The fourth entry in the Honkai series launched last week for PC and mobile, bringing gacha and other systems familiar from its prior open world hit Genshin Impact to a classic RPG format with familiar nods to prior Honkai games.
And like Genshin Impact, Honkai: Star Rail is a massive game, with plans to continue growing over time. It’s made by a development team of over 500 people, but even with so many on board its scale makes it unsurprising that the developers used at least a couple AI techniques to polish off certain otherwise-handcrafted design elements.
“Our team is paying much attention to AI, especially its impact on the gaming industry,” reads an answer from the Honkai: Star Rail development team in response to IGN asking about advances in AI technology. “In fact, we have already integrated some latest AI technologies into Honkai: Star Rail. These techniques have been implemented to improve the facial appearance and behavioral patterns of characters, enhancing the immersive gaming experience with a more natural representation overall.”
That said, there are some areas of Honkai: Star Rail specifically that miHoYo feels AI isn’t necessarily ready to touch just yet, though it may be in the future. Specifically, content scripting – you won’t find any AI writing in Honkai: Star Rail, especially given how story-driven the game is. Still, miHoYo says it finds more in-depth AI application for scripting “definitely intriguing.”
“With that being said, we also found out that the current application of AI is still restricted. It is more like a ‘cherry on the top’ technique to supplement what we already had instead of fundamentally solving issues from the ground up. We will focus on the [repercussions] and development of AI, figuring out a more robust implementation in the future.”
What’s next for Honkai: Star Rail
In the same interview, we also asked about upcoming content plans for Honkai: Star Rail. MiHoYo didn’t offer too many new concrete details, noting that future plans would be unveiled when the studio was ready. But it did confirm that Honkai: Star Rail is a long-term game with an “ever-lasting plan and goal” that will, like Genshin Impact, have future Special Programs to announce major updates and introduce new in-game content.
We also learned that while Honkai: Star Rail features a handful of familiar faces from previous Honkai games and is a spiritual sequel to that series, other crossovers such as with Genshin Impact or other games, are not off the table. However, miHoYo says that for now, it’s too early to consider any. So no Paimon in Honkai: Star Rail…for now.
Finally, miHoYo also reiterated it has no “concrete updates regarding other platforms” when we asked about Xbox and Switch console releases. A PlayStation release, however, is still in the works for an as-yet-unannounced date. Notably, Genshin Impact was announced for a Nintendo Switch release, but is still missing in action on the handheld over two years after its initial PC, PlayStation, and mobile release.
It’s only been out for a weekend, but already Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is on sale for $10 off at Amazon. The deal applies to physical copies of the game on Xbox Series X and PS5, and you do have to clip the on-page coupon to get the discount. It’s rare these days to see a discount so early on a game this good (see our 9/10 review). If you pick it up, make sure to clip the on-page coupon, or you’ll end up paying full price.
Get Star Wars Jedi: Survivor for $59.99 at Amazon
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor takes place five years after the events of Fallen Order. It puts you back in the shoes of Cal Kestis as you re-assemble your squad and take on the Imperial threat. Unlike many games of this type, you get to keep the abilities Cal learned in the first game, so you can wall run, zipline, and double-jump to your heart’s content from the very start.
I picked up this game on Xbox Series X, and had a grand old time over the weekend using various lightsaber stances to fight my way out of a dangerous mission on Coruscant. Then I made it to a new planet, where I went off the beaten path and immediately got destroyed by a rancor. Such is live in a galaxy far, far away.
If you’ve had your eye on Jedi: Survivor and you own a current-gen console, I’d say this is definitely worth picking up for the price. Otherwise, like all games from all developers besides Nintendo, I’m sure we’ll see a deeper discount on it in a couple of months.
Chris Reed is a commerce editor and deals expert for IGN. He also runs IGN’s board game and LEGO coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @_chrislreed or on Mastodon @chrislreed.
Among the many findings in the more than 400-page report released by the UK’s Competitions and Markets Authority blocking the acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft, the agency concludes that the fears put forward by Sony regarding Call of Duty exclusivity are unwarranted. In fact, the UK regulator determines that Xbox would lose “substantial” money if it ever tried to keep Call of Duty all to itself.
While the exact numbers have been redacted to protect the privacy of the third-parties involved (Sony, Xbox, and Activision Blizzard), the report specifically models two theoretical scenarios where Microsoft could attempt to remove Call of Duty from PlayStation platforms, before concluding that “it would not be financially profitable for [Microsoft] to engage in a total foreclosure strategy.”
The conclusion is drawn from, among other things, the “critical diversion ratio,” which is the rate at which PlayStation Call of Duty players would need to switch over to Xbox in order for it to become profitable for Microsoft, and how much those new players are likely to spend on Call of Duty in the five years following a total foreclosure strategy by Microsoft. By analysing the lifetime total value (LTV) of Call of Duty players, the CMA estimates that Microsoft would see a net loss in the billions over those five years.
The CMA’s analysis takes a variety of factors into account, from the potential reputational hit to Microsoft were they to go back on their public statements about Call of Duty exclusivity, to the benefits to Microsoft’s Game Pass subscription, Microsoft’s history of keeping certain exceptionally popular franchises multiplatform (e.g. Minecraft), and more. Ultimately, that told the story to the CMA that any scenario where Microsoft pursued an exclusivity strategy around Call of Duty would result in shortterm and longterm losses that wouldn’t incentivize that kind of move.
Previously Sony has claimed that they “cannot protect against the loss of Call of Duty,” and said that Microsoft making it exclusive or downgrading its performance on their platform would cause irrepreble damage to their company. Meanwhile, Microsoft has continued to assure regulators that they would ship Call of Duty on PlayStation consoles for as long as they exist.
Despite the CMA’s conclusion in regards to Call of Duty, they ultimately decided to block the merger on the mostly unrelated matter of cloud gaming, where they fear Microsoft’s cloud infrastructure and subscription service could result in a monopoly that Sony and Nintendo would be unable to compete with.
PlayStation says that its 10 live service games in development will be in different genres and for different audiences. Furthermore, PlayStation is aware of the fierce competition between live service games and the time investment they take from players.
In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, PlayStation Studios head Herman Hulst said, “There is a risk that we talk about ‘live service’ in generic terms – as if it is a single genre or even a single business model. PlayStation Studios are making a variety of games that could be referred to as ‘live services’, targeting different genres, different release schedules, and at different scales.”
He continued: “We are also creating games for different audiences, and I take confidence from our track record in creating worlds and stories that PlayStation fans love.”
Hurst explained that each of the studios PlayStation recently acquired is on its own trajectory. Additionally, whether or not an acquisition occurs depends on what the studio needs to grow and succeed. Being part of PlayStation Studios allows access to a global network of other studios, as well as technology and service teams.
“The priority for each studio is to deliver their own project – to make the best game that they can,” said Hurst.
PlayStation acquired Destiny developer Bungie and Jade Raymond’s Haven Studio last year, as well as Firewalk Studios last month. PlayStation is ramping up the development of live service titles with these studios, including one from Naughty Dog set in The Last of Us universe. The game Firewalk is working on will release on both PlayStation and PC.
George Yang is a freelance writer for IGN. He’s been writing about the industry since 2019 and has worked with other publications such as Insider, Kotaku, NPR, and Variety.
When not writing about video games, George is playing video games. What a surprise! You can follow him on Twitter @Yinyangfooey
A Skyrim modder named Art From The Machine has shown off a mod they’re working on that uses ChatGPT and other AI tools to give NPCs a memory of your adventure, endless things for them to say, and a way to ask them questions with your voice.
As reported by PC Gamer, this mod uses ChatGPT in concert with xVASynth for text-to-speech that lets NPCs speak these new answers with an AI version of their voice and Whisper for speech-to-text so players can use their own voice via a mic to ask questions to them.
As you can see in the video here, the new responses from the NPCs aren’t quite natural as of yet and can be a bit slow, but it shows promise of a world where NPCs can comment on nearly everything you do and even answer questions directly from the player that aren’t just canned responses from a list of dialogue options.
For example, the video released by Art From The Machine shows a conversation with Ulfberth War-Bear from Warmaiden’s in Whiterun, and the player can ask him what the store’s hours of operation are and even how much time remains until the store closed based on the in-game clock.
He is also seen describing a sword the player picks up, showing that any NPC – with the proper knowledge, of course – could dynamically explain various items in the world to you as part of a conversation instead of having that info solely in text form in some menu.
“It seems to be a well-crafted iron sword with a soul gem embedded in the hilt. The enchantment on it allows the wielder to capture the souls of their enemies,” Ulfberth War-Bear says.
As for NPCs remembering your conversations, Art From The Machine is working on using a basic memory system in tandem with ChatGPT to help make this a possibility.
“I have a basic memory system set up where I ask ChatGPT to summarize the conversation on exit to help condense it down for future prompts,” Art From The Machine said on Reddit. “There are much more sophisticated tools out there to handle memory though such as Langchain which I am hoping to implement in the future.”
While the tech is obviously impressive, one of the biggest ongoing questions will be if AI-driven text can ever match that of a human. Sure, it’s cool to have endless content in a game, but does it matter all that much if it doesn’t feel real or layered or hand-crafted with the context of our own past experiences and identity? Only time will tell.
Dinosaurs captivate all ages. The creatures that dominated Earth ages ago, populating our world for 165 million years in total, will never not be fascinating. And on screen, as part of movie history, dinosaurs have always been a go-to genre for incredible spectacle and chilling thrills – whether you’re into t-rexes, pterodactyls, raptors, or gentle giant brontosauruses.
The Jurassic Park/World franchise has raked in $6 billion in box office bucks over the past 30 years, proving that these glorious beasts can bring home the bacon. Sometimes movie fans are transported back in time, to the era of these wondrous reptiles while other instances show dinosaurs living among us, either on a secluded island lost to history or as cloned beings brought back by science for our amusement (and dismemberment).
Here are the 10 best dinosaur movies, from trampled theme parks to warring prehistoric titans.
Jurassic Park (1993)
Where to Watch:Peacock, or rentable on most platforms.
Um, duh. Yup, not only is Spielberg’s Jurassic Park one of the best “dinosaur movies ever,” it easily doubles as one of the “best movies ever.” Adapted from Michael Crichton’s novel (and second story about a futuristic amusement park gone lethally haywire), Jurassic Park is endlessly entertaining and infinitely quotable, providing equal parts laughter and horror. Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum star in this tyrannosaurus-sized tale about scientists evaluating a – er – unique family attraction before it opens to the public. Hold onto your butts, because this appraisal winds up with a body count.
Where to Watch:Peacock, or rentable on most platforms.
More than 20 years after the original Jurassic Park (which wound up becoming a trilogy), Jurassic World kicked off a new segment of the franchise, with greedy corporations and opportunistic scientists learning nothing from previous tragedies and opening “Jurassic World” to patrons everywhere. Naturally, things go horribly awry and carnage ensues and Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard anchor a budding dino-apocalypse. The films would eventually bring back the original three stars but the first World installment stands tall as a formulaic but fun feast for the senses.
Where to Watch:Netflix, or rentable on most platforms.
From George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, this Don Bluth animated classic blossomed into a decades-spanning franchise featuring 13 sequels, several video games, and a TV series. The story of a young orphaned dinosaur named Littlefoot, who embarks on a great journey to find a paradise called the Great Valley, The Land Before Time is a beautifully animated ’80s staple. The saga teaches kids about the importance of friendship, the dangers of prejudice, and the power of hope.
Dinosaur (2000)
Where to Watch:Disney+, or rentable on most platforms.
Disney’s Dinosaur, the company’s 39th animated feature, finds a lot in common with The Land Before Time as it also follows a young orphaned dino, this time on a trek to discover to the idyllic Nesting Grounds after a meteor shower devastates their island. A mix of live-action, many of the backgrounds were filmed on location while the dinos themselves were computer-generated, making it the most expensive computer-animated film at the time. Voiced by D.B. Sweeney, Julianna Margulies, Alfre Woodard, Ossie Davis, Joan Plowright, and Hayden Panettiere.
The Good Dinosaur (2015)
Where to Watch: Disney+, or rentable on most platforms.
Though it’s technically the first Pixar film to not quite meet profitable expectations, The Good Dinosaur is wacky, charming family entertainment, supplemented by the voices of Sam Elliott, Anna Paquin, Jeffrey Wright, and three-time Oscar-winner Frances McDormand. Like most animated dino films, the story involves a thrilling, meaningful journey, though this time it’s within an alternate history where reptilian dinosaurs never went extinct. In The Good Dinosaur, a shy Apatosaurus, Arlo, meets an unlikely human friend while traveling through a dangerous and mysterious landscape in order to return home.
Where to Watch:HBO Max, or rentable on most platforms.
Most King Kong films are good for a ravenous dino or two, so why not revisit the 1933 original and watch humans discover Skull Island, home of not only Kong but prehistoric life of all kinds: including the Tyrannosaurus-rex, the Stegosaurus, the Pteranodon, and more. King Kong is a classic, famous for being a true spectacle at the time with game-changing special effects, from stop-motion pioneer Willis O’Brien. Kong is still thriving today, as part of Legendary’s MonsterVerse, next to be seen in 2024’s Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.
Kong: Skull Island (2017)
Where to Watch:HBO Max, or rentable on most platforms.
King Kong’s MonsterVerse reboot began in Kong: Skull Island, a rollicking Vietnam War-era adventure starring Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, and John Goodman as a part of a mix of scientists, soldiers, and scholars trapped on Kong’s dreaded isle of terrifying creatures. In a twist though, the island’s usual dinosaurs have been beaten and eaten by new giant monsters, unique to the film and the MonsterVerse itself. And it totally works. Separating itself from the Jurassic Park/World franchise, Kong: Skull Island gave viewers a fresh batch of nightmare fuel to fawn over.
This ’60s British fantasy-adventure, from Hammer Films, starred Raquel Welch as a cavewoman struggling to survive in a fictional past where humans and dinosaurs coexisted. A remake of a film from 1940, One Million Years BC is a largely enjoyable, kitschy featuring dinosaurs (and giant sea-turtles) roaming a scortched Earth, brought to life by stop-motion genius, and Willis H. O’Brien apprentice, Ray Harryhausen (Jason and the Argonauts, Clash of the Titans).
The Valley Of Gwangi (1969)
Where to Watch: Rentable on most platforms.
Another Harryhausen home run was cult dino-Western, The Valley Of Gwangi, as the stop-motion pro took over the project from mentor Willis O’Brien after O’Brien passed away before production. The story itself was conceived by O’Brien and combined cowboys and dinosaurs as a rodeo horse is revealed to be a fifty million-year-old, prompting members of a Wild West show to venture into Mexico’s Forbidden Valley in search of fame and untold wealth. There, however, they confront prehistoric monsters, including “Gwangi,” a giant dinosaur that decimates their ranks.
Land of the Lost (2009)
Where to Watch: Fubo, or rentable on most platforms.
Will Ferrell and Danny McBride turn a 1970s Sid and Marty Krofft TV series (which itself got a short-lived ’90s revival) into a comedic romp in Land of the Lost, where a mysterious vortex sucks a disgraced scientist (Ferrell), his assistant (Anna Friel), and a survivalist Will (McBride) into a world populated by marauding dinosaurs and fantastically bizarre creatures.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is finally here and we are all once again able to join Cal Kestis on his quest to stop the Empire from destroying everything in its path as it tries to bring about a new future that really isn’t so wonderful. In honor of this long-awaited release, we thought we’d look at who the most powerful Jedi is in current Star Wars canon. However, we need your help to answer this question.
Do you think Cal Kestis is more powerful than Luke Skywalker? Is Ahsoka actually more powerful than Anakin Skywalker before he turned to the Dark Side? We’ve selected 63 Jedi from the Star Wars universe to “Face-Off” against each other two at a time, and it’s up to you to choose who the most powerful is. Will you pick Plo Koon over Ki-Adi-Mundi? Kelleren Beq over Adi Gallia? The choice is yours…
Oh, and we’ve decided to include those, in film, TV, and video games, who have walked the path of the Jedi at one point in their lives, even if they never finished their Jedi training, never earned the title of Padawan, Knight, or Master, or, in Ahsoka’s case, walked away from the Jedi Order entirely. So yes, this means Grogu is fair game! Also, no Sith are included here (unless they were once Jedi). Sorry, Darth Maul!
(And don’t forget, you can pass on a Face-Off round if you don’t know a character by just hitting “skip” at the bottom of the page.)
Like the name suggests, a Face-Off pits two things against one another and you decide which one is the superior of the two. In this case, you are voting to determine which Jedi from current Star Wars canon is the most powerful. It’s possible to see certain characters multiple times, so you can keep voting for your favorites to ensure they get ranked higher than the rest. IGN’s resident team of Star Wars experts pre-selected 63 of the most powerful Jedi for you to choose from. These get randomly paired up, and each time you pick a winner it’s tracked.
How Is the Winner Determined?
When voting ends on May 3, we tally up the total number of “wins” and “losses” each character has, and create a ranked list based on your choices that will be revealed on May 4. The character that won the most matchups will be crowned the “winner,” and in the event of a tied number of “wins,” the character with the least “losses” will take the top spot. If you continue to keep voting for your favorite character, they’ll have a better chance of ranking high on the list. You can vote as many times as you want until the Face-Off closes.
How Do I Know When I’ve Clicked Through Everything?
It’s difficult to know when you’ve seen every Jedi included because they are matched randomly and there are so many possible match-ups. Playing until you vote for all your favorites or ensuring that certain characters don’t get in the winner’s circle are different options you can take with a Face-Off. By deciding the winner throughout all these match-ups, you’re ensuring that your picks for your most powerful Jedi will have a fighting chance to reach the top of the list.
Which Jedi Have Been Included?
The list of the most powerful Jedi included in this Face-Off has been decided by IGN staff, and we’ve tried to include all the most recognizable Jedi from across film, TV, and video games. This includes any character who has walked the path of the Jedi in any part of their lives, even if they eventually turn to the Dark Side. It also includes those who may have never got proper training, earned official Jedi titles, or walked away from the Jedi Order entirely like Ahsoka. So yes, this means Grogu is fair game! For further clarification, we’ve decided to focus this on those who do not fall on the Dark Side of the Force, but, like Anakin and Count Dooku, the people they were before their fateful fall are allowed!
With upwards of 75 Skills to unlock in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, gathering enough experience to comfortably earn enough Skill Points for all the necessary skills needed — such as Split Reflections, Maximizing your Force and Life, and Wrenching Pull — won’t be an easy challenge to accomplish.
Thankfully, if you know where to look, two easy-to-miss Perks can be obtained before the halfway point of the main story. These Perks can be a complete game changer, as they’ll make gaining experience and earning Skill Points much easier. So, here’s everything you need to know:
Wisdom Perk – Best Overall XP Perk
Wisdom Perk
Cost: 3 Perk Slots
Description: Gain more experience from defeating enemies.
When equipped, this handy Perk will help you gain more experience from each enemy you defeat. This is a fantastic middle-ground Perk, as it’ll only set you back 3 Perk slots and will make gaining experience a breeze, especially for those using enemy farming tactics.
Gambler Perk – Risk vs. Reward
Gambler Perk
Cost: 4 Perk Slots
Description: Increase to Experience gained, but you may no longer Restore after death.
Prerequisites: Completion of the tenth main mission, Jedha – Locate Brother Armias.
The Gambler Perk can be obtained after completing the Jedha Rumor, Defeat the Sutaban Alpha, which is provided by Sister Taske. To reach the Sutaban Alpha, you’ll first need to obtain the Green Forcefield Dash — which, like other Abilities, is unlocked through the main story — and have solved the Crypt of Uhrma Wall Puzzle.
This perk will grant increased experience for everything that earns you XP, which is quite the increase over Wisdom. Do be warned, though, there is one major shortfall to sporting this Perk: upon death, you will lose all XP you have gained since your last Skill Point, as the option to Restore will be disabled.
Is the Gamber’s Perk worth it? Well, that’s up to you, but with such as considerable risk involved, we’d mostly recommend this perk for general exploration and enemy farming. However, as we’ve mentioned in ourThings Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Doesn’t Tell You guide, enemy patrols on the likes of Koboh do ramp up as you progress through the story. So, if you’re venturing outside of Rambler’s Reach, do so carefully to avoid a rather costly mistake.
Since Perks can be simply swapped out at anyMeditation Points, alternating between Wisdom and Gambler could definitely be an option.
Five Ways to Earn XP and Take Advantage of the XP Perk Bonuses
Now that you have unlocked the bonus XP Perks, you’re probably wondering how you can take advantage of them. Well, there are five ways to earn XP in Jedi: Survivor, most of which are highly accessible:
Defeating Standard Enemies (Galactic Empire, Bedlam Raiders, Flora and Fauna, etc.)
Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) is what is known as a Tabletop Role-playing Game, or TTRPG. A collaborative storytelling and boardgame experience where various dice rolls help to decide how the game and story progress. With the recent release of Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves more and more people are becoming interested in how to play this classic game. Currently in its 5th edition (D&D 5e), D&D has never been more approachable or understandable for new players and now is a perfect time to join the fun!
What You Need to Play D&D
People
Rulebooks
Dice
Character sheets
Miniatures and Game Boards
1. The People
D&D can be played with a minimum of 2 people, but often having 3-5 people is an ideal table size. At minimum, you’ll need a Dungeon Master (DM), or Game Master in other TTRPGs, and one or more Players. That being said, there is really no limit to how large an adventuring party can be, so feel free to invite as many friends as you can fit in your house.
The DM will lead each game session, develop adventures, adjudicate the rules, and fill the worlds you adventure in with people, places, and things to interact with! The role of DM can be a daunting task at first, but for people that find themselves interested in building the framework of heroic stories, it’s an unbelievably rewarding experience.
Two books below, the Dungeon Master’s Guide and Monster Manual, will help any DM get started. There are also dozens of official adventures (modules) that can help jumpstart your D&D Dungeon Master journey!
2. Rulebooks
These are the core books needed to get started on your own adventure, but only ONE is necessary as a Player!
Player’s Handbook – The only book necessary to begin playing D&D as a player! It contains how to make a character, all the needed rules on how to play, and is always useful to reference even for experienced players!
The Dungeon Master’s Guide – For aspiring Dungeon Masters, this book will help you develop Non-player characters (NPCs), cities, nations, and full adventures of your own making.
Monster Manual – No heroic adventure would be complete without some monsters for your heroes to fight! This book will help the DM fill the game with interesting, dangerous, and wonderful creatures that provide challenges for Players along the way.
There are many additional books that flesh out further Player creation options, worlds and lore to help a DM create, and full adventures that can cut down on the DM workload. A great starting point that will have everything necessary to play and run the game WITHOUT purchasing anything more, even the core books listed above, are the Dungeons and Dragons Starter Sets. These include pre-made characters, an adventure, dice, maps. And a compressed version of the rules. These are both available physically AND on most Virtual Tabletops.
3. The Dice
No game of D&D is complete without a set of shiny math rocks! For the game you will need a set of polyhedral dice including a 4-sided die, a 6-sided die, an 8-sided die, a 10-sided die, a 12-sided die, and a 20-sided die. These dice are colloquially referred to as a d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, and d20 respectively. The Dungeon Master and each player will only need one set of dice, but there is nothing stopping you from developing an unhealthy obsession and collecting hundreds of sets. Check out some of the best D&D dice sets you can buy.
4. Character Sheets
These sheets contain a detailed look at your characters stats, abilities, equipment, and any other pertinent information. A basic character sheet can be found within the Player’s Handbook, but you can also find them online or make them digitally on sites like DnDBeyond.
5. Miniatures and Game Boards
These items are optional, but can help aid in the visualization of the characters and scenes. They are used to show the setting and the placement of characters, villains, and monsters during combat. Game boards and miniature figures are often a fun project for players and DMs to design, paint, and personalize.
Virtual Tabletop (VTT) There are many VTT options, offering free and accessible resources for your game, as well as more powerful paid tools. If you can’t get all your people to one place, these can be excellent options! Use sites like DnDBeyond for character creation and digital rulebooks. For online games, virtual tabletops like Roll20 or FoundryVTT can replace miniatures and maps. Furthermore, tools like Zoom or Discord can help you play online and connect with friends near and far.
I Have All the People and Things, Now What?
How to Play Dungeons and Dragons
Create Your Character: Every player is responsible for creating their own unique character. Using the Player’s Handbook as a guide, you will assign your character stats, features, and equipment that will impact how well they fare on your travels.
Create a Setting or a World: This is usually the responsibility of the Dungeon Master. The DM will inform the players of the details of the world and story in which they find themselves. These settings and stories can come from your DM’s imagination (homebrewed) or from prewritten modules written by other authors.
Wait for Your Turn: Players alternate sharing the spotlight in order to describe what their characters are thinking, feeling, or doing whether it’s drinking in the tavern, exploring the world, talking to NPCs, or fighting a Hydra. The DM controls the flow of the game, if there’s something you’d like to do, ask!
Roll Your Dice: Depending on the actions you take during an adventure your DM may ask you to roll dice to determine the outcome of an endeavor that has a risk of failure. Your DM will set the difficulty called a DC (difficulty check), you will roll your dice and add any relevant modifier from your character sheet. If you beat the DC then you are successful in your attempt!
Combat: Combat is slightly more structured than general exploration play. Each player uses their turn to attack or use abilities to defeat their foe.
Character Creation
Before heading out for adventure, players will need to go through the process of creating a character. This can be a very fun and rewarding experience, but it can also be challenging for a first time player. So here are the steps need to get going:
Choose a Race: You will find information on the various races in D&D within the Player’s Handbook. Many may be familiar to you such as humans, dwarves or elves, but others may be new. Be sure to read through each option to better understand the variety of choices available.
Choose a Class: Classes will determine the lion’s share of your statistics and abilities. A class will inform what a player can and can’t do. Each class will have different advantages or weaknesses. Again there are many options to choose from here such as fighter, rogue, wizard, barbarian, etc.
Set Your Ability Scores: There are 6 ability scores: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. Players determine how strong each of these stats are for their character by rolling dice to determine the score for each. Other factors like your race and class can also impact these scores. It is important to note there are alternate methods for setting ability scores defined in the Player’s Handbook.
Choose Your Equipment: Everyone loves stuff, so have some! Players will determine what items they are carrying such as weapons, armor and items. You will select from a few possible starting items that will be determined by your class and background, but don’t worry you’ll be looting a dragon’s hoard for magical items soon enough!
Set Your Backstory: Determine who your character is. What is their name, where are they from, what is their tragic backstory that will be dramatically revealed to the rest of the party around a campfire? Add as much personality to your character as possible or play the strong silent type. There is no wrong choice here, but we would suggest working with your DM so they know how best to work your backstory into the world!
Terms and Rules
D&D is expansive and contains hundreds of rules and terms that you will be unfamiliar with. It can even be hard for seasoned players to keep it all straight! Take heart in knowing that every adventure starts with the same amount of knowledge regarding these subjects. Over time you will add to your understanding of the game. In the meantime refer to the rulebooks when in doubt. To get started, here are a few additional items you may want to know to help ease you into the game:
Actions: In combat your character can take Actions. Actions might have designations such as Action, Bonus Action, or Reaction. These are things like attacking, casting a spell, dodging, dashing, and more!
Initiative: During a formal combat setting players will roll Initiative by rolling a d20 and adding on your initiative modifier from your character sheet. This number will determine the order in which players and monsters take action during combat.
Hit Points: Hit points (HP) are your health. When you take damage you lose HP and when you heal you gain HP. When your character reaches 0 HP, you are unconscious and at risk of dying permanently!
Armor Class: Armor Class (AC) is a number on your character sheet that determines how hard a character is to hit in combat. Attack rolls under a determined AC do not hit!
Leveling: As you play, characters will level up gaining new stats and abilities. Leveling is determined by your DM and may be done according to experience points (XP) or via milestone achievements such as defeating a particularly ferocious enemy.
Tips for Being a Great Player
Share the Spotlight: It can be fun to be the hero of the story, but D&D is a shared experience. Be conscious of allowing time for other players.
Be Vulnerable: It can be difficult to role-play as another person. Often you might feel embarrassed or apprehensive. Take it slow, start by describing what your character does or says. Eventually, you can move into first person role-playing including a character “voice”!
Be Encouraging: As mentioned it can be scary to put yourself out there during roleplay. Encourage your fellow adventurers to push themselves and create a space that is welcoming of mistakes and celebratory of successes.
Tips for Being a Dungeon Master
Being a DM can be a difficult and thankless job so here are a few tips to help:
Be Prepared: The more you know about your world the easier it will be to adjust when your players decide to go left instead of right. Having prepared ideas of the people, places, and items in your world can alleviate stress in the moment if improv isn’t your strong suit.
Be Open and Flexible: Plans will go awry. Players will decide to kill your favorite NPC. Remember even though you are running the game this is a shared experience so allow your players the freedom to help shape the world and the story.
Reward creativity: Encourage your players to think outside of the box and not to solve every problem by swinging a sword.
Forget the rules: Sometimes the Rule of Cool is all you need! In the end, this is your table and your shared experience. The rules are more like guidelines. You are ultimately the arbiter of what you will and won’t allow at your table, so play as strict or as loose as you and your table enjoy.
Set Expectations: Before any adventure it is good for you and your Players to establish what kind of game you will be playing. Is it going to be fun and lighthearted, or will Strahd Von Zarovich claim the souls of each person playing? Useful tools for this are Safety Tools, X/O Cards, and Session 0s.
Use Tools: There are thousands of tools online to help improve your game. Use sites like DnDBeyond for character creation and digital rulebooks. For online games, virtual tabletops like Roll20 or FoundryVTT can replace miniatures and maps. Furthermore, tools like Zoom or Discord can help you play online and connect with friends near and far.
Dungeons and Dragons can be enjoyed by anyone from any walk of life. With a little bit of preparation and a willingness to share stories with others you could be well on your way to a fantastic adventure. So light the beacons, summon your party, and roll those dice!
The Sims franchise has been an incredible success since its release in the early 2000s and to this day there haven’t been any real competitors. Despite The Sims being truly one of a kind, the life simulation genre is alive and well. In The Sims, you can create your own character (known as a “Sim”), build a home for your Sim, interact with other Sims, and live out the life you want-the possibilities are endless. Players orchestrate the mundane daily activities of their Sims and their success is dependent upon the players’ decisions. While nothing can truly match the full Sims experience, here are just a few games we think you’ll enjoy if you like The Sims.
It’s also worth noting that you can play The Sims 4 for free, so if you’re just looking for the latest Sims game, that’s your best bet.
Stardew Valley
Stardew Valley comes first to mind since it hits all of the right notes in a life simulator game. Stardew Valley is a charming town with plenty to do but focuses primarily on enjoying your character’s life to the fullest by becoming a successful farmer in a pixelated countryside. Besides farming, there’s endless freedom in your day-to-day activities: building up the farm, decorating your home, woo’ing the resident characters, beating up monsters in the nearby caves, fishing, and so much more. This RPG has so many elements and secrets to keep yourself occupied. It even has an achievement system, so if you’re the type of player who enjoys completing everything there is to do in a game, this is for you. The developer, ConcernedApe, has constantly updated the game since its release so there’s always fresh content to explore with a thriving modding community as well to keep the game alive.
Stardew Valley creator Eric Baron has also revealed his next game to be Haunted Chocolatier, which should have a similar feel.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
This simulation game lets you take up residence on a completely deserted island where you can build a home of your dreams with several decorating options that are unlocked through gameplay. You can gift items and personalized letters to the villagers on your island, friends and family, and celebrate any holiday with multiplayer gameplay. Once you progress through the story quests, you will unlock terraforming which will allow you to shape cliffs and water, allowing you to create an island truly of your dreams. But what made Animal Crossing: New Horizons so special during the beginning of the pandemic was the daily tasks: completing the Critterpedia by catching bugs and fish, crafting DIY recipes, improving your home, and so much more.
SimCity
SimCity is the most dated in this list, the first game releasing a long time ago, but you can still play it easily enough on a desktop PC. In this simulator game, you play the mayor, and you can choose to build a world-class city complete with stadiums, airports, universities, and more. While you can’t control your Sims directly, everything you do impacts their lives, and it’s up to you to create a city free from natural disasters and commuter hell. So while you can’t trap your Sim in a pool or in a room with a stove that’s lit on fire, you can choose to let your Sims live the life of their dreams in a perfect metropolis or create a city in which they’ll regret moving to.
Cities: Skylines
Just like SimCity, this simulator focuses more on building a metropolis for your Sims to live in rather than controlling your Sims directly. However, Cities: Skylines is a newer game (released in 2015) and, like The Sims, has had a steady and ongoing stream of new DLC and base game updates. Even better, the modding community (PC exclusive) has continued to churn out amazing content, offering everything from custom assets for buildings and vehicles, gameplay adjustments to increase (or reduce!) realism in the simulation, and even bug fixes to improve performance. Players can engage in urban planning by controlling zoning, road placement, taxation, public services, and public transportation of an area. If building and designing is your thing, then this simulator is for you. It’s astonishing what you can build in this game; in fact, you can build replicas of real-life cities if you so desire. If you’re too overwhelmed with controlling Sims and would rather build a city from the ground-up, then this one is for you.
If managing a household in the Sims is too easy, you might enjoy managing an entire zoo instead! Planet Zoo is the modern successor to Planet Coast and Zoo Tycoon which were really popular around the same time as The Sims and The Sims 2. In Planet Zoo, you can build a zoo from scratch, complete with animal exhibits, food stalls, and managing staff to work at your zoo. The staff at your zoo will gain experience as they become better at their jobs and they have a needs meter just like in the Sims. There are several modes for which you can play each with their own set of unique challenges: career mode, franchise mode, sandbox mode, and challenge mode.
House Flipper
House Flipper takes everything you love about decorating in The Sims and Animal Crossing and throws it all together into one game. You can schedule clients and renovate their homes based on a budget, with milestones to learn new skills like installing ceiling lamps and replacing broken appliances along the way. Eventually, you can make enough money from working with clients to purchase your own homes and give them complete renovations to sell at a profit.
The new House Flipper 2 is scheduled to release in Q3 of 2023.
Disney Dreamlight Valley
This life simulation game features powerful customization tools that let you create the perfect character, the perfect home, and the perfect town. There are multiple hobbies to explore like fishing, gardening, and foraging for materials to use in their crafting. Although, you do have to complete a few quests to get the essentials unlocked — including a lot of Dreamlight Valley recipes.
If you’re familiar with the Sims characters and lore, you’ll be happy to know that Bella Goth makes an appearance in Dreamlight Valley. Since Disney is a family-friendly franchise that caters to small children as well as adults, it’s safe to say that Disney Dreamlight Valley does not allow you to build romantic relationships, get married, or have children. This is an aspect of The Sims that is completely nonexistent in Dreamlight Valley.
