo IV Xbox Series X bundle, which you can get for $469.00 at Walmart. The Xbox Series S, Xbox Wireless Controller in Robot White, and 3 Months of Game Pass bundle is also discounted down to $299.99.

Back to Top

Get 28% Off the Official Xbox Wireless Headset & More Headset Deals

Does your family complain when you stay up playing loud shooters late into the night? They’ll stop complaining if you pick up an Xbox headset that lets no one but you hear the delightful explosions you cause on the screen. Right now, you can get 28% off the Official Xbox Wireless Headset (after clipping the $18 coupon), bringing the price down to $71.99 from $99.99. You can also save 20% on the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless Gaming Headset by using the promo code ‘GET20’ at checkout. To see even more gaming headsets on sale, visit our roundup of the best gaming headset deals.

More Xbox Headset Deals:

• Logitech G Astro A30 LIGHTSPEED Wireless Gaming Headset for $169.99

Back to Top

Save On An Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Subscription

Since Xbox hiked the monthly price of Game Pass last year, we want to help to avoid this. To do so, we’d recommend stacking these 3-month subscriptions as much as possible (36 months is the max you can load onto your account).

Admittedly buying up 12 of these codes can put a strain on your wallet, totaling $539.88 with the Amazon link above. However, when you compare it to the new cost of Game Pass Ultimate for 36 months at $16.99 per month, amounting to $611.64, you’ll realize you’re saving $71.76 on your subscription for the next three years. Otherwise, secure your membership for at least a year to lock in at least some savings overall.

Back to Top

When Should I Buy an Xbox?

In general, it is advisable to keep an eye out for sales and restocks throughout the year, as availability has improved since the initial launch of the console. Unlike the Nintendo Switch, there is no specific recommendation to wait for a sale regardless of the time of year. Instead, it’s a good idea to monitor various retailers and online platforms for restock announcements and promotional offers.

However, certain events like Black Friday or other holiday seasons may bring about unique bundles, discounts, or promotional deals specifically for the Xbox Series X. These bundles may include additional games, accessories, or exclusive limited editions. While quantities for such promotions might be limited, they can provide an opportunity to get more value for your purchase. See our guide to Xbox Series X prices for more info.

Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S?

Choosing between the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S ultimately depends on your gaming preferences, budget, and specific requirements. Let’s compare the two consoles to help you make an informed decision:

1. Performance: The Xbox Series X is the more powerful option, offering native 4K gaming, higher graphical fidelity, and faster loading times. It has more advanced hardware, including a larger storage capacity. On the other hand, the Xbox Series S targets a lower price point and offers a less powerful performance, targeting 1440p resolution gaming and upscaling to 4K.

2. Price: The Xbox Series S is more affordable compared to the Xbox Series X. If budget is a significant factor for you, the Xbox Series S provides a cost-effective option while still delivering a next-generation gaming experience. For example, the Series S can play Starfield at 1440p 30fps (vs 4K 30fps on Series X).

3. Storage: The Xbox Series X comes with a larger internal storage capacity, allowing you to store more games directly on the console. The Xbox Series S, however, has a smaller storage capacity, which means you may need to manage your game library more actively or rely on external storage solutions.

4. Disc Drive: The Xbox Series X includes a disc drive, enabling you to play physical game discs and enjoy a wider range of media options, including Blu-ray and DVD playback. The Xbox Series S, in contrast, is a digital-only console, meaning you can only play games downloaded from the digital store.

5. Graphics and Performance: While both consoles support ray tracing, the Xbox Series X provides a more immersive and visually impressive experience due to its superior hardware capabilities. If you prioritize cutting-edge graphics and want the best performance available, the Xbox Series X is the preferable choice.

Consider your gaming preferences, budget, and whether you prioritize top-of-the-line performance or cost-effectiveness. If you have a 4K TV, want the most powerful console, and are willing to invest more, the Xbox Series X is the recommended option. If you have a lower budget, a 1080p or 1440p TV, and don’t mind sacrificing some performance, the Xbox Series S offers excellent value for money.

With how expensive gaming is getting in 2024, we’re trying to save you as much money as possible on the games and other tech you actually want to buy. We’ve got great deal roundups available for all major platforms such as Switch and Xbox, and keep these updated daily with brand new offers. If you’re trying to keep costs down while maintaining your favorite hobby, stay tuned for more incredible discounts.

Robert Anderson is a deals expert and Commerce Editor for IGN. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter.

Amiibo are great investments for Nintendo fans, not just for the cool in-game extras you get but they can also be fun additions to a collectible collection. If you’ve been hoping to track down some Legend of Zelda figures, Target has reprints of Zelda and Ganondorf Super Smash Bros. Series amiibo available to preorder right now. These figures are both set to release on May 31 and will set you back $15.99 a piece.

Head to the links below to preorder these figures for yourself before they’re all sold out.

Preorder Zelda and Ganondorf Super Smash Bros. Amiibo at Target

And while you’re shopping around on Target’s website, now’s also a great time to look through their Circle Week sale event. This sale features discounts on a wide variety of items, from the Meta Quest 2 to several different Apple devices, so make sure to pick up the items that interest you while they’re still on sale. The event comes to an end on April 13, so you’ll want to act fast. And if you’re not a Circle member, don’t worry, it’s totally free and easy to sign up. You can learn more about it here, if you’re interested.

There are a couple of Nintendo deals going on at the moment that are worth checking out, too. Mainly, you can pick up a select few Nintendo games for just $39.99 right now, including The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Kirby and the Forgotten Land. To see even more Nintendo deals, check out our roundup of the best Nintendo Switch deals right now. And if you’re curious about what’s on sale on other platforms, have a look at our roundups of the best PlayStation deals right now, the best Xbox deals right now, and the best PC video game deals right now.

Hannah Hoolihan is a freelance writer who works with the Guides and Commerce teams here at IGN.

While we likely won’t hear more about the next Grand Theft Auto for a while, a YouTuber has recreated the first GTA 6 trailer in real life.

Andrew Levitt on YouTube posted a practically perfect recreation of the trailer using footage he and his team captured alongside some already existing clips, showing off the real life version of GTA 6’s Vice City setting, otherwise known as Miami, Florida.

Myriad actors show up throughout the trailer too, playing the likes of protagonists Lucia and Jacob alongside the several wild and wacky Floridians portrayed by Rockstar. The real life trailer opens with shots of Miami itself, with Brickell and Overtown on show, alongside clips of Miami Beach.

Other iconic Miami locations like Wynwood, the Kaseya Center, PortMiami, Biscayne Island, and Ocean Drive all feature too, alongside areas outside the city like the Everglades and Florida Keys. You can see IGN’s breakdown of all the GTA 6 trailer’s real life locations here.

The trailer otherwise featured a ton of intricate details (here are 99 things IGN spotted) and plenty of references to wild and wacky real life events too.

While the game was revealed alongside a 2025 release date for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S, PC players were left frustrated, though not necessarily surprised, that their platform was left off the list.

They weren’t the ones a little peeved though, as several developers from Rockstar itself took to social media to express their frustration at the trailer leaking early. In fact, the entire industry shared their disappointment that the exciting moment was dampened. Several streamers were also hit with content strikes and takedowns in the wake of the leak.

Regardless, it still surpassed Minecraft to become the second most-watched video game trailer of all time with more than 168 million views in the first three months.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.

Police in Japan have arrested a 36-year-old man on suspicion of selling illegally modified Pokémon save data to customers online — a practice which is banned under the country’s 2019 Unfair Competition Prevention Act.

As reported by the Japanese website NHK News, and translated by Automaton, the suspect was apprehended by police on April 9 after a ‘police cyber patrol’ discovered evidence that the individual had used special tools to illegally modify save data for Pokémon Violet in order to change Pokémon move sets.A 36-year-old man was arrest for selling illegally modified Pokemon save data.

The 36-year-old allegedly took custom orders for rare Pokémon, and sold the resulting tampered data between December 2022 to March 2023, for up to 13,000 yen ($84) a time on a website that served as a marketplace for video game assets and items. He also offered deals in which six Pokémon would be created for the equivalent of roughly $30 in yen.

The 36-year-old has reportedly admitted to committing the crimes at the heart of the ongoing investigation, while providing the justification that he did it to earn a living. According to Automaton, the suspect could face up to five years imprisonment, and/or a fine of up to 5 million yen (over $32,600).

This isn’t the first time that criminals have sought to make money off of Game Freak’s wildly popular franchise. For example, In 2021 an ill-fated Pokemon card heist saw one desperate man attempt to descend from a six-story building in order to steal a treasure trove of trading cards and cash from a Tokyo store.

2022 saw the trend continue, with criminals in Tokyo committing a series of high-value Pokemon burglaries, including one instance in which theives made off with a haul of cards worth over $60,000. Its worth noting that the raw last for Pokemon — and the trouble it can land you in — is felt well beyond the criminal fraternity. As a case in point January 2022 saw two Los Angeles police officers fired after they ignored a call to attend a burglary in order to chase down a Snorlax in Pokemon Go.

While you’re here why not take a moment to check out IGN’s ranking of the top 10 best pokemon video games of all time, or discover which Pokemon our readers have crowned as the very best of all time in our 2021 face off.

Anthony is a freelance contributor covering science and video gaming news for IGN. He has over eight years experience of covering breaking developments in multiple scientific fields and absolutely no time for your shenanigans. Follow him on Twitter @BeardConGamer

This article features spoilers for all eight episodes of Fallout season 1.

Adapting a video game into a TV show is a pretty daunting task, but Fallout is a more difficult beast than most. A series of six massive RPGs, four of which are huge open worlds filled to bursting with companies, creations, and creatures, there’s a hell of a lot to address in order to get the world just right in live action. And yet that’s just what the Prime Video show does – it’s a series teeming with game-accurate props, ideas, and locations.

We’ve dropped a few extra points into perception and crawled through all eight episodes to find a megaton of cool details – 111 of them, in fact. Hey, that’s the vault from Fallout 4! That’s definitely a coincidence and not something we purposely set up.

Naturally, talking about all these references means complete spoilers for the entire season, so go seal yourself in a bunker if you’d rather not see those. Or just close this page, if that’s easier. Anyway, here’s 111 details in the Fallout show that have been pulled straight from the video games. Click through each of the slideshow galleries to see examples from the show and their game equivalents.

Fallout Iconography

1. Every Fallout game opens with an iconic, ominous line from actor Ron Perlman: “War. War never changes.” Perlman doesn’t reprise his role as Fallout’s voice of doom, nor does the show open with the line, but it does get uttered in the final episode.

2. More iconic than Perlman’s line is the Vault Boy thumbs up, which the show provides an origin story for; both in terms of the (scientifically debunked) reason to use a thumbs up during a nuclear attack, and how Walton Goggins’ Cooper Howard uses the gesture as part of a Vault-Tec commercial.

3. The ‘Please Stand By’ messaging is another Fallout staple, frequently used in cutscenes and loading screens. Here it’s projected across the walls of Vault 33 during a disastrous attack.

4. Talking of Vault 33, its interior is pretty much inch-for-inch accurate to the vaults seen in both Fallout 4 and Fallout 76. The doors, windows, mailboxes, and even the emergency override switches are near enough identical to the ones seen in the Bethesda games.

5. The vault’s classroom may have the paintwork and architecture of a Fallout 4-era shelter, but it’s reminiscent of the room you take the G.O.A.T. exam in Fallout 3.

6. The vaults are also outfitted with the Vault Boy-themed foosball tables from Fallout 76.

7. Up on Vault 33’s top floor we have an entrance chamber that features all the familiar equipment from the games, including the moving gantry, control panel, and…

8. … the cog-shaped vault door itself, which uses the same heavy-duty lift mechanism seen in Fallouts 4 and 76.

9. Talking of vaults, as we discovered in the games, each one was developed as a twisted social experiment. In the show’s finale a group of corporate suits discuss ideas for different experiments, each of which references a vault from the games. The plan for an overcrowded vault results in Vault 27, while Vault 87 is used to turn people into super mutants, and Vault 106 suffers the psychotropic drug experiment. The idea for separating parents and children may be a reference to Vault 29, where all dwellers were under the age of 15.

Fallout Events

10. While the show isn’t directly adapting any specific Fallout story, it does replicate sequences similar to those seen in the games. The first episode’s nuclear detonations are, naturally, comparable to the explosions seen in the prologue of Fallout 4.

11. Also drawing on the events of Fallout 4 are the cryogenic pods discovered in the show’s Vault 31, which are vaguely similar to the ones the inhabitants of Vault 111 are frozen in.

12. The catalyst for the show’s story is Lucy’s father going missing, which just so happens to be the inciting incident of Fallout 3. In both instances the father is played by a beloved actor: Kyle MacLachlan in the show, and Liam Neeson in the game.

13. The quest to find her father demands that Lucy leaves the vault, resulting in a replication of Bethesda’s iconic “step out” moments, in which the player character exits the vault and steps into the searing bright light of the outside world. It wouldn’t be Fallout without it.

RPG Elements

14. Similar to Fallout 3, a powerful technology is used in the finale to bring hope back to a little corner of the wasteland. In the game it was a water purifier, while in the show the NCR uses a Cold Fusion device to activate limitless energy across the Los Angeles region.

15. During our introduction to Lucy, she talks about her personal achievements in repair, science, and speech. These are, of course, actual skills from the games, although it’s unclear just how many points she’s put into any of them.

16. It certainly seems she dropped enough into speech, though, because in episode five Lucy is able to pass a persuasion check and talk her way through a dangerous situation with a couple of fiends.

17. Vault 33 sports posters for SPECIAL, the rule system that governs your primary RPG stats in every Fallout game. This is the very same poster that can be seen pinned up around the Appalachian vaults in Fallout 76.

18. The kids in the first episode watch a TV show called Grognak the Barbarian, a reference to a fictional character that pops up in all of Bethesda’s Fallout games. In Fallout 76, the Grognak comics provide perks, so we can only assume that these kids will be dealing out +100% melee crit damage by the time the episode is over.

19. Talking of perks, by the amount of gore splashing around, it seems like The Ghoul has the Bloody Mess perk equipped.

20. Midway through the series, Lucy upgrades her Vault-Tec jumpsuit with a shoulder pad and a little more armour. It’s reflective of every player’s journey through all of the games, in which you start with nice clean blues and gradually upgrade with battered wasteland finds over time.

21. The show features several sequences in which past events are revealed through the use of posed corpses, a narrative technique heavily used by Bethesda through all of the studio’s Fallout games.

22. Poor allocation of your skill points in the games will make life a bit harder, a lesson Maximus – who frequently carries a massive, heavy bag of supplies – hasn’t yet learned it seems. You’re over encumbered, mate, either increase your carry capacity or drop some of that junk you’ve been picking up.

23. A sign on a wall in Filly says that the store owner will “Salvage, Buy, Sell, or Trade”. These are all inventory options from the games. Maybe Maximus should sell a few things here to take the weight off his shoulders…

PipBoy

24. That same store has some fun easter eggs in stock, including this PipBoy 2000 MkV, which is the wrist-mounted computer that players wear in Fallout 76.

25. Lucy and her fellow Vault 33 dwellers all use the PipBoy Pip-Boy 3000 Mark IV, based on the model from Fallout 4. And, just like in the game, it’s fully kitted out with features such as…

26. Monitoring of bio status, so that you can keep track of your HP.

27. A geiger counter to help you stay aware of things that will obliterate your literal DNA.

28. A handy map to help you explore the wasteland.

29. A tracking system to guide you towards your objective.

30. A flashlight will illuminate your path through gloomy dungeons.

31. A useful retractable cable lets you interface with many Vault-Tec approved computer systems.

32. A communications system allows you to receive messages from other PipBoy users, as well as tune into local radio stations.

Music

33. Talking of radio stations, while none of the broadcasters from the games are present in the show, many episodes do feature songs from the 1940s and 50s that have become synonymous with Fallout. In the opening of episode one we hear “Orange Colored Sky” performed by Nat King Cole and the Stan Kenton Orchestra, which was used in a TV advert for New Vegas and later in both Fallout 4 and Fallout 76.

34. Episode 2 features “Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall”, performed by The Ink Spots and Ella Fitzgerald, which you may remember being played by Galaxy News Radio DJ Three Dog in Fallout 3, and later broadcast by Diamond City Radio in Fallout 4.

35. That very same episode features another three bangers, starting with “Don’t Fence Me In”, performed by Bing Crosby and The Andrews Sisters’ Vic Schoen and his Orchestra, which is part of the Appalachia Radio playlist in Fallout 76.

36. Then there’s Betty Hutton’s “It’s a Man”, which is played on Fallout 4’s Diamond City Radio.

37. And the episode concludes with The Ink Spots’ “I Don’t Want to Set the World on Fire”, which has become Fallout’s anthem thanks to being used in both Fallout 3’s marketing and intro cutscene, and appearing in both Fallout 4 and Fallout 76.

38. The Ink Spots could be considered the unofficial musical mascot of Fallout, since their song “Maybe” – which features in episode three – was used for the intro and credits of the very first Fallout, and is a regular in Bethesda’s era of games, too.

39. Marking their fourth track in the show, The Ink Spots can be heard again in the finale with “We Three (My Echo, My Shadow and Me)”, which is taken from Fallout 76’s Appalachia Radio.

40. While licensed vintage tracks are a major part of the show’s soundtrack, Fallout also features an original score by Game of Thrones composer Ramin Djawadi, inspired by music from the games. In episode six, we even get the recognisable theme that plays over the main menu in Fallout’s modern era of games.

Computers, Tech, and Robotics

41. The recognisably retro computer terminals from the Bethesda games can be seen in multiple scenes across the series. It’s authentic right down to the UI, which uses the same green text and similar menu categories.

42. That detail even extends to the hacking, which requires the passcode to be deciphered from a wall of text and symbols, exactly as it does in Fallout 3, 4, 76, and New Vegas.

43. Computer terminals and PipBoys aren’t the only recognisable tech relics we see across the eight episodes, though. The ‘50s style Radiation King TV from episode four is of the same brand as those seen in the blasted homes all across the game series, starting as early as the original Fallout from 1997.

44. Earlier in that same episode we see this Wirelessfone intercom developed by LGJG, a lock company whose much-less advanced padlocks can be spotted in Fallout: New Vegas.

45. As iconic as the Vault Boy are Fallout’s Mister Handy robots, which have been part of the series since the very beginning. The General Atomics International Mk4 makes a major appearance in episode four, featuring the orb-like design and circular saw appendage that’s present on the designs from Fallout 3 onwards.

46. Turning up as a minor plot point in episode three is a broken Vault-Tec Water Chip. A similar busted chip is the inciting incident of the very first Fallout game, so consider this a nod to the event that started it all.

47. Just like in Fallout 4, the show’s power armour runs on Fusion Cores. This grenade-sized technological wonder is also used to power the entirety of Vault 4, which suggests the show’s version of fusion cores last a lot longer than the ones in the game.

Weapons

48. There’s plenty of guns being fired across the wasteland, many of which are just regular firearms. Some of these are from the games, such as the Tommy gun from Fallout 2 and 4, but it’s the fictional weapons unique to the series that are the most fun to spot.

49. Lucy begins her journey using a dart gun that’s an original creation for the series, but later swaps it out for the more practical 10mm pistol. You’ll know this one as your trusty sidearm from Fallout 4.

50. Arguably Fallout’s best-looking weapon is the Laser Rifle, and we can see an Enclave security guard holding one in episode two.

51. In the final episode we also see its smaller brother, the Laser Pistol, being used by NCR leader Moldaver.

52. Maximus’s choice of firepower is the Colt 6520, a revolver-style 10mm pistol that could be found in Fallout 1 and 2. A lovingly-crafted remake of it was also available in Fallout 4 via the Creation Club.

53. The Brotherhood’s Knights, meanwhile, pack a much bigger punch with their Assault Rifles, which are based on the design from Fallout 4.

54. While up in the sky, the Brotherhood also makes use of pintle-mounted miniguns. These are similar to the Vertibird guns seen in Fallout 4.

55. Another machinegun turret can be seen at the Enclave base in episode two, with a design reminiscent of Fallout 4 and 76’s automated emplacements.

56. A more esoteric destruction device can be found in Fallout 4’s Junk Jet, which is used to fire both kitchen utensils and the leg of a baby doll in episode one. Another Junk Jet can be seen for sale in episode two, costing 285 bottle caps.

57. There’s also what appears to be a Plasma Rifle from Fallout 3 on sale in the same shop, hanging on the wall behind the owner.

58. In episode six we see a harpoon gun being used, which appears to be a much less heavy-duty alternative to the big boy used in Fallout 4’s Far Harbour DLC.

59. There’s not a lot of melee action in the show, but we do see Lucy use a Ripper, a mechanical vibroblade capable of chewing through flesh and bone. Multiple versions have been seen across the series, and Lucy’s appears to be a new model.

Items and Gear

60. Weapons aren’t the only pieces of equipment that have made their way from the games into the show. There’s all sorts of items and gear to be spotted, including the iconic NCR Ranger outfit that adorns the Fallout: New Vegas box art.

61. The show’s raiders are also outfitted in authentic apparel.

62. As in the games, Vault Boy bobbleheads can be spotted dotted about the world. There’s one holding out his hand, another with arms crossed, and one with his hands on his hips. Incidentally, these are all official Fallout merch figures from the real world.

63. In episode six you can spot an issue of the Capital Post newspaper, which was published in Fallout 3’s setting of Washington DC.

64. Other light reading can be found in Tesla Science Magazine, which was used in Fallout 4 to provide perks that enhance your ability with energy weapons.

65. Seen in Filly’s general store is a lunchbox, which fans will recognise from all of the Bethesda-era Fallout games, as well as the Fallout 3 collector’s edition.

66. If you’re a serial junk collector, you’ll definitely have picked up a bottle of Abraxo during your travels in Fallout 3, 4, 76, and New Vegas.

67. One of the raiders appears to be pretty into Jet, using an inhaler to partake in the addictive hallucinogen that is used in the games to boost combat effectiveness.

68. Talking of drugs, stimpacks are used to cure wounds several times across the series. These come in identical syringes to the games’ healing shots.

69. There’s also a couple of bags of RadAway to be found, including one with a hand-written label that’s just like the versions seen in Fallouts 3 and 4.

70. And for those who like to relax with a bit of nicotine, Amazon’s version of the wasteland is stocked with Big Boss cigarettes, which we last saw in Fallout: New Vegas.

Food and Drink

71. Of course, a wastelander can’t survive on cigarettes and stimpacks alone, and so the show features a number of classic Fallout foods and drinks. That starts, naturally, with Nuka Cola, and either bottles or vending machines can be spotted in most episodes.

72. During the prologue, two guys are drinking Fishbrau, the pale ale brand from Fallout: New Vegas.

73. At the same party, bottles of Sunset Sarsaparilla – also from New Vegas – can be seen on a table in the background. 200 years later, advertisements for the soda can be seen in multiple episodes.

74. Just after leaving the Vault, Lucy can be seen carrying a bottle of Purified Drinking Water, which is similar in design to the Vault-Tec water cans from Fallouts 4 and 76.

75. That water doesn’t last forever, though, and so it’s not long before Lucy succumbs to the same depths almost every player has by drinking dirty irradiated water.

76. The post-apocalypse has produced some interesting culinary choices, and in Filly’s market we see Iguana-on-a-stick for sale, which has been a regular snack for Fallout players since the very first game.

77. The Ghoul, meanwhile, makes his own meals from more unusual ingredients. These slices of human meat will be dried out to create Fallout 4’s ‘mystery’ jerky.

78. If your tastes veer closer to more classically American cuisine, then you can’t go wrong with a can of Cram. Fallout’s version of Spam, it’s regularly eaten by vault dwellers and a tin of it is included with Maximus’ food hamper, along with a number of other foods from the games:

79. YumYum Deviled Eggs.

80. Blamco Mac & Cheese.

81. Sugar Bombs Cereal.

82. Fancy Lads Snack Cakes.

Creatures

83. The wasteland is known for harboring some pretty weird creatures, but we’ll start with the cute one: the German Shepherd we all know better as Dogmeat. There’s also a sign for dogmeat at the Filly market. We’ll try not to think too much about that one.

84. In episode two, you can spot a Brahmin, the two-headed mutant cows that appear in almost every game in the series.

85. Fallout’s answer to zombie cannon fodder is the feral ghoul, and we see several of them in episode four. These are a staple in every single Fallout game, and so were a must-have for the TV series.

86. Fallout’s other famous enemy creature is the super mutant, and while we don’t get a proper showdown with one, we do see a super mutant hand on a gurney at the Enclave facility.

87. The wasteland’s most common pest is the overgrown radroach, and they feature in multiple episodes.

88. Proving a more fearsome foe is the Yao Guai, which first appeared in Fallout 3. Turns out a suit of power armour isn’t a guaranteed defense against a mutant bear.

89. Perhaps Fallout’s most impressive creature, though, is this grotesque redesign of the Gulper, a mutant salamander first seen in Fallout 4’s Far Harbour DLC.

90. Fallout is no stranger to a bit of weird science, and in the finale we’re introduced to a Vault-Tec employee’s talking brain in a jar. This is similar to Professor Clavert, another preserved chunk of gray matter that features in Fallout 3’s Point Lookout DLC.

91. Finally, we don’t get to see the beast itself, but the skull of a Deathclaw can be spotted just before the entire season rolls credits.

The Brotherhood of Steel

92. Having adorned the box art for most of the games, the Brotherhood of Steel were naturally going to be a massive part of the show. Unsurprisingly, we see plenty of the T-60, the most recent variant of the faction’s iconic power armour that arrived in Fallout 4.

93. The show uses an Iron Man-like in-helmet camera for several scenes, and projected in the corners of this view we can see an orange heads-up display that’s very similar to the HUD that appears when piloting the T-60 in Fallout 4.

94. While the armour is a very accurate replica of the in-game version, it does have a couple of new tricks: a flip-up visor and jet thrusters. The latter is a sleeker version of the much bulkier jetpack modification from Fallout 4.

95. As in the games, power armour is stored in metal stations when not in use.

96. The show’s Brotherhood of Steel has its own airship, taking the form of a massive zeppelin-like craft that looks a lot like the Prydwen from Fallout 4.

97. Flying alongside that monster are smaller Vertibirds, which also bear a strong resemblance to the Fallout 4 designs.

Locations

98. While most of the show visits locations that haven’t previously been seen in the games, a major storylines takes us to what remains of Shady Sands. This town was built after the war and is a major locale in Fallout 2.

99. Shady Sands is the capital of the New California Republic. The NCR also plays a major role in the show, with its flag seen in a number of scenes. Newer fans likely know the NCR from their appearance in Fallout: New Vegas.

100. The town of Filly is an original creation for the series, but its walls of junk and ramshackle, recycled feel is reminiscent of places like Megaton from Fallout 3 and Diamond City from Fallout 4.

101. The show also features branches of several franchise businesses that have been seen in the games. You’ll recognise Slocum’s Joe coffee shop from the massive donut that adorns its roof.

102. While the Super Duper Mart in episode four is similar to the brand’s other grocery stores as seen in Fallouts 3, 4, and 76.

103. The Red Rocket in episode seven is almost a perfect replica of the gas station you visit in the first hour of Fallout 4.

104. And while we don’t get to visit it properly, the unmistakable skyline of the New Vegas strip can be seen in the very final shot of the show.

Companies

105. Finally, there’s plenty of name-drops when it comes to famous companies from the world of the games, including monorail manufacturer CMR.

106. Robotics experts RoboCo.

107. Defense contractor West-Tek.

108. Big MT research and development center.

109. REPCONN, the aerospace and rocket manufacturer.

110. Galaxy News, the pro-government media company.

111. And, of course, Vault-Tec, the corporation behind the underground fallout shelters.

And there we have it: 111 details from the Fallout TV show that were taken directly from the games. For more Fallout, check out our full season review and our ending explained video. And for everything else, stick with IGN.

Matt Purslow is IGN’s Senior Features Editor.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is currently down to just £47.16 right now in the UK (see here), which is the best price we’ve seen on the game since it launched at the end of February. This is a tremendous deal, and well worth considering for all PS5 owners, especially those who have held off on the game to wait for a significant price drop. It’s worth noting that this deal is only accessible on eBay’s dedicated app, so you’ll need to be using that for the promo code to work.

All you need to do is use code APP20 at checkout when purchasing Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth from trusted retailer, and eBay seller, The Game Collection via eBay’s app. This will bring the game down to just below £48, and with free delivery, you’re laughing. We recently gave Rebirth a 9/10 in our review, so this will certainly be worth your time and money.

In our review of the game. we said: “Final Fantasy VII Rebirth impressively builds off of what Remake set in motion, both as a best-in-class action-RPG full of exciting challenges and an awe-inspiring recreation of a world that has meant so much to so many for so long.”

“After 82 hours to finish the main story and complete a decent chunk of sidequests and optional activities, there’s still much to be done, making this pivotal section of the original feel absolutely massive. Minigames, sidequests, and other enticing diversions fill the spaces of its vast and sprawling regions, painting a new and more vivid picture of these familiar locations. But more than just being filled with things to do, Rebirth is often a powerful representation of Final Fantasy VII’s most memorable qualities.”

Other impressive discounts in the APP20 sale right now include a Steam Deck 512GB for £374.95 and Stellar Blade preorders for £55.96. For even more great discounts, be sure to follow @IGNUKDeals on Twitter/X.

Robert Anderson is a deals expert and Commerce Editor for IGN. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter.

One of the best Switch games out there right now has just been given a big discount. Unicorn Overlord, the much-loved and innovative high-fantasy RPG has dropped down to just £44 on eBay, making it one of the very best Switch deals right now.

If you’ve not played the game before, it’s a character-driven adventure and one of the most exciting RPGs to have come out on the Switch platform. If you’ve been waiting for an opportunity to pick this one up, then now is your time, this is the best Unicorn Overlord deal we’ve seen in a while.

To get the deal, all you’ll need to do is make sure you’re purchasing the game on the eBay app, and use the code APP20 at checkout.

The game has proven immensely popular with Switch players since it came out, and it’s easy to see why. In our review, we gave it a 9/10, saying: “Reflecting on the incredibly diverse and remarkably creative world I explored across my 45-hour journey, any issues I had with Unicorn Overlord ended up feeling like nothing more than nitpicks. The tactical combat system is unique and complex while also being easy to understand, expertly blending mechanics from many of its peers with smart new additions of its own. The interesting terrain across the continent of Fevrith makes every fight feel unique, with some of the best map gimmicks I’ve seen in any strategy RPG.”

The new eBay code is the latest offering from the website, but this one is operating slightly differently compared to recent codes from eBay. All the previous codes were on selected sellers only, and while that’s the case again for this one, there’s an added caveat that you can only use this code when purchasing items on the eBay app. So bear that in mind when you’re doing your shopping.

The code has a minimum spend of £9.99, and you can redeem it a maximum of three times. You’ve got the whole weekend to take advantage of the deal, as it doesn’t come to an end until 11:59 PM on April 15.

Joe O’Neill-Parker is a freelance writer and audio producer. He is the owner of O’Neill Multimedia. He writes commerce, sports, and audio-related tech articles for IGN.