Theres something wrong with this town; its immediately apparent as soon as I arrive. Ive recently fled my humble desert hometown after my uncle was raided by the cops and his criminal enterprise was seized. Im working on rebuilding the empire here in the sleepy town of Hyland Point, but there are a few problems to deal with. First of all, I need to learn the ropes of how to grow weed, cook meth, and maintain a customer base. Secondly, a rival criminal organization firebombed my RV. Finally, the cops remain a constant hassle. Thats just life in Schedule 1, a surprisingly expansive drug dealing simulator with some wacky twists, all created by a solo developer.Schedule 1 has risen through the Steam ranks and maintains popularity because it has a really satisfying core gameplay loop. Much like Palworld, the first big surprise hit of 2024, Schedule 1 liberally borrows from other simulator games and different genres. I can play single-player, in which case I handle every element of the operation: growing, packaging, selling, expanding. Or I can rope in up to three friends and we can each handle part of the business.Every part of the Schedule 1 drug empire is built around a minigame, most of which are satisfying. For instance, I dont particularly care for cooking meth, but I find managing the supply chain to be satisfying. If I run into any downtime during gameplay, no worries I stole a TV from my motel room and it has some minigames on it, like Snake, Pong, or a game where I play an egg in sunglasses with his balls hanging out. Now this is gaming.Image: TVGS via PolygonEarly on, the main obstacle I have to worry about is the police. Occasionally, an officer will search me, looking for anything illegal. They set up blockades between neighborhoods, demanding to search my vehicle if I hit one. The cops are barely a problem for me, though; I have a 100% success rate at just sprinting away from them at top speed. Even if I shoot an officer, theyll forget everything after a couple of minutes. Weirdly enough, the thing they are firmest on is the town curfew. After 6 p.m., everyone has to get inside, or risk being arrested. Ive found myself hiding in a bush or scared off my patio by a police patrol, who treat curfew-breaking as the worst possible sin. Its like living in a weird Footloose town, except everyones constantly smoking a joint.Life in Hyland Point feels like a very simplified take on the Grand Theft Auto franchise, complete with crass jokes. For instance, a local dining establishment across from my starting motel room is called Taco Ticklers. One customer is tragically dubbed Peter File. These jokes are so unsophisticated, theyre single entendres. If youre not a fan of cheap, lazy jokes, then youll likely find yourself irritated by Schedule 1. The other night, I buckled down to experiment with mixing variants and creating new weed strains, most of which had names like Big Cum or Magic AssBlaster. The graphics are similarly simplified and cartoony, like a basic claymation setup or a 3D episode of South Park. A lot of work has gone into designing the steps of creating drugs via Schedule 1s minigames, but an opening screen warns me that none of it is accurate to real-world processes. Regardless, its satisfying to tinker in my workshop, creating weed with incredible new properties. Eventually, I become a living god in Hyland Point, and my disciples are smoking the dankest blunts imaginable. Some let me sprint faster than any car, and one strain variable even lets me fly. I can buy cars from the local auto dealership, but theres not much point when I have a pocketful of magic weed.Image: TVGSMuch like the aforementioned Palworld, I think this game will eventually become stale and Ill put it back on the shelf. Schedule 1 is an early access game that just came out, and so there are things that just feel incomplete. The police are toothless, the rival syndicate who blew up my RV in the start of the game has yet to reemerge, and the developer maintains a Trello that lists potential ideas ranging from sewer network to weather to cartel fighting.I suspect Ill find myself returning to Schedule 1 as it receives patches, since the core gameplay is so satisfying. While my co-op server has gotten relatively far into creating illicit substances like high-end meth and cocaine, my solo game has stalled as I save up enough money for a larger property. Eventually, Ill have conquered everything Hyland Point has to offer. For now, Im just enjoying the ride, and I expect that trip will only grow richer in time.Schedule 1 is available on Steam for $20, and theres a demo available for free. Ill continue to follow its developer, who goes by Tylers Video Game Studio, as this game already has a lot of strengths. Even if the novelty will eventually wear off, Im content for now to let Tyler cook.Schedule 1 was released March 24 in early access on Windows PC. The game was reviewed on PC using a download code purchased by the author. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence editorial content, though Vox Media may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links. You can find additional information about Polygons ethics policy here.See More:

ASUS has released a new BIOS update for their GeForce RTX 5080 ROG Astral model, which has apparently bumped up TGP to 450W.ASUS Has Released a BIOS Update For Its ROG Astral RTX 5080 That Will Increase Power Limits, Now 90W Higher Than Base ModelsIt seems that ASUS knows that its ROG Astral variants have far greater potential, and with the new BIOS update, the company plans to capitalize on this. The GeForce RTX 5080 ROG Astral, in particular, will now come with a TGP rated at 450W, marking a 50W bump from its original figures. It is important to note that the ROG Astral already has a higher TDP than the base GeForce RTX 5080 models, so it is safe to say that with the new increase, power limits have exceeded new levels.The BIOS update was released on March 14, mainly featuring the TGP rating change. While ASUS hasn't specifically mentioned the reason behind bumping up the power consumption, it would likely be to position the ROG Astral model as a top-tier offering and squeeze out the extra performance they can by increasing the limits.Apart from the GeForce RTX 5080 ROG Astral, only Gigabyte's GeForce RTX 5080 Gaming comes with a 450W TGP, which is an interesting choice given that this model isn't seen as a high-end variant.The ROG Astral GeForce RTX 5080 will now have higher power limits out of the box, but in terms of performance differences, we aren't anticipating much, likely a 2%-5% increase. So, the decision to increase TGP here won't be of much benefit to ASUS, but it is still exciting to see the company compete for high-end variants in the GPU segment, given that there aren't many left out there.News Source: VideocardzDeal of the Day

At GDC 2025, I watched a walkthrough of one of the early levels of Possessor(s), the next game from Heart Machine. The studio typically goes for action games but mixes in a little bit of something else--2016's Hyper Light Drifter had RPG elements, 2021's Solar Ash was an adventure-platformer, and 2025's Hyper Light Breaker is a cooperative roguelike. Possessor(s) is a metroidvania or, as Heart Machine prefers to call it, a search-action game (which, honestly, is such a better term for the genre).A sidescroller, Possessor(s) sees you play as two characters: Luca, a teenage girl, and Rehm, the demon possessing her. I didn't get to see the events that led to their partnership, but the Heart Machine team explained that the start of Possessor(s) sees Luca caught up in an interdimensional catastrophe that rips a hole in the sky and kills everyone she loves--it's only because of the intervention of the strange horned man now within her that she survives.During Luca and Rehm's journey, they'll encounter objects possessed by feral demons.Rehm also gives Luca artificial legs (I don't know what happened to her original legs, but I assume the full game will clue us in), so that she can jump higher and survive falls from any height, and Luca uses these new prosthetics to navigate the now-quarantined city in hopes of escaping it and learning more about how the catastrophe happened. The duo regularly converse about their substantially different views of demons and the corporation responsible for most everything in the city, alleviating much of the sense of loneliness that I've come to expect in other search-action games.Continue Reading at GameSpot

Connections is back again to challenge your brain's pattern recognition. For anyone familiar with the rules of how to play Connections, you know it doesn't take much to lose this difficult game; you don't have very many mistakes you can make before you lose.

This article was originally published on GameDevDigest.com

Nintendos Switch 2 ramp-up week started with a cheerful bang (a jingle, really) at Wednesdays Switch 2 Direct that revealed the sleek new consoles release date, launch games, and features. Donkey Kong hype abounded online, at least until the companys news releases started trickling out to outlets like Polygon, and sticker shock took over. Nintendo announced it would charge $450 for its console and $80 for its flagship game, Mario Kart World (or $500 for the two bundled together).Around the same time, President Trump announced his sweeping global trade plan, which included significant tariffs for virtually every country in the world including uninhabited regions. To put it simply, everyone began freaking the fuck out in response, and the stock market did, too. In the news and on social media, both Switch 2 and Trump tariffs began trending, marking the beginning of a very chaotic 48 hours in which the release of a highly anticipated game console and the blundering whims of the U.S. president became inextricably linked not just for the folks who care about games, but for consumers of other mainstream media, too.The tariffs will impact the cost of almost everything Americans purchase, all amidst stocks plummeting downward and social services getting dismantled. That might include the cost of Switch 2 a price that a lot of people werent happy about before Nintendo announced it would delay pre-orders due to tariffs and evolving market conditions. Panic has ensued for fans: What if the Switch 2 is even more expensive than $450? Thats on top of this other bit of lurking dread: What if there arent enough Switch 2s to go around?Business professor and author Joost van Dreunen said in an email to Polygon that Nintendos explicit reference to tariffs in its statement is highly unusual for the company, and for Japanese corporate posturing in general. Japanese companies traditionally avoid commenting on foreign policy matters, making this directness particularly noteworthy. By specifically naming tariffs as the cause rather than using vaguer language about supply chain challenges or global market conditions, Nintendo is clearly signaling to shareholders and consumers that the delay stems from external policy decisions rather than internal planning failures. (Polygon reached out to Nintendo for comment but did not hear back before press time.)There have long been a vocal few in the gaming community who talk about keeping politics out of games, which is a senseless take devoid of critical thought to begin with. But that take has never been more senseless than it is right now: Trumps trade war is, quite literally, impacting games. And Nintendo wants us to know it, too.But its likely not because so many gamers favorite nostalgia manufacturer is taking a stand against the big bad along with us. Its a strategic decision (though I wouldnt be surprised if Nintendos execs privately despise Trump for this decision and maybe even others).It insulates Nintendo from criticism about their own execution while gently educating their consumer base about how trade policy directly impacts product availability and potentially pricing, van Dreunen said. The reference to evolving market conditions gives them flexibility to make adjustments beyond just responding to tariffs, potentially including competitive positioning against the rumored PS5 Pro price drop or shifts in component availability.Trumps newest round of tariffs include a hefty increase up to 46% for Vietnam, the location Nintendo moved much of its manufacturing to several years ago when Trump increased tariffs on China. But van Dreunen doesnt think its too likely Nintendo will raise the price of Switch 2 so close to launch, which he says would be unprecedented.Nintendo needs time to assess whether their existing price point of $449.99 remains viable or if their projected margins have been compromised. The delay gives them flexibility to either secure additional inventory ahead of potential tariff implementation, explore manufacturing alternatives, or adjust their go-to-market strategy, van Dreunen said. More likely, Nintendo will maintain the announced price but potentially reduce initial production volume or adjust bundle offerings to preserve margins. Theyre essentially buying time to make the most informed decision possible in a rapidly evolving trade environment.And while its tempting to take van Dreunens salient expertise here as a sign that its not all that bad, he also says the gaming industry tends to offer a decent pulse on the rest of the economy.Nintendo specifically makes an interesting barometer because their audience skews more mainstream and family-oriented than competitors, meaning their customer base includes the middle-income consumers most affected by economic headwinds, van Dreunen said. In this case, Nintendos response to these tariffs offers a preview of how global companies with complex supply chains will navigate increasing trade barriers not by immediately passing costs to consumers, but by tactical delays and strategic reassessment. Their caution signals the broader uncertainty facing multinational companies as global trade tensions escalate.The only thing we know for sure is that a lot more uncertainty is coming our way.

Theres the egg price problem for sure, but whether youre trying to save grocery money or you have an aversion to eggs for dietary or health restrictionsyou too deserve cake. Cake for a birthday or cake on a whim, there should be nothing holding you back from achieving your sugary dreams of the moment, least of all a lack of eggless cake recipes. I tested out five common and accessible egg replacement options to see which one produced the best eggless cake.The batterI decided to test a basic yellow cake recipe Ive used before. It uses a combination of butter and oil, sugar, milk, flour, baking powder, salt, vanilla extract, and usually eggs. Its a good layering cake since when its prepared as-written (with eggs), it produces a sturdy, level (not domed), vanilla scented cake. In the interest of time, making multiple batches, and reducing mess, I spooned the batter out into cupcake papers rather than into larger cake pans. The first round of cake was prepared with egg as a control.The replacements Cupcakes from left to right: egg (control), banana, applesauce, yogurt. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann There are almost too many options for substituting eggs in cake batter, so I focused on the ones Ive heard about the most often: mashed banana, Greek yogurt, applesauce, aquafaba, and a tapioca flour and baking powder mixture.Eggs are essential to cake batter and other baked goods, because theyre a binder, can be a leavener, and theyre an emulsifier (they can help keep fats and liquids stable and homogenized). They also add structure and moisture to the finished product. Truly, theyre incredible. Were looking for a single ingredient to do as much of that as possible, but its important to keep our expectations realisticfew other ingredients can accomplish all of that without sacrificing something.The resultsLets get to the good stuffthe results. Here are the best egg replacements for cake, and the worst performers. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann 1. Aquafaba. Its easy to dismiss aquafaba (the liquid from a can of chickpeas or other beans) until you actually use it. This cake was perfectly delicious, spongy, moist, and with no off-flavors. It was the most similar in structure and flavor to a cake prepared with whole eggs. Its also the easiest substitution. As long as you saved some aquafaba from last nights dinner (or do what I do and keep it handy in your freezer), you simply add three tablespoons of the bean liquid per single whole egg the recipe calls for. I mixed it in during the same stage I would have for the egg, right after the butter and sugar got mixed together. Note that if your beans werent low-sodium then you may want to reduce the salt in the recipe by a quarter teaspoon. Left: Aquafaba cupcake. Right: Tapioca and baking powder cupcake. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann 2. Tapioca flour and baking powder. This easy to make mixture produced a good quality final product as well. Points were taken off for the mixture being an extra step, and for tapioca flour being possibly harder to source depending on where you live. The cake had more loft and was more tender than the aquafaba replacement, making it more delicate to handle if youre stacking layers for a big cake.Mix one tablespoon of tapioca flour with one tablespoon of cold water. Stir in a quarter-teaspoon of baking powder, and this replaces one whole egg in your cake recipe. The mixture will be very liquidy. The tapioca flour, baking powder, and water mixture. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann Alternatively, you can simply add the extra baking powder measurement to the dry ingredients. Add the tapioca and water mixture to the bowl after creaming the butter and sugar, and proceed with the recipe. You can usually find tapioca flour in the baking aisle of large supermarkets.3. Banana. Bananas are a great helper in batters because they actually can mimic some of what eggs do: they can bind, add moisture, and their fibers provide structure and can help keep fats and liquids suspended like eggs. Plus, theyre pretty easy to access in every region and in most grocery stores. The finished product is sturdy and moist, making it a good cake for handling and decorating. That said, bananas make your cake taste like bananas. If you dont like that, then this totally stinks.To use banana as an egg replacement, mash up enough banana to make a quarter-cup of banana glop per egg needed.4. Greek yogurt. I love when yogurt or sour cream is added to cake batters because the cake is always moist, flavorful, and tender. However, its not a very good egg replacement. While the flavor of the cake was delicious, the yogurt added no structure and completely caved in while cooling. For context, I used a quarter-cup of Greek yogurt to replace one whole egg. The only reason I ranked it above applesauce is because the flavor was deliciousbut this would never work for a cake that I'd serve in public. Imagine if I had used an eight or nine-inch cake pan. The cake would look like a bowl. The applesauce and yogurt cupcakes (two on the right side) both fell after cooling. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann 5. Applesauce. Applesauce produced similar emulsifying results to bananas but without the benefit of firm structure. You can see in the picture above that after the cake cooled, it dipped in the center. Not as dramatically as the yogurt one, but still, not great. Applesauce adds moisture but since it has less structure, the batter falls while cooling and then you end up with a stodgy center. Furthermore, I found applesauce cake to be slightly nauseating in flavor, and it overly sweetened my cake even though I used the natural kind with no added sugar. If you must use it, use a quarter-cup to replace one egg.If youre looking to seamlessly make cakes and cupcakes without extra steps or special ingredients, use aquafaba for the best results. Its vegan, has good structure and moisture, and doesnt negatively alter the flavor of your cake. It doesnt need to be whipped for recipes where the eggs arent whipped, butas an added benefitthis is the only ingredient where you can whip it to replace whipped eggs in a recipe. Aquafaba is a versatile cooking helper to keep around, and its essentially free if youve been draining it from your beans all these years.

Mewgenics, the cat-breeding RPG that was originally announced as a follow-up to Super Meat Boy, is coming out in 2025, based on a new trailer shared by IGN and the game's updated Steam page.A blend of a turned-based RPG and twisted cat simulator, Mewgenics started as the next project from Team Meat, the development duo made up of Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes. Team Meat teased Mewgenics throughout 2013, but ultimately put the game on hold in 2014 to focus on finishing Super Meat Boy Forever, a mobile sequel to Super Meat Boy.When McMillen ultimately left Team Meat in 2018 to focus on supporting The Binding of Isaac, Mewgenics came with him,and the game has been slowly making its way to release since then. If the trailer is any indication, repeatable, turn-based battles have become a big part of Mewgenics, but McMillen's trademark gross-out animation style remains intact (as does all of the cat furniture).If you're looking for more information about how the game has changed since it was announced over a decade ago, McMillen and co-developer Tyler Glaiel have kept up a relatively regular cadence of blog posts on Steam covering different aspects of the development process. We should also see a lot more of the game soon: In their latest update, Mewgenics' developers shared that IGN is publishing hands-on coverage of the game in May.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/the-creator-of-binding-of-isaac-will-release-a-new-game-mewgenics-this-year-211049653.html?src=rss

The compact yet powerful Kingdel Mini PC delivers desktop-level performance in a portable package with a built-in touchscreen display.

AppLovin CEO Adam Foroughi called his company's late-stage bid to acquire TikTok a "much stronger bid than others" on CNBC's The Exchange.