DK is back in his latest outing Donkey Kong Bananza, and apart from new merch and promotions in mobile games like Super Mario Run, he’s also getting his very own Tetris 99 event.
Yes, Nintendo’s Switch Online-focused battle-royale Tetris game will be hosting a special event between 1st – 4th August, 2025. In this limited-time Maximus Cup, you’ll be able to unlock a theme including special art, music and Tetrimino designs once you’ve accumulated 100 event points.
Nintendo has been rolling out regular firmware updates since the Switch 2 launched in June, and now before the end July, it’s released another one.
According to the official patch notes on Nintendo’s support page, this is another stability update. It’s available for the original Switch as well and bumps the firmware up to 20.3.0. Here’s the full rundown, courtesy of Nintendo:
Getting a group of friends together to learn and play a board game can be a daunting task. Not only does it require everyone in-person, but between setting up, learning the rules, and actually playing through the game it can end up taking multiple hours. Thankfully, there’s an online solution that solves many of these issues.
Board Game Arena might be one of the best-kept secrets, despite having more than 10 million registered players. Still, the flexibility to play many of the most popular games today whenever you desire makes it a must for board game enthusiasts. With a massive catalog spanning every genre, it’s got plenty to offer for both casual and hardcore players alike. Check out our full breakdown below to learn more about Board Game Arena, some of the included games, pricing, and what devices are supported.
What Is Board Game Arena?
Board Game Arena is a website that allows you to play more than 1,000 popular board games—completely free. What’s the catch? Surprisingly, there isn’t one. It really is as good as it sounds. A metaphorical board game buffet just waiting to be devoured.
The browser-based website is pretty lightweight, allowing it to run seamlessly across desktop and mobile devices. You can play games in real-time with players from across the world or set up a turn-based match that lets players take turns when it’s convenient for them. While this significantly increases the time it takes to complete a game, it’s a flexible option that’s perfect for those with a busy schedule who can’t dedicate the time it takes to sit down and play longer games.
How it works
Most games include a step-by-step guided tutorial, which is the perfect way to learn a new game that doesn’t require combing through a massive rulebook. Many also have links to educational videos if you prefer to learn by watching.
The best part about Board Game Arena is that the entire experience is automated. That means no more worrying about the rules or players potentially cheating. Each game features a simple interface that clearly indicates which moves you can make at any given moment. This also helps games move along at a brisk pace, as there’s no setup, teardown, or fiddling with components.
Players can create digital tables and indicate the number of opponents they are looking for before starting a match. Generally, finding players is quick, with tables often filled in a matter of seconds. Some games even include expansion content, which you can decide to enable when setting up your table.
Each game features a built-in text chat option to interact with your friends or opponents. And, if you want to host a virtual game night and get the full experience, optional voice and video chat are also available.
Because many board games require a lot of time and commitment, Board Game Arena leverages a reputation system for all players. Anyone who takes too long to make a move or leaves a game before it’s finished receives a penalty. This allows you to quickly identify potential problem players and avoid matching with them to ensure a positive play experience.
For players looking to test their ability, Board Game Arena also offers ranked matches and tournaments for every game. This is a great way to face off against some of the best players in the world and improve your skill.
How Much Does Board Game Arena Cost?
Board Game Arena is available in two tiers: free and Premium. The free tier only requires that you create a free account in order to access the catalog of games. However, you’ll quickly find that many of the most popular games have the “Premium” badge on them, which means you can’t start a table unless you have a paid subscription. If you’re patient, though, you can wait for another premium member to set up a table and join for free.
But, to experience the best of Board Game Arena without any restrictions, you’ll want to sign up for a Premium account. Like most game subscription services, you can pay monthly or yearly, with the latter being a bit cheaper in comparison. Board Game Arena’s is priced at $5 per month or $42 per year (which works out to about $3.50 a month). For less than the price of a new board game you can experience more than 1,000—with more added every week.
For more experienced players, there are plenty of longer, more strategic games that typically need a well-versed group to play including Terraforming Mars, Ark Nova, and Terra Mystica. While these games can take hours in-person, the instant setup and automated turn structure helps them move much faster than their real-world counterparts, making this the ideal way to play many of these heavier games.
Although most games require two or more players to enjoy, Board Game Arena has a vast catalog of solo games for players who prefer that format. Many modern games also include a solo variant, allowing you to play against an automa and learn the strategy without the pressure of additional players.
Even if you only have a few minutes to spare, Board Game Arena also features dozens of quick board games that can be played on your phone to give you your fix. The beauty of its massive catalog is that you can choose the perfect game based on how much time you have available.
Board Game Arena – Available Platforms
Since Board Game Arena is browser-based, it’s available on just about any modern device that can access an internet browser. While you can play games on mobile, I find that some games’ visual aspects don’t scale well for the smaller screen. Your best bet is to play on PC, Mac, or even a tablet as each of these can fit more visuals and information on the screen.
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.
It’s no secret that while Nintendo Switch 2 has some excellent games already available, many of these are quite expensive. While the console just launched in early June, Woot has an ongoing sale where you can save a few dollars off some of the biggest Switch 2 games out now. This includes Mario Kart World and the Nintendo Switch 2 Editions of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
Save on Mario Kart World and Zelda Switch 2 Editions
First, Mario Kart World is on sale for $71.99. As the first new Mario Kart experience in over a decade, World has a ton of new courses and mechanics to discover. For the first time ever, Mario Kart enters an open world, with each track interconnected on one landmass. The trick system has seen a massive overhaul, with support for wall riding, and the new Knockout Tour mode is an excellent battle royale-style way to play Mario Kart.
Moreover, the Switch 2 Editions of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom are both on sale, and these games are simply masterpieces. The Nintendo Switch 2 Editions only improve on that, offering enhanced resolutions and framerates that elevate the experience. You can even use the new Zelda Notes functionality through the Nintendo Switch app to hear voice recordings and tips to assist you on your journey through Hyrule.
Beyond these three games, there are dozens of first party Nintendo Switch games like Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition, Super Mario Party Jamboree, and more on sale. This is really an excellent time to expand your collection without breaking the bank.
Nintendo Switch 2 + Mario Kart World Bundles Are Getting Restocks
Noah Hunter is a freelance writer and reviewer with a passion for games and technology. He co-founded Final Weapon, an outlet focused on nonsense-free Japanese gaming (in 2019) and has contributed to various publishers writing about the medium.
Age Verification in the UK and Xbox’s Ongoing Commitment to Player Safety
Kim KunesVice President of Gaming Trust & Safety, Xbox
At Xbox, we’re committed to providing players with a safe and secure experience on our platform. Since launching our first ever gaming console that could connect players online in 2005, we’ve continued to invest in state-of-the-art tools and technologies to protect the Xbox community. Over more than two decades of experience, we’ve developed a multifaceted safety, privacy, and security approach that features built-in safety measures, respects player privacy, and empowers players, parents, and caregivers to have control over their gaming experiences.
We frequently iterate on these safety measures in collaboration with our community, publishing partners, and industry regulators to ensure we’re providing our players with the safest possible experience. Beginning today, as part of our compliance program for the UK Online Safety Act and our ongoing investments in tools and technologies that help ensure age-appropriate experiences, players who indicate their account age as 18 and over, based in the UK, and signing into an Xbox experience with a Microsoft account will begin seeing notifications encouraging them to verify their age. This one-time process for players in the UK ensures we can continue to provide all players on our platform with age-appropriate experiences.
Starting early next year, age verification will be required for these players in the UK to retain full access to social features on Xbox, such as voice or text communication and game invites. Players who don’t verify their age between now and early 2026 can continue to play and enjoy Xbox. However, starting early next year, their use of social features on Xbox will become limited to friends only until they complete the age verification process. Whether a player verifies their age will not affect any previous purchases, entitlements, gameplay history, achievements, or the ability to play and purchase games, however we encourage players to verify their age via this one-time process now to avoid uninterrupted use of social features on Xbox in the future.
Adults in the UK can begin the age verification process now on their mobile device by scanning the QR code to then left, or by clicking this link: https://aka.ms/XboxUKAgeVerification
There are several easy and secure methods for age verification that players can choose from, including proof of government-issued ID, age estimation, mobile provider check, and credit card check. The information players provide during the age verification process is protected with industry-standard encryption and is not stored or used for any other purpose. Additional information about the age verification process, including step-by-step instructions, the options players have for verifying their age, and how player data is kept private and secure, is available at aka.ms/XboxUKAgeSupport.
The Future of Safety at Xbox Globally
As this age verification process rolls out across the UK, we’ll continue to evaluate how we can keep players around the world safe and learn from the UK process. We expect to roll out age verification processes to more regions in the future. There is no one-size-fits-all solution to player safety, so these methods may look different across regions and experiences. We’ll work with local communities, publishing partners and regulators to determine the right approach that both respects player privacy and doesn’t take away from the Xbox gameplay experience. We’ll continue to communicate the changes we’re making to our practices and the data we collect so we can better protect players on our platform.
Additional Resources
We encourage parents and caregivers of children or teens who use an Xbox console to set up child or teen accounts, which do not require age verification and allow them to manage gaming activities like screentime, spending limits, privacy and content settings, and more using the Xbox Family Settings app. You can learn more at www.xbox.com/en-US/family-hub or check out the Xbox Gaming Safety Toolkit to read more about how caregivers can support safer gaming.
For more information on Microsoft privacy, safety, and responsible gaming, please see the below list of resources:
Whether it’s the difficulty of gathering your game group together consistently, you prefer playing solo, or you’re just looking for new players to test your strategies against, physical board games and tabletop experiences may not be enough. Luckily, some fantastic games have been adapted into digital formats that allow for gaming wherever your gaming group may be and for tense matches whenever you want. It really is an exciting time to be a fan of tabletop games.
This guide will point you in the direction of digital adaptations that will scratch that itch you have to play some board games, but also serve as learning resources to introduce new titles into your game night rotation.
Featured in this article
Just a note: This list won’t include digital adaptations for TCGs such as Magic: The Gathering or Virtual Tabletop platforms for TTRPGs; it focuses solely on board games.
Root
Root from Leder Games disguises rich asymmetric area control under the facade of cute and cuddly woodland critters. Anywhere from one to four players struggle against one another, attempting to take control of areas and complete unique faction-specific goals to earn Victory Points. Whoever reaches 30 points first wins.
This digital adaptation successfully captures the visual style of Kyle Ferrin’s art and benefits from different aspects being automated. Root offers both Local and Online play in addition to some wonderful tutorials, which are especially helpful and a great resource in learning all of the factions. Speaking of factions, developer Direwolf Digital (expect to see that more on the list) continues to release expansions, unlocking new maps and playable factions.
Dune: Imperium
With the physical version winning SXSW’s Board Game of the Year in 2022 and the digital adaptation recently winning BoardGameGeeks’ 2024 Golden Geek award for Best Board Game App, Dune: Imperium is an easy recommendation. This mixture of a worker placement and deck-building title set in the Dune universe is a modern classic that offers a fun time for board game hobbyists while not being overly complicated to get into for newcomers. Players take turns placing their spies around Dune, improving their standing with different groups, and waging war in an effort to earn enough points to trigger the end game.
What’s really neat about this digital version is that not only does it feature a good tutorial, solo play against computers, and online play (ranked, events, and casual options), but you can also test your skills with special Challenge games with unique rules. Regardless of how you play it, anyone even remotely interested in board games should try Dune: Imperium – or its sort of 2nd Edition, Dune: Imperium – Uprising – at least once. Check out our Dune: Imperium board game review for more details about the game itself.
Spirit Island
You are a powerful spirit, and your island and its inhabitants, the Dahan (who are also your worshippers), are in danger from foreign invaders who are laying claim to portions of your home. It’s up to you and your fellow spirits to deal with this problem. Spirit Island is a cooperative deck-building and area control game, where you and your friends will have to use your spirits’ special abilities and build out a power deck to force these colonists off your island.
This digital implementation streamlines the process, offloading all of the upkeep between turns like spawning more colonists and moving them around, making this feel like an overall much faster game. Despite being a cooperative title, this game can be challenging, but luckily, the various spirits are ranked in terms of complexity, so even board game beginners can have a good time. Adding in the expansions will provide you with even more spirits to choose from, more customization choices for your island, with Horizons of Spirit Island designed as the ideal jumping-in point for those learning Spirit Island.
Machi Koro with Everyone
What’s even better than getting one digital board game? Getting two! Machi Koro with Everyone is a digital bundle that provides players with both the first and second versions of this delightful and charming game. In Machi Koro, players spend coins to buy new properties for their small cities and roll dice to try to earn money, with the end goal of being the first person to build three special buildings.
This adaptation features colorful art and cute customizable avatars. It is an excellent board game for families to enjoy, thanks to its local play functionality and short game time of approximately 20 minutes. When you’re ready, though, you can go online and test your skills against other players around the world. Machi Koro with Everyone is the easiest game to learn on this list, and arguably one of the most charming.
Scythe: Digital Edition
Set in an alternate version of the 1920s Europe where giant mechs exist and help with farming (and war), Scythe is an engine-building / worker placement game where players manage not only gathering resources but also waging war on one another. This digital adaptation of the game captures all of the tense moments and rich strategy that players have fallen in love with in the physical board game, but speeds things up thanks to the automation of various systems that only a digital game can provide.
As a nifty added bonus, Sythe Digital allows you to customize the paint scheme of your units. If you’re looking to play against your friends instead of just the computer or random folks online, Scythe: Digital Edition features crossplay, allowing you to play with others regardless of the platform.
Gloomhaven
It could be argued that one of the games that has defined this new era of tabletop was 2017’s behemoth of a game, Gloomhaven. This sprawling campaign title featuring 95 unique scenarios, branching storylines, a ton of characters, and intricate card-based combat has left it’s mark on the scene, but one thing that has always held it back somewhat are the space it takes up and the large amount of time investment it takes to get to the end. Thankfully, Gloomhaven has a digital version that allows you to play online with your friends, instead of trying to organize 50 in-person game nights with friends, regardless of what platform someone may own the game on. If you find yourself a master Gloomhaven player already, then you can take on the 100 special Guildmaster missions or build your own levels with the game’s built-in level editor, and share with the community.
The progenitor of the deck-building genre of board games, Dominion is the perfect game to bust out when you have a little time to kill. In Dominion, players take turns buying cards from a shared pool of available options, determined by the expansions and sets they have, creating unique scenarios. What makes this game beloved is how different card effects and triggers play off of one another, requiring you to plan out not only what cards you will purchase, but also the order in which to play them from your hand.
This digital version continues to see strong support, with many of the physical game’s expansions seeing release in this format as well, and with the option to play not only against computer opponents of various difficulties, you can also play online against friends and random players around the world, regardless of the platform.
The fact that the base game, which can provide hours of fun on its own, is completely free, when paired with just how many expansions you can also get for this digital game, make it an easy inclusion on the list, and we have also featured Dominion on some of our other lists too, including the best deck-building games.
Werewolf / Mafia
How well can you tell when your friends are lying, and how well can you hide when you are? Werewolf / Mafia is the purest form of social deduction and deception out there, and while it balances the lines of whether it’s a social experience or a game, there are still a ton of options available to folks who want to play this online with their friends. Many of these can be played right from the internet browser on your smart device or computer (https://wolfy.net/ , Mafia The Game, https://mafia.gg/, and One Night Ultimate Werewolf are some free examples), others like Town of Salem and its sequel, which have higher production values and more “stuff” to them, can be found on Steam or the various app stores.
Werewolf is a blast to play at parties, and thanks to these online options, you can play with your friends whenever you want! There is also a really interesting history behind the game that you can check out on No Pun Included YouTube channel.
Wingspan
Birds. Birds everywhere! Wingspan is one of those games that has seemingly been able to break into the mainstream consumer environment (and we think it’s pretty great, too). If your family or game group is one of those who adores collecting these feathered friends, this digital version of Wingspan is a must-have. Wingspan is an engine-building game in which you attract different types of birds to roost on your board, lay eggs, and earn points. Thanks to this release, you will be able to play all the Wingspan you can handle, including against your friends, regardless of where they buy it.
If you don’t have a bunch of time all at once to sit down and play a complete game of Wingspan, this digital version also lets you play over the course of numerous days in the form of its asynchronous play. This also allows you to have multiple games going on all at once!
Board Game Arena
With over 1,000 games, more than half of which are available to play even with a free account, Board Game Arena is an amazing option when you and your far-off friends want to enjoy a night of game playing. Playable straight from your phone, tablet, or computer’s browser, BGA lets players connect with other players around the world, take part in tournaments, play either in real time or asynchronously over the span of a week or longer, and even create a friends list so it’s easy to connect with loved ones.
Classic and beloved titles like Catan, Ticket To Ride, River of Gold, and Wingspan are all available, in addition to some brand-new games that aren’t even out yet. A vast majority of the games on BGA (917 currently) come with in-depth step-by-step tutorials to help you learn the game, too. This is a handy tool for individuals who want to make sure they like a game before spending a bunch of money on the physical product.
If you want access to the entire catalog that Board Game Arena offers, you will have to pay to get a Premium account, but at only $5 a month or $36 a year, the price is well worth it just for the additional games you get alone. However, free players can still play those games, they just can’t make a table of those games, meaning they are still able to join other premium players’ tables without having to drop a dime.
Out of all the games on this list, Board Game Arena is by far the best value for your buck. The service runs on your normal internet browser, so anyone with a smartphone can join and play, though we recommend playing it on your computer or tablet instead.
Sony is suing Tencent, alleging its upcoming game Light of Motiram is “a slavish clone of SIE’s…Horizon series of video games.”
The complaint, which was filed in a California court last week, alleges that Tencent’s upcoming adventure game Light of Motiram is illegally similar to Horizon: Forbidden West and Horizon: Zero Dawn in everything from creature design to protagonist to marketing materials. The complaint outlines numerous similarities, comparing various marketing screenshots from both games as well as the game descriptions.
Like Horizon, Light of Motiram takes place in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by giant robot dinosaurs who roam large, natural environments such as tropical forests, deserts, and snowy mountains. Humans, just like in Horizon, live in tribal groups and must fight the machine animals, who also largely line up with those in Horizon, to survive. Both games even feature red-haired women protagonists that wear very similar outfits and styles, and Motiram even has its lead sporting a device awfully similar to Aloy’s “Focus” earpiece.
The complaint also cites headlines from a number of gaming websites, including Kotaku, TheGamer, and GameRant, as well as various Steam and Reddit comments, that all remark on the similarities between the two games and the likelihood that Sony would probably sue over the issue.
“The commonalities with Horizon disclosed in the Light of Motiram promotional game trailer and other promotional materials included not only identical story and gameplay themes, cultural, and character elements, but also art style, landscapes, architectural and art elements, color palettes, fonts, and symbols. Lighting and points of view are also highly similar,” the complaint reads.
Also per Sony’s complaint, Tencent allegedly knew exactly what it was doing here. Sony says that Tencent began developing Light of Motiram in 2023, and approached Sony at the 2024 Game Developers Conference to ask for a licensing deal to develop its own Horizon game. Sony turned Tencent down. But Tencent kept developing Light of Motiram anyway. Sony also claims it approached Tencent informally to resolve the copyright dispute once it became aware of the game, but when it did so, Sony says Tencent tried once again to license Horizon. Sony once again refused, and Tencent allegedly moved forward with the game’s promotions and playtests.
Sony is suing Tencent for copyright and trademark infringement, as well as false designation of origin. It’s asking the court to permanently enjoing Tencent from infringing its copyright, for costs and damages of up to $150,000 for each separate work in Horizon that’s been infringed, and demands that Tencent deliver all infringing materials to Sony for destruction.
Meanwhile, Light of Motiram has a Steam listing, but no release date just yet.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
Team Fortress 2, that shooter with wacky character intro videos so good I have to watch each of them at least once every six months, got its 2025 summer update late last week. There are a host of new community-made maps, items, and taunts, in addition to a fair few bug fixes from Valve themselves.
Cool to see, though one vocal group of players are keen to see the developers delve back in and make some changes to matchmaking, having penned an open letter to the Steamy company outlining hopes for the revised system that melds the very old old one with the slightly less old one the game’s had since 2016’s Meet Your Match update.
A Lord of the Rings cosy game? Made by Weta Workshop, who made the sets, costumes, and props for the beloved Peter Jackson movie trilogy? Say no more, right?
Unfortunately, Tales of the Shire is not the perfect mashup of hobbits and hygge we’ve all been waiting for, but is instead emblematic of the kind of game development that has failed both its employees and its players. Those employees deserve to have their work appraised for the things they did right despite everything, though — so I’ll at least start with that.
