© PlayStation Publishing
© Future
Thank your own personal deity—possibly The Old Gods of Nightreign—it's Friday again! With prices dropping harder than a boss fight on easy mode, now’s the time to stock up for the weekend. Whether you’re playing solo, with mates, or just hunting for your next obsession, the below haul covers everything from co-op chaos and sportsball simming to cult classics and free gems.
In retro news, I'm celebrating the 13th birthday of Lollipop Chainsaw, a Suda51 cult-hit. Admittedly, it didn't garner much in the way of high scores, but I still recall it being the best game about a zombie-slaying cheerleader armed with a portable power tool and the disembodied head of her boyfriend... I've ever played. Had a whole buncha rock solid references to horror flicks and IRL musicians, too.
Aussie bdays for notable games
- Civilization Revolution (PS3,X360) 2008. eBay
- Lollipop Chainsaw (PS3,X360) 2012. Redux
- Cadence of Hyrule (DS) 2019. Get
- Persona 4 Golden (PC) 2020. Get
Contents
On Nintendo Switch, It Takes Two delivers emotional whiplash wrapped in joyful platforming. It was inspired by director Josef Fares' love–hate experiences with real relationships. Meanwhile, Hogwarts Legacy is worth revisiting not just for its wizarding wonder but because the devs spent months crafting a bespoke broom physics system that most players never even notice.
Expiring Recent Deals
Or gift a Nintendo eShop Card.
Over on Xbox, Tekken 8 comes swinging in with the return of Jun Kazama, a fan-favourite who hadn’t been playable since the 1990s. And The Witcher 3 Complete Edition isn't just a hefty RPG, it’s one that CD Projekt Red once accidentally spoiled via a dev note left in the code. Us diehards found it within days.
Xbox One
Expiring Recent Deals
Or just invest in an Xbox Card.
PlayStation deals include Elden Ring, where its infamous tree sentinel was originally intended to roam freely. And The Last of Us Part II Remastered offers a roguelike mode born from Naughty Dog's scrapped DLC concepts. I'm still held in its thrall.
PS4
Expiring Recent Deals
PS+ Monthly Freebies
Yours to keep from May 1 with this subscription
Or purchase a PS Store Card.
Finally, PC players get a freebie buffet. Two Point Hospital, Death Squared, and more are yours for the price of a few clicks and a (free) Prime Gaming membership.
Expiring Recent Deals
Or just get a Steam Wallet Card
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Audiophilia for less
Do right by your console, upgrade your telly
Adam Mathew is our Aussie deals wrangler. He plays practically everything, often on YouTube.
For today only, HP has dropped the price of the powerful Omen Max 16 GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Gaming Laptop to just $1,399.99 with free shipping after a massive $700 instant discount and no coupon code required. That is the best price for any RTX 5070 Ti gaming laptop I've seen online since it first launched back in March of 2025. The RTX 5070 Ti offers gaming performance on par with the previous generation's RTX 4080 GPU.
This HP Omen Max 16 laptop is configured with a 16" 1920x1200 display, Intel Core Ultra 7 255HX processor, GeForce RTX 5070 Ti graphics, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD. I would recommend upgrading to the 16" 2560x1600 OLED display for an additional $190 because it offers a higher resolution and better image quality for a very reasonable price premium.
The Core Ultra 9 275HX boasts a max turbo frequency of 5.4GHz with 24 cores and 40MB total L2 cache. According to Passmark, this is one of the fastest laptop processor on the market, going toe to toe with the AMD Ryzen 9 7945HX3D.
The RTX 5070 Ti mobile GPU is a substantial upgrade over the 4070 Ti. In fact, it offers gaming performance on par with the RTX 4080. You'll be able to comfortably play any game at the stock display's 1920x1200 resolution. In fact, I recommended upgrading to the sharper 1600p OLED display because the GPU is powerful enough to handle it.
The Omen Max is essentially a "premium" Omen 16 with better materials - like an aluminum-magnesium alloy chassis and lid - and a beefier cooling system to accommodate current generation hardware.
Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.
The Switch 2 might pack much better hardware than the original, but a game I’m still surprised to see running at all (much less pretty well) on a Nintendo system is Cyberpunk 2077. I spent a few days with CD Projekt Red’s latest port to get a feel for how it runs, how it holds up, and how the Switch 2’s fancy new mouse controls work when applied to a high-octane FPS. The answer across the board is impressive, and if you haven’t had the pleasure of exploring Night City before, this seems like a solid way to do so.
But first, let’s look back at what I said in my review of Cyberpunk 2077 when it first launched in 2020.
Of course, that was just for the PC version, and the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions were such a notorious mess that we had to go back and do a separate review with a much lower score once we got our hands on it at launch. (And don’t forget we also reviewed its excellent Phantom Liberty DLC in 2023, which is included in the Switch 2 version.) Thankfully, the Switch 2 port is nowhere near the disaster it was on the old console generation – in fact, it’s pretty dang great.
All it takes is a quick glance to see that Cyberpunk 2077 still looks very good on Nintendo’s new console. The distinct neon glows and dirty streets of Night City all come through alive and well here, even if they aren’t quite as crisp and clean as you’d find on PC, PS5, or Xbox Series X. This isn’t exactly the “definitive” way to play this game, but it’s more than good enough from a practical standpoint. This isn’t like the Switch 1 port of The Witcher 3, which felt like an “I guess we can make this function” sort of last resort way to play more than anything else.
You can check out the technical specs in our story about how CD Projekt managed to get Cyberpunk 2077 running on the Switch 2 – in short, it’s running at 1080p when docked, and 1080p or 720p in handheld, depending on if you’re playing in Quality or Performance mode, and it maxes out at 40fps. Your mileage may vary here, because despite my PC gaming background, I am not a huge performance snob and I have no issue playing at less than 60fps. So to my eye, Cyberpunk 2077 runs fairly well in docked mode, even if far from perfect. It has some dropped frames in parts and doesn’t run as buttery smooth as the Switch 2 Editions of Tears of the Kingdom or Breath of the Wild, but nothing is so distracting that it actively harmed my time with it in this context. If you can’t stand anything below a solid 60fps, this might be one you need to skip – anyone who is used to playing games entirely on the original Switch, however, should be comfortable enough here.
One of the biggest draws of the Switch 2 for me was its ability to mimic mouse control with a sideways Joy-Con, potentially giving you greater accuracy in a first-person game like this. I am happy to say that’s exactly the case, as it was super easy for me to jump from my PC to this control option and get far more headshots than I would have with a regular gamepad. It’s not at the same level as a high-DPS gaming mouse or anything, but it’s absolutely my preferred way to play this game whenever I sat down to do so, and that’s a huge win. That said…
You see, the problem with the Switch 2’s mouse mode isn’t actually the quality of the mouse control itself, but the physical feel of using it. The Joy-Con is tiny compared to a normal mouse, and my hand was cramping up trying to get a good grip on it after long play sessions – even when I used a 3D-printed shell to make it feel better. That’s because there’s nowhere to comfortably put your thumb while still being able to press the right stick, Y button, and A button, all of which are required for various actions as you jump between combat, conversations, and menu management. So while the mouse is better than I expected, I’m worried this awkward grip is going to stop me from consistently using it in the future.
That said, the mouse controls are at least better than using motions to shortcut certain actions. The usual method of aiming with the right stick primarily and then fine-tuning that aim with motion controls is available and works just as well here as it does in stuff like Zelda, but the motion assist options are pretty useless beyond that. You can swing your Joy-Con to use your melee weapon in a way that gave me unflattering flashbacks to early Wii games, or twist and flail it to do actions like reload or heal, but doing so almost always made my camera wobble about at the same time. It may hurt my hand, but I’ll take mouse controls over this any day.
Finally, revisiting Night City reminded me just how great this game is, especially after all the improvements after launch. The world is moody and dangerous, and it does a great job of dropping you in and immediately making you feel like a part of the culture. I also maintain it stages its quest conversations better than any RPG I’ve ever seen, giving simple chats a cinematic quality without ever taking you out of the driver seat. If you’ve never played Cyberpunk 2077, I can absolutely recommend you check it out here.
I am still working on my final Switch 2 review, but you can check out our reviews of Mario Kart World and Welcome Tour in the meantime. And if you want insight on other ports, we’ve got a look at Tears of the Kingdom, Breath of the Wild, and Hogwarts Legacy.
Bugs, Daffy, and the whole Looney Tunes bunch are back in action with newer versions of Volume 1 and 2 of the Looney Tunes Platinum Collection. Arriving on June 24, each edition features hours of Looney Tunes shorts, now remastered in HD. After HBO Max removed historic Looney Tunes episodes from its platform to ‘prioritize adult and family programming’, there’s no time like the present to lock down physical copies. You can preorder both volumes on Amazon for $29.98 each.
These two collections are the first new releases in Looney Tunes Platinum line since 2014 when Volume 3 was released. They are new remastered versions of the original Volume 1 and 2 (rather than a Volume 4), but it's still noteworthy for any collector looking to add the shorts to their personal collection.
Volume 1 of the Looney Tunes Platinum Collection features three discs with approximately eight hours of remastered content from Warner Bros' chaotic cartoon cohort. All the shorts featured have been digitally restored from the original negatives, meaning you can enjoy the classic cartoon in a much sharper, enhanced light.
Looney Tunes Platinum Collection Volume 2 has received a similar treatment to Volume 1, and provides avid Tune-heads with 50 theatrical shorts (approximately five hours of content) to kick back with. As with Volume 1, the shorts have been digitally restored to provide HD versions of core Looney Tunes content.
If you’re a fan of physical media and want to grow your Blu-ray collection further, we’ve collated all the upcoming Blu-ray releases in one handy place. As new Blu-rays are announced, we’ll update the list, so be sure to check in as time goes on. On the list so far is the chicken-jockey flick The Minecraft Movie and the latest in the John Wick franchise, Ballerina.
If you're just all about the Looney Tunes, you can also check out our guide on how to watch individual episodes online (spoiler: only a few episodes are still streaming).
Sarah Thwaites is a freelance tech writer at IGN, with bylines at GameInformer, TrustedReviews, NME and more.
© Valve
© Funcom
© Tyler C. / FromSoftware
In April 2025, we shared a video that showcased the PS4 emulator, shadPS4, running Driveclub. And now, just two months since then, Driveclub is almost fully playable with support for 60FPS on PC via shadPS4. YouTube’s ‘talhaONE’ has shared two videos, showcasing the game running on the latest version of shadPS4. And, as you will … Continue reading Driveclub is almost fully playable on PC with 60FPS via shadPS4 →
The post Driveclub is almost fully playable on PC with 60FPS via shadPS4 appeared first on DSOGaming.
Among Us developer Innersloth has found a reference to its game in the new chapters of Deltarune, sparking a little bit of friendly back-and-forth between Innersloth and Deltarune developer Toby Fox on social media.
Warning! No major plot spoilers will be discussed in this article, but if you don't want to know anything about anything that happens in Deltarune Chapter 4, maybe this article isn't for you!
The reference can be found at the start of Chapter 4, when Kris, Susie, and Noelle are exploring Noelle's house. Kris can lead the gang into a closet full of empty gift boxes, and if Kris chooses to examine several of the boxes, Noelle will ask Kris what they're doing.
To this, Susie reponds, "I mean... gotta admit this room is kinda sus... especially that vent." Noelle then replies, "Haha, nice reference, Susie!" ...though Susie doesn't seem to know what Noelle is talking about ("Huh? ...reference?")
Susie was, of course, accidentally calling to mind Among Us, both by using the word "sus" and referencing vents, which Among Us players frequently hide in. This has seemingly thrilled the Innersloth social media person, who took to X / Twitter to say, "AHHHHH AMONG US REFERENCE IN DELTARUNE SKDJDSLSLX;LSKDK IMMA CRASH OUT" followed by "thanks king @tobyfox"
In response, Fox decided to do a little trolling:
— tobyfox (@tobyfox) June 12, 2025
He posted a fake screenshot of Deltarune patch notes, which read:
We are releasing a hotfix for PC & Mac to remedy some issues occurring in the game. You can confirm the version number on the bottom right of the file select screen.
Changelist
Ch4 v.0.0.088 8
Removed among us
Innersloth replied with "RESPECT." If it's not apparent, Fox didn't actually remove the reference; he's just goofing around. Funnily enough, this gag is also a silly way to note that Fox has been playing around with version numbers: the 2021 release of chapters 1 and 2 was marked as version 1.0, but instead of chapters 3 and 4 being 2.0, the new release was v.0.0.087.
Deltarune chapters 3 and 4 launched last week to immediate skyrocketing popularity on Steam, and our own reviewer gave the full game a 9/10, saying that even though the story's only halfway done, "Deltarune's incredible story is already bursting with hilarious charm, unforgettable characters, and an iconic soundtrack that make it worth investing your time in."
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.
Lots of comedies have attempted to cynically rely on actors’ improvisation skills to patch up their uneven, unready scripts. By comparison, the way Deep Cover uses improv comedy as a major engine for its plot feels like a loving tribute to the form – in theory, at least, if not necessarily in practice.
Kat (Bryce Dallas Howard) knows a lot about improv theory; having failed for a decade to get a comedy career rolling, she’s now teaching the value of “yes, and” – an improv refrain encouraging participants to add onto an idea, rather than contradict it – to beginner classes in London. That’s where she meets novices like Marlon (Orlando Bloom), a wannabe-Method actor who cooks up intense character backstory despite booking mostly cheesy ads, and Hugh (Nick Mohammed), a meek IT guy whose soft-spoken awkwardness will be familiar to Ted Lasso viewers. (Which is to say Mohammed is largely recycling his shtick from the earliest episodes of that show.)
Somewhat improbably, Kat is approached by a cop (Sean Bean) who needs improvisers to help with a series of minor sting operations. Supposedly, comedians are better at thinking on their feet than a lot of cops. With her best students just signed to a real-deal talent agency, further inflaming Kat’s sense of inadequacy, she ropes Marlon and Hugh into the venture. A job’s a job, after all.
The idea of applying improv’s guiding principles to undercover police work is funny. It offers a new approach to the limp, familiar comic routine of non-criminals poorly bluffing and feuding their way through crime-movie misadventures: Where the typical imitation of Game Night requires a band of unwilling participants,Deep Cover depends on how eager Kat and the gang are. Improv team members are supposed to support each other’s wildest ideas and sell them with pure straight-faced commitment; Marlon in particular takes to his self-created criminal “character” with relish.
However, this also winds up explaining why Deep Cover doesn’t actually work that well as a comedy. A lot of broad comedy is based on some sense of surprise. Good improv employs it twice: surprising the audience, and challenging its performers to stay in the moment while they themselves are potentially surprised by each other. Deep Cover, however, is entirely predictable. By necessity, its in-movie improvisations are obviously scripted (only Mohammed has any firsthand experience with this type of thing). But there’s no rule dictating that the actors-pretending-to-be-criminals concept has to proceed with such thundering obviousness. Every escalation (like a sudden switch-up from illegal cigarette sales to drug deals), every bit of side business (like the cop accompanied by an oddball underling undermining his sense of gravity), every “surprise” betrayal or reversal… they’re all easily anticipated, lacking the spark of unexpected invention. The screenplay, credited to Colin Trevorrow, Derek Connolly, and Ben Ashenden, never feels all that steeped in the delirium of great improv, It begins and ends with the “yes, and” concept.
Formulaic comedy can still get laughs, of course, and there are bits and pieces of Deep Cover that get the job done: Bloom is particularly and appropriately committed as an actor who simply refuses to stop generating incoherently traumatic backstory. But doing a mild comic gloss on crime-movie clichés using familiar jokes and dim lighting has its limits, which director Tom Kingsley reaches well before the halfway mark. Howard and her sidekicks keep Deep Cover watchable, but it’s never as exciting as a real thriller – or, more importantly, as a good improv show.
We may take it for granted today, but imagine telling a younger version of yourself that one day there will be a magical app that will gather everything Disney, Pixar, Star Wars, Marvel, and National Geographic in one place you can watch whenever and wherever you want for a relatively low monthly price.
That is what Disney+ is thanks to all of the companies Disney owns, and it’s obviously one of the leading streaming platforms as it offers a wide collection of classics and original programming featuring some of the most beloved characters and stories ever told. However, there are so many streaming services out there and it can be tough to keep them all, no matter how much they claim to offer.
That being said, if you are considering signing up for Disney+ for the first time or feel the time is right to jump back into the vault as Scrooge McDuck would dive into his money bin, this guide will provide you with everything you need to know about the current Disney+ subscription plans, bundles, and more.
As of June 2025, Disney+ offers two main plans - Disney+ Basic and Disney+ Premium - and the main differences between the two are whether you get ads, if you are able to download content to watch on the go, and if you get Dolby Atmos. One thing you may not know, however, is that there are various Disney bundles that can get you multiple streaming services for a much lower price than you’d be able to get each individually. The newest streaming bundle includes Disney+, Max, and Hulu, but you can also bundle Disney+ with ESPN. You’ll be able to see all the options below, and we hope it helps make the decision of joining or not an even easier one!
Disney+ does not currently offer any sort of free trial for new subscribers. However, there are quite a few other streaming services that do offer a free trial. And one potential work around is to sign up for a Hulu + Live TV free trial, which grants you access to Disney+ as a bonus bundle.
All Disney+ plans increased in price on October 17, 2024. The following information has been updated to reflect these changes. Below is the most up-to-date information we've found from the Disney+ help page.
This is the cheapest Disney+ option and is excellent for those who don’t mind watching a few ads and don’t feel the need to have movies and shows ready for those times when no Wi-Fi or cellular service is available. If you travel a ton or have kids and want to load up some episodes of Bluey or Spidey and His Amazing Friends on a tablet for a vacation, you may want to consider an upgrade to the premium plan.
It’s also important to note that, while Disney+ Basic does offer over 300 titles in 4K UHD and HDR, it does not offer Dolby Atmos like Disney+ Premium does.
There are only two tiers of Disney+ and this is the top one. With the increase in price, you get everything Disney+ Basic offers, but you also don’t have to sit through ads and can download as much as you want on up to 10 devices.
Another big benefit you get from upgrading to Disney+ Premium is the addition of Dolby Atmos, which is one of the leading surround sound technologies on the market. In addition to having sound enveloping your room, Dolby Atmos features spatial audio that allows creators to place sounds in specific places and fully immerse you in your favorite stories.
This bundle is for those who want to watch everything Disney+ and Hulu have to offer, but don’t mind watching ads and don’t need to download content to their devices.
This bundle is for those who want all the benefits of Disney+ Premium, including unlimited downloads on up to 10 devices, Dolby Atmos, and no ads, in addition to the full ad-free Hulu library.
If ESPN+ is something you’d like to add to Hulu and Disney+, this bundle or the one below it are for you. For those unfamiliar, ESPN+ allows you to stream live sports from across the world, purchase UFC PPV events, and enjoy a ton of on-demand content including the entire 30 for 30 library, select ESPN films, game replays, and more. You also unlock exclusive fantasy sports tools and premium articles on ESPN.
Both of these trio bundles get you the same content on ESPN, you just have to decide if you want ads on Disney+ and Hulu, if you want to download content, and if Dolby Atmos is worth it to you!
This plan is a legacy one that is only available to those who are already subscribed to it, meaning no new account can take advantage of it. If you are a member of this bundle, just know you can keep it as long as you want if you don’t cancel or change it!
The June 2025 lineup for Disney+ has a little bit of everything. Well, except Star Wars. The Phineas & Ferb revival dropped its first 10 episodes on June 6, with 10 more episodes arriving at some point down the line. On the MCU side, the Ironheart series premieres on June 24. From Nat Geo, we'll be getting a new Ocean-themed documentary featuring none other than David Attenborough. And, yes, there is some proper Disney in there too: The live-action Snow White remake arrived on Disney+ on June 11.
While bundling to save money is a wonderful thing, it can be a bit confusing how to get the best pricing if you are already subscribed to Disney+, Hulu, and/or ESPN+. Luckily, it’s not too tricky once you know where to look! To help, here are the instructions right from Disney to ensure you get the best deal!
Existing Disney+ Subscriber
Existing Hulu Subscriber
Existing ESPN+ Subscriber
Select Hulu right below the message or Start streaming Hulu or ESPN+ to activate your Hulu account
Yes! If you’d like Disney+ and/or ESPN+ alongside Hulu + Live TV, you can purchase that directly from Hulu!
Disney+ is supported on a wide variety of devices, and you can see the full list below, right from Disney!
Web browsers
Mobile Devices
TV-Connected Devices
For more, check out our review of Disney+, in which we said, “For what is essentially a streaming service dedicated to the output and archives of a single company – albeit a company that now commands a vast swath of the entertainment landscape – Disney+ is doing a good job at widening its scope with documentaries, programming from its other banners, and, interestingly, concert films.”
Looking to cut down on streaming services? Check out our list of the best streaming deals or, if you're really trying to cut back, our guide on how to cancel Disney Plus.
Piecing together a puzzle is a great way to relax. Whether you enjoy the hobby on your own or with others, there's quite a few different formats to choose from these days, too. There are some puzzles that offer fun 3D builds that bring your efforts to life and some even tell a story with a secret ending that ties it all together. If you don't frequently build puzzles, though, finding a good option like the ones previously mentioned means tracking down a reliable brand first.
One visit to Amazon will show you that there's an abundance of companies offering different puzzles, which can feel quite overwhelming. We're here to help, though. In this list, we've gathered up some of our favorite puzzle brands that we believe are worth dropping money on and noted some puzzles from each that we highly recommend. If you've been itching to pick up something new to get stuck into, have a look at our collection of the best puzzle brands below.
Ravensburger is a brand that's been around for a while, offering a wide range of puzzle sizes from smaller 500-piece options - and even lower, if you prefer - to one of the largest puzzles with 40,000 pieces. Yes, really! The puzzle pieces are cut to fit neatly into place, with the company stating on its website that its "puzzles are made using custom-built tools and steel strips, handcrafted by skilled artisans. This meticulous process ensures each piece fits perfectly, providing a flawless puzzle experience without any false fits." The company also notes that each puzzle goes through quality checks, so you know you're getting a product that'll last. It's also worth noting that Ravensburger puzzles are even used in the world jigsaw puzzle championship.
Below you can find some Ravensburger puzzles we'd recommend in a wide range of sizes. Starting from just 500 pieces and going up to a whopping 5,000, there's a puzzle for every challenge level available. We've even included a couple of their 3D puzzles if you want a finished product that you can set up afterward. Ravensburger also has many officially licensed puzzles from franchises like Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings.
The Magic Puzzle Company really lives up to its name. Its magical puzzles combine a "traditional jigsaw puzzle experience with ideas from the worlds of tabletop games and magic," according to its website. It's become a very beloved brand as well, with its Kickstarter boasting 62,284 backers from when it was last updated. Each of its 1,000-piece puzzles features over 50 easter eggs for you to find, but the coolest part about them is the special secret ending you get after finishing the first part of the puzzle. This important element helps tie together the story from the first set of pieces in the box, making it even more satisfying to finish. There are now a total of four series' releases of these puzzles with series four arriving at Amazon earlier in 2025.
Each puzzle from the Magic Puzzle Company offers a unique experience with original art, to boot. We've included a few of our recommended puzzles below that each have something interesting to bring to the table, from the magical Mystic Maze to the colorful Gnomes' Homes.
Springbok is another well-regarded brand that's been around for a very long time - since 1963 to be exact. The company offers a variety of different puzzles to choose from so you can find an option that best suits your personal tastes and skill level. Each one is made with a lot of love, too. The company prides itself on creating quality puzzles, stating on its website that, "The quality of our dies and above average thickness of our chipboards ensures the interlocking pieces will come together flawlessly multiple times."
From piecing it together to admiring the final work and all of the details within it, Springbok's puzzles will keep you busy for quite a while. Below we've included a few fun puzzles from their collections, from a selection of sweet treats to a puzzle paying homage to some excellent films.
Heye's puzzles come in a fun variety of unique designs and ones with incredible amounts of detail. On its website, you can find the 'Puzzle' category broken down into five sections: Art Lab, Cartoon, Fantasy, Fine Art, and Photo Art. Each of these is further broken down into more sections so you can explore the many different styles of puzzle that are available. Not only that, but Heye also offers a range of puzzle sizes, from 500 pieces to 6,000, so you can easily find one that fits the challenge level you're looking for.
On top of its creative puzzle designs, the company also notes on its website that, "HEYE puzzles have been successively converted to plastic-free production without plastic bags and shrink wrap." That's a very big win for sustainability. Below you can find just a few of our recommended puzzles from Heye.
Not all puzzles come in a 2D format. If you're looking for something a little different to work with, Rokr offers a great collection of 3D builds that can up your puzzling game with their intricate designs. With 10 years of experience and, according to its website, 4,190 Happy Members, Rokr is a reliable brand for those looking to expand on their puzzling skills. Its models are built to last, too. On its website, the company states that it prioritizes, "the use of durable, child-safe materials to ensure that our products not only withstand the rigors of play but also provide a reliable and secure play environment."
Below we've listed just a few of our favorite puzzles from Rokr, from an illuminated globe to a miniature pinball machine. These come with varying amounts of puzzle pieces as well, so there's a little something for every challenge level here. If you're looking for a good LEGO alternative, we recommend starting witht his brand.
Buffalo Games is another brand that's been in the game for a while, since 1986. The company has crafted numerous puzzles since then, with care for their construction at the forefront of its mind. According to its website, the company states that, "With a careful eye for quality and sustainability, our puzzles use the thickest graphic board, premium paper, and sturdy set-up boxes." Each puzzle is also "manufactured using a precision cutting technique that guarantees every piece snaps into place with our signature Perfect Snap™ technology."
Whether you want a puzzle with a scenic view or one that captures your favorite piece of entertainment, Buffalo Games has quite a few options to choose from. We've included just a few of our favorites below in varying sizes, from 300 to 2,000 pieces.
It's always worth researching a brand when you come across a puzzle that interests you to learn more about them. Quite a few companies will have further details about them on their website to read so you can have a better idea about who you're buying from. Another great way to learn more about a brand is by reading reviews or comments from fellow puzzlers online who have bought from the brand previously. Doing this can help you make a good judgement call about a brand and if they're worth your time and money.
Puzzles come in a pretty wide variety of piece counts, but some of the most common are 300, 500, and 1000-piece puzzles. Choosing what piece count is right for you depends on a mixture of how good you are at puzzles, how much time you have, and whether or not you have a dedicated space to do puzzles. Lower piece counts are usually better for casual puzzlers and kids, but higher piece counts are better for adults and challenge seekers. That being said, the most common piece counts you'll see from the best jigsaw puzzle brands are 500 and 1000-piece puzzles.
For most quality jigsaw puzzles, a sturdy cardboard base is what you'll find used as the material. You can usually judge a puzzle's quality by just how sturdy and thick the cardboard is. Puzzle cardboard (also known as chipboard) comes in a pretty wide variety of thicknesses and this can affect how easily the puzzle fits together. Lower-quality puzzles will usually use thinner base coardboard resulting in flimsier pieces that don't have that same 'click' when you put them together. Outside of cardboard, wood can be a good material for puzzles. However depending on the type of wood used you might end up with chipped or splintered pieces. Most of the time high-quality cardboard is what you should be looking for.
If you're in the mood to pick up even more puzzles, it's worth it to have a look at our roundup of the best jigsaw puzzles for adults. That selection even features a couple of the brands from this list, so you can see more of what they have to offer. And if you need a good table to work off of after picking up a new puzzle, why not check out our roundup of the best puzzle tables and boards for some recommendations?
Hannah Hoolihan is a freelancer who writes with the guides and commerce teams here at IGN.
© Xbox Game Studios
Revival premieres Thursday, June 12 on Syfy.
The most interesting storytelling decision in Syfy’s Revival (an adaptation of the Image comic by Mike Norton and Tim Seeley) is also the source of its most frustrating issues: After an effectively scary opening scene in which the corpses in a morgue all suddenly spring to life (including a man in the middle of being cremated), we’re fast-forwarded 35 days into the future – when everyone has largely accepted a new normal shaped by what they dub “Revival Day.” On that day, everyone who had died within a seemingly arbitrary two-week period in Wausau, Wisconsin was mysteriously resurrected, and in the month or so that followed, all of the obvious drama stirred up by such a bizarre event was seemingly addressed offscreen. The juicier philosophical questions that flow out from this premise are grim, powerful stuff – there are a lot of predictable religious questions surrounding the so-called “revivers” – but they’re also frequently undone by a less-predictable sense of humor. It might seem counterintuitive to the scenes where Revival is aiming to be more of a thriller, or a drama, or a full-on horror-story – but it’s also, weirdly, where it feels most alive.
The time jump frees Revival up to explore what “everyday” life now looks like in this small town, and it’s pretty fascinating when it does. One of the revivers was a criminal who died of a stroke while serving a life sentence in prison and is now walking free – so does the fact that he died mean he paid his debt to society? There’s also a grieving woman whose husband died the day before the Revival Day cutoff, meaning he stayed dead. The characters also question if some people revived without knowing it, like if they died in their sleep and just woke up as usual the next morning.
So what’s to be made of the funny energy that gives Revival its biggest spark? This is no Shaun Of The Dead-style “we’re all having fun with this weird situation we’re in” kind of thing; it stems almost entirely from central character Dana Cypress (Syfy original vet Melanie Scrofano), who is pretty much the only person in Wausau who isn’t going through some larger weird thing tied to Revival Day. And because Revival refuses to commit to any of the more obvious tones for a show about the dead rising from the grave, it’s the comedy that becomes easiest to connect with.
Dana is a cop, and her father (JAG’s David James Elliott, who unfortunately seems to think he’s on a more serious show) happens to be the sheriff. Her dream of someday getting out of Dodge was dashed by a post-Revival Day government quarantine, so she’s stuck dealing with her authoritarian father and the weirdly active criminal community of her hometown.
Her response to the disappointments in her life (her mother died tragically and the father of her son is a rarely mentioned deadbeat) is to approach every situation with dry sarcasm and a deranged lust for chocolate, and Scrofano impressively pulls it off without devolving into a Joss Whedon-y quip machine. The smart distinction is that her humor is a defense mechanism for boredom, not for deflating danger or anxiety, so she’s more likely to make a funny comment when there’s nothing happening than when there’s something scary going on. The trade-off is that the dramatic scenes can’t lean on “Dana says something funny” as a crutch, because she locks in and becomes a good cop, which is why those scenes can feel a little flatter – save for some touching ones involving a little girl who revived and her bad, religious parents.
Luckily, Dana has backup from Ibrahim Ramin (Andy McQueen), a CDC scientist who carries some of the more expositional plot stuff and serves as a carefully pitched foil to Dana. Though her first name implies a certain, X-Files-derived stock dynamic for this kind of show (one weirdo, one skeptic), Ibrahim isn’t the Scully to her Mulder or the Mulder to her Scully – rather, it’s like Dana is both Scully and Mulder and Ibrahim is a normal person who happened to cross paths with them and is quietly impressed that everyone around him has a big personality. They make for a lovable duo.
But while the characters are mostly compelling, the town of Wausau itself doesn’t fare as well. It’s a real place that is genuinely in the middle of nowhere (no offense to Wausans), but Revival treats it like the setting of every other TV show about a small town with a mystery. Think Twin Peaks but not as strange, or the Alaskan town in season 4 of True Detective but it’s not always nighttime. Most viewers wouldn’t notice, since most viewers probably don’t know Wausau is even a real place, but Revival occasionally uses establishing shots of the real city that make it clear that 40,000 people live there and that its downtown boasts a couple of high-rises (including one that is the tallest commercial building in the state outside of Milwaukee!). Yet the specificity of those images never carries over to the anonymous way Wausau is pictured and depicted – a casualty of TV production on a Syfy budget, not to mention filming in Canada.
That slight incongruity adds to a larger issue that Revival has with the world it takes place in. Because those first 35 days get skipped, we don’t see anyone’s reactions to Revival Day – we’re told that the cops are setting up a registry of revivers, we’re told that the federal government won’t let anyone in or out, and everyone has already either learned to accept the revivers or is quietly stewing about how much they hate them (but is perfectly willing to sit on their hands and do nothing until the events of the series premiere).
The rules of this fictional universe are so vaguely established that it takes some time before Revival establishes that revivers can heal super fast, but only from injuries that occurred after they died. A character who died from an untreated infection still has a gross wound on his hand but can cut his chest open with no repercussions, while another character rips out their own teeth just for them to grow back in seconds. But if that’s the case, why doesn’t the reviver who gets a dramatic haircut at one point not have their old hairdo seconds after the scissors were put away?
It’s not a show-breaking issue, but it does weaken its structure. When one of the revivers goes rogue early on and starts attacking people, it seems like a setup for the inevitable dark side of this apparent miracle, but it’s explicitly presented as a one-off with a direct cause (even if no one is quite sure what that cause is right away). This is used as an opportunity for the government to research whether or not revivers can be re-killed, which is a smart/scary thread, but… surely someone would’ve thought of that in those 35 days, right? Why does it take over a month to find out that they have Wolverine-esque healing powers, or for either the state or federal government to get directly involved? For every interesting question Revival poses, there are two more that are just hand-waved away.
And that can be okay! A fixation on “plot holes” is destroying our enjoyment of TV shows and movies as it is, but it is a problem when a show lets you wonder why one thing matters and another thing doesn’t matter. Eventually, I started to ask whether or not anything in Revival even matters at all. What’s good here is impressively solid – it’s just that the standout performances and clever hooks get buried by tonal inconsistencies and muddy logic.
The PlayStation Days of Play Sale officially ended on Wednedday June 11, however one deal is available for just a little while longer. Amazon currently still has the PlayStation 5 DualSense Edge Controller on sale for just $169 after a $30 off instant discount. Unlike the standard DualSense controller, which sees regular price drops, the DualSense Edge is rarely discounted. This is a professional grade controller for the PS5 console, much like the Xbox Elite is for the Series X.
The DualSense Edge is Sony's high-end controller for the PS5 console. Like the Xbox Elite Series 2 controller, it offers pro-level features like grips, adjustable analog sticks, mappable rear buttons, profiles, and more. You can swap out the standard analog stick tops with convex replacements that come in two different heights. You have two different options for the back buttons: levers like in the Xbox Elite Series 2 or smaller nubs. One of the most important features of any pro controller are the triggers, and they’ve gotten attention in the DualSense Edge as well. Next to each trigger is a stop slider that lets you adjust how far you have to press the trigger down to make it register. You can choose standard, medium, or short travel distances, the better to get off quick shots in competitive shooters.
All this tech is housed in a hard shell case for easy storage and transport. The case even has a flap that lets you charge the controller while it’s in the case. A 9-foot USB-C charging cable is also included. Unlike the DualSense controllers, some parts can be replaced. For example, you can buy replacement analog stick modules for $19.99 apiece.
Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.
© Nekki
It almost goes without saying if you’ve been paying attention to LEGO over the years that they put out some neat sets. But I’m going to reiterate it anyway: When building a LEGO set, I’m often amazed by the ingenuity of the designers. Their ability to turn a pile of blocks and pieces into everything from flowers and Marvel superheroes to space ships and the Titanic is really something.
But some sets go beyond just depicting things from pop culture or our own world. Some sets actually function, actually do something. The LEGO Minifigure Vending Machine is one such set, and it’s incredible that, given an instruction manual and 13 bags of interlocking plastic pieces, you can, after five or six hours, end up with a working machine that dispense LEGO minifigures. It’s just plain awesome, in every sense of the word.
For a fully functional end result, the LEGO Minifigure Vending Machine build is fairly straightforward. You piece it together it from the ground up, starting with the base of the machine and building out the scaffolding on which it all sits. As you piece together the walls of the base, the instructions often have you stop to build a disc-like internal piece as a separate component before placing it into the guts of the machine.
At a few points during the build, placing these components properly was somewhat tricky, which is why it’s a LEGO set for adults, aimed at the 18+ age group. For instance, you have to wedge a particular plastic flap just so between a rubber piece and a plastic piece, in a way that’s hard to discern from the drawing in the instruction manual. But because it’s a difficult step, the designers dedicate an entire page of the manual to show the right way and the wrong way to make sure you take extra care on that step.
Overall, the Minifigure Vending Machine is a fun and satisfying build. Most of the bags include one of the 16 minifigures that you place into clear plastic capsules, so you don’t have to assemble all of them at once. I never got bored as I built the set, something that can happen occasionally in other sets when you have to piece together repetitive parts.
Of course, the coolest part of this build happens when it’s all done. You take a coin comprised of two LEGO pieces pressed together, and you drop it into the coin slot. Then you turn the crank, and the coin drops into the machine, and a capsule containing a minifigure rolls out. It works just like you’d expect, to the point where, if you don’t put a coin in, it won’t dispense a minifigure. It’s kind of incredible.
I’ve been in charge of the LEGO content for IGN for years, and the company continues to impress me with its feats of design, imagination, and plastic technology. I know LEGO sets are expensive, and no should break the bank buying what's effectively a toy or piece of decoration. In nearly every article I publish on here, someone in the comments complains about LEGO’s pricing, which is entirely fair.
But the quality of the sets is also generally very high. They're built from hundreds of pieces that are machined so carefully that that they fit together with pieces produced decades ago. And the designs of the sets just keep impressing, year after year. To me, that’s worth quite a bit.
Chris Reed is a commerce editor and deals expert for IGN. He also runs IGN's board game and LEGO coverage. You can follow him on Bluesky.
The new live-action How to Train Your Dragon movie is now in theaters and has already been getting pretty good reviews. Our own reviewer went as far as to say it "re-creates the original film's heart and soul (as well as its entire plot and most enduring images)." And while I haven't seen the movie myself just yet, I am already feeling like it would be better to just skip it entirely and rewatch the originals.
The original How to Train Your Dragon movie is one of my favorite animated films of all time. The fact that DreamWorks has seemingly tried so hard to recreate the exact movie in live-action only reaffirms my belief that it was already perfect the way it was. So with the latest discount on the Blu-ray trilogy currently available on Amazon, I'm considering picking up a permanent copy for my own personal collection and skipping the live-action version entirely.
At $10.99, it's a great price for three movie discs in one. You get How to Train Your Dragon, How to Train Your Dragon 2, and How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World for less than they cost individually for the 4K versions. There is obviously a difference in quality when you go 4K that accounts for that price increase, but for animated movies there's only so many more pixels you need before it becomes unnecessary in my opinion. And while this isn't the absolute lowest price we've ever seen for this Blu-ray trilogy, it is the cheapest it's been in all of 2025.
Although we don't yet have a release date for the 4K or Blu-ray editions of the new movie, it's inevitable that one will become available. Now that the 2025 How to Train Your Dragon movie is in theaters, we will likely see preorders for the physical discs be announced within a month.
You can check out our list of upcoming Blu-ray releases for the latest info. And while it isn't a movie, LEGO does have preorders live for the first How to Train Your Dragon set ever created.
If you're looking for other 4K Blu-ray movies to add to your collection, it's worth noting that Amazon is also having a wider buy one, get one half off sale. This includes a ton of newer releases as well as popular new 4K releases of older movies like Lilo & Stitch. You can check out some of the best options from the sale below:
© Funcom
Starting today, Walmart is offering a great deal on a budget HP prebuilt computer. Right now you can pick up an HP Omen 16 RTX 4060 gaming PC for only $799 with free shipping. It's sold and shipped by Walmart directly, not a marketplace vendor. The GeForce RTX 4060 graphics card can comfortably play most games at 1080p. If you mostly play older games like Fortnite, League of Legends, PUBG, or World of Warcraft, there's no need to spend more money.
This PC features an Intel Core i5-14400F CPU, RTX 4060 Ti GPU, 16GB of DDR5 RAM, and 1TB SSD. The Intel Core i5-14400F CPU is a 14th gen processor with a max turbo frequency of 4.7GHz, 10 cores, and 16 threads, This is a capable processor that performs well at both gaming and multi-tasking and complements the RTX 4060 graphics card.
The RTX 4060 will run most games at a consistent 60fps or higher at 1080p resolution. You could also run games at 1440p with relaxed graphic settings, but at that point there's good reason to upgrade to an RTX 4060 Ti (if you can find one) or an overpriced RTX 5060 Ti / 5070. The RTX 4060 also supports DLSS 3.0, which gives you an additional framerate boost without sacrificing too much visual quality for games that support the technology.
For more discounts, check out the best gaming PC deals today.
Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.
DC's Absolute Universe is in full swing, with more series on the way. If you're unfamiliar, the Absolute Universe is a publishing initiative by the comics publisher that gives some of the best talents in comics free reign with their most prominent characters without the limitations of preexisting lore. What does this mean? In Absolute Batman, legendary Batman writer Scott Snyder was able to explore Bruce Wayne/Batman from a fresh perspective—what if Bruce wasn't a billionaire playboy and didn't have his hi-tech gadgets?
The first arc of this new series is available for preorder on Amazon now and is available August 5. The second arc started back with issue #7 with a new take on Mr. Freeze, and issue #9 is available now. This kicks off a new take on the classic Batman villain Bane, who still sports his hulking luchador look and Venom enhancements, but has new motivations and an interesting connection to Alfred Pennyworth.
IGN had the opportunity to sit down with the creators of Absolute Batman, writer Scott Snyder and artist Nick Dragotta. In our interview, the creators talked about Bane's imposing stature and equally impressive level of intelligence: “Bane, the one thing I'll say is he's really big. That's it,” Snyder said. “People were like, ‘Oh, he's going to be small.’ He's not going to be small. He's not small. We wanted someone who makes Bruce's silhouette look smaller.” Absolute Batman #9 also introduces this world's versions of Dick Grayson, who isn't quite Robin/Nightwing yet, and Deathstroke.
Absolute Batman #9 is 32 pages and is available now on Kindle for $4.99 and on sale at Amazon for $19.89 (33% off).
If you're looking for other Batman comics or graphic novels to read, Amazon is currently having a big buy one, get one 50% off sale that includes a ton of great Batman options. We've gathered some of the best ones below:
Myles Obenza is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Bluesky @mylesobenza.bsky.social.
Magic: The Gathering x Final Fantasy finally launches this week, and while there are boosters, Commander decks, and even a new Starter Kit to pick up (if you can find it in stock), collectors will perhaps be most interested in the new Secret Lair drops.
It’s been a busy year for Wizards of the Coast’s limited-time mini-sets, and while the company sold out of all three Final Fantasy drops in record time (leaving many disappointed), you can still get them via third-party sellers... if you're willing to pay the inflated costs, that is.
Before we start, it’s worth pointing out that you won’t find Secret Lair drops at the same price as you’d find them directly from Wizards of the Coast (standard $30 nonfoil, $40 rainbow foil), with most being listed anywhere between $80-$150 or above.
This is a huge markup, so if you're looking to buy, be sure you're 100% informed of what you're paying for. You can buy them from eBay, but we’ve always found TCGPlayer, while still eBay-owned, to be the most secure and trustworthy way to nab Secret Lair drops post-release.
There are a trio of Final Fantasy Secret Lair sets, Weapons, Grimoire, and Game Over, each offering unique art and names for Magic: The Gathering cards. Everything is available in standard and foil, alongside the Japanese variants as well.
Here’s how you can grab each, what’s included, and all the key info you need to help you decide whether you still want these to add to your collection via third party seller listings selling at a premium.
Focused on, well, weaponry from the long-running RPG franchise, the Weapons drop offers the following:
Grimoire is all about spells and the characters casting them. Here are the five cards included:
Final Fantasy would be nothing without its iconic villains, and this set gives them a chance to shine.
Lloyd Coombes is Gaming Editor @ Daily Star. He's a big fan of Magic: The Gathering and other collectible card games, much to his wife's dismay. He's also a tech, gaming, and fitness freelancer seen at Polygon, Eurogamer, Macworld, TechRadar, Tom’s Guide, IGN, and more.
Here's a rare chance to pick up a well-sized OLED TV at an affordable price and from a trusted retailer. Starting this week, Amazon has discounted the 2024 65" Panasonic Z85 4K OLED Smart TV with Amazon Fire TV for just $997.99 with free delivery. This is an excellent TV to pair up with your PlayStation 5 since it has HDMI 2.1 inputs and a 120Hz refresh rate.
The Panasonic Z85 TV uses a W-OLED panel so image quality is comparable to the Samsung S85C/D/F, Sony Bravia 8/A80, and LG B4/B3 models. Since this is a true OLED panel, the Z85 boasts near instantaneous response time, near infinite contrast ratio, and true blacks. It's superior to any other panel type in nearly every scenario except for one: super bright rooms with no light control (OLEDs aren't as bright as Mini LED or LED LCD TVs).
The Z85 is an excellent future-proof gaming TV because it has a native 120Hz refresh rate and HDMI 2.1 ports. That means it is capable of running games in 4K at up to 120fps on both the PS5 and Xbox Series X consoles. It's a great TV for the upcoming Switch 2 as well, since the console is locked at 60fps when running games in 4K. The Z85 also has other convenient gaming features like variable refresh rate and auto low latency mode.
This is the best price I can find for a brand new 65" OLED TV with a full warranty. Panasonic is a well-known brand with a solid TV history. Although they had been out of the game for a while, they've recently returned, targeting the higher-end market with Mini-LED and OLED offerings.
Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.
At first glance, Toy Battle might look like a Clash Royale knockoff, but there’s more in this toy box than meets the eye. This two-player battler delivers deceptively simple gameplay and lightning-fast matches, with eight unique game boards and strategic troop abilities that keep each round feeling fresh. If you can look past its playful aesthetic, Toy Battle offers some genuinely satisfying moments that players of all ages can enjoy.
Toy Battle comes in a compact box designed to resemble a locking metal toybox, adding a playful touch right from the start. Inside, you'll find a short instruction manual (with a QR code for a video overview), a player aid sheet, and several thick punchboards containing all of the troop tiles. There isn’t much to punch out – just 48 total troops (24 blue and 24 red), with three copies each of the eight unique toy units you'll control during the game.
Two high-quality wooden stands are included to keep your troops upright, organized, and hidden from your opponent during play. A small brown bag holds 16 medal markers used for scoring, and you’ll also find two simple-to-assemble storage boxes (one blue, one red) that help keep your troops separated and secure when the game is packed away.
Beneath everything are four double-sided game boards, each featuring a distinct terrain for a total of eight themed battlefields. These range from castles and cities above the clouds to volcanic jungles, cemeteries, and space stations. But they’re more than just cosmetic changes; each board has a unique layout and special bases that can be activated to trigger game-altering effects. Every square inch of the game's box is used efficiently, with everything fitting snugly back inside when playtime’s over.
The goal in Toy Battle is to be the first player to either conquer your opponent's headquarters or collect the required number of medals by controlling terrain. To achieve this, players take turns placing troops onto the battlefield, starting near their own headquarters and advancing along connected paths until one of the win conditions is met.
To begin, players select one of the eight terrain maps. For your first game, the rules recommend playing on the Castle Field map as it features a symmetrical layout and straightforward special base effect. One player takes control of the blue troops, while the other commands the red. Medal markers are distributed based on icons shown on the map, and each player shuffles their troops into facedown stacks. The starting player draws three troops and places them on their rack, while the second player draws four.
Players perform one of two actions on their turn: either draw two troops from their reserve or place a single troop on the terrain. Drawing troops gives you more options to work with, but it also gives your opponent a chance to advance toward victory. When placing troops, you can claim an empty base on the board or cover one of your opponent’s troops if your unit’s power is higher. Balancing the need to maintain pressure with the need to keep your rack full is one of the core strategic dilemmas in Toy Battle.
Each troop has a power level from one to seven and a unique effect that activates when played. For example, Skully, the 1-power unit, doesn’t offer much raw strength but lets you draw two additional troops, making it a valuable early-game play.
Other troops include Cap'n, the 2-power unit that allows you to play an extra troop during your turn; Jumbo, the 3-power unit that lets you discard one of your opponent’s adjacent troops; Hook, the 4-power unit that can be placed onto any base on the board to get behind enemy lines or disrupt your opponent's plans; XB-42, the 5-power unit that allows you to randomly discard a troop from your opponent's rack; and Star, the 6-power unit that lets you draw a troop from your reserve while putting a strong body on the board.
Roxy, the 7-cost unit, doesn't have any effect, but is the strongest standard troop in the game. Then there's Kwak, the joker unit that can be played on top of any troop but can also be covered by any other, making it both flexible and vulnerable.
While the troops are designed to resemble familiar children’s toys like green army men, dragons, and robots, I never really felt like I was waging an epic toy box war. Most of their abilities didn’t feel thematically appropriate, and they often came across more like generic meeples than distinct characters with charm.
There are three copies of each troop in a player’s stack, but four are removed at random before the game begins. This adds bit of randomness and a layer of uncertainty that carries throughout the game as you try to deduce what you and your opponent might still have in reserve. Anticipating and playing around potential moves becomes a crucial skill in Toy Battle, creating constant micro-decisions that ultimately shape the outcome of the match.
Another key element to consider is the terrain you and your opponent are playing on. Each of the eight maps offers a unique layout, with multiple paths leading to your opponent’s headquarters, similar to a MOBA. Bases along these paths serve as spaces where troops can be deployed, and with only about five between headquarters, you'll be fighting for control almost immediately.
Most maps also feature special bases that trigger unique effects, like returning a troop to your rack, drawing from your reserve, or reclaiming a discarded unit. These hotly contested spaces can swing the momentum of a match if used wisely. Some boards introduce variety in other ways, such as an asymmetrical layout with an extra headquarters for one player to defend, or a central zone that nullifies all troop effects. These twists force you to rethink your approach and keep each match feeling distinct.
As mentioned earlier, reaching your opponent’s headquarters isn’t the only way to win. Each map has medal tokens scattered across both sides, appearing as single medals or grouped in twos or threes. If your troops control every base surrounding a medal or medal group, you claim it. Be the first to collect the required number for that terrain, and you win. This alternate victory condition makes for tense moments and forces you to adjust your strategy on the fly depending on the state of the board.
While Toy Battle doesn’t offer the layered complexity found in some other battlers and may not appeal to players seeking deeper strategy, its quick setup and lightning-fast matches make it a fun addition to any collection. It’s approachable for all ages, can be taught in minutes, and ideal for families or younger players. With most games wrapping up in about 10 minutes, it’s easy to play a few rounds and walk away feeling satisfied without committing your whole afternoon.
No matter which platform you prefer, there's an excellent variety of video game deals to check out right now. Whether you're gaming on PS5, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, or PC, we've rounded up the best offers to help you get more for your money. This includes some deals leftover from Days of Play, including the PS5 Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 bundle, which is still available at select retailers.
On top of that, PC players can score discounts right now on Doom: The Dark Ages at Fanatical and GMG, Elden Ring Nightreign at Fanatical, and even Stellar Blade at Fanatical, which made its PC debut yesterday. These deals just scratch the surface of what's available, though. Have a look through our favorite video game deals at the moment below.
Disc Edition - $449.99 (was $570)
Digital Edition - $399.99 (was $420)
The Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 bundle is still available at select retailers after Days of Play! It runs for $399.99 for the digital console bundle or up to $449.99 for the disc console bundle. With each of these deals you're saving $119.99 compared to buying each item separately, which is a very nice offer to take advantage of while it's still available.
PC players have some great deals to take advantage of right now, including a nice little discount on Stellar Blade, which only just released on PC yesterday! Alongside that we've found discounts on Elden Ring Nightreign and Doom: The Dark Ages. You can see even more of our favorite PC game deals below.
More PC Game Deals:
June's Humble Choice lineup has dropped, and if you're looking for some exciting new games to add to your PC library, it's full of great picks. Leading this month is Warhammer 40K: Boltgun, Legacy of Kain Soul Reaver 1&2 Remastered, and Nobody Wants to Die. There are 5 more games in this bundle as well, and you can keep them all forever for just $11.99 per month when you sign up to become a member. Not to mention, this bundle also comes with one month of IGN Plus for free.
If you're looking to save on physical games right now, there are plenty of deals worth checking out across PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch. We've included just a few of our favorites above, but if you'd like to see more game deals for each platform, check out our individual roundups for these consoles: the best PlayStation deals, the best Xbox deals, and the best Nintendo Switch deals.
Days of Play may be over, but Walmart still has a nice little discount on the PSVR2 Horizon: Call of the Mountain bundle, bringing it down to $352.49. This package is a great value for everything you're getting (the PSVR2 headset and controllers alongside the Horizon Call of The Mountain game), and pushes the PSVR2 as a strong contender against budget-friendly VR options like the Meta Quest, delivering a premium virtual reality experience without the eye-watering cost.
Sony also gave the PSVR2 a new lease of life by adding PC VR support, allowing owners of the second-generation headset to play PC VR games like Half-Life: Alyx, provided they have the Sony-made adapter.
Outside of games, there are plenty of Xbox accessory deals that are worth your time and money as well. At the moment, you can score discounts on the standard and Xbox Elite Series 2 controllers at Walmart. And, if you're looking for more storage, the Seagate 1TB Expansion Card is also down to $128.99 right now at Amazon.
PS5 games continue to grow in size, and with SSD prices climbing, finding the right storage at a great price is more important than ever. We've listed our favorite deals just here, but you should ensure you're checking back here for more updates as often as possible, as new SSD deals pop up all the time.
Keep in mind that not all SSDs are compatible with the PS5. To ensure optimal performance on the best PS5 SSD, you'll need a PCIe Gen4 x4 M.2 drive with a minimum read speed of 5,500MB/s to match the console's internal storage.
Do you prefer to play on a dedicated PC tower? Navigating the options online can be quite the ordeal. Desk space, portability, and price point are often factors in the decision. However, there are some great PC deals that pop up every now and again that are worth jumping on. One of our favorite deals at the moment is on the Alienware Aurora R16 RTX 5070 Ti Gaming PC (16GB/1TB), which has dropped to $1,999.49. To see even more PC deals, check out our roundup of the best gaming PC deals.
More PC Deals:
Robert Anderson is a deals expert and Commerce Editor for IGN. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter.
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 has sold a huge 7 million copies in less than a year, publisher Focus Entertainment has announced.
The Saber Interactive-developed Space Marine 2 launched in early September 2024, which means it hit the 7 million copies sold mark in just over nine months.
Space Marine 2 was an instant hit, selling 4.5 million in just over a month. Indeed, Space Marine 2 has done so well it “changes everything” for Saber, Chief Creative Officer Tim Willits told IGN soon after the game came out.
As a result, it was a big financial success for Warhammer 40,000 owner Games Workshop. CEO Kevin Rountree has said it contributed significant royalty revenue to the tabletop company's business last year.
Focus and Saber surprised some Space Marine 2 fans when it announced Space Marine 3 was in development back in March, half a year after the game came out. But given the huge sales you can see why the project was greenlit so soon.
"Space Marine 2 has proven to be a transformative game for Saber," Matthew Karch, CEO of Saber Interactive, said at the time.
"It is the culmination of everything we have learned about game development in our 25 years in the business. We are now starting to develop Space Marine 3, a game that carries with it tremendous expectations from our rapidly expanding fanbase. While we will continue to support and grow the Space Marine 2 universe over the coming years, we will take all our learnings and apply them to an even bigger and more spectacular game for the third installment. We view this as an opportunity to create a true love letter to the Warhammer 40.000 universe."
Still, Focus and Saber had to put out a statement reassuring players of its commitment to Space Marine 2, which is still working through its year one roadmap of content.
Without spoiling the Space Marine 2 campaign, it strongly suggests a continuation (IGN has reported on the enemy faction we’ll probably see in Space Marine 3).
In the shorter term, Space Marine 2 is due to get the Siege Update (Patch 8) very soon. It makes a big weapon change not for balance reasons, but because it’s just really, really cool.
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.
There’s a scene in the premiere of Underdogs where Ryan Reynolds makes a brutal tongue-in-cheek joke at the expense of his MCU colleague Hugh Jackman. The first episode of the Nat Geo show delves into the lives of the so-called “superzeroes” of the animal world: uncelebrated oddballs who nevertheless possess some pretty breakthaking abilities.
We see a wild “aye-aye” lemur tapping its finger to locate grubs inside a tree, a jewel wasp mind-controlling an unsuspecting cockroach, and a fleeting glimpse of a wolverine, whose name Reynolds humorously claims derives from the “antiquated Canadian word” for “boring millionaire.” Speaking exclusively with IGN, Reynolds, who serves as the Executive Producer and narrator of the series, won’t say if he’s heard from Jackman about the bit.
“They certainly captured the weasel family, the wolverine being among the largest of the weasel family,” Reynolds jokes. “But I feel like you could have just as easily gone with a honey badger as one of the primary X-Men. Honey badgers are unkillable. These are very tough creatures. You can just really do a lot of damage to one of them and it will keep getting up. I'm not entirely in charge of how the universe unfolds at Marvel, (but) I wouldn't mind Hugh switching things up and just going with straight-up honey badger next time.”
In fact, the first episode of Underdogs shows how virtually indestructible the honey badger actually is. For the first time on camera, the show captures the animal surviving an attack by a pack of wild dogs.
When asked if he thought a movie starring Jackman-as-honey badger would be a box office success, Reynolds agrees. “Let's do this," he says. “Come on. From your lips to God’s ears. Or Kevin Feige’s.”
But wolverines and honey badgers aren’t the only “superzeroes” with ties to the MCU, at least in Reynolds’s mind. He doesn’t hesitate when naming the creature he himself has the most affinity for. “Well, I think I'd be remiss to not say the axolotl,” Reynolds says of the endangered salamander featured in the Underdogs premiere. “I mean the axolotl regenerates. It's Deadpool basically. That right there is a superhero. I don't care if it's slow, small, cute. It doesn't matter. That is a superhero.”
Each of the series’ five episodes (which also includes a newly-written theme song by Green Day) features a unique visual style. Episode 1 uses comic book graphics and visuals to highlight the abilities of each “superzero” animal.
“The entire episode was engineered in that comic book fashion, but they change every week,” Reynolds says. “But National Geographic is the last place on Earth that I'm going to give visual notes to. Their ability to photograph moments that happen in Mother Nature that most would wait years after year to just capture in a slight glancing blow with your camera – they seem to get right there at the right time in the right way. So I have such respect for how they frame these visuals. It's so beautiful.”
Underdogs premieres June 15 at 9/8c on National Geographic and streams the next day on Disney+ and Hulu. The premiere will also simulcast on ABC.
DC and Warner Bros. have announced Mister Miracle, the second animated series to be produced under the DC Studios banner. As revealed at the Annecy Animation Festival, Mister Miracle will be overseen by showrunner and producer Tom King.
A prolific DC Comics writer, King previously collaborated with artist Mitch Gerads on 2017's Mister Miracle series, which released to major critical acclaim and won the 2019 Eisner Award for Best Limited Series. That comic appears to be the basis for this animated series, judging from DC's official logline:
No prison can hold him. No trap can contain him. He is Scott Free, the worldwide celebrity sensation known as Mister Miracle, and he is the greatest escape artist who ever lived. But can he pull off the ultimate trick — and escape death itself?
Something has gone horribly wrong with the perfect life that Scott and his warrior wife Big Barda have built for themselves on Earth. With war raging between their home worlds of Apocalypse and New Genesis, Scott’s cruel adoptive father Darkseid seems to have finally captured the Anti-Life Equation — the ultimate weapon that will give Darkseid total dominance over the universe.
As the mountains of bodies on both sides grow ever higher, only Mister Miracle can stop the slaughter and restore peace. But the terrible power of the Anti-Life Equation may already be at work in his own mind, warping his reality, exposing his long-buried pain, and shattering the fragile happiness he’s found with the woman he loves.
And so begins the odyssey of Scott Free, Mister Miracle: a harrowing, hilarious, heart wrenching journey across the pitfalls of the ordinary and extraordinary as the son of God raised by the devil tries to save his family, his world, and maybe even himself.
The teaser art above also suggests the show's animation style will borrow heavily from Gerads' work on the comic.
No voice cast or other crew members have been announced yet, and it's unknown when and where Mister Miracle will debut. It's also unclear whether Mister Miracle will be set in the DCU shared universe, like 2024's Creature Commandos, or exist as a standalone project. If the former, the series may end up being the first we see of Darkseid and the other Fourth World characters in this cinematic universe.
Mister Miracle is just the latest DC Studios project to draw on King's DC work. 2026's Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow is directly based on King and Bilquis Evely's 2021 comic of the same name. Meanwhile, King is writing for the live-action Lanterns series, which is currently in production.
For more on the future of the DCU, see every DC movie and series in development.
Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on BlueSky.
Moviemaking icon Mel Brooks and Amazon MGM Studios have published a teaser trailer to announce that Spaceballs 2 is moving full steam ahead with plans to premiere in 2027 – and it sounds like Rick Moranis is coming back as Dark Helmet, too.
A trailer for the sequel to the classic '80s sci-fi Star Wars parody arrived today. Although it mostly comes with a special message from Brooks himself and a familiar text crawl that pokes fun at the long, long list of sequels that have come to theaters in the last 38 years, this is the most official look at Spaceballs 2 we’ve seen yet.
"After 40 years, we asked, 'What do the fans want?' Brooks says in the Spaceballs 2 trailer. "But instead, we're making this movie."
He added one final send-off: "May the Schwartz be with you."
The sequel, which was announced last year, already has Brooks attached as a producer with Josh Greenbaum attached to direct. While Frozen's Josh Gad was previously the only name joining its cast, Deadline reports that there are a few other notable names set to appear onscreen. These include original stars Bill Pullman, who will reprise his role as Lone Starr, and even Dark Helmet himself, Moranis.
The site reports that Nope and One of Them Days star Keke Palmer is also onboard to play a mystery character. Additionally, Amazon has announced that the 98-year-old Brooks is set to reprise his role as Spaceballs’ comedic take on Yoda, Yogurt (via THR). It's unclear if he will also return as President Skroob.
Joining Brooks as producers are Gad and Imagine Entertainment's Brooks, Greenbaum, Brian Grazer, and Jeb Brody. Gad, Benji Samit, and Dan Hernandez are handling the Spaceballs 2 script, with Samit, Hernandez, Adam Merims, and Kevin Salter also onboard as executive producers.
It's a stellar cast to kick off a sequel nearly 40 years in the making, but it's Moranis' inclusion that should really have fans excited. With credits in films like Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Ghostbusters, Little Shop of Horrors, and, of course, Spaceballs, the star primarily made a name for himself with apperances in movies throughout the '80s. It was an impressive run that came to a halt in the mid-2000s, though, as the actor would step away then stepped away from the limelight. One of his most recent onscreen appearances was a simple ad for Ryan Reynolds' Mint Mobile in 2020.
A firm release date, additional casting information, and plot details all remain to be revealed, but judging by today's first look, it sounds like Brooks and co. haven't missed a beat. We'll learn more about how Spaceballs 2 will follow up the original classic Star Wars spoof movie when it premieres in 2027. In the meantime, be sure to check out our 7/10 review from 2000.
Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He's best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).
Dune: Awakening is back online after patch 1.1.0.13 was rolled out.
The patch — which sought to implement a "number of backend changes to improve client and server stability" — was deployed after servers were taken offline for a couple of hours earlier today.
Players should also expect some "minor fixes," the details of which are listed below. (If you don't see the latest patch, Funcom recommends you restart your Steam client).
The update comes as Dune: Awakening deals with an influx of new players. Although Head Starters have been visiting Arrakis since June 5, Dune: Awakening released for all players on June 10. And within hours of going live, Funcom's survival MMO had clocked up over 142,000 concurrent players on Steam: 142,050 to be precise.
CHANGES
FIXES
Ahead of launch, Funcom confirmed the console version of Dune: Awakening isn't expected now until "sometime in 2026"). We've also reported on how Dune: Awakening players found a way to ride sandworms, even though it's not an officially supported feature.
To help you survive on Arrakis, we've got Dune: Awakening resource guides that'll help you find iron, steel, aluminium, and more. If you're just getting started, check out all the Dune: Awakening classes you can choose from, and keep an eye on our in-progress Dune: Awakening walkthrough for a step-by-step guide to the story.
You can also see what we make of it so far in our Dune: Awakening review in progress (spoilers: we're having fun).
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.
If you were wondering what the legal definition of Shrek is, the Disney / Universal lawsuit against AI company Midjourney confirms exactly what it is.
According to court documents posted to BlueSky: "Shrek's namesake character is a large, bald, dull-green ogre with a broad, round face, brown eyes, and highly distinctive trumpet-shaped ears. Shrek typically wears crude clothing consisting of a canvas-like shirt, a leather vest, and brown leggings."
That little descriptor — as hilarious and accurate as it actually is — is one of the excellent tidbits to come out of the landmark lawsuit. Yesterday, Disney joined forces with Universal to sue Midjourney for copyright infringement, stating that the AI-powered image generator is a “bottomless pit of plagiarism.”
Shrek is one of the properties that is being cited as part of Midjourney’s infringement offenses, as well as Marvel characters, Star Wars characters, Despicable Me’s iconic Minions, and others. According to a BlueSky user who combed through the docs, there are over 30 comparisons between studio artwork and Midjourney outputs.
Further, according to the docs, this suit has been percolating since November 2024, when Midjourney was served a demand letter — essentially an attempt to settle an issue out of court — from Disney, but they allegedly did not respond and then proceeded to develop more models that infringed on existing copyrights. Universal recently served the company another demand letter at the end of May, which means the studios finally decided to hit the gas pedal on taking down Midjourney.
Generative AI is one of the hottest topics within the video game and entertainment industries, which have both suffered massive layoffs in recent years. Generative AI thus far has drawn criticism from players and creators due to a mix of ethical issues, rights issues, and AI’s struggles to produce content audiences actually enjoy.
In March, social media platforms were flooded with AI-generated Studio Ghibli-inspired images as part of a trend sparked by the launch of OpenAI’s new GPT‑4o image generator. It caused a vociferous debate that resurfaced anti-AI comments from creator Hayao Miyazaki.
Lex Briscuso is a film and television critic and a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter at @nikonamerica.
Had I not known in advance that I was going to be playing Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree at Play Days last weekend, I might have overlooked its trailer during Summer Game Fest. The announcement itself was less than two minutes long, and what we saw mostly looked like Hades, but with character selection. However, after playing 15 minutes of the game at Play Days, I'm far more interested than I initially expected to be in Towa's take on the roguelite genre...though I'm going to need waaay more than 15 minutes to get good at it.
Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree stars Towa, the guardian of Shinju Village and a child of the gods. When a dark god begins consuming the land around Shinju with an evil miasma, Towa rallies eight villagers to fight back. These "Prayer Children" head out into the field, two at a time, to fight against the minions of darkness, with one taking on the role of "Tsurugi", or sword, and the other taking on the supportive staff role, or "Kagura."
At the start of each run, you pick which of the eight characters you want in each role, with all characters having different abilities depending on which role they took on. In my preview, I selected the solumn Rekka as my sword, who attacks with short, quick slashes and a lingering spin attack. My staff was Nishiki, a Koi-inspired fish person who can summon lightning orbs to surround the player and shoot a wave of water in any direction.
Immediately, I struggled a bit to adapt to the twin-stick controls. Nishiki automatically followed Rekka, who I controlled with the left stick, but it was clear that for optimal play I needed to break Nishiki free of Rekka and run him around with the right stick simultaneously as I fought enemies. Easier said than done. I think this is a really interesting twist on what I'm used to for top-down games, almost reminiscent of the original The World Ends With You having you control two characters on two different screens. But I do think I needed more than 15 minutes in a demo to get used to it. Apparently, you can also play Towa in co-op, with one person controlling each character, and that's an appealing prospect, too.
A second unique element that I really, really wanted more time to master was Quick Draw. In Towa, your sword wielder carries not one, but two swords, but only has one equipped at a time. Each sword has a different ability, with Rekka having her short slashes attached to one and her chargeable spin attack on the other. As you use one sword, it begins to dull until it's unusable, and you have to use a Quick Draw ability to swap to the other one so the first can recharge. Successful combat in Towa revolves around smoothly swapping between the two swords so you're never caught in a situation where you need one attack ready, but have a dull blade and are stuck with an inefficient ability. It's a cool system in principle, certainly a unique one, and I'm curious as to how it will play out at higher skill levels.
Everything else I saw in Towa will be familiar to your average Hades-lover. You'll clear all the monsters in a room, and get a choice of a "Grace". Graces enhance your power in all sorts of ways, from straight power increases to changing how different abilities work and interact with one another. Doors to the next room may denote enemies or shopkeepers or other room types, and you'll smash stuff as you go to collect currency for upgrades at shops and special ore that can be enhance your characters' abilities when you take it back to the village.
My time with Towa was cut short just as I walked into a boss battle, so unfortunately I can't speak to how that would have played out. But this preview absolutely succeeded in making me want to play more. I want to muck around with the different character configurations and see what other upgrades are available, and I want to practice my twin-stick game so my staff user doesn't die on me before I even hit the halfway point (oops). I don't know if Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree can live up to the lofty legacy of Hades necessarily, but I do think it has the potential to carve out a space in the roguelite genre all its own.
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.
I’ve been keeping an eye on Pokémon TCG: Scarlet and Violet's latest expansion, Destined Rivals, and things are finally starting to settle. A few weeks ago, the Destined Rivals singles market was bouncing all over the place.
Some cards were doubling in price overnight, and it was tough to tell what was hype and what would hold. Now prices feel a lot more stable.
Some have dipped. Some Destined Rivals bangers are just cruising right at market prices. It feels like we’re finally seeing what these cards are actually worth.
Here are the ten most expensive cards in the set right now. A couple of them are legit strong in decks. A few are pure collector bait. Let's break down what I like about each one and how the price has moved now that the dust is starting to settle.
This was the hottest card in the set for a while and it’s still holding close to market. The artwork is what does it for me. Mewtwo looks like it's about to explode, floating in this dim lab setting with everything glowing around it.
The ability makes it tough to use unless you’re running a full Rocket build, but once it's active, Erasure Ball gives you some serious power. Definitely still a top-tier pull even with the market calming down.
The Tyranitar staffer has come down a lot. It peaked hard earlier in the month but now it’s below market and probably where it should be. The art is gritty and fits the vibe.
Sand Stream slowly chips at your opponent's Basics and the main attack is just a heavy swing with some disruption. It’s not flashy but it’s steady. The Staff stamp gives it that collector value even if it’s not a major player in decks.
This card is one of the few that has stayed pretty consistent. The art is clean and dramatic with Cynthia and Garchomp in motion. Corkscrew Dive helps with card draw and Draconic Buster can swing for 260 which is a big number. I like it because it looks good in a binder and also actually fits into a solid deck. It’s not spiking but it’s holding steady which says a lot right now.
Moltres had a quick price jump and now it’s dipped just under market. Still one of the more unique cards in the set. The art is aggressive and dark and Evil Incineration can completely wipe your opponent’s Active Pokémon if you build around it right. It’s not plug and play but it’s got one of the wildest payoffs in the set. Definitely a fun card to mess around with.
This one did a weird thing and shot up to nearly 200 before settling back around market. It’s mostly a collector card. The art is full Gen 1 throwback and Splashing Panic is a total chaos move that might hit huge or do nothing. Not something I’d bring to a tournament but if you like Misty and Gyarados this is an easy one to appreciate.
This is one of those cards that looks better the more you stare at it. The gold tones and motion in the art are just super clean. Golden Flame lets you power up your Benched Pokémon which makes it a strong support option in Fire decks. It’s not the big finisher in most builds but it helps your board come together. Slight dip in price but still feels like a solid value.
This one has flattened out right around market which makes sense. It’s the same card as the other Mewtwo but in Hyper Rare form. The art is simpler but the foil still pops. If you want to use the card in play without stressing about wear this is the version to grab. Feels fair at this price.
Still sitting above market which makes me think collectors are holding onto it. The artwork just rules. Typhlosion looks fired up and ready to burn something down. Buddy Blast can scale up nicely if you lean into Ethan’s Adventure cards. I’ve mostly seen people stash this in binders but it’s got a place in the right deck too.
Not much change here. Still just under market and pretty stable. I really like Nidoking ex because Poison damage gets out of hand fast. Eight damage counters per turn adds up quick and Kingly Impact gives you a big closeout move. It doesn’t get talked about much but I think this one has a lot of potential if the format shifts a bit.
Crobat has been one of the most stable cards in the set. It’s barely moved and feels like it’s right where it should be. The artwork is super slick and it plays exactly how you’d want a Crobat to play. Fast. Sneaky. A little annoying. You evolve and deal chip damage then bounce it back with its attack. It’s fun and smart and probably the card I enjoy using the most out of this top ten.
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.
No one will claim that Renown, the Medieval European-flavored base-building survival game, is bringing brand new ideas to the genre. If you’ve played anything like it, from its primary inspiration, Rust, to more modern iterations like Runescape: Dragonwilds, you have a good idea of what you’re in for when you drop into a server to start your journey from humble homesteader to lord of the realm. My brief hands-on time with it was fun, but also raises and doesn’t clearly answer an important question: if you currently have a favorite survival game, is it worth making the switch right now?
My crash course started with a tour of some aspirational structures that were all built with in-game resources. Some of them, like a huge castle complete with a small village lingering in its shadow, were things the team taking me on the tour, lead by Game Director Jesse Jacobsen, didn’t expect to see players to ever be able to make without concerted team efforts. But the ones that were within reasonable player reach were cool in their own rights. Tall sturdy stone walls with mighty working gates to keep enemies out and winding halls and spiraling stairs is a step above what is often just square rooms with storage stuffed in them. The couple I walked through myself came with a significant investment of time and in-game gold, and was positioned as the form your typical endgame stronghold would want to look like before the regular server resets.
So it's only right that we spent the first bit of our session tearing one of them up in a raid, right? After taking a quick spin on a catapult, a few of the devs entrenched themselves inside a nearby fort, while my group attempted to conquer it. We left the siege machine behind and opted for something more mobile: hammers and door-breaching petards to turn them into splinters. When inside, we ran through the halls and stairways looking for fights, eventually culminating into a sprawling skirmish up on the battlements. After putting down the foes, we took the castle’s banner, and claimed it for ourselves.
These fun scenarios make up the bulk of Renown, which is heavily skewed towards players who would rather raise a sword to fight versus a hammer to build. This is reinforced by its mechanically nuanced melee system that takes cues from games like Chivalry, Mordhau, or Kingdom Come: Deliverance. Swinging your weapon at various angles creates different offensive maneuvers which can be useful for getting around shields, the safest and most reliable defense you’ll encounter. For the bolder player, a parry exists that, when timed right, can be followed up with a fast attack that helps poke holes in stubborn defenders. In one-on-one duels, all of this nuance shines and creates a tense back and forth that you won’t find in simpler melee systems. It’s not quite realism, but the lethality of every strike mixed with the motion captured HEMA animations really elevates swordplay in the moment. In multiplayer brawls, I relied very little on these tools, opting to just gang up on whoever my squad was bullying to overwhelm them with blows they couldn’t possibly deflect. Maybe it's pretty realistic after all.
Getting the combat right was the driving force behind Jesse and Executive Producer Charlie Ettershank’s need to make Renown a reality. “Ever since me and Charlie met, we would spend most nights after school discussing how cool it would be for Chivalry combat to be in a survival game.” Jesse told me. They played games like Realm of Kings and Rust and would love everything about it except the melee combat, and took it upon themselves to create the thing they wanted to see in the world.
You of course can’t become a badass knight decked out head-to-toe in plate armor without first knocking trees over with a stick in order to build the workbench that will produce all you need for your empire. The gathering process in survival games like this is never one that I would confidently call “engaging,” but Renown’s is especially boring in comparison to its peers. Some parts of the process are streamlined – you still need to build individual fixtures to craft specific things like a tailor’s bench to make leather armor and a stone furnace to smelt metals – but all the crafting can be done in your inventory menu so you don’t have to stop at every little building to make and receive stuff. But gathering materials felt like more of a chore than ever. Things are pretty expensive, so you'll need a good amount of wood and stone to get the basics. At least they’re easy to find. I spent 10 minutes walking around in search of animals to hunt for hide and fat, essential for moving through the tech tree, and couldn’t find any. I imagine all of this plays differently with a server full of other players who can potentially harass you during your gathering and construction campaigns, but in this leisurely environment, I found it tough to stay motivated to grind. The “survival” part of Renown is also exclusively a PVP thing, as there isn’t much to manage as far as keeping yourself alive if there are no enemy arrows to dodge. Without genre staples like hunger meters or day/night cycles I was free to exist completely at my pace. These mechanics are often nags but without them there’s uncomfortably little push back when playing alone.
There are quite a few steps between crafting your first workstation and creating a sword, steps that can be bypassed if you're willing to venture out into the wilderness to find loot. I did not get to experience this part of Renown in any meaningful way, but I was told that prebuilt points of interest, like the aforementioned grand castle, double as hot spots full of gear and trinkets that could be an instant upgrade to a players kit or at least worth lots of in game gold. I can only speculate that in a PVP environment, this kind of skulking around presents the same dangers as other popular survival games, but I couldn’t speak on how this flows with Renown’s heavy focus on intimate close quarters combat. There were a lot of features that sound great but either I didn’t experience them directly, or they weren’t available yet.
This biggest feature coming that I think will be a pivotal one for Renown’s success long-term are server events. As it stands pre-early access, the 8000 or so playtesters in the alpha right now are tasked to find their own fun, with the construction and combat systems both being toys in an open sandbox of possibilities without any explicit direction from the game itself. Right now, a solid contingent of players collaborate to build strongholds and siege weapons and march on enemy camps without much prompting, but even the RDBK team admits that some guided play would bring some necessary balance. One event they’ve been prototyping would turn an NPC settlement into a claimable fortress when signaled, driving all of the disparate bands of warriors on the server to join one another in chaotic combat over it. Other ideas are based in similar form as this, with caches of loot spawning in specific locations on the map to be claimed by whoever can secure it first.
But Jesse really emphasized how important, and frankly proud, he is of being a facilitator of the sandbox for individual communities to flourish in. His team has even reached out and recruited almost all of the official Rust server hosts to run Renown servers. “That’s mostly because we’ve provided them the tools… to make that an easy process.” Jesse assured, as well as providing financial compensation for the effort. The goal being that they can use their particular expertise to help modify and regulate game tools and create server climates that can cater to all sorts of players. Maybe I'm not the only one who thinks the grind speed is slow, as there could be a server that picks up the pace or starts players off with kits of goods to get off of the blocks faster. Servers wipe weekly to keep player progress from being insurmountable, but a server can exist where those wipes happen less often, if at all. The Renown team want as close to infinite player adaptability as possible, and they want to be as involved as a server host needs them to be to make it happen. “We think we have a good idea of what makes the most enjoyable gameplay aspect, but we're not going to kid ourselves and think that no one else could think of something better inside of this sandbox, ya know?”
A lot of the ruggedness of Renown’s alpha state is manageable, and is probably even great when you have a dedicated community to play it with. But there are a few pain points that are going to make it a tough sell for people not already bought in for the long haul. I had quite a bit of performance issues when playing – both with the devs and on my own. Framerates jolted and lag really did its best to undermine me when I needed the stability most. The current UI and menus are rough around the edges and inconsistent throughout, some tooltips are arrayed across selection wheels while others sit in lists that are difficult to navigate while in the thick of the action. All of these things are on the list to reform and fix as the development team expands, hopefully before its slated Q3 2025 Early Access launch.
Renown’s crunchy combat has a lot of potential in a genre not known for making close combat an elaborate affair. The basic and sometimes mundane gathering and building game that you have to trudge through to get to cool stuff is very raw and still has a ways to go to meet the quality standard of the games it hopes to compete with. While its dearth of content, stability issues, and ragged UI are strictly RDBK Studios’ responsibility, the community is poised to have a lot of control over the day-to-day experience. Time will tell if the former can come together quickly enough to nurture the latter.
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