Get ready to light up the stage like never before – Smash Drums is launching on PlayStation VR2 on May 15, and it’s more than just an upgrade.
We’ve fine-tuned the experience to take full advantage of PS VR2’s power — from razor-sharp visuals with eye-tracked foveated rendering and native 120fps gameplay, to immersive headset haptics and adaptive triggers that bring the action to life.
Hang on to your sticks. Here’s what’s new.
Feel the upgrade: Visuals like never before
PS VR2 takes Smash Drums’ visuals to the next level. We’ve enhanced environments with richer detail and better textures, while real-time lighting and shadows bring each performance to life. New effects like heat haze above the flames crank up the spectacle, making every session an explosive ride.
Thanks to eye-tracked foveated rendering, visuals stay razor-sharp where you’re looking, allowing for more environmental detail and smoother performance. And with native 120fps in Performance mode, this is the cleanest, most responsive version of Smash Drums yet.
Enhanced Performance on PS5 Pro
Smash Drums shines on all PS5 consoles, but if you’re rocking a PS5 Pro, you’re in for an extra level of intensity. The Fidelity graphics mode delivers enhanced resolution and visual effects — all while running at a smooth 120fps, compared to 90fps on the base PS5.
Lights, camera, destruction: social mode
PS5 brings the power to not only rock harder, but look cooler doing it. Our new dynamic Social Mode features smooth first-person camera movement and cinematic third-person angles that turn every performance into a full-blown visual show on your TV.
It’s also designed for sharing — capture gameplay that looks amazing straight out of the headset. Whether you’re chasing high scores or just vibing to the beat, you can tailor what shows up on screen: display the song title at the start, hide the interface, overlay your score and leaderboard rank, or disable the dynamic camera angles for a steady shot.
Feel the rhythm, literally
Smash Drums has always been about energy, chaos, and letting loose — and on PS VR2, the physical feedback takes things up a notch.
Headset haptics let you feel the chaos when stage debris crashes into you, adding an extra layer of presence. And when you spin your sticks using the adaptive triggers, it’s not just a visual — it buzzes through your fingers, pulsing with every rotation. It’s magical.
Turn it up: Your Smash Drums soundtrack
The Standard Edition of Smash Drums features 58 rock tracks spanning punk, metal, and classic rock — delivering hours of explosive gameplay right out of the gate.
Looking to expand your setlist with more iconic hits? The Premium Edition includes all currently released song packs, featuring licensed tracks from legendary artists. Each pack adds five songs, and if you’re not ready to go Premium, you can pick and choose individual packs to upgrade your Standard Edition at your own pace.
Join the mayhem
Legions of players already love Smash Drums on other platforms, making it a VR drumming classic and the #1 top seller in this category. The PS VR2 edition takes the experience to the next level.
Whether you’re chasing leaderboard glory, vibing to the music at your own pace, or going for the Platinum Trophy, Smash Drums on PS VR2 is the loudest, hardest-hitting version yet. Wishlist now and join the mayhem when we launch on May 15.
There’s certainly been no shortage of games in the last month or so, and it’s easy for games to get lost in the proverbial avalanche. In a show of mutual admiration, though, two leads behind two RPGs, both of which launched in the same week, are promoting each others’ games to fans.
As spotted by GamesRadar, Kazutaka Kodaka — creator of Danganronpa and co-director behind the recently released The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy — shouted out players reaching a milestone in his own game. Then, he went on to shout out another current RPG in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. “Even after you finish Expedition 33, this Japanese cult game will still be here, waiting for you!” said Kodaka.
He went on to praise Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 in a follow-up post, drawing a comparison between the two games’ unique takes on their respective genres. “Expedition 33 is an amazing tribute to classic JRPG, while Hundred Line is a cult Japanese VN & SRPG,” said Kodaka. “Hundred Line has its own unique charm too, so why not play!!!”
Sandfall Interactive seemed to notice the shout-outs, and the official Expedition 33 account posted a message from creative director Guillaume Broche:
“After your Expedition, check out The Hundred Line, another great turn-based RPG that was also released last week, and made with love by an awesome team. There’s too many good RPGs coming out at the same time, these days!”
A note from Guillaume Broche, @SandfallGames Creative Director:
After your Expedition, check out The Hundred Line, another great turn-based RPG that was also released last week, and made with love by an awesome team.
— Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (@expedition33) April 30, 2025
Kodaka followed up, with more praise for Expedition 33:
“Thank you!!!! And for those of you who finished your school life first—it’s time to head out on an expedition! Expedition 33 is the future of RPGs. With unique RPGs like these coming out at the same time, now’s the perfect time to dive in and enjoy everything the genre has to offer”
There are, frankly, a lot of games coming out every year. Per SteamDB, over 6,000 games have hit Valve’s PC platform in 2025 as of this writing. Over 18,000 released on Steam last year alone. By any metric, that’s a baffling number, and even games with newsworthy creators may struggle to reach audiences in the massive flood of new things to play. Factor in ever-evolving live-service games and their content update schedules, and everything, everywhere is fighting for your time and attention.
In light of that, it’s heartwarming to not only see two creators acknowledging and promoting each others’ games, but encouraging fans to go play them afterwards. In the never-ending battle for eyes and attach rates, encouraging players to roll credits and move on to other experiences is noteworthy.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is out now for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy is also out now, for PC and Nintendo Switch. If you’re close to finishing one, it sounds like you might want to check out the other, too.
“A beautifully made retro-inspired RPG that will instantly transport you back to the 16-bit golden years, for better or worse,” was how Katherine Castle (RPS in peace) summarised Sea Of Stars, a Chrono Trigger-style pixelart sojourn down memory lane from Sabotage Studios, creators of The Messenger. I imagine it’s better rather than worse for the addition of some sizeable, circus-themed free DLC, Throes Of The Watchmaker.
Out 20th May, the expansion adds a new playable character, Arty, together with an estimated eight hours of new areas, music, dungeons, minigames, enemies, bosses, puzzles, and playable classes for original protagonists Valere and Zale. Run your rose-tinted retinas over this trailer.
With your hands full of guns and a warrant for the Devil’s arrest in your pocket, Shotgun Cop Man sends you on a nonstop blitz of new ideas. This short and sweet action-platformer continually reinvents itself across 10 clever worlds, leaving little room for a good idea to get stale. Once I mastered its distinct style of projectile-based movement, barrelling through the circles of hell turned into a pure power fantasy. Even though it’s harder than it should be to chase high scores and better times, I still had a blast gunning for a more optimized run after the credits rolled.
Shotgun Cop Man’s goofy vibes, flashy acrobatics, and time attack setup transported me back to my middle school days of bypassing the browser security settings in the computer lab to sneak in runs of Flash games like Fancy Pants Adventures or Electricman 2. Granted, this would blow many of those study hall time killers out of the water, but I could still easily see myself racing to the end of its first world with a friend while we’re supposed to be working on a research paper or math homework. It shares the same tight scope and paired back tone, but here those mask a surprisingly deep platformer.
Shotgun Cop Man isn’t just a standard run-n-gun shoot-em-up. Instead, the recoil from your shotgun serves as the driving force behind most of the movement. Need to take out some demons to your right? Well, you better make sure the coast is clear to your left when you pull the trigger. This challenging, but ultimately rewarding, system of ballistic blowback fills in for genre-standards like jumping or dashing midair, while firing your sidearm — which ranges from a satisfyingly snappy but weak pistol to a powerful gatling gun — allows you to hover midair or make more precise hops.
You can’t just spray and pray you wind up on the next platform, though. Each weapon has limited ammo, keeping Shotgun Cop Man relatively grounded: the shotgun itself only holds three shells at a time, so he needs to touch terra firma to reload. That said, sidearms tend to have bigger magazines, allowing for a reliable second option to fall back on when you need to get to the ground and take another shot at a tough jump. This restrained approach brings a levelheaded balance to Shotgun Cop Man that encourages mayhem and speed without leaving precision and skill in the dust.
Shotgun Cop Man bets big on its platforming acumen, and it pays off.
To make matters more difficult, Shotgun Cop Man also has to contend with the armies of Hell as he chases down their leader. Aside from a few combat-focused levels that blend each circle of Hell’s unique mechanics into an arena-style showdown, as well as the requisite boss that shows up at the end of each 17-level world, Shotgun Cop Man is all about movement. Because of that, enemies play second fiddle here, being treated as platforming obstacles masterfully woven into each level. They act like the bright-red explosive barrels of a 3D shooter, providing the satisfaction of popping them while offering direction on where and when to shoot. Shotgun Cop Man bets big on its platforming acumen rather than falling in-line with other action platformer successes like Katana Zero, and it pays off in spades.
Still, this unique movement takes quite some time to get used to, especially if you’re playing with a controller: Pointing in two different directions like a twin-stick shooter (left for walking, right for aiming) makes for an unnatural platformer control scheme. Wrapping my head around it felt like being asked to rub my belly and pat my head at the same time. Unfortunately, there’s really no better way to make this specific type of movement work on the sticks, though it is much more comfortable with a keyboard and mouse. Thankfully, Shotgun Cop Man’s accessibility features allow you to skip certain inputs, like making it so you pick up new sidearms automatically, so you can tweak things to be much more comfortable.
I was halfway through the roughly five hour campaign by the time I felt like I’d fully climbed its relatively steep learning curve, mastering this propulsion-based blend of combat and movement. Normally, this initial struggle would be a knock against it, but Shotgun Cop Man constantly introduces and innovates on new ideas while rewarding your growing mastery of them. It also sets up systems that successfully encouraged me to obsessively replay levels in an attempt to shave nanoseconds off my time. This potent blend dangles an appetizing carrot-on-a-stick to gnash at in bite-sized speedruns once you’ve found your footing.
When he inevitably takes a hit, Shotgun Cop Man’s heart comically pops out of his body. Running into it will pick it up and restore health, but he’ll die in one hit without it. When that happens, the camera zooms in on his oddly detailed face as he says, “I die,” in a goofy, computerized voice. This minimal, self-aware sense of humor sets the tone overall, as there’s otherwise not much of a premise to explain here (and developer Dead Toast Entertainment even pokes fun at this in the credits by putting quotes around the word “Story”). You’re a cop with a shotgun trying to arrest the Devil. Naturally, Old Scratch doesn’t play ball. Each time our hero catches up to him, Satan tells the boy in blue to shove it, and you continue on your chase once more. It’s thin, but it works, and is just amusing enough to keep things moving.
Unfortunately, that sense of humor eventually becomes Shotgun Cop Man’s Waterloo. Each time it zooms in on his face as he points out the obvious, it takes far too long to get back into the action. It takes as many as three button presses to respawn, and even longer to restart a level. I know how silly this sounds in the face of everything Shotgun Cop Man gets right, but in a game where you’ll be dying and trying again quite a bit, these add up to completely hamper any sense of momentum. That’s especially glaring when every level in Shotgun Cop Man grades your performance on whether or not you killed every enemy, beat the par time, took any damage, or did all three of those in the same run. In what feels like a big oversight, there’s no quick level restart button when you die, so to chase that perfect run, you need to resume the level after that death, pause, and then hit the retry option from there. Because Shotgun Cop Man trades in seconds and milliseconds (most levels took me less than a minute to complete), this otherwise small bump in the road became an outsized, unnecessary part of mastering each level.
That said, for a game that only took me about five hours to see from end to end, Shotgun Cop Man crams in a staggeringly impressive range of innovations and spins on its seemingly simple run-and-shoot formula. It ricochets from idea to idea, never allowing a mechanic to get old — in fact, there are quite a few I wish got some more time to shine, like reactive floors, which alternate between safe and deadly each time they’re shot, or clever box-moving puzzles that put your understanding of each weapon’s power to the test. Most mechanics get a chance to shine before being woven into more new mechanics later on, but there’s also an impressive level creator (exclusive to the PC version) that lets you toy with some of these ideas yourself if you feel like your favorite didn’t get its time in the sun.
I’m not much of a level designer myself, but the creation suite provides a robust toy chest for dedicated designers to mess around with. It doesn’t just feature tools that enable you to recreate or expand upon any clever idea found in the campaign, it even includes wholly unique mechanics that aren’t found there, like extra enemy and NPC types. I didn’t get to try any user-created levels during the pre-release period, but I’m really excited to see what people think up once Shotgun Cop Man is out in the wild.
I remember vividly when I first caught wind of The Outer Worlds back in 2018 – my managing editor at the time talked about his preview of what developer Obsidian was working on; an original first-person RPG with the makings of a Fallout game. As someone who still won’t shut up about Fallout: New Vegas to this day, that was music to my ears. It turned out to be one of my favorite games of 2019, but instead of expecting it to be the next coming of Fallout, I saw it more as a new foundation for Obsidian to work within.
There were certain limitations to what the first Outer Worlds could be in terms of size and scope, and that much was clear in the several conversations I’ve had with the development team when reflecting on it. But after seeing the sequel in action for the first time and interviewing key folks at Obsidian, The Outer Worlds 2 seems like that original vision fully realized. For all the details I’ve been able to dig up about the revamped gameplay systems and worldbuilding, the overarching idea was that The Outer Worlds 2 needed to be a deeper RPG where player choice has more of an impact in nearly all aspects of the experience. And from everything I’ve gathered from our month’s-worth of exclusive coverage, this sequel looks like it’s stepping in the right direction.
What I’ve seen thus far is based on an early build of the game, all of which has been through hands-off demos, and all the footage you’ve seen was provided by Obsidian. So while I haven’t played it yet, The Outer Worlds 2 is so far reminding me of some of the best parts of the studio’s long list of RPGs, where unconventional playstyles are viable and unpredictable choices and outcomes are intrinsic to the roleplaying aspect, asking you to roll with the punches regardless of whether or not it’s deemed “optimal,” and this manifests in several ways.
Attributes, which were stats that you invested in as you leveled up, have been set aside for a heavier focus on Skills – a total of 12 (including staples like Engineering, Explosives, Guns, Hacking, Leadership, and more) now dictate how your character functions. While this may seem like further streamlining, the goal is to make sure the points you put into various Skills have a more noticeable impact throughout the process of leveling up, as opposed to the minute effects you’d feel in the old Attributes system. Of course, I can’t speak to how this comes to fruition in a full playthrough, but there are other systems in place that feed into the idea that these mechanical decisions can affect your character in bigger ways.
[U]nconventional playstyles are viable and unpredictable choices and outcomes are intrinsic to the roleplaying aspect.
That leads to Perks, of which there will be about 90 to choose from. There are specific Skill levels needed to gain access to certain Perks, but these are said to offer significant changes to what you can do in combat, conversations, exploration, and more. One example is a Perk that lets you aim, fire, and reload while sprinting and sliding for those who want to approach enemies with the mentality of a traditional shooter. Or the Serial Killer and Psychopath Perks that grant bonuses for those who try a much more violent playthrough. Or the Space Ranger Perk that lets you convert points in your Speech Skill into damage bonuses in battle. Dialogue branches may vary based on the Skills and Perks you have (more so than the original), or your character may pick up on things in the environment they wouldn’t be able to otherwise, so the results of your build aren’t just isolated in combat scenarios. Those are just a few examples of how these systems feed into specific playstyles with the intention of rewarding you for the way in which you’re specialized.
Then there are Traits that stack additional permanent effects that you wouldn’t necessarily get through Perks. The catch is that if you want to take more Positive Traits, you have to also select Negative Traits, and that’s where things can get interesting. I’m actually curious about how I’d play with something like “Dumb” where I’d have to lock myself out from ever putting points into five of the 12 Skills, or “Sickly” where I’d take lower health and toxic resistance. It seems like a trade-off that could be worth it, depending on how I want to build out my character.
But if you want to lean more into unconventional mechanics, accounting for things you usually wouldn’t in other RPGs – enter the new Flaws system. Like in the original, the game is watching your behavior and then offering permanent bonuses at the cost of a permanent detractor depending on how you play. However, The Outer Worlds 2 goes deeper on this idea – you’re not just offered a Perk point if you take a Flaw. Flaws now have bespoke status effects and conditions that can have major ramifications for how you’ll play the game, should you take a Flaw. I only got to see two of them, but they speak to the philosophy behind them. Sungazer offers regenerative health outdoors during the day at the cost of extreme visual lens flare and reduced accuracy, and that’s activated by staring into the sun multiple times. Or if you quickly skip through dialogue choices frequently, Foot-in-Mouth offers a permanent XP bonus while forcing you to make all future dialogue choices in a 15-second window – and if that timer runs out, the game will pick for you, which can lead to some unintended consequences. There’s another Flaw that’ll force you to accept all future Flaws no matter what, and Obsidian hinted at one that will account for those who save scum, but that remains to be seen – it’s bizarre ideas like these that can shake up playthroughs. Obsidian said there are around 30 Flaws in total, and my hope is that the incentives will be worth the trade-off, and that they’re built in a way that it won’t be easy to circumvent their effects, which could diminish their impact.
All that said, it’s clear that Obsidian put a lot of thought into how to rebuild its RPG mechanics with the intention of making something that is more reactive and impactful, or at least purposeful along the progression path. And with no respec beyond the intro mission, you’ll have to build out your character with a little more care. Hands-off demos can only tell me so much, so I’m expecting everything else around The Outer Worlds 2 to bring out the best in those systems and push me to engage with them beyond the surface level.
That sounds all well and good, and the brief gameplay sequences I saw were also promising. While the first game had approachability at the forefront, The Outer Worlds 2 looks like it’s offering more variability with a web of systems that come together for something a bit more sophisticated. For example, we now have actual stealth mechanics with a better detection system, proper stealth kills, and scenarios in which this approach would make sense – and features such as damage bar read-outs tell you whether or not a stealth attack will be worth it. The N-Ray Scanner is one of the new gadgets you’ll use, and this lets you see through walls and detect cloaked enemies or key objects hidden in the environment, but it’ll expend your mana-like energy – it’s a tool that’s conducive to this playstyle, and I’m looking for how this approach can be sustained throughout.
Judging from the brief run of the N-Ray Facility, for example, I saw snippets of that in action, which leans into this particular playstyle I prefer. This level was also ripe for playing it like an immersive sim, and it gave me hints of Deus Ex or Dishonored, especially with how you navigate the level and find different paths. I know the DNA of those games will always find their way into first-person RPGs, but it’s something that wasn’t quite as present in the first Outer Worlds, and very much apparent in this sequel.
If the original was Obsidian building the framework, my hope is that this sequel is the series reaching its full potential.
And while I’m excited for stealth options and wielding the environment to create paths forward, the punched-up gunplay and addition of gadgets shows an improvement in combat approaches across the board. The aforementioned sprint-slide-firing Perk – along with the returning Tactical Time Dilation (TTD) – looks to be a deadly combo in a firefight, but some wild unique weapons like the crank-powered sniper rifle called the Planet Killer or the advertisement-blasting Pop Gun that’ll distract enemies, widen your toolset. When all hell breaks loose, the triple-barrel shotgun will probably be an old reliable in my playthrough. And I’m sure I’ll be saving those rare shots I’ll find for this game’s version of the BFG for the toughest fights.
But with Obsidian looking to games like Destiny in terms of reworking gunplay, I think it’s a net-positive for how the game feels on a moment-to-moment basis. There’s an emphasis on better mobility, smarter enemy behavior, and varied enemy types, along with that wider, more creative arsenal. But there’s also no more level scaling, and so there’s been more consideration in how difficulty works in The Outer Worlds 2 with tiered enemies and static levels for encounters across the game, letting encounters be designed with more intent, especially with where the designers will funnel players and create friction.
The more intimate details of level design excite me, and seeing interiors like the Zyranium Lab be noticeably bigger and intricate with multiple paths has me thinking about the gameplay possibilities. But its large open zones are also a key point in this sequel. I’ve said in previous coverage that bigger doesn’t always mean better, and Obsidian is aware of that. So, The Outer Worlds 2 has an emphasis on density and rewarding players who poke around its areas with more side stories and useful loot in a way that the first game didn’t. Points of interest out in the distance are built intentionally and are said to be placed for a reason and draw players to those locations and discover quests off the beaten path. This is all based on a brief walkthrough of Golden Ridge, which is the only open zone I saw, and it does seem like there’s a lot more going on at the ground level. And I hope that this design philosophy extends to the rest of The Outer Worlds 2’s open regions.
Finally, Obsidian wasn’t ready to share many details on story or companions, but game director Brandon Adler hinted at a world-changing event happening early on when landing on Golden Ridge, and that being indicative of the types of narrative swings they’re going for. Creative director Leonard Boyarsky, who was one of the original Fallout developers, spoke to how the team is thinking about The Outer Worlds 2’s story. He mentioned being sharper with its humorous tone while going deeper on its commentary about how corporations, and those in power, will exert and abuse their power on those seen below them. It seems a major factor in conveying these themes will be through factions – The Protectorate, The Order of the Ascendant, and Auntie’s Choice (a merger between Auntie Cleo and Spacer’s Choice from the first game). While companions are optional, it appears they’ll be an important lens through which you navigate and understand the world. Boyarsky also emphasized the intention of making a story that can stand the test of time with its dissection of the human condition, rather than directly reflect the times in which it was made – and that’s largely been the philosophy that guided the old Fallout games, including New Vegas.
Overall, I get the impression that Obsidian is trying to avoid homogeneity in its gameplay systems, and build worlds with questlines and encounters that tease out the varied options you have this time around. You can have complex and creative systems to toy with, but ultimately, it’s a means for engaging with the captivating stories tucked within where we have a distinct role to play. If the original Outer Worlds was Obsidian building the framework, my hope is that this sequel is the series reaching its full potential. And that’s something we’ll have to see when The Outer Worlds 2 comes out later this year.
Gearbox and Take-Two recently brought forward the release of giggling gunslinger Borderlands 4 from 23rd September to 12th September. This came a week or two after Bungie and Sony also decided to release their Marathon reboot on 23rd September.
If you thought all that was evidence of publishers playing 4D chess around the currently unannounced release date of GTA 6, with Bungie and Sony making the fair assumption that Take-Two won’t release GTA 6 and Borderlands 4 on the same day… then you were mistaken. You should be ashamed to speculate in this fashion! Pshaw! Harrumph! Damn your eyes, sir, and damn the stalking horse you rode in on.
We’ve been eagerly awaiting news of the Sea of Stars ‘Throes of the Watchmaker’ DLC ever since Sabotage Studios first teased it in early 2024, and now, we finally have a release date.
The excellent retro-inspired RPG will land its free DLC on 20th May, adding an extra eight-hour adventure that features new characters, worlds, puzzles and a cinematic budget equivalent to that used on the main game. In short, it’s quite a beefy sausage.
Indie Selects for April 2025: Fresh but Familiar Vibes
Raymond Estrada, Nick Zuclich, Deron Mann, Oscar Polanco, Steven AllenID@Xbox Style Coordinators
Sometimes you just can’t put your finger on it. You want something familiar and comforting, but also something just a little different. You want to mix it up with some excitement, but still maintain a sense of connection to what you already know and love. Something balanced. Well, aren’t you in luck! This month the ID@Xbox team has handpicked six Indie Selects that have immaculate vibes.
We give you a bit of intensity with a co-op heist and gliding down mountains; chill out with heartfelt narratives over some tea and a bit of sticker commerce; and, finally, run some very strange errands while strategically expanding your universe. Perfection! Here’s what we’ve got for you this month (in no particular order):
From the creator of The Stanley Parable and The Beginner’s Guide, Wanderstop is a narrative-centric cozy game about change and… tea. Playing as a fallen fighter named Alta, you’ll manage a tea shop within a magical forest and tend to the customers who pass through. But Alta does not want to be here. And if she gets her way, the tea shop will be nothing but a brief and painful memory.
While this year’s Game Developers Conference was incredibly energizing and inspiring, it was also stressful and overwhelming at times. I needed a meditative escape after I got home, and Wanderstop was the perfect game to help me recharge. It’s beautiful, whimsical, magical, and deals with emotional themes that I found both cathartic and uplifting. The narrative touches on shame, burnout, personal growth, satisfaction, and introspection. There are low stakes here, no stressors, no time limits, and there are no fail states. The game actively encourages players to enjoy the moment, to take a breath, to reflect inward and delight in simple pleasures.
At the same time, it has a strong and compulsive loop. Players grow plants, harvest fruits, acquire trinkets, make friends, and brew increasingly in-depth tea recipes (and other types of brews) with off-the-wall ingredients for an ever more diverse and colorful cast of characters, all who have powerful stories to share and lessons to bestow.
I loved this game and will absolutely be playing through again in the future. This is a fantastic example of games as an artform for me, and I feel fortunate that we get to experience creations like this.
Wanderstop is a narrative-centric cozy game about change and tea. Playing as a fallen fighter named Alta, you’ll manage a tea shop within a magical forest and tend to the customers who pass through. But Alta does not want to be here. And if she gets her way, the tea shop will be nothing but a brief and painful memory.
Wanderstop is a tea shop management ritual. Grow and harvest the ingredients needed for tea, and then mix them together in an unusual tea-making contraption. Along the way, speak with the many travelers who pass through the shop, learn their stories and make tea that’s just right for them.
In your downtime, you might tidy up around the clearing, decorate the shop in your style, or just sit on a bench with a cup of tea and listen to your own thoughts. Maybe doing nothing at all is okay. The shop demands patience, it rejects those who have come only in the pursuit of growth unchecked.
And that’s why Alta can’t be here. It’s why she’ll never make it. This isn’t who she is. No, she’s a fighter! Why would anyone insist on turning the world’s greatest championship warrior into a docile shopkeeper?! With everything she’s capable of?? No no no, she won’t, she won’t do it… she can’t…
Wanderstop is a game from the team at Ivy Road, including Davey Wreden (creator of The Stanley Parable and The Beginner’s Guide), Karla Zimonja (co-creator of Gone Home and Tacoma) and Daniel “C418” Rosenfeld (the music of Minecraft).
What genre is this? Unhinged? I mean let’s be fair: What do you call a mascot management/relationship management sim/open world driver/Yakuza mystery narrative, with the most bizarre cast of characters you will ever come across? Fantastic, you call it fantastic.
Promise Mascot Agency is unlike anything I’ve played. The plot may seem bizarre, but the narrative is surprisingly wholesome. You’re a former Yakuza “fixer” sent out to a small town to run a local brand ambassador business. Accompanied by your mascot companion (who is… a living severed finger) and beat-up truck, you drive across town in effort to earn profit, all while uncovering a range of political conspiracies undermining it. This game is about a lot of things, but it really centers around optimism and adapting to new circumstances when things go awry. Very, very awry.
Oh my goodness, do I love this game. I literally could not stop playing. At its core, the game has you finding and recruiting a variety of mascots. You negotiate their benefits package, find clients that would employ them for events and send them out on jobs hoping that they won’t mess up, and inevitably get attacked by a demon, or some other hilariously random incidents that trigger a card-based minigame. On the one hand, the game is a very chill experience driven by a lot of narrative quests and casual management sim tracking and efficiency gameplay. On the other hand it’s an exploration driving game with few limits and plenty of ways to profit. The difficulty ramp on either side is gradual and not overwhelming. Overall, the gameplay loop was absolutely built for my short attention span and general weirdness, and the writing had me fall out of my chair laughing. On top of the that, the cast of mascots you meet are incredibly likeable in their own little, weird way. You’re bound to find a favorite.
As chaotic as this all may seem, this experience was incredibly cozy and heartwarming. The gameplay is, indeed, fairly simple, but it’s so unique in its presentation that it kept me glued. I think people who enjoy the Yakuza series would especially enjoy this, but honestly I’d want everyone to play this totally preposterous game about you and your giant finger friend helping a town become whole again.
From the creators of Paradise Killer comes a mind-bending open-world narrative adventure mascot management simulator where mascots are more than just symbols – they’re unpredictable forces of nature! Step into the chaos, unravel the conspiracies, drive a tiny truck and try to keep it all together in Promise Mascot Agency!
Welcome to the Mascot Hustle
You thought mascots were just fluffy, innocent brand ambassadors? Think again. The Mascots are all living, breathing, fully formed personalities, with dreams, fears, and the occasional breakdowns of their own- just like us! Whether it’s Trororo, a charming cat who’s a little too obsessed with “adult video” or sweet, silken To-Fu, who can’t stop sobbing, your job is to befriend, mentor, and (hopefully) get these mascots to finish their jobs without causing a major catastrophe.
Play Your Cards Right
Sending your mascots out to work is never as easy as it sounds. One minute they’re promoting delicious food, the next they’re stuck in a doorway or starting a kitchen inferno. Need help? Good thing Kaso-Machi is full of intrepid everyday heroes ready to lend a hand (if you’ve managed to befriend them, of course). Unlock Hero Cards, featuring Kaso-Machi’s lovable local weirdos like Captain Sign, Japan’s only road-sign superhero (don’t ask questions), or Mama-San, a bar owner with a serious latex collection. These heroes will step in to provide help when your mascots inevitably lose control.
Tear Through Town in Your Upgradable Kei Truck
Kaso-Machi is a town full of secrets, and Michi isn’t just stuck in an office managing mascots – he’s on the road in his rusty (but upgradeable!) Kei Truck. This nifty little ride may look like a heap of junk, but with a few tweaks, it’ll have nitro boosts, glider wings, and even the ability to launch Pinky☆ – Michi’s maniacal mascot assistant – like a missile. Use your truck to explore the strange, forgotten town, unlock collectibles, and uncover hidden mysteries. Who knew a Kei Truck could be your best friend in a town where literally everything else hates you?!
Crime! Drama! A Walking Finger?!
Exiled after an ambush that left his clan in shambles, Michi finds himself piecing together the mystery of what really happened, while the town seems to actively conspire against him. Nightmare spirits seem a little too interested in your business, and there’s an ever-present sense that something’s very, very wrong in this place…
Think you can resist? Think again. The mascots know where you live. Step into the world of Promise Mascot Agency and claim your place in this brave new world of mascot domination.
Monaco 2, the sequel to a beloved, Xbox Live Arcade classic, is a top-down stealth-action game where you and up to three others cooperate as a band of thieves tasked with pulling off “perfect” heists. The flow of the game is relatively simple – players select a mission, go through a quick, narrative driven debriefing, select one of four unique characters, strategize through an interactable overview of the level’s layout through Blueprint Mode, and proceed to the mission. Where it gets complicated is when you actually enter the premises. You can create the most elaborate plan ever, but it can (and almost always will) fall apart once someone is detected by a guard or walks through a laser, triggering an alarm.
I spent most of my time in the single player mode, which was fine since the game offers the ability to switch between characters at various checkpoints. I was able to squeeze by the first few missions as one character, but you’ll quickly realize the strategic advantages of leveraging the whole cast as missions become progressively more elaborate. My favorite character is Sake since I not only loved her design, but her emphasis on speed and stealth. She’s perfect for beginners as, when situations get too sticky, you can count on her dodge roll to avoid attacks. Of course, there’s also Una who doesn’t really care about the game’s rules – opting for combat over stealth with her ability to knock guards out.
I found the most fun weaving in and out of strategic stealth to cat and mouse chases. Getting caught and leveraging shadows, barriers and furniture to juke and loop the guards, only to return undetected, felt extremely satisfying every time. While I did have fun solo, I recommend firing this up with friends whether online or locally!
Monaco is a city overflowing with luxury and greed, which makes it a perfect target for you and your international gang of criminal masterminds. The best of the best have been assembled, and they’ll need to work together using their unique abilities to rob the city blind. Do you and your friends have what it takes to bring the city of Monaco to its knees?
New characters mean all new ways to play! Assemble your team from a selection of eight playable characters, each with their own unique abilities and playstyles. Need to adapt? Switch your character mid-run to overcome whatever obstacles stand between you and untold riches!
Every heist requires careful planning. With Blueprint Mode, you can look at the level’s layout before you start the mission, allowing you to case the joint before you and your friends fleece it for all its worth.
They say there’s no honor among thieves, but they’ve never met your crew! Team up with up to three other players in local or online multiplayer and plan your heist. However, nothing ever goes exactly according to plan in Monaco, so you’ll need to work together and improvise if you want to get away with your haul of riches.
Monaco 2 offers a new level of immersion with an updated 3D art style and a procedurally generated level design system. Complete the structured campaign or test your skills against the hundreds of seeded levels, proving once and for all that you and your friends are the ultimate thieves!
Sledders is an open-world snowmobiling simulator that captures the true spirit of backcountry freedom and exploration. Unlike other entries in the genre, it offers less arcade-style gameplay and instead focuses on realism. It features physics-based snow environments and a robust catalog of fully licensed snowmobiles – including some awesome retro models. If you ever daydreamed about carving through untouched powder, discovering new trails, racing for bragging rights, or trying out new tricks, Sledders might just be your next favorite ride.
What stood out the most to me is how the sleds handle. They don’t just glide over the snow, they dig in, sink under the weight, and fight back like they should. You have to shift your weight, ease into the throttle, and use your skills to navigate the terrain. It’s challenging at first, so be prepared to fall often. But don’t worry, sticking to the trails is a great way to familiarize yourself with your sled before heading off into the wild. Once you find your rhythm, it’s addictive.
Whether you’re a weekend warrior looking for a peaceful solo ride, hosting a private session with friends, or a hardcore sledhead ready to challenge the world, Sledders meets you where you are with multiplatform cross-play support for up to 32 players. You can customize every detail of your sleds in the garage, and it offers plenty of options to style your character with gear that matches your look. If you’re looking for a game that lets you ride on your own terms and at your own pace, Sledders delivers an experience that will stay with you long after the snow melts.
Shred your sled in open-world backcountries. Sledders is a realistic, physics-based snowmobile simulator. Manoeuvre the big open terrain, plow through tons of fresh snow, conquer the mountains, and reach the peak faster than your friends!
Sit back, relax, and enjoy as you rip around on one of the sleds speeding between trees and throwing it around at the ridges. The limits are only set by you so let loose and show us what you can accomplish!
The game offers a big map for you to explore and play around in. It contains steep hills, mountains, lots of trees, and open areas ready to be ridden by you (yeah, there’s a plenty of jumps, and also water…)! It will take ages for you to ride from one corner to another, that’s how big the map already is. And who knows what the future holds, our plans include bigger, better, and many more maps to come (we hear you ditch bangers, snow crossers, tricksters, trail riders, and all!).
The snow in Sledders feel as real as possible, so you better sharpen up your powder skills or you’ll just keep on digging deeper and deeper into the snow! Freeriding in backcountries means a lot of snow to plow and riding in it is way different than on other terrains. You must master the steering by shifting your weight around, making turns with your throttle, counter steering with your skis, and many other new skills. Once you master the skills needed in the backcountries, you’re unstoppable and no pow will make you stuck.
– Freeride snowmobile simulator with real-world physics in deep-snow backcountry
– Ride with and against your friends in epic freeriding experience
– Online, crossplatform multiplayer takes you ride around the world with a likeminded community of sledheads
I used to love stickers as a kid, but I never thought about designing and showing off my own creations. Enter Sticky Business, a cozy, small business simulator game where your motivation is to run a small business designing, selling, and packing stickers for a variety of customers. No end of the world scenarios, no final boss to violently fight off, and no heart stopping action. The game is as advertised: cozy as it comes and twice as wholesome.
After naming your store, you start at your desk and begin designing stickers for customers. You have hundreds of parts and options to choose from, and they can be meticulously layered to make some truly ridiculous stuff. Illustration sizes, text colors, outline sizes, and other options can tweaked and changed rather easily. You don’t have the option to use individual letters to make your own words (which makes sense, even though I really just want to make a wholesome Wu-Tang sticker). Still, there’s some pre-made words that you can put together, so I’m a bit proud of my line of “Cozy Metal” stickers with various combinations of animals and instruments. Yes, it’s dumb, but I do enjoy them very much.
Once your design is finished, you can pay coins to print them on different types of sheets. You have to be extremely thoughtful about how you to fit the stickers to the sheet because a single sheet costs the same regardless of how many stickers you can fit on it. More stickers, more profit. You then package everything up exactly how you want it and send it off to make some cold hard cash (and hearts) which you can use for upgrading and unlocking more designs.
Unlike most games, the story doesn’t revolve around you. Instead, it’s entirely focused on your customers, who write you about their lives and how stickers fit into their narratives. Some are heartwarming, some are ridiculous. You’ll find that different stickers attract different customers and there will be some requests for specific types of stickers that you’ll need to fulfill. It’s a great, short Etsy-sim that’s super soothing and chill. Especially if you have younger kids, nieces, or nephews that are into design, this a great find.
Create, pack and sell your own unique sticker creations!
Experience the joy of running your own cozy small business: Create stickers, pack orders and hear your customers’ stories. Time to build the cutest shop on the internet!
You want a collection of cat stickers? A witch-themed shop? Or add a derpy face to all of your creations?
Combine dozens of elements to create your own collection and sell them to like-minded people. Different stickers attract different customers! You can add some sparkles or holo effects to make them even more special!
Pack orders and hear more about your customers’ stories every time they buy stickers!
My Little Universe by Estoty is a delightful blend of adventure and simulation that invites players to create and explore their own miniature worlds. This charming game falls into the genre of sandbox adventure, where creativity and exploration are key elements. Players start with a small plot of land and gradually expand their universe by gathering resources, crafting tools, and unlocking new areas.
From the moment I started playing, I was enamored by the game’s whimsical art style and engaging mechanics. The process of building and expanding my universe felt incredibly rewarding. Each new discovery, whether it was a hidden treasure or a new biome, added layers of excitement and curiosity. The game strikes a perfect balance between relaxation and challenge, making it easy to lose track of time as you immerse yourself in your little universe.
One of the standout features of My Little Universe is its intuitive gameplay. The controls are gratifyingly simple, allowing players of all ages to jump right in and get creating. There’s no need for a lengthy tutorial or complex button combinations. You gather resources with a simple tap, craft tools with a few swipes, and expand your universe with ease. This simplicity makes the game incredibly accessible and enjoyable for players of all ages. It also offers a variety of customization options, enabling you to personalize your world to reflect your unique vision. Whether you’re a fan of games like Minecraft or Terraria, you’ll find familiar elements here, but with a fresh and charming twist.
My Little Universe is a must-play for anyone who enjoys creative and exploratory games. It’s a perfect escape from the hustle and bustle of everyday life, offering a serene yet stimulating experience that will keep you coming back for more. So, grab your tools and start building your own little universe!
Go above and beyond the cosmos!
The universe is vast and filled with adventures, mysteries to solve, and enemies to fight… who knows, you might even meet a few friendly faces along the way. Better yet, invite up to three of your friends to join you in the split-screen local co-op mode because it’s always more exciting with friends!
EXPLORE!
9 mythical worlds and 65+ different dungeons, from mythology-inspired lands to hostile alien worlds await you and your friends. Filled with wonder and plunder, challenges and adversaries, your task is to restore these beautiful worlds to their former glory!
GATHER RESOURCES!
The worlds are filled with rich minerals ready to be harvested by your trusty tools, and mythical artifacts of untapped power guarded by powerful foes. Use more than 70 different gatherable resources to recreate lands long lost to a mysterious threat.
RISE UP TO THE CHALLENGE!
The universe won’t be restored that easily, and each challenge requires the proper tools for the job. Equipped with your trusty pickaxe, sharp sword, and sturdy axe, you’ll be thrown against 150+ different adversaries including mythical creatures, alien horrors, and even demigods!
UPGRADE YOUR GEAR!
With each planet comes new challenges and because of that, you have to stay prepared by upgrading to the newest and freshest tools, which will always keep you one step ahead of your opponents! Improve your weapon, tools, and armor up to 30+ levels!
Just Enjoy The Adventure.
Get entranced by the game’s cozy atmosphere, enjoy the relaxing soundtrack, and fall in love with the simplistic yet charismatic visuals. After all, it’s all about the journey and the friends we make along the way!
Game of Thrones: Kingsroad is set to leave early access and launch on May 21, Netmarble and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment have announced.
The action-adventure role-playing game based on George R. R. Martin’s much-loved fantasy universe is set for release on all mobile platforms as well as on PC via Steam, the Epic Games Store, and Windows.
Game of Thrones: Kingsroad launched in early access form in March, and has a ‘mixed’ user review rating on Steam. Most of the negative reviews revolve around its monetization, which some have called “greedy.” “It’s like a mobile game on steroids and kinda not in a good way,” reads the current ‘most helpful’ review on Valve’s platform.
In a release date FAQ posted to Steam, Netmarble addressed the expected gap between the progression of early access and new players. It said that Game of Thrones: Kingsroad is “fundamentally designed with a focus on single-player gameplay,” and that it had worked to “minimize any feelings of imbalance or unfairness that might arise from differences in progression.”
Testing was conducted to improve the game, the development team continued, “to improve the game and make it more enjoyable and accessible for everyone.”
“We encourage all players to focus on the inherent fun of progressing through the later stages and reaching the endgame content, rather than comparing progress with other characters,” Netmarble suggested.
Netmarble went on to apologize for its prior communication and patches, which it admitted were “somewhat lacking.”
“Moving forward, we are committed to more frequent and transparent communication through regular AMA sessions and Developer Notes,” it added. “We kindly ask for your continued anticipation and support as we approach the official launch.”
As you’d expect from a game like this, there’s a premium Founder’s Pack that offers Early Access and other exclusive in-game content. Mobile players can pre-register through the App Store and Google Play store on iOS and Android devices ahead of the grand launch.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
With The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered out and millions of players enjoying Bethesda’s much-loved open-world role-playing game, its army of fans are coming together to issue advice to those who might have missed out on the fun 20 years ago.
Oblivion remastered is a remaster, not a remake, Bethesda has stressed, and so many of the quirks of its ageing design remain. One of those quirks — or frustrations it might be better called — is Oblivion’s level scaling system.
It’s this latter point that has sparked a fresh round of advice from Oblivion veterans to newcomers, and it all revolves around Castle Kvatch.
Warning! Spoilers for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered follow.
Breaking the Siege of Kvatch is the fourth main quest, and tasks you with defending the city of Kvatch against the Daedric hordes. It involves going through an Oblivion gate where you’ll face off against multiple high level enemies. Once you’ve done that and closed the Oblivion gate, you have to clear out the Daedric invasion in the main plaza of Kvatch itself.
If you waited too long and leveled up a lot, you’ll find that all of your helping friends are quickly killed because the enemies you’re facing are extremely difficult. Due to Oblivion’s level scaling system, the higher level you are, the tougher those enemies will be. At higher levels, Kvatch will throw every variety of Daedra at you, rather than easy-to-kill Scamps. You might encounter a room full of Daedroth (strong crocodile-headed bipedal Daedra), Daedric Princes, or other monstrosities.
Breaking the Siege of Kvatch leads into The Battle for Castle Kvatch, should you take it on. Here you battle to retake the town’s castle, defeating the Daedra along the way. Like Breaking the Siege of Kvatch, level scaling can be a real problem here.
Enter helpful Oblivion veterans who are recommending players take on Kvatch before they hit level 10.
“I’m like panicking now…” said redditor IsThatHearsay. “First time playing Oblivion, didn’t even know you had to sleep to lvl up until just before I got to this mission.
“Closed the Kvatch Oblivion gate right before this mission still as lvl 1, then read online to sleep and I jumped from lvl 1 to 9 immediately with hour sleep increments. Met Martin there and decided to escort him to the Cloud place to take a break from fighting, followed by deciding to cheese some skills like Conjuration, Acrobatics, Sneak, and whatnot quickly and climbed to lvl 15.
“Now have to go back to do Kvatch at lvl 15+, when I’m hearing I probably should’ve just done it while still lvl 1…”
“I just tried it at level 20 and let me tell you, that shit is fucking rough,” said frontadmiral.
“Completed at lvl 21 on a mage, god it was tough,” said Ranaki_1967. “Had to in the field recharge my staff, drink potions escape down the ladder, have maximum shield armour, a Dremora champion.
“The framerate was bad.”
“Bro im doing it at 27 rn and im NOT having a good time, Xivali are EVERYWHERE,” Mother_Bid_4294 said.
Even Oblivion experts have been caught by taking on Kvatch at too high a level. “I’ve oblivioned extensively in the original but I still made the same mistake, went back to Kvatch level 13, just about manageable,” Various-Jellyfish132.
“Make use of sneak for bonus damage and retreat through loading doors to recover if needed, if you have a bit of space, their attacks are easily dodged. The daedroths don’t seem to follow you through the doors so you can pick them off one at a time.”
“Oblivion scaling is just wild though because you will level up once and suddenly Scamps transform into Daedroths and Clannfear Runts turn into Daedric Princes,” Groosin1 said.
“Because the scaling cap is only 17-18. And the way leveling works, at 17-20 you could be anywhere from a guy with middling combat skills for what you’re using and getting obliterated, to being God.”
Part of the issue here is that players are leveling up faster in Oblivion Remastered than they did in the original Oblivion. That’s because the developers changed the leveling system to modernize it, but kept the level scaling the same.
This has had the knock-on effect of causing some players to be a higher level than they would have been in the original when taking on tough quests such as Kvatch.
For the first time ever I decided to do Kvatch before level 10. It was cool to see it actually functioning as an even battle instead of a horde of overleveled demons one-shotting all the guards. Really makes you wonder if they ever tested it at higher levels. pic.twitter.com/VeQH3xst0b
As you’d expect, modders have once again come to the rescue. Fresh from tackling PC performance issues in Oblivion Remastered, modders have also released balanced NPC level cap mods and balanced unleveled rewards mods, so if you’re on PC, you can change the way Oblivion Remastered works significantly. If you’re on console, however, you’re stuck with level scaling.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
