Small, portable and sometimes worth so much money that it would give even Pikachu a shock, rare Pokémon cards have increasingly become the target of theft and other crimes. Japanese news outlets Sanspo and Automaton recently reported that Pokémon cards and cash worth a combined total of 13,700,000 yen (approx. $92,000 USD, as per current exchange rates) were stolen from a trading card shop. The twist is that the third person arrested in this ongoing case is apparently the manager of a rival trading card store nearby.
The robbery happened on June 16 at around 3:30 a.m. at Card Shop Masters in central Japan’s Gifu Prefecture. Two men in their 30s were later arrested for breaking and entering. According to the Sanspo article, one of the men is suspected of threatening the owners with a knife before taking the cards and cash. On July 9, a third person, allegedly the owner of a nearby trading card store, was arrested on suspicion of being an accomplice in the robbery, although according to police, he has yet to confess or deny his involvement.
The shop that was robbed has been posting about the situation on its X account, revealing the alleged identity of the third suspect as the manager of a rival store. They have also been appealing for information and calling for other people who were involved to give themselves up immediately.
“There’s no use thinking you won’t get caught. We will definitely catch everyone.” they said in a post on July 10, which has since attracted over 1 million views. Commenters expressed sympathy with the victim, and shock that someone would rob a shop in the same line of work.
Incidentally, there was a similar Pokémon card robbery that took place in Japan last year. Back in September, two men broke into a trading card seller in Osaka, also at 3:30 a.m. They threatened an employee (who had just been livestreaming a card sale) with a knife, tied them up and then took over 100 cards (worth over 10 million yen or around $67,000) as well as 250,000 yen (around $1,700) in cash (source: Kochi Shimbun).
Rare Pokémon cards have become a target for heists in other countries too. In February, Australia’s ABC News reported on a string of Pokémon card thefts across stores in Melbourne. Just last week, a store in Massachusetts, USA, had more than $100,000 worth of cards stolen in an early morning break-in (source: The New York Times).
Photo by John Keeble/Getty Images.
Verity Townsend is a Japan-based freelance writer who previously served as editor, contributor and translator for the game news site Automaton West. She has also written about Japanese culture and movies for various publications.
The Sonic the Hedgehog crossover with Magic: The Gathering’s boutique Secret Lair drops went live yesterday, and it was predictably popular. Eager fans swarmed the site, and now, scalpers are already selling some of the product online at a mark-up.
Secret Lair is Magic: The Gathering’s special collection of rare and unique cards, with either brand-new designs or special reprints of classic cards. For Sonic, the Blue Blur got three different sets of cards. The Friends & Foes collection featured new cards that could, presumably, be Commanders for Sonic-focused Commander decks, like Knuckles, Amy, Dr. Eggman, and Shadow. Turbo Gear and Chasing Adventure, meanwhile, were reprints of cards like Lightning Greaves and Unexpected Windfall with Sonic-styled card art.
When the set went live at 9am PT yesterday, a queue formed and quickly ramped up. There were limits in place, presumably to prevent people from mass-purchasing and flipping the goods. Still, it shouldn’t be a surprise that a few card sets have found their way onto eBay already, at a marked-up price.
The Turbo Gear Foil Edition, for example, is being listed at $70 (or best offer) on eBay with a preorder/presale marker, as the actual Secret Lair cards have not shipped yet. For comparison, the Secret Lair shop price for this foil set is $39.99.
More expensive options, like the entire Sonic collection sans foil, are going for $349.99 (or best offer), and some listings put individual collections like the Friends & Foes at $80 or more.
The strange part is that while the Secret Lair vault will eventually run dry, and some parts of the collection have already gone down to low or no stock, other card sets are still available. As of this writing, the Friends & Foes Foil Edition is still available for $49.99. It won’t always be available, but it’s somehow both surprising and not surprising these sets are already getting flipped.
Switch 2 blockbuster Donkey Kong Bananza will be something of a template for the character’s future 3D games, Nintendo has said, splitting DK’s appearances in 2D and 3D titles.
Similar to how Mario still appears in both 2D and 3D installments — the most recent of each being Super Mario Bros. Wonder and Super Mario Odyssey, respectively — Nintendo now sees a similar delineation in its plans for its most prominent ape.
Expanding on comments previously made to IGN about Bananza’s origins, producer Kenta Motokura has said that the game’s development began when Nintendo legend Yoshiaki Koizumi asked his 3D Mario team to work its magic making a 3D DK game instead.
“With an eye to expanding the Donkey Kong franchise further, I’d like the team that’s been working on 3D Mario games to create a 3D Donkey Kong game,” Motokura quoted Koizumi as saying, as part of a new Ask the Developer Q&A. It was this instruction, combined with ongoing experimentation into voxel-based destruction, that led to Donkey Kong Bananza’s genesis.
Asked how Bananza sits alongside other Donkey Kong games, Motokura continued by saying that the 3D Mario team considered this project to epitomise a new 3D Donkey Kong “branch”, separate to the DK’s 2D platformers — leaving the door open to both kinds of games still existing in future.
“In a long-running series, novelty and continuity are both important, but we wanted this title to fully convey the appeal of Donkey Kong as a character,” Motokura said. “Meanwhile, we thought that by creating something new, leveraging our experience developing 3D Mario games, we’d have the opportunity to create two separate branches – 2D Donkey Kong and 3D Donkey Kong – just as we did with Mario games.
“So, keeping in mind that this game will come to symbolise 3D Donkey Kong, and with the theme of bringing Donkey Kong’s strengths and new actions to the forefront, we thought the concept of ‘destruction’ would be a good fit.”
Finally, Motokura discussed Nintendo’s recent Donkey Kong redesign in more detail, and said that it was the development of Bananza which spearheaded the company’s search for a new DK look.
“Donkey Kong Bananza sparked the creation of a design which I think better conveys the new Donkey Kong,” Motokura said, noting that Nintendo’s new ‘standard’ DK was actually another attempt to recapture the character’s original design, drawn by Shigeru Miyamoto for the Donkey Kong arcade game.
“Outside of this game, Donkey Kong has recently appeared in The Super Mario Bros. Movie released in 2023 and in Mario Kart World, but there’s a basic character design which provided the foundation for those versions of Donkey Kong,” Motokura concluded. “That basic Donkey Kong design has been completely revamped. While overhauling the design, we returned to where it had all started. We took Miyamoto-san’s original Donkey Kong as the basis, adding design elements from Donkey Kong Bananza here and there.”
What’s next for Donkey Kong? Well, it certainly sounds like the door is being left open for the character to reappear in further 2D games in future. And then there’s the intriguing copyright listing for an unannounced Donkey Kong movie, spotted by Nintendo fans earlier this week. It seems like there’s plenty in store for DK to come.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
Microsoft has announced Wave 2 of the Xbox Game Pass July 2025 lineup, which includes the launch of Grounded 2 via Xbox Game Preview, Wuchang: Fallen Feathers, and more.
As revealed in a post on Xbox Wire, returning today, July 15, is High on Life (Cloud, Console and PC) across Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, and Game Pass Standard. Next up is the arrival of RoboCop: Rogue City (Cloud, PC and Xbox Series X/S) on July 17, for Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, and Game Pass Standard.
Also on July 17 are My Friendly Neighborhood (Cloud, Console and PC), before Back to the Dawn (Cloud, Console and PC) on July 18. Abiotic Factor (Cloud, PC and Xbox Series X/S) follows on July 22, before Wheel World (Cloud, PC and Xbox Series X/S) then rolls around on July 23 — all for Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass.
Microsoft then saves its biggest hitters for the end of the month, with the launch of promising-looking Soulslike action RPG Wuchang: Fallen Feathers (Cloud, PC and Xbox Series X/S) on July 24, before the launch of Obsidian’s garden survival sequel Grounded 2 (Cloud, PC and Xbox Series X/S) in Game Preview on July 29 — both for Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers.
Capping off the end of the month — or, technically, next month — is the arrival of Farming Simulator 25 (Cloud, Console and PC) on August 1 for Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass and Game Pass Standard.
Xbox Game Pass Wave 2 July 2025 lineup:
High On Life(Cloud, Console, and PC) – July 15 Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, Game Pass Standard
RoboCop: Rogue City(Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X/S) – July 17 Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, Game Pass Standard
Back to the Dawn(Cloud, Console, and PC) – July 18 Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass
Abiotic Factor(Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X/S) – July 22 Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass
Wheel World(Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X/S) – July 23 Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass
Wuchang: Fallen Feathers(Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X/S) – July 24 Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass
Grounded 2 (Game Preview) (Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X/S) – July 29 Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass
Farming Simulator 25(Cloud, Console, and PC) – August 1 Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, Game Pass Standard
As always, whenever Microsoft giveth, it also taketh away. The following games are set to leave Game Pass on July 31, though subscribers can get a 20% discount to keep the games in their library.
Gigantic (Cloud, Console, and PC)
Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess (Cloud, Console, and PC)
Turnip Boy Robs a Bank (Cloud, Console, and PC)
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
The door in question is at the centre of an iconic moment in Oblivion, one players who took on the excellent Dark Brotherhood quest will probably remember well. In the original Oblivion, the glowing door has a heavy mood aesthetic and a relief showing the Night Mother (who members of the assassination-obsessed Dark Brotherhood worship) murdering five children. The Oblivion Remastered version of this door has no glow, is light on atmosphere and, weirdly, has two extra children.
You can see a comparison with accompanying complaint in the reddit post from alvaro-elite, below:
The Elder Scrolls lore fans were quick to point out that the addition of two kids on the relief makes no sense given what we know about the story of the Night Mother. This moment in time is meant to represent the Night Mother’s murdering of the five children she conceived with Sithis, the Elder Scrolls deity who represents emptiness and the Void. As the story goes, the Night Mother is murdered by the locals for killing her kids, which turns her into the immortal Night Mother in the first place. In fact, in Oblivion, the Night Mother’s tomb includes skeletal remains of one adult and five children, reinforcing this lore.
Fans had wondered whether Bethesda and developer Virtuos would patch Oblivion Remastered to change the door to be lore compliant, and so it has proved. As noticed by PC Gamer, with the recent release of Update 1.2 in Steam beta form, those who have opted in to test the patch now have a lore-compliant door with five children, rather than seven in the relief. Strangely, this change isn’t in the officially released patch notes, below.
The expectation is this new door is what Oblivion Remastered will include across the board when Update 1.2 launches fully.
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered update 1.2 patch notes:
SETTINGS CHANGES
We’ve added additional difficulty settings to allow players to further tune their “Player Combat Damage” & “Enemy Combat Damage”. Players can now select from “Novice”, “Apprentice”, “Adept”, “Journeyman”, “Expert”, and “Master” options in the Gameplay menu. We hope the “Journeyman” setting, specifically, will act as a better bridge between “Adept” and “Expert” for players.
UI
Fixed map markers disappearing
Fixed missing punctuation in Simplified Chinese text
Fixed “Toggle All” button on Map screen to work as a ‘Hold’
Various fixes to localized text
Fixed controller issues in Spell making menu
Fixed menus being cropped incorrectly in 1280×1024
Fixed the incorrect player stance in the inventory menu after fast travel
Fixed rebinding keys for Lock Picking
Fixed keybinds not updating in AZERTY
Fixed soft lock with controller in Enchanting menu
Fixed stats not updating when equipping enchanted items
Fixed a character skin glitch when closing the inventory menu
CRASHES
Fixed crashes that could occur while fighting Jyggalag
Fixed crashing when killing a paralyzed NPC with an arrow
Fixed crashing when paralyzing an already-paralyzed NPC
Fixed crashing in Spellmaking menu when rapidly removing & implementing effects
Fixed various GPU crashes
Fixed crashes that could occur during auto saves
AUDIO
Fixed underwater SFX persisting after leaving exiting water
Fixed missing ambient SFX in Shivering Isles
QUESTS
Fixed NPCs floating after being knocked down during Priory of the Nine quest
Fixed crashing when entering Flooded Mine during Final Justice quest
Fixed pathing for Shaleez in Flooded Mine during Final Justice quest
Fixed crashing when opening Gate to The Fringe during Retaking the Fringe quest
Fixed mages loading without clothes in Fort Ontus during The Necromancer’s Amulet quest
Fixed NPC pathing issues in Gardens of Flesh and Bone during ‘Through the Fringe of Madness’ quest
Fixed missing VFX during the closing of the Great Gate
Fixed Ilav Dralgoner’s missing facial animation during ‘Saving Time Itself’ quest
Fixed Sir Thredet’s speech during ‘Umaril the Unfeathered’ quest
Fixed NPC pathing issues during ‘Baiting the Trap’ quest
Fixed Obelisk Crystals spawning disconnected during ‘Baiting the Trap’ quest
Fixed crash at end of ‘Through a Nightmare, Darkly’ quest
Fixed wall crumbling in Malada during ‘Nothing You Can Possess’ quest
Fixed misaligned food at the Castle Leyawiin County Hall dinner party during ‘Sanguine’ quest
Fixed an issue with visibility of ghosts during ‘Ghosts of Vitharn’
Fixed cutscene not playing during ‘Light the Dragonfires’
Fixed missing textures in Cropsford Campsite after finishing ‘Goblin Trouble’
PERFORMANCE
Fixed frame rate drop in Deepscorn Hollow
Fixed frame rate drops in Black Rock Caverns
Fixed frame rate drop between Skingrad and Skingrad Castle
Fixed frame rate drop south of Bravil Castle courtyard
Reduced the frequency of hitches in the open world.
General improvements to frame time in many locations.
Optimize updating of character attachments.
Optimize rendering of water volumes in the open world.
Optimize light/shadow updates in several lairs.
Optimize waterfall particle FX and rendering.
Optimize the weather system.
Optimize character animation system.
GAMEPLAY
Fixed player character height scaling
Fixed armor items hiding Argonian and Khajiit tails
Fixed slow camera movement when initiating NPC dialogue
Fixed soft lock when a player with a high bounty goes to jail
Fixed Orrery animations
Fixed physics bug with floating necklaces
Fixed vampire sleeping animations
Fixed NPC beards not following facial animation.
Fixed ghost NPCs being completely invisible
Fixed missing animation when talking to Shamada in Leyawiin
Fixed occasional very long load times when fast traveling
Fixed missing facial animation for Snak gra-Bura
Fixed falling unconscious in water preventing player from getting up
Fixed NPCs losing collision when swimming
Fixed NPCs stopping combat when player is blocking
Fixed female Dremora teeth clipping
Fixed soft lock after choosing player class
Fixed Amber weapons clipping in first person view
Fixed vines clipping into columns
Fixed helmets clipping into player character’s head
Fixed missing textures on Daedric statues
Fixed duplicated pages between Oghma Infinium and Mysterium Xarxes
SYSTEM
Fixed flickering shadows when using XeSS Upscaling
Fixed title properly restarting after purchasing the Deluxe Upgrade on PC
Fixed settings properly migrating between PC and XBOX
Fixed water disappearing after fast travel
Fixed cursor slowdown when enabling high frame rate V-Sync
Fixed shaders not preloading due to cloud save replication
Fixed long blackout during loading screens
Fixed weather VFX flashing while outside
Fixed motion blur artifacts while in the Oblivion Plane
Fixed NPCs not obeying the Wait action from the player
This update will be in the Steam Beta. If you would like to opt in to the The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Beta update, please follow these instructions:
1. Open your Steam Library and navigate to The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered
2. Right click on “The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered” and select “Properties”
3. In the new properties pop-up window, select “Betas”
4. In the beta drop down to opt into, select “[beta]”5. Wait for app to download new build and launch.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
A former head of communications at Dead Island 2 publisher Deep Silver has opened up about the “eight-year product delay” Dead Island 2 endured after early playtests reported “horrific feedback.”
At the end of a Develop:Brighton talk as reported by GamesIndustry.biz, Martin Wein — now at GameFlex Consultants — talked candidly about the sequel’s troubled development, and how it was decided at a major milestone meeting with then-developer, Yager, that the game as it was then “sucked.”
“I was working on that with the creative team, and we were mightily proud of that [trailer],” Wein said. “But then, about three to four weeks later, we had a major milestone with the development studio that was in charge at that time. And boy, that game sucked.
“It had nothing to do with what [made] the original Dead Island […] really fun. So we commissioned a play test and got horrific feedback. And we sat down with the development team and said, ‘Okay, what’s the course of action?’ And they said, ‘Yeah, leave it with us.'”
But at the next touch-point, Wein said little had changed, with playtest feedback indicating the sequel was “not fun, not engaging, [and] does not feel like the Dead Island that I played.”
“So at the end of the day, we had to take the game away from that external developer, find a new studio, and that put the game on a journey of… well, it was supposed to launch in 2015. When did it come out? 2023?
“Sometimes you have to make hard decisions,” Wein added. “Because we could have, at that point, put out a sh*t game. It might have made some money, but it would have killed the franchise.
“I cannot really speak to the conversation between the production team and the development partner as I was not part of those, but as the developer wanted to pursue their vision rather than follow player feedback, the ultimate decision was made to part ways.”
When it did finally release in 2023, IGN’s Dead Island 2’s review returned a 7/10. We said: “Dead Island 2 is a hilarious gore-fest and a competent zombie-slaying adventure, but lacks creativity outside of its great sense of humor.”
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world’s biggest gaming sites and publications. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
Arrowhead’s Helldivers 2 updates continue with patch 01.003.200, which makes a big balance change and a number of fixes.
According to patch notes released by the developer, 01.003.200 reduces the time it takes for the Helldiver to regain control after ragdolling from 0.8 to 0.5 seconds.
This seemingly innocuous change will have big implications for how Helldivers 2 feels to play. It’s a game that leans heavily on its physics systems and the emergent gameplay that comes from them, and that includes being blasted around the map.
As any Helldivers 2 player will know, you spend a lot of time prone on the floor recovering after being smashed into a ragdolling status. There’s a panic that sets in as you slowly pick yourself up and dust yourself off while the forces of the Illuminate, the Automatons, and the Terminids continue their assault. Those precious few milliseconds may make all the difference, especially on harder difficulties.
Meanwhile, the flag can now be “proudly” planted directly into enemies — dead or alive — “ensuring the eternal colors of Super Earth are never tainted, only quenched by the blood of its foes.” So, if you want that Charger to be running around with your flag on its back, now you can make it happen.
There are a number of balance changes worth checking out in the patch notes below.
Reduced the time it takes for the Helldiver to regain control after ragdolling from 0.8 to 0.5 sec
Increased chest injury bleed damage from 1 to 10. Chest injuries now cause more noticeable damage, as the previous value of 1 was so low it appeared to have no effect
CQC-1 One True Flag
Thanks to some groundbreaking military research into pointier flag tips, the flag can now be proudly planted directly into enemies—dead or alive—ensuring the eternal colors of Super Earth are never tainted, only quenched by the blood of its foes. Absolute Democracy
Primary weapons
AR-32 Pacifier
Stun duration increased from 1.5 to 3 sec
Starting magazines increased from 5 to 6
Max amount of magazines increased from 7 to 8
Slight increase in stun value applied to enemies
SMG-72 Pummeler
Stun duration increased from 1.5 to 3 sec
Slight increase in stun value applied to enemies
ARC-12 Blitzer
Slight increase in stun value applied to enemies
R-2124 Constitution
Bayonet stagger strength increased from 20 to 25
R-2 Amendment
Bayonet stagger strength increased from 20 to 25
Sidearms
P-92 Warrant
Now also locks-on to Large sized enemies
Throwables
G-109 Urchin
Stagger strength increased from 0 to 50
It now staggers and affects Large sized enemies
G-10 Incendiary
The amount of fuel has been increased in the grenade, resulting in longer-lasting fire duration
G-13 Incendiary impact
The amount of fuel has been increased in the grenade, resulting in a longer-lasting fire duration
Stratagems
A/FLAM-40 Flame sentry
Fire damage resistance increased from 0 to 95%
Cooldown reduced from 150 to 100 sec
GL-52 De-Escalator
Slight increase in stun value applied to enemies
Boosters
Firebomb Hellpod
Now affects the Hellpods default explosion as well
Stagger strength decreased from 80 to 15 to prevent ragdolling players
Demolition strength decreased from 40 to 20 because we now correctly also additively apply the normal Hellpod explosion
Stun Pods
Now affects the Hellpods default explosion as well
Stagger strength decreased from 80 to 15 to prevent ragdolling players
Demolition strength decreased from 40 to 20 because we now correctly also additively apply the normal Hellpod explosion
Enemies
General
It’s now easier to put Large to Massive sized enemies on fire
Terminids
Warrior
Damage needed to gib Warriors increased from 500 to 750 damage
This is how much damage is needed to explode the body without leaving a corpse behind
Automatons
Scout strider
Legs armor decreased from 3 to 2
Legs durable resistance has been increased
Illuminates
Overseer variants
Unarmored Torso healthzone armor decreased from 2 to 1
🔧 Fixes
Weapons Stratagems & Boosters
Fixed an issue with the R-2124 Constitution playing audio during the wrong instances
Fixed an issue with the draw and holster speed with the Gunslinger Armor Passive
Fixed an issue with ranged weapon grips after dropping the Entrenchment Tool
Enemies
Fixed an issue where status effect damage were attempting to apply more times than intended
Missions
Fixed an issue that prevented stratagems from working correctly on Terminate Illegal Broadcast objectives
Fixed an issue with bad enemy pathing on military uplink objectives
Fixed an issue for the terminal and drop off point, where they became inaccessible during the Retrieve Recon Craft Intel objective
Miscellaneous Fixes
Fixed an issue in first person view where some armors resulted in visible obstructions around the shoulder while using a high Field Of View
Fixed an issue during map generation that could result in missing terrain features
Fixed fall animations occasionally playing before victory poses
Extended some fonts to handle Bengali characters in player names
Fixed an error that caused some enemy models to appear in lower quality
Fixed an issue to prevent accidentally triggering jump packs or climbing on supply pods while using the interact button on controller
Fixed an issue where exiting the chat was leaving players unarmed
Fixed an issue with aiming during the draw emote
Fixed issues when exiting First Person View using emotes
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
The only officially licensed John Wick video game is being removed from sale just six years after launch.
Bithell Games’ well-received John Wick Hex launched in October 2019. It’s a fast-paced, action-oriented strategy game “that makes you think and strike like John Wick.” John Wick, of course, is the hugely popular action hero made famous by Keanu Reeves.
Fast forward six years and John Wick Hex is set for the digital scrapheap. In an update directed at the game’s community, publisher Big Fan Games (which is part of Devolver Digital) said John Wick Hex will be removed from sale on all platforms beginning July 17, 2025.
After July 17, existing owners of John Wick Hex will still be able to access the game via their digital libraries across PC and console, and of course physical copies will continue to work on console. However, new purchases of John Wick Hex will not be possible, regardless of platform or storefront.
Big Fan Games failed to say why John Wick Hex was being removed from sale, but it seems likely it’s the result of the expiration of its licence with John Wick rights holder Lionsgate Entertainment. IGN has asked Big Fan for comment.
As for Bithell Games, it released Tron: Catalyst last month. The game was developed in collaboration with Disney and Pixar Games, and is set within the world of Tron.
Lionsgate has confirmed it has a John Wick AAA video game in the works, although it has said nothing about it.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
Bomb Busters was recently awarded the highest honor for board games as it was named the 2025 Spiel des Jahres in Germany, beating out Flip 7 and Krakel Orakel for the top honors this year.
The Spiel des Jahres may not be a household name in the U.S., but it’s the most prestigious and influential board game award in the world, similar to winning an Oscar for film. The Spiel des Jahres (literally “Game of the Year”) has been awarded to the best overall board game by an independent jury in Germany since 1979.
This year’s winner, Bomb Busters, is a strategic cooperative game for up to five players that requires everyone to work together to defuse a bomb by cutting the correct wires. It’s basically the tabletop equivalent of the video game Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes.
This is a great game for families as it’s not too difficult to learn and includes 66 unique scenarios to conquer together. Typical games take around 30 minutes, making it a quick board game to get to the table and play.
Following the news of its big win, Bomb Busters is currently out of stock in the U.S. at Amazon and at the Pegasus Spiele North America store with no anticipated restock date.
Despite not having a big ceremony, winning the Spiel des Jahres is still a massive achievement and helps many board games achieve worldwide recognition. Historically, some of the best modern board games have been awarded the Spiel des Jahres, including Azul, Cascadia, Ticket to Ride, Carcassonne, and Codenames, just to name a few.
In 1989, a second award was added, the Kinderspiel des Jahres, that recognized the best children’s game of the year. The most recent award, the Kennerspiel des Jahres, was added in 2011 to recognize the best “connoisseur,” or expert, game of the year.
This year, the cake-building game Topp die Torte! won the Kinderspiel des Jahres and the cooperative ocean exploration game Endeavor: Deep Sea won the Kennerspiel des Jahres.
Matthew Adler has written for IGN since 2019 covering all things gaming, tech, tabletop games, and more. You can follow him on the site formerly known as Twitter @MatthewAdler and watch him stream on Twitch.
Scarlet and Violet base set prices have been anything but steady lately, with some Illustration Rares climbing fast while SIRs cool off just as quickly. I’ve been tracking a handful of cards that stood out this month, with some pulling in surprising gains and others dropping harder than expected. Here’s a quick look at which Pokémon TCG cards are crashing and climbing ahead of the final Scarlet and Violet sets release in Black Bolt and White Flare.
Pokémon TCG Crashers
I’ve been keeping an eye on Scarlet and Violet base set prices lately, and the Psychic-type Illustration Rares seem to be the ones pulling ahead. Ralts 211/198 has been quietly climbing. It’s sitting around $38.99 now, which is up about 28% this month. For a Basic card with simple art and a single Psyshot attack, that’s not something I saw coming. Same goes for Kirlia 212/198. It’s up to $27.99, mirroring Ralts’s percentage jump. That evolution line seems to be gaining popularity as a set, more than just individual play value.
Speaking of evolutions, Gardevoir ex 245/198 is definitely riding that same wave. It’s hit $54.99 recently, up from $41.19 just a month back. I don’t play Gardevoir myself, but the Psychic Embrace ability keeps showing up in deck lists, so the price hike makes sense when you look at both collector and competitive demand feeding into each other. Miraidon ex 244/198 and Koraidon ex 247/198 are seeing their own upticks, both sitting around $23.99 now. Not massive jumps compared to Gardevoir, but steady enough to notice if you’ve been following these since launch. Miraidon especially, thanks to that Tandem Unit ability, looks like it’s still holding value in Lightning-heavy builds.
Pokémon TCG Climbers
On the other end of things, some cards are definitely cooling off. Fidough 213/198 took a 15% hit, now hovering around $13.74. Cute card, but it doesn’t exactly have a standout ability or attack, so this feels more like a natural correction. Armarouge 203/198 dipped too, though only about 11%. I could see it regaining some ground later if Fire decks make a comeback, but for now, it’s sliding. Pachirisu 208/198’s price drop caught my attention more, which is currently down 19%. I feel like that’s tied to Lightning deck meta shifting around; its no-Paralysis ability isn’t moving the needle price-wise anymore.
Dondozo 207/198 and Starly 221/198 both saw the sharpest drops, each now at $9.99. Dondozo lost 30% this month, and Starly even more at 37%. I never really saw much hype for either of these beyond early Scarlet and Violet excitement, so the fall-off doesn’t surprise me. It feels like folks are figuring out what’s actually playable or collectible long-term.
Pokémon TCG Mega Evolution Preorders
This is it, the beggining of a new expansion for Pokémon TCG. Best Buy have gone live with their preorder allocation for Mega Evolutions today, which mean Target and Walmart won’t be far behind. Here’s all the links you need and good luck trainers!
Pokémon TCG Price Updates
I can’t believe I’m writing this, but Amazon has quite a bit of sealed Pokémon TCG product for under market value. Whilst that unfortunately means it’s still way above MSRP, some of these sets are at the best prices they’ve been in the last month.
Last Weeks Crashers and Climbers
As newer Pokémon TCG sets grab the spotlight, Paradox Rift is seeing its high-rarity SIR ex cards drop in value while several Illustration Rares quietly climb due to shifting collector interest and low inventory. Cards like Altaria ex, Gholdengo ex, and Steelix have dropped between 16% and 25%, while Illustration Rares including Morpeko, Plusle, Minun, Groudon, and Iron Valiant ex are climbing fast, with Morpeko leading at a 43% increase. This mirrors earlier trends where less flashy cards gain traction as availability tightens.
Christian Wait is a contributing freelancer for IGN covering everything collectable and deals. Christian has over 7 years of experience in the Gaming and Tech industry with bylines at Mashable and Pocket-Tactics. Christian also makes hand-painted collectibles for Saber Miniatures. Christian is also the author of “Pokemon Ultimate Unofficial Gaming Guide by GamesWarrior”. Find Christian on X @ChrisReggieWait.
