Lenovo’s Legion 5 lineup has been getting consistently better in the last few years since James took a look at the 2022 model, and it’s now an OLED gaming laptop that packs a Blackwell GPU.
Lore of the Swings.
From the moment Nintendo revealed Pauline’s presence in Donkey Kong Bananza, I knew one thing for certain: I was going to be writing a feature on the DK timeline in the next two months.
Look, you know I love Bananza. DK and Pauline have such a wholesome little relationship, I adored hearing the same senile rant from Cranky on each and every layer, and the little nods to the great ape’s previous endeavours were perfectly balanced. It felt like a wall-to-wall celebration of all things DK while also serving as an introduction to the modern age of 3D platforming for one of Nintendo’s oldest characters.
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
Every August, 70,000 gamers head to Indianapolis to attend the largest tabletop gaming convention in North America, Gen Con. This year’s event had large crowds packing the convention center and spilling into the nearby streets. Over 500 vendors filled the hall and a slew of new releases made their debut.
After four days of glorious dice rolling and cube pushing, 10 board games have emerged as the most compelling and unique titles I saw on offer. Most of these will be available in general retail shortly, and many are already open to preorder. This list is organized alphabetically.
Don’t have time to read blurbs? These are them. If you do have time for blurbs, though, read on, because we have lots of info about why each one deserves a spot on this list.
It’s a difficult task cramming a 4X space conquest into a small box, but this intriguing card game from Portal Games does just that. Each player controls an interstellar alliance of three unique factions drawn from a pool of 40 distinct options. This creates an asymmetric suite of abilities that informs and influences strategy. Utilizing a selection of multi-use cards, players explore new systems, settle planets, research advanced technologies, and build shiny galactic cruisers.
While quick and sharp, the main focus is on executing tough decisions on how to use cards for either long-term benefits or short-term bursts. The inclusion of a solo mode is also a very nice addition that extends the life of the game.
Solo gaming is not a new concept, but it’s certainly exploded in recent years. Ace of Spades is the latest noteworthy title in this category, allowing a lone player to utilize a hand of cards to battle progressively tougher bosses. On the surface, it looks a lot like the tabletop version of Balatro, but a closer gander reveals an interesting card game brimming with identity.
The wild setting helps as you head to Sweet Haven, Arizona seeking vengeance upon a vile necromancer. This leads to a cemetery where you are confronted by horrific denizens of hell intent on claiming your soul. Best of all, if you get tired of facing these terrors alone, you can call in a partner and play the game in two-player cooperative mode. This works surprisingly well, even if the core engine feels more comfortable as a solo endeavor. This is a heavy-metal charged experience with distorted riffs and a thick tracklist of content.
This is the oddball entry of the list, a party game for a collection of people where one is ruthlessly murdered and the others attempt to solve the crime. The twist here is that the victim tries to form clues from a randomly dealt allotment of cards. These contain symbols and characters of various types, requiring some creative thinking from the murdered participant. You’re given a few minutes to arrange the clue cards how you’d like, using them in conjunction with several suspect cards placed off to the side. The idea is that in the last moments of life, you’ve done what you can to leave a message for those who find you.
After arranging the murder scene, the victim sprawls out on the table capturing their final position at time of death. The ensuing discussion as people try, often in vain, to tease out the meaning of the scene and decipher the clues can be riotous and engaging. Ultimately, the group guesses the murderer and either succeeds or fails.
This is a quirky design that absolutely requires the right set of people. Acquire the wrong crowd or a misaligned mood and it runs the risk of firing blanks. However, with some performative buy-in and a deductive attitude, Dying Message will hit its mark and result in a tabletop game that is wholly unique.
Cozy games are all the rage right now. These are designs that present a relaxed experience which is more focused on meditative play and chill vibes over brutish competition. High Tide is the latest to break out in this category, selling out at Gen Con due to its stellar aesthetic and intriguing play.
This is a small game, easily portable and completely unassuming. But it boasts a surprising amount of depth. Tiles are arranged randomly in a grid and players take turns stacking pieces upon ones that are higher. You may only move your own or neutral tiles, however. It teases out just the right level of strategic thought without tipping over into a cerebral grind. High Tide is a neat, novel work that stood out among the swathe of new games.
Much of the buzz surrounding Lightning Train is the pedigree of designer Paul Dennen. His previous work, Dune Imperium, is a modern classic that has caught on like wildfire in the gaming community. This new release uses a similar concept of bag building as players add various resources to their bag in a strategic bid for developing their company.
The goal is to open train stations and railroad lines across North America, facilitating the delivery of goods to cities in need. The interesting detail is that players can share each other’s infrastructure, sending cargo along another participant’s route. Both receive benefits from this cooperation, birthing a more nuanced and fuzzy strategic space. Unlike most games in the train category, Lightning Train is a more approachable design that slots in as a step up from Ticket to Ride.
Pandemic has dozens of spinoff games at this point, and The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship appears to be just another iteration on Matt Leacock’s modern classic. That is not the case. This new design does contain some faint indicators of that previous game’s DNA, but it’s so much more than that.
This is a rich adventure game where players cooperate to take the One Ring to Mount Doom while evading the attention of Sauron. It’s part tower defense, with players recruiting Free World troops to battle invading Orcs and Southrons, and it’s part stealth thriller as Frodo must constantly sneak past armies and Nazgul. This is a tense affair, and it’s far more detailed and thematic than expected. In fact, it barely feels like a Pandemic property at all, which may take some people by surprise. Regardless, this is perhaps the most exciting game I played at Gen Con this year, and I’m enraptured by it.
Evolution, the board game that captures the pressures of a dynamic ecosystem and how this influences species, has been wildly successful over the past 10 years of its life. It’s spawned numerous expansions and spinoffs, and may have just found its final state with Nature. This latest version of the system is pared down to a straightforward and approachable core game that retains the interesting card play of its predecessor.
Some of the elements have been simplified, and it’s easier than ever to introduce this game to beginners and non-hobbyist of any age. The magic resides in the game’s module system. Multiple add-ons exist that can be inserted to layer on sub-systems for flight, dinosaurs, and environments. This slightly increases the complexity, while boosting the strategic potential. A huge boon is that it changes up the feel of each session, and allows North Star Games to expand this properly infinitely. Nature is poised to have the longest legs of any game in the Evolution line.
Battle of Hoth was the most talked about game heading into Gen Con. This was for good reason, as it puts a Star Wars board game spin on the popular Memoir 44 series of games. Players take on the role of either the contingent of Imperial AT-ATs and snowtroopers, or the Rebel soldiers holding the line in order to protect the planet’s shield generator. Each takes turns playing cards from their hand to activate one portion of the battlefield, choosing from a selection of units occupying that flank. This restriction of the card system is a hallmark of the Memoir series, forcing tough decisions with only a modicum of rules overhead.
While this is a wargame of sorts, it’s also a very streamlined and rules-light design. It’s a dramatic game, full of dice rolling and big moments where units are scattered and lines are broken. The Star Wars backdrop only helps.
During the 1986 Spooktacular horror film festival, a freak accident occurs involving a lightning strike and a little bit of mystery. This results in dozens of monsters spanning the length of cinematic history being released from their fictional bonds. Now they are free to terrorize the festival goers and wreak havoc.
This dynamite concept is realized through a highly asymmetric yet still smartly restrained system. Players take on the roles of movie monsters animated from the screen, competing to scare and devour guests. Each of the 20 included monsters is unique, featuring its own suite of abilities and cards. Yet, this is not an overstuffed game and the core processes are direct and sensible. The concoction here is magnificent, and this monster mash is full of delight and terror.
In my review of Vantage, I declared it as possibly being the top game of 2025. It seems the crowds of Gen Con agreed, as this game was everywhere. This is a fully cooperative adventure where players crash land on an uncharted planet and must navigate its many mysteries in order to fulfill a collective mission. While this was clearly designed in the tradition of modern narrative adventure games, it goes about things its own way, massively improving on the pre-existing approach.
For one, it’s not a campaign game. Each individual session has a complete arc, which makes it far more approachable for most groups. It also does away with narrow objectives requiring players head to specific locations. Instead, many of the missions may be fulfilled in numerous ways. This highlights the game’s focus on creativity and freedom, allowing you to wander and explore whatever catches your eye. Finally, the mysteries of the world are special and worthy of the effort required. This is a fantastic game, and it was the closest thing to a singular standout title of the convention.
Charlie Theel is a tabletop games freelancer. You can follow him on Twitter @CharlieTheel.
If you failed to swipe a key for this week’s Battlefield 6 beta, because you neither signed up via the Battlefield Labs programme before 31st July nor watched Your Favourite Creators play the game during the recent multiplayer reveal, then Don’t Sweat It, Soldier, because Drill Sergeant EA Have Your Back in the shape of a last-gasp code giveaway.
Behaviour Interactive has released detailed patch notes for Dead by Daylight update 9.1.1 following backlash to bugs and balance changes introduced last week.
The team behind the popular asymmetrical horror game offered a breakdown for its long list of new fixes on the Dead by Daylight website today. It’s a bug fix patch that arrives just one week after update 9.1.0 launched for players across PC and consoles, but according to fans, it’s already long overdue.
Dead by Daylight update 9.1.0 came with The Walking Dead representation, map changes, and balance tweaks for many of Behaviour’s playable Survivors and Killers. While the additions were celebrated by many, others struggled to focus on the positive aspects of the content update because it just so happened to come hand in hand with several new game-breaking exploits.
Lowlights from the patch saw players expressing concern regarding Perks like Streetwise, Blood Rush, and Last Stand, as each introduced either a fresh bug to squash. There’s also the issue of The Clown, who has paraded around player Trials with his lightning-fast speed and unstoppable, bottle-throwing arm. Thankfully, after Behaviour moved to Kill Switch (or disable) many of these issues yesterday, Dead by Daylight update 9.1.1 is here with more permanent fixes.
Streetwise and Last Stand will both be re-enabled with the new update, with both receiving tweaks to repair the problems introduced with the last patch. The troublesome Fog Vial, which was added as a new item just last week, is also getting a nerf to its opacity and volume. Meanwhile, a list of priority bug fixes mends issues related to Killers and chase mechanics, how Survivors see The Deathslinger’s aiming animation, and more.
Fixes for glitches tied to audio, characters, environments, and other Perks can also be found in Dead by Daylight update 9.1.1 as Behaviour works to regain lost ground with the fanbase it’s grown throughout the last nine years. Part of the plan to do so, which was outlined in a post published by the Dead by Daylight X/Twitter account yesterday, involves issuing another hotfix sometime next week. It’s said to come with a fix for Blood Rush bugs as well as additional tweaks to Fog Vials.
Behaviour says it will work to Kill Switch problematic gameplay elements and communicate with fans at a quicker pace in the future, thanking vocal players for their feedback as development continues. While we wait to see how the team rebalances The Clown and more of its Killers, you can read up on how Dead by Daylight players reached out to the Overwatch team at Blizzard when they were most desperate. You can also check out our recent interview with Behaviour, where we learned more about how the team developed its Five Nights at Freddy’s Chapter and the Springtrap Killer.
Finally, you can check out the full Dead by Daylight update 9.1.1 patch notes below.
Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).
Dead by Daylight players were left to fend for themselves after a recent update introduced several game-breaking exploits, so, naturally, they turned to Blizzard Entertainment and the Overwatch team for help.
Behaviour Interactive, the studio behind the long-running asymmetrical horror game, found itself in fight or flight mode after issuing its July update last week. Two Survivors from The Walking Dead — Michonne and Rick Grimes — were the headliners, but the latest patch came with more than just bloody new content for players to feast on.
I’ve been in the dbd sphere for 9 years and I’ve never seen everyone this upset, even at dbds lowest points there was still a lot of great things to look forward to. I’m not gonna lie it blew my mind with how many people were upset, I’ve never seen this before.
— Brandyn (@wispfell) August 5, 2025
Of Dead by Daylight’s many playable Killers, it’s The Clown who waltzed into patch 9.1.0 with the most changes. Specifically, any Survivors who encounter the bottle-throwing menace will notice that he is now much, much faster, with certain builds and strategies only increasing his speed further. Killers are usually always a bit faster than their prey, but the new update turns The Clown into a unique force of nature that makes him nearly unescapable.
As The Clown Killers flooded Dead by Daylight Trials, so too did several troublesome Survivor Perks. Builds using Streetwise, Blood Rush, and Last Stand were quickly becoming popular amongst die-hard fans who had discovered new exploits, including the ability to gain infinite item charges and occasional sprint boosts. These are bugs that can and have fundamentally shifted gameplay balance in Dead by Daylight as players take advantage of what many deem to be broken aspects of the experience.
These issues and more plagued the Dead by Daylight community for around one week, and with few promising updates from Behaviour arriving throughout that time, fans became desperate. There was only so much the memes of The Clown plastered onto Cars’ Lightning McQueen could do to ward off the negative feelings brought by game-breaking bugs, so players eventually took their concerns from Behaviour support threads to somewhere else entirely.
For some strange reason, they turned to Overwatch for help.
— Agente6801 (@SrAgente6801) August 5, 2025
As Blizzard took to its official Overwatch 2 social media pages to push new Stadium builds for Mercy and celebrate its new collaboration with NERF, Dead by Daylight fans began asking for assistance with zero warning or context.
“Hey could you fix some killer bugs that have been present for YEARS,” one reply to an Overwatch 2 post on X/Twitter says.
“Revert Clown changes, plz and thanks! <3” another adds.
DBD PLAYERS ASKING OVERWATCH DEVS TO FIX DBD BUGS IS FRYING ME😭 pic.twitter.com/S1BBlVLLF1
— Ash (@Ashhlo_) August 5, 2025
Many of these posts have hundreds — if not thousands — of likes, with most replies asking for fixes for the biggest issues causing players trouble. Some messages are also asking for reworks for the Onyro Killer, while others are simply pleading for any amount of support at all. You’re more likely to spot The Clown fan art than any reply actually related to Overwatch depending on the post you click on, proving that Dead by Daylight fans have truly had enough.
It’s not at all clear why Dead by Daylight players, among the hundreds of major game developers out there, latched onto the Overwatch team at Blizzard. The two games are multiplayer experiences and that’s… about it, as neither truly shares that much in common outside of an ability to control characters in an online setting. It’s pure chaos that was mostly contained in Overwatch threads, though you might find a few stray posts from players bugging official Fortnite, Genshin Impact, Fatal Fury, and more accounts, too, if you look hard enough.
Whether it was the crossover no one expected or just general fan outcry, Behaviour heard the pleas for help and finally offered a detailed game plan for the future. With its own post on X, the Dead by Daylight team temporarily and immediately Kill Switched the Streetwise, Blood Rush, and Last Stand Perks, removing them from play as the studio worked on fixes. A hotfix, titled the 9.1.1 update, is currently set to follow today and is said to come with fixes for Streetwise and Last Stand, specifically, as well as “small adjustments” to Fog Vials.
This is great and all but why does it always take so much community outcry for the team to actually realize something is bad? https://t.co/TDxL8icL6F
— SpookyLoopz (@SpookyLoopz) August 5, 2025
Blood Rush fixes are scheduled to arrive next week, as are more tweaks to Fog Vials. These are necessary fixes but only a small step to address the community’s wider issue with Behaviour’s communication strategy. As a result, the team says it already “rebuilding” its Kill Switch process “to be more nimble and better account for community sentiment.”
In other words, don’t expect game-breaking Dead by Daylight bugs to tamper with the overall experience for weeklong periods in the future. Fans are happy to see their feedback finally addressed, but only time will tell if it’s enough to repair the damage done.
“We’re grateful for your feedback, which helps us identify places where we can improve and re-evaluate our processes, changing course when it’s needed to improve the Dead by Daylight experience for all,” Behaviour’s message concludes. “As a live game, we know this conversation is ongoing, and we appreciate you for being a part of it with us!”
I’m happy these changes are coming, but DBD has ignored the health of their game for a VERY long time. It’s unacceptable.
I’ve never played a game that’s been around for nearly 10 years with as many bugs, especially game breaking ones. I’m really disappointed. https://t.co/NI2fQdqrLc
— Lillers✨🔜 TwitchCon (@Lillipie101) August 5, 2025
Dead by Daylight recently celebrated its nine-year anniversary with special in-game events and rewards. It was preceded by the long-awaited introduction of Five Nights at Freddy’s content, including the new Springtrap Killer and a pizza restaurant map. With The Walking Dead now fully integrated into the 1v4 experience, players are looking forward to a new Killer in September as well as another new Killer and two new Survivors in November.
For more, you can read up on our recent interview with Behaviour, where we learned more about Springtrap and how the team finally brought Five Nights at Freddy’s into the world of The Entity. You can also check out how the Overwatch crew is trying to stay in good standing with its own community.
Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).
We’ve already shown you how you can save almost $400 on the Lenovo Legion 5 Gen 10, but if you’re looking for a little more from your gaming laptop then there’s a saving on the Legion Pro, too.
It’s Nintendo’s Indie World, we’re all just living in it.
Nintendo is going absolutely crazy as tomorrow, 7th August 2025, we’re getting our second video game showcase for the Switch 2 and Switch. And it’s an Indie World.
Indie World showcases are always a nice surprise, and given that this is the first for the Switch 2 gen, we might well be seeing a little more Mouse Mode in action — or, quite literally, mice.
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
The post The War Within: Ghosts of K’aresh is Now Live! appeared first on Xbox Wire.
NBA 2K26 tip-off on PlayStation 5 is less than a month away; bringing a host of exciting gameplay innovations and presentation enhancements in the latest iteration of the NBA 2K franchise. This year, the Visual Concepts development team made another Eurostep forward in lifelike animations and authenticity, with heightened player fidelity, palpable arena atmosphere, energetic commentary and captivating pageantry—let’s get into it.
The weight of the moment combined with the wear and tear of each dribble, foul, and collision takes a physical toll over the course of a game.
In NBA 2K26, the evolution of player fidelity is more noticeable thanks to a new shader that brings out the subtleties of each player’s skin. Get up close and see the sweat stream down the pores on players’ faces, the cracks in their lips from dehydration, and the improved muscle definition after a thunderous dunk.
This new shading technology makes uniforms and shoes look even more detailed and stunning. The curvature of embroidered names on the back of jerseys boasts increased accuracy—you can even see the ultra-fine stitching. These minute details bring you closer to the action than ever before.
Take in the grandeur of these larger-than-life NBA arenas with improved lighting, floor shading, and team-specific features in NBA 2K26.
Improved arena lighting
The lighting in NBA 2K26 has been redesigned to improve light intensity and color correction. Coupled with the new skin shader, the players shine and reflect like the stars they are as they dazzle under the bright lights of the arena.
Improved court floors
In addition to the new skin shaders, new floor shaders have been introduced to add more life and sheen to every court. The meticulously polished courts in 2K26 invite you to step on the hardwood and observe the uniqueness of each team’s home court. Depending on the camera angle you prefer, there’s a distinct contrast in wood grain color based on a higher or lower view.
Team-specific features
From the shape of each arena’s overhead spotlights to the Clippers’ towering “Wall,” all 30 arenas in NBA 2K26 have been designed to closely match their real-world counterparts. Teams around the league have different pregame rituals, like how they create specific patterns with their light shows or how they illuminate the court with team colors. For the teams that rely on pyrotechnics to fire up the crowd, a thin haze will fill the arena and progressively dissipate as the game gets underway. Dedicated fans of these teams will appreciate the level of authenticity and effort that went into capturing the true essence of every arena, like the Detroit Pistons’ courtside lounge behind the baseline.
Feel the palpable energy of an NBA arena in NBA 2K26. Interact with diverse fanbases as a player and quiet the hecklers with sensational plays. Even the entertainers are putting on a show—mascots, hype crews, and national anthem singers are raising the bar during pregame and in between timeouts.
Crowd variety & interaction
Crowd variety and interactions were a big focus this year, and received major improvements and upgrades. Variety was greatly expanded with twice the number of unique character models, including more body types and heads. This represents a wider range of sizes, shapes, and ages. Clothing options are also expanded and now include current and historic player jerseys that feature a player’s name on the back of the jersey. We’re talking about over 60 historic players such as Jordan, Bird, and more; many of the top current players in the game have been included, as well.
Fans in the crowd have been given rally towels, foam fingers and even rubber chickens to show their team spirit. Expect to see these deployed in key moments of special games, think NBA Cup and Playoffs games. Each fan will also wear an arena provided LED wristband that’s used to create light shows for player introductions, after big plays, and more.
In MyCAREER, particularly passionate fans may heckle your MyPLAYER during the game. Listen to their chirps and use it as motivation to silence them with your skills on the court.
In-arena entertainment
During breaks in the action, new performers and entertainment will take the floor. From mascots on pocket bikes to choreographed dances, and more. There will never be a dull moment. All-new renditions of the U.S. and Canadian national anthems will be played pregame, prior to tip-off.
Player interactions in 2K26 set the scene before the game with an updated lower-bowl experience.
Pregame shootaround includes fresh animations; players and trainers can be seen conducting drills and getting warmed up ahead of the game.
When there’s a stoppage or break in the action—timeout, coach’s challenge, end of a quarter—players will see refreshed bench and huddle animations, as you make substitutions and draw up plays. Some players may even make their case to the officiating crew about potential foul calls.
Add to the memory of your clutch moments with eloquent commentary captured by the talented play-by-play and color commentary of the NBA 2K broadcast team. In the waning moments of a game, especially when it’s tightly contested, there will be a noticeable shift in tone from the commentators. As the clock ticks down and the intensity ratchets up, the heightened energy will feel much different from a blowout.
Returning to the broadcast booth in NBA 2K26 are the talented, iconic, and insightful crew of Kevin Harlan, Greg Anthony, Stan Van Gundy, Shams Charania, and more. In addition to this distinguished cast, new PA announcers, international correspondents, and the incredibly savvy Tim Legler have joined the mix.
NBA history is defined by iconic individual seasons and clutch performances in big moments. NBA 2K26 is designed to capture the magnitude of these awards and moments by drawing you in with the pageantry and spectacle of it all.
Dynamic banners
Celebrate your championships properly with dynamic banners in NBA 2K26. As you win titles, you’ll see banners from those championship victories raised into the rafters, where they’ll hang to commemorate your milestone achievements. Year after year, as you add to your storied legacy, these banners will be a constant reminder of your place in NBA history and a crowning achievement of your success.
NBA Cup
Presentation now has full integration for the NBA Cup, including more detailed overlays in Cup games that educate you on the groups and how many points teams need to advance in this unique format.
In addition, custom highlight reels will be played before NBA Cup games, featuring signature NBA Cup thematic music and special NBA Cup branding to make every moment feel more significant.
Replays will utilize the unique ‘matrix cam,’ which shows a 360-degree replay that orbits around highlight moments.
NBA Awards
Celebrate your achievements with all 7 NBA regular season awards: MVP, Rookie of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Sixth Man of the Year, Most Improved Player, Clutch Players of the Year, and Coach of the Year.
Your trophy will be presented to you in your first home game after winning the award. If you won more than one award, you’ll even see them presented together.
Capture your favorite show-stopping highlights with Instant Replay, Photo Moments, and Highlight Builder features. In NBA 2K26, you can now save filter presets for easy access when creating highlight reels. Put an artistic touch on your gravity-defying plays to give them a cinematic look and feel.
From the rafters to the hardwood, and everything in between, NBA 2K26’s presentation enhancements raise the intensity inside the arena and make every game feel like it’s primetime. Pre-order NBA 2K26 Superstar or Leave No Doubt Edition and experience all of these authentic features for yourself during Early Access*, starting August 29!
*Early access only available for NBA 2K26 Superstar and Leave No Doubt Editions (Digital) only available on PlayStation 5. Availability restrictions apply.
