From iconic names like Indiana Jones and Final Fantasy to indie sensations like Balatro and Animal Well, 2024 has provided gamers with a variety of incredible experiences. IGN is in the process of picking our game of the year, but now you have the chance to have your voice heard too in the IGN Peoples Choice Tournament.With our partners at Truth, weve selected 64 of the best titles of the year to be placed in a bracket and randomly sorted into groups. Theyll go head-to-head, with the winner moving on to the next round and the loser being eliminated. As the rounds progress, the competition will get tougher, until theres only one title left standing as the fan-voted Game of the Year. If youre familiar with how March Madness brackets work, its the same concept.Tournament Schedule and How to VoteVoting will take place on IGNs Instagram starting today, December 18. Well post the matchups to our Instagram stories around 3 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. CT / 12 p.m. PT, and youll have 24 hours to vote. The 32 winners will move on to the next round, where the process will repeat. Here are the dates when each round will be posted (around the same times listed above), so make sure to check back on our Instagram stories to continue voting for your favorite games:Round 1: December 18Round 2: December 20Round 3: December 23Quarterfinals: December 27Semifinals: December 30Finals: December 31Which Games Are Grouped Together?As we mentioned earlier, the bracket placements of the 64 games we selected were randomized. They were split up into four groups, like the regions of March Madness. Group 1 is led by some heavy hitters: Helldivers 2, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. But theyll have to go up against breakout indie Animal Well. Plus, three popular sports games: Madden NFL 25, College Football 25, and MLB The Show 24. And you cant look past the beautiful visuals of Unicorn Overlord and Infinity Nikki.Group 2 is led by the excellent Silent Hill 2 remake, but itll face stiff competition from a trio of RPGs Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, and Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance. Theres also heralded remasters and remakes from Nintendo with Luigis Mansion 2 HD and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. And we cant leave out the technical marvel Senuaa Sage: Hellblade II, or another standout indie in Lorelai and the Laser Eyes.Group 3 ended up stacked with three games that have been cleaning up during awards season: Astro Bot, Metaphor: ReFantazio, and Black Myth: Wukong. Theyre joined by an eclectic group of competitors. Theres entries from massive franchises in Star Wars Outlaws and Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 (which will face off against each other in Round 1). Theres games from other long-running series in Tekken 8 and Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble. Theres the latest version of sports franchises in EA Sports FC 25 and NBA 2K25. But also some notable new IPs with Stellar Blade and Slitterhead.Rounding things out, Group 4 is also full of some big names. First, theres indie darling Balatro, which has also done very well for itself this awards season. But itll have to get through two huge RPG sequels in Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth and Dragons Dogma 2, as well as a popular RPG remake in Persona 3 Reload. And theyll be up against several family-friendly opponents in The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, LEGO Horizon Adventures, Super Mario Party Jamboree, and The Plucky Squire. Not to mention the often overlooked Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown and surprise hit Enshrouded.As you can see, this year is going to be a hotly contested race. So make sure you head over to Instagram to vote for each matchup and help determine which games will move on and which will be sent packing. Itll all build to a big reveal of the fan voted Game of the Year. Happy voting!

This article is presented by Bicycle Cards.The king of all holidays is arguably Christmas. Its a giving time. Its a time for being with family. Its a time for favorite old movies. But most of all, its a time about time. We spend more time with our families during this holiday than most of all the other ones put together. And so the question is how should you spend that time well?Youve decorated the tree together, maybe even sang some songs. Theres plenty of egg nog left, and youve got a great playlist going. Guess what its time for? A great pack of cards. If youre making cocktails, theres some cocktail recipe playing cards, which can work great if you need to lighten up with certain relatives. But if youve got that great deck of cards, you can start to play some games that are more than just the basics. You can play some games that actually take some time to complete. Good games. Fun games. Games that will really pass the time well.Here are three extremely cool and classic games you try out this holiday season, most of which you havent thought about in a while. Dig in. These ones take a second to pick up, but the rewards are a really great time in while the snow falls outside.Thirty-OneThis game is ancient. Not quite as old as Christmas itself, but close. Most variants of this game are known as Cribbage or Blackjack. It may sound unfamiliar now, but youll remember how this goes pretty quickly.The GoalYou want to get yourself a hand that adds-up to 31. You can play the 21 version of this, which is more common at casinos, but 31 is more friendly. For the purposes of adding, aces are worth 11. (Which is probably different from what youre used to.)The SetupEverybody gets three face-down cards, and then, three face-up cards. You can call the three face-up cards the widow. Everybody can see these cards, and in one variation, you can decide to trade these cards with other players.How to Play and How to WinYou want to be the first person to get to 31 without going over. Failing that, you want to be able to have the highest rank hand in a showdown. The best way to play this game is by betting, so use some poker chips, candy canes, or whatever. Everybody antes up an equal amount and then you go around, taking turns, swapping out your cards, hoping that what you have will beat the other players. Keep in mind, youre basing this guess off of the widow cards you can see, rather than the hidden cards.You can then take turns betting, or a player can knockm which is the moment they reveal theyve already hit 31. That person automatically wins the pot. Otherwise, its a test of hand versus hand. If youve got the higher ranked hand, you can beat your opponent, if not, youre out. The last player standing (or the first person to 31) wins.Six Card GolfDont be thrown off by the name of this game. Its not really like golf at all. The only similarity is that theres nine rounds (or deals). You can call these holes like in golf. We wont judge.The GoalYou want to end up with the lowest value of cards. Yes, this is the point of this game, to have low-ranking cards.The SetupEverybody gets six cards dealt to them from the deck. The rest of the cards are then put face down, one top card is flipped over.Each player then has to organize their cards in two rows of three cards each. Everybody flips two cards face up. The rest of the cards are hidden.How to Play and How to WinAfter the setup, you go nine rounds. This is how the rounds go: You can draw cards from the main deck or the discard pile. You can swap new cards with cards you already have, which will go in the discard pile. What youre trying to do is get rid of high-ranking cards, and bring down your overall score.This goes on for nine rounds, and at the end of those nine rounds, the person with the lowest total, wins. Jacks and Queens count as ten, but in this game Kings are worth ZERO, which is, of course, the best card to have in this case. You can also get a zero by having two matching cards, that basically cancel each other out. Otherwise, aces through ten are worth one point to 10 points.SpoonsAs the name of the game suggests, youre gonna need more than just a pack of cards. Youre also going to need several actual spoons. These are used for keeping score, which will all make sense shortly. Oh, also, please remember how to spell!The GoalLIke the basketball game Horse, you dont want to get all the letters that spell Spoon. If you do get all those letters, youre out.The SetupPut a bunch of spoons in the center of a table. Then, using a standard deck, deal four cards to each player. After this, its going to go nuts.How to Play and How to WinYoure trying to get four-of-a-kind. The way this works is the dealer takes a card from top of the deck and then either keeps it, or not. But, then, that person passes the card they dont want to the person on their right. You get the idea, the next person can keep this card or not, always trying to get four-of-a-kind.The first person to get four-of-a-kind grabs a spoon from the center of the table. When this happens, everybody else can grab a spoon. However, if you dont get a spoon you get a letter. Once you get all the letters that spell S-P-O-O-N youre out. Play goes on like this until theres one person with a spoon who hasnt not spelled-out S-P-O-O-N.

There are two kinds of Lord of the Rings fans. Those who have seen the Rankin and Bass version of The Return of the King, and everybody else. Its okay. I get it. Peter Jackson delivered a near-perfect version of Return of the King in 2003, so, why would you watch the 1980 animated version, complete with singing orcs who are complaining about getting whipped all the time? Yes, most serious Tolkien-heads have seen the classic 1977 Rankin/Bass version of The Hobbit, but its in the beautiful strangeness of the 1980 Return of the King that the best and weirdest aspects of Middle-earth can truly be understood.And, believe it or not, the flashy new anime film, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, has more in common with the Rankin/Bass animated Tolkien efforts than you might realize. Because while the film obviously honors the books of J.R.R. Tolkien and the films of Peter Jackson, which the film is technically in canon with, theres deeper referential magic at work here. Mild spoilers ahead.First of all, although the idea of a Lord of the RingsThe War of the Rohirrim and the two animated Rankin/Bass Tolkien films of the past. In fact, though produced by Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass, with a screenplay from Romeo Muller, the actual animation for the 1977 Hobbit was completed by a Tokyo-based animation studio called Topcraft.By 1985, when Topcraft shut down, its animators largely went on to work for Studio Ghibli. So, in a sense, the first several animated LOTR movies ever, including The Hobbit (1977), The Lord of the Rings (1982), and The Return of the King (1980), were created by an anime studio. The mere existence of War of the Rohirrim and the fact that its animated by Sola Entertainment in Japan, and directed by well-known anime filmmaker Kenji Kamiyama, means that on some level this is a return to the earliest tradition of Middle-earth movies.On top of that, The War of the Rohirrim features two unique shoutouts to the aesthetics and narrative choices of the Rankin and Bass animated movies, and very specifically, the 1980 version of Return of the King. Early in The War of the Rohirrim we get some minstrel music action, giving us the feeling that were hearing a tale from deep in the past, or as Miranda Ottos narration tells us, the story of a heroic shield-maiden whose name isnt found in the old songs.But the telltale folk-y minstrel music should transport certain types of Tolkien fans right back to the Rankin /ass movies. The 1977 Hobbit very famously relies on the Glenn Yarbrough folk song The Greatest Adventure, which can be heard throughout the movie. Meanwhile the 1980 Return of the King more liberally asserts an actual minstrel character into the narrative frame of the movie. At some fictitious future-tense birthday for Bilbo, beyond the events of The Lord of the Rings, the Minstrel (again, Glenn Yarbrough) sings a ballad called Frodo of the Nine Fingers, which aims to explain to the slightly forgetful Bilbo about why Frodo only has nine fingers nowbecause of everything that happened with Gollum, you know, biting one of those fingers off.This is all hilarious as it sounds, but the charm of the animated Return of the King is that this goofiness is for the most part played entirely straight. As artistic adaptations of The Hobbit and The Return of the King, these films simply decided to lean on the folky-minstrel thing, which means the allusions to similar music in The War of the Rohirrim cant be an accident.If you remain unconvinced that The War of the Rohirrim is specifically linked to the animated Tolkien films of the past, theres another smoking pinecone of evidence. Although the War of the Ring is still roughly 200 years in the future from the events in the new 2024 anime movie, there are a few overt references to those events still sprinkled throughout Rohirrim. This includes a near-the-end appearance of Saruman (voiced by the late Christopher Lee) taking over as the new master of Isengard. But theres one moment thats an even bigger reference.At one point, in the aftermath of one of the attacks from the wraith-ish Helm Hammerhand (voiced by Brian Cox), we see two orcs gathering random rings from fallen soldiers. These orcs are nervous and frustrated, and among themselves, wonder why Sauron, their master, wants so many rings collected.Read more Book readers know that this is the moment in time where Sauron is trying to trackdown all the rings he helped create, and also, of course, is in search of the One Ring, which at this point is missing. But its the behavior of these orcs in this scene that is most evocative of the 1980 Return of the King. Neither ruthless nor fierce, these two orcs are skittish, and frustrated. This recalls the Orc marching song from the animated Return of the King, Where Theres a Whip, Theres a Way. In that song, some of the orcs sing, We dont want to go to war today, indicating that not all orcs were really excited about Saurons dark deeds, but simply had no other choice. (The Rings of Power gestured at these more well-rounded orcs recently as well.)The way the orcs behave in this scene, and even appear, feels closer to the Rankin/Bass animated Orcs than the Peter Jackson orcs. This is a refreshing deep-cut within The War of the Rohirrim. Because as serious and epic as that movie is, the off-kilter orcs are a reminder that The Lord of the Rings franchise doesnt always have to be fully earnest. In Middle-earth, you can have a little fun too.The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is in theaters now.

News Jenna Ortega and Paul Rudd Fight Killer Unicorns in New Bats**t A24 TrailerDeath of a Unicorn looks like the kind of genre comedy nonsense weve been craving right about now.By David Crow | December 18, 2024 | | Photo: A24Mythical creatures. Movie stars. And the studio that recently gave the world The Brutalist and Sing Sing. We probably were always going to be at least a little intrigued by Death of a Unicorn, the upcoming dark comedy starring Jenna Ortega and Paul Rudd thats oh, so A24 that it even intentionally misspelled unicorn by way of old-timey early modern English when it was first announced. (Its original title was Death of a Unicorne, which might be fitting when one knows the writer-director Alex Scharfman previously worked on Robert Eggers The Witch.)Still, when this mornings gloriously batshit trailer came around, it revealed that in addition to having just natural buckets of alternative cool kids cred, Death of a Unicorn also pivots on more than the cruel slaughter of these majestic beasts from ye olden times it is also a horror-ish movie where a unicorns horn holds the secrets to curing cancer just good luck getting it when these little ponies are revealed to be absolute man-eaters!Indeed, with a bemusing use of the classic Beach Boys banger, Good Vibrations, Death of a Unicorn featuresWednesdays Ortega opposite Americas new favorite dad, Rudd, as the pair are driving into the woods for a fateful work trip that goes horribly awry after they make roadkill of a unicorn. But faster than you can say Tommy Boy, the magic animal proves to be only mostly dead. And by the time they get to the films other cast of characters, including Ta Leoni, Richard E. Grant, and Will Poulterthe latter of whom looks to be having absolutely the time of his life mugging for the camerathe creature is revealed to be on the rebound.After untold bloody hijinks ensue, our quintet of characters have the unwise idea to harness the unicorns enchanted properties to cure all sickness and disease but in reality they might only be inviting themselves to learn what the legendary steeds digestive tract looks like.Notably, Death of a Unicorn is primarily coming out right now because of last years writers and actors strikes. While many studios and streamers chose to let negotiations drag on for months without making a deal with the creatives, A24 cut a separate one which allowed this movie to go into production with SAG members like Ortega and Rudd. And it has all the hallmarks of a skewed, sideways laugher befitting an indie tastemakers who made their name, in part, by producing and/or distributing movies like Spring Breakers and Everything Everywhere All at Once.Will Death of a Unicorn add itself to that illustrious legacy? Well find out soon enough, with the movie scheduled to release sometime next spring. Were just happy though to have another gonzo-minded movie about the death of unicorns after Ridley Scott made a whole cult classic about it in Legendalthough even that movie didnt have a tagline as punchy as poke around and find out.

A few weeks ago, we released the latest trailer for Atomfall, our upcoming game where you will have to uncover the mystery behind what happened at the UKs Windscale nuclear power station in the 1950s. This is a fictionalised telling of what happened following this real-life nuclear disaster in Northern England.The trailer showcases the games folk horror influences and give you the first glimpse of Casterfell Woods, an eerie location within Atomfall where you will encounter an unsettling wicker man and a ringing telephone box that needs to be answered.But what were our influences behind Casterfell Woods? We thought it would be interesting to let you know how we came up with this unique aesthetic.From the outset, we knew that we wanted some spookier areas of the game, where we could emphasise folk horror and provide some contrast with our more idyllic areas. Most of our outdoor environments are very green, vibrant, pretty, and very much British. But for Casterfell, we wanted the player to question what things might happen in the deep dark woods. Hidden things can happen there, secret and ancient things We knew that this would be a ton of fun so started doing our homework.Our initial goal was to establish the visual baseline for our sandbox spaces, with a focus on the content that we needed to build out our various natural biomes. Then, we could start adding our thematic twists.Early in the project, the team took quite a few trips up to the English Lake District for reference gathering and to capture photogrammetry content. For several of the non-Brits on the team (myself included, as an American) this was incredibly exotic. For anyone who hasnt been there, it is an extremely diverse area of outstanding natural beauty and diversity. It is just so wet and green, with lakes and streams everywhere, and tremendous stone formations topping the high fells and hilltops. The entire area is just dripping with greenery, ferns, and moss.As I was new to driving in the UK, I found those tiny Cumbrian roads terrifying! There are slate stone walls on one edge, and steep drops into a lake on the other. But the trips were very educational, and the views were sensational. By the end of the trip, we had a ton of fantastic reference, fabulous photogrammetry content, and were confident that we could ground the game visually in the north of Britain.Next up, were the twists. How could we make our world different from a typical holiday trip to a beautiful natural destination? How could we layer in an older era, and warp things a bit more?We started looking at storytelling focused on folk horror, sci-fi, and old-school British imaginative fiction for inspiration. Films like The Wicker Man, The Blair Witch Project, Annihilation, and Midsommar were great to look at. Then of course we have BBC programming like Doctor Who, The Prisoner, and The Quatermass Xperiment, as well as books by John Wyndham, who has so many wonderfully weird stories.We wanted the player to feel that they are stepping into an older era. The real Windscale nuclear accident was in 1957, which is when the quarantine began in our game. As we were intending to be a period piece, how could we impress that into a natural area? This was a tough one, and we had a lot of conversations about it. I mean, especially in the woods, where trees pretty much would have looked the same in 1957, 2024, or 1066.We began asking ourselves who was living out there, beyond the comforts of village life? How would they survive with no manufactured resources?The answer was pretty simple in that these outcasts would survive just as they had in archaic times. We would regress them even further back and have them use what was at hand. Wattle (and daub) construction became our go-to architectural style. Thatched roofs, woven branches and vines, and dry-stone structures also seemed to fit. Even though many of these traditional methods of construction can still be seen in the modern day, they are really ancient and foreign to many of us who grew up elsewhere.Then, taking into account our inspirational media reference, and our desire for more Britishness, we began layering even more symbolic imagery. Ancient markings, effigies, and wickermen, all intermingled with more traditional maypoles and bunting to give strong pagan religious overtones.We think you are going to love exploring Casterfell Woods and discovering the secrets that it holds when Atomfall is released on March 27 for Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC, and day one with Game Pass. We cant wait for you guys to get your hands on the game.AtomfallRebellionGet it nowA survival-action game inspired by real-life events, Atomfall is set five years after the Windscale nuclear disaster in Northern England.Explore the fictional quarantine zone, scavenge, craft, barter, fight and talk your way through a British countryside setting filled with bizarre characters, mysticism, cults, and rogue government agencies.From Rebellion, the studio behind Sniper Elite and Zombie Army, Atomfall will challenge you to solve the dark mystery of what really happened.Player Driven Mystery: Unravel a tapestry of interwoven narratives through exploration, conversation, investigation, and combat, where every choice you make has consequences.Explore this Green and Unpleasant Land: The picturesque British countryside, with rolling green hills, lush valleys, and rural villages belie the dangers that await you.Search, Scavage, Survive: Youll need to scavenge for supplies, craft weapons and items, and fight desperately to make it out alive!Desperate Combat: With weapons and ammunition scarce, each frenetic engagement will see you blend marksmanship with vicious hand-to-hand combat. Manage your heart rate to hold a steady aim and ensure you have the energy you need to reach for your cricket bat and land the killer blow.Green and Unpleasant Land: The picturesque British countryside, with rolling green hills, lush valleys, and rural villages belie the dangers that await you. Navigate cult-controlled ruins, natural caves, nuclear bunkers and more as you explore this dense, foreboding world.Reimagining Windscale: A fictional reimagining of a real-world event, Atomfall draws from science fiction, folk horror, and Cold War influences to create a world that is eerily familiar yet completely alien.

Last week, we saw the cinematic debut of The Witcher IV, the latest instalment in CD Projekt Reds iconic dark fantasy series. In this new chapter, we wont be following Geralt; instead, his adopted daughter Ciri takes center stage as our witcher protagonist.Following the announcement, we spoke with key leads at CD Projekt Red to delve deeper into this trailer and learn how the studio is gearing up to introduce Ciri as the lead in a brand-new Witcher saga that will respect the series past (and players choices in it) while leading the series boldly into a new era.A New CiriIn the reveal trailer, were introduced to the village of Stromford, an isolated settlement located deep in the north of The Continent. In this scene, a young woman, Mioni, is selected as a sacrifice to ward off a local monster. This is where we see Ciri for the first time older, stronger, and brandishing those iconic steel and silver swords.The Witcher IV takes place a few years after the end of The Witcher 3, according to Narrative Director on The Witcher IV, Philipp Weber. While the details of what brought Ciri to this particular place and time are still under wraps for now, were shown that Ciri has mutated eyes, an indication that shes completed the Trial of the Grasses to become a witcher in her own right.Throughout the events of both The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt not to mention Andrzej Sapkowskis saga of Witcher novels, which the games are based upon Ciri is set up as a secondary protagonist, and her personality is very much established. By the end, she is by no means just an extension of Geralt, but a fully-fledged character ready to take on a new journey.That journey could have gone in several directions depending on the ending players received in The Witcher 3. While CD Projekt Redis keeping specifics close to its chest, Weber assures us that The Witcher IV will handle its predecessors multiple endings, and that personal choice is something they aim to honour in this next game.Differences Between Geralt and CiriThe studio is keen to emphasise that while Geralt is a seasoned witcher who typically prefers to remain impartial, Ciri is a character that will often take a more aggressive stance driven by personal motivation.Geralt has already created a code for himself, and hes gone through a ton of experiences to get to thatpoint, Weber explains. With Ciri, we now have the opportunity to show a lot of those experiences as she finds her own code, and her own way of handling these tough things.We see this in the trailer reveal, as Ciri ventures into the forest and tells Mioni to flee back to the village, in the hopes that it will save her. Whats interesting to note is that the inhabitants of Stromford dont react positively to the sight of awitcher, even though Ciri is there to do good.Shes super passionate, super determined and very engaged in this story, explains Game Director Sebastian Kalemba. She will never hesitate; she deeply cares about the other girl here.Unfortunately, despite Ciris best intentions and a gruelling battle with a brand-new monster known as a Bauk, Mioni still meets a swift end, accentuating how grim the world of The Witcher IV will continue to be, and how its characters may continue to find ways to villainise Ciris choices (and your own) despite a well-meaning approach.Ciri is someone who wont accept that fate is just given to you, you always have to fight back, and sometimes thats the right thing to do, says Weber. In this trailer, we also wanted to show some parallels that Mionis fate could have also been Ciris once upon a time, but she fought back against that fate.The nuance in Ciris character also stems from her backstory which makes her a great character for a complex, mature story about choices and consequences inside The Witchers dark and often unsettling world.Ciri is definitely a flawed character; she has a lot of darkness in her, she was abandoned, and shes made terrible mistakes in the past, Weber explains. But she also has some amazing strengths, and I think this is this balance that for us makes her into this great character. We want to tell these character-driven stories, and I think if we want to have real characters with real emotions, that also means that they need to have some flaws.That said, the impact of Geralt on Ciri is by no means being overwritten; The Witcher IVs emphasis on choice and consequence means that Ciri will often grapple with the decision she thinks is right and perhaps another direction that Geralt may have taken in the same scenario.Shes Geralts daughter, so shes learned a lot of values from him, Weber notes. There will be choices that feel close to what Geralt would do.Kalemba adds: Geralt has also learned some things from Ciri throughout their journey in The Witcher 3, and that will be reflected in those choices.Looking AheadThe Witcher IV is of course a natural evolution for this series; and long-invested fans will find deeper references and lore galore as they step into the fold with Ciri. CD Projekt Red has confirmed that Geralt will return as a character, but his place in the story remains a secret for now.However, this will also serve as a new beginning for the franchise. Almost 10 years and countless development lessons on from the release of The Witcher 3, CD Projekt Red acknowledges and embraces the fact that a new generation of players will want to experience this world for the first time with The Witcher IV.This is a new character and the origin story of Ciri [as a playable main character], and we believe itll be a great starting point for newcomers, Kalemba says. There will be new regions and areas to explore, but it is still verymuch the dark fantasy world and story that Witcher fans know and love.

We know Litchfield County, Connecticut as the land of mallard decoys, worn wicker, and faded chintz. But that bastion of American prep is home to fresher pastures, most recently in the form of a cultured familys home designed by Clive Lonstein. The New York-based designer worked for the legendary William Sofield for 13 years, eventually becoming the design director, before opening his own studio in 2016. When these clients approached him only a few years later, their directive was simple and clear: they wanted bold color, comfort, and an interesting canvas for their burgeoning art collectionsomething bespoke that is just for them, Lonstein says.William Jess LairdRather than renovating the kitchen, Lonstein and his clients chose to give it new life with a sweet pink hue on the cabinets.The house itself offered plenty of possibilities. It was designed in the late 1800s by Ehrick Rossiter, an architect known for his whimsical country homes, and came complete with a turret. For me its really important that a project is contextual, says Lonstein. Every location has something unique about it I love infusing that subtly through the design. "This was a decorating projectand that proved to be very liberating for me.For a house with so much architectural personality, it can be difficult to impose a new perspective. So Lonstein worked with the spaces natural quirks rather than against them. This project was a departure for me, Lonstein says. Most of my projects require more interior architecture and structure, but I didnt make many architectural changes here. This was a decorating projectand that proved to be very liberating for me.Step Inside This Vibrant Connecticut CottageThe fun begins as soon as you step in through the candy apple-red front door. Here, on the lower level, youll encounter an aubergine stair and a bubblegum pink kitchen. In the sitting room, moss-hued paint covers the walls. These clients wanted to have a lot of color, like what you would see in an English country house, explains Lonstein. In fact, the only rooms with a white base are the living and dining rooms, where a wild array of art and furniture took over.Lonstein had the challenge many designers hate: a client with their own collection of furniture, but for him that was an opportunity. The clients had some wonderful furniture. It was my job to incorporate those pieces, reupholstering things, adding things, Lonstein says. In the living room, for instance, paintings by Sophie Larrimore, Caitlin Keogh, and Mary Grigoriadis join a reupholstered 50s-era sofa and chairs by Sergio Rodrigues and a game table and chairs by George Nakashima. William Jess LairdIn the library, vintage Viggo Boesen chair upholstered in sheepskin sits in front of the sofa. The table lamps are from Bitossi. The desk and chair are by Mira Nakashima.Upstairs, the color returns. Lonstein added a chartreuse bathroom and a collegiate blue bedroom (the same hue as an Yves Klein table in the living room downstairs). He then doused the round, turret roomone of the designers favorite spaces in a dusty pink hue that complements the elaborate original moldings that trace the ceiling and floor. The pink acts as a bridge between the flamboyant Colonial Revival architecture and the art, namely a richly-hued photograph by Vik Muniz in the space. I aspire to minimalism, but thats not my work."Working the art collection into the interior design scheme was a collaborative effort. Lonstein conferred with the clients art advisor, Bridget Murphy, on where everything should hang, both parties offering their two cents to charming effect. In the dining room another Muniz photograph after Gustave Courbet enlivens the neutral space, which features sheepskin upholstered vintage Saarinen chairs, a Noguchi light, and a Martin Eisler caned credenza from the 1950s.So many ingredients were already in the pot when Lonstein arrived you would think it impossible to pull it all together as seamlessly as he has, but that talent is integral to his practice. I aspire to minimalism, but thats not my work, he says. What I like is the idiosyncratic.

Its been a great year for the Dutch startup ecosystem.Venture capitalists have, so far, invested $3.5bn into Netherlands-based early-stage companies, according to Dealroom data. That makes 2024 Dutch techs second-best funding year ever, surpassed only by 2021.Dutch startups have raised almost 50% more ($1.1bn) cash this year than in 2023 and there are still two weeks to go. Its a striking uptick, especially considering the rather muted funding environment in broader Europe, which is on course for its worst year since 2020.The Netherlands stands to be Europes fourth best-funded ecosystem for 2024. It ranks two places higher than last year, beating out Sweden and Switzerland. Unsurprisingly, the UK will clinch the top spot, with $17bn raised so far. Germany is second at $7.9bn, while France is coming in at a close third with $7.7bn.So, with that in mind, here are the 10 largest funding rounds that made 2024 such a lucrative year for the Dutch startup ecosystem. (Disclaimer: For this list, we count all early-stage companies headquartered in the Netherlands, not necessarily founded there).1. Nebius $700MThis was a whopper. The startup, which builds full-stack AI infrastructure for tech firms, secured the equity in December in a deal led by Nvidia, Accel, and other blue-chip investors.2. Picnic $388mnThe Dutch online supermarket unicorn bagged the funding in January to fuel its international expansion, as it looks to become a profitable grocery delivery service (which has proven bloody difficult for most).3. Nearfield Instruments $147mnThe Rotterdam-based company makes advanced tools for inspecting computer chips during manufacturing, adding to the Netherlands wealth of semiconductor success stories.4. Mews $110mnCha-ching! We have a new unicorn in the house. More accurately, in our house, seeing as Mews is based at TNW City in Amsterdam. The startup, which provides acloud-based property management system (PMS) for the hospitality industry, raised $110mn in March at a valuation of over $1.2bn. Then in September, it bagged another $100mn.Now thats great Mews.5. DataSnipper $100mnCha-ching, again! DataSnipper, which makes AI-powered accounting tools, raised $100mn in February at a $1bn valuation making it the Netherlands second newly minted unicorn for 2024.6. Citryll 89mnThe biotech company is developing treatments for inflammatory diseases. It will use the Series B funding to bring its lead product, CIT-013, into Phase 2a clinical trials.7. Cradle $73MFounded in 2022, Cradle uses generative AI to design and optimise proteins, aiming to reduce the time and cost associated with protein engineering. The Amsterdam-based startup wants to put its software into the hands of a million scientists.8. Axelera AI $68mnThe Eindhoven-based startup is developing chips, known as AI processing units (AIPUs), that enable computer vision and generative AI in devices like robots and drones. Thefunding round was led by Samsungs venture arm. For a chip startup, thats not a bad investor to have onboard.9. Payt $58mnPayt Softwares AI-powered platform streamlines the debt collection process through automated invoicing. Not exactly sexy tech, but the startups product is used by over 13,000 businesses in the Netherlands alone so it must be doing something right. 10. Vico Therapeutics $56mnFounded in 2019, Vico is developing therapies for severe neurological diseases.The company is the third health tech startup on this list and for good reason the Netherlands has established itself as one of the worlds leading hubs for biotech and life sciences.Overall, the Dutch startup ecosystem has proven its resilience and strength in 2024, achieving remarkable growth despite broader challenges in the European funding environment. Standoutperformances come from the sectors of biotech, AI, and semiconductors. As we look ahead, these funding successes position the countrys startups for even greater global impact going into 2025. Story by Sin Geschwindt Sin is a climate and energy reporter at TNW. From nuclear fusion to escooters, he covers the length and breadth of Europe's clean tech ecos (show all) Sin is a climate and energy reporter at TNW. From nuclear fusion to escooters, he covers the length and breadth of Europe's clean tech ecosystem. He's happiest sourcing a scoop, investigating the impact of emerging technologies, and even putting them to the test. Sin has five years journalism experience and holds a dual degree in media and environmental science from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Get the TNW newsletterGet the most important tech news in your inbox each week.Also tagged with

According to the 2024 Global Startup Ecosystem Report by Startup Genome, the Netherlands ecosystem is now ranked number 13 in the world placing it ahead of both Paris and Berlin. In 2023, Dutch startups raised $2.2bn.While there have been fewer startup deals this year, overall investment is up, according to figures from the Dutch Startup Association. And for some startups and scaleups, 2024 was truly a monumental year.Picnic raises one of Europes largest roundsHaving grown its business 40% in 2023 following international expansion across France and Germany, Dutch online supermarket Picnic kicked off the year in style as it announced a 355mn funding round in January. The Bill and Melinda Gates foundation participated in the round, which brought the companys total raised to 1.3bn. Founded in 2015, Picnic, its fully automated fulfilment centres, and delivery algorithms have defied the mass collapse of online grocery delivery startups that befell the likes of Getir and Flink after the pandemic. In 2018, the year before hitting 1,000,000 shoppers in the Netherlands, the companys CTO Daniel Gebler took the stage at TNW Conference to talk about the tech that is disrupting the everywhere commerce space.Gebler also closed the year with a bang, as he was named CxO of the year by Computable.nl.Read the case studyDataSnipper reaches unicorn statusIts Series B $100mn raise in February saw Amsterdam-headquartered auditing platform DataSnipper valued at $1bn, aka achieving the mythical status of unicorn. The round was led by Index Ventures and the funds are helping DataSnipper, which already counts Hilton, Siemens, and Frontier Airlines among its clients, to expand across more verticals including forensic accountants and tax advisors. DataSnipper was founded by Maarten Alblas, Jonas Ruyter, and Kai Bakker in 2017. In 2023, the company appointed a new CEO in Vidya Peters (on the featured image along with the founding team). Peters was previously Chief Operating Officer at payment solution provider Marqeta, helping the company go public in 2021. She sees the long term objective of DataSnipper as connecting unstructured data across industries, and believes there is tremendous opportunity for growth and expansion globally.Mews becomes a unicorn, 100mn fund by Carbon EquityMarch was a month of celebration for current and former TNW Spaces member startups. Hotel management software provider Mews hit a 1.1bn valuation after a 101mn raise, led by Swedish investment company Kinnevik.The good news for Mews, founded in 2012 by former hotelier Richard Valter, did not stop there. In September, the company bagged another 90mn from Vista Credit Partners. Having already purchased nine other startups in the sector, the funds will allow Mews to continue its buying spree, consolidating its place as a market leader in redefining the hospitality industry with its cloud offerings.Meanwhile, leading climate fund investment startup Carbon Equity raised 100mn for its Climate Tech Portfolio Fund II exceeding an initial target of 75mn and more than doubling its first fund from 2022. Founded only in 2021, Carbon Equity has quickly become a force to be reckoned with for investments in curated clean tech solutions.In October, Wired dubbed Carbon Equity one of the hottest startups in Amsterdam, and at the beginning of December, co-founder Jacqueline van den Ende was awarded the title of Changemaker of the Year by Change Inc, rounding off a momentous year. Lets hope climate tech investment continues to thrive in 2025.First ever tech fund by Dutch Ministry of DefenceIt is perhaps an unfortunate sign of the times we live in, but there is no denying that defence tech startups from Ukrainian drone developers to German AI darling Helsing are on a roll. In October, the Dutch Ministry of Defence announced a 100mn fund to provide early-stage financing to the countrys startups, scaleups, and SMEs that meet specific innovation needs.The fund will invest up to 5mn per company. It will focus on dual-use technologies, meaning tech that can be used both for civilian and military purposes. It is expected to open in 2025, so keep your eyes peeled for the first investments.We cant wait to see what 2025 will bring as Amsterdam celebrates its 750th anniversary and TNW Conference returns to NDSM island in June. Join us as we bring together the whole Dutch tech ecosystem and discover what is truly next in tech! Story by Linnea Ahlgren Linnea is the senior editor at TNW, having joined in April 2023. She has an Ma in international relations and covers quantum, AI, and the ev (show all) Linnea is the senior editor at TNW, having joined in April 2023. She has an Ma in international relations and covers quantum, AI, and the evolving concept of 'technological sovereignty'. Dabbles in gaming and fitness wearables. But first, coffee. Get the TNW newsletterGet the most important tech news in your inbox each week.

Apple this year was forced to drastically change how iOS works in the EU due to the Digital Markets Act (DMA) antitrust law, which establishes a series of rules to prevent big techs from engaging in anti-competitive practices. However, it seems that the EU wants even more from Apple, as the European Commission is now demanding that the company ensure the effective interoperability of iOS with other platforms.EU calls on Apple to further change the way iOS worksAs reported by Bloomberg, the European Commission published a document on Wednesday as part of its antitrust investigations against Apple. In the document, the EU instructs Apple to change many aspects of iOS so that third-party developers can have access to technologies that currently only Apple can.For instance, the document suggests that Apple make it easier for users to pair and control accessories such as smartwatches and headsets from other brands on iOS. It also says that the company should allow third-party apps to run entirely in the background something that only Apple apps can currently do. The document even covers features such as AirPlay and AirDrop, which are currently limited to Apple devices.The EU has set January 9, 2025 as the deadline for its consultation in the case. In response, Apple published an online document criticizing the European Commission and the DMA legislation, claiming that the situation is becoming personal. Unsurprisingly, Apple highlights its work on privacy and security, and says that the DMA requirements make its ecosystem less secure.Apple says that if it opens up all technologies to anyone, it will put iOS users data at risk. Interestingly, Apple also notes that Meta is one of the companies that has made the most requests to access Apples sensitive technologies under the DMA.If Apple were to have to grant all of these requests, Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp could enable Meta to read on a users device all of their messages and emails, see every phone call they make or receive, track every app that they use, scan all of their photos, look at their files and calendar events, log all of their passwords, and more. This is data that Apple itself has chosen not to access in order to provide the strongest possible protection to users.Meta claims that it needs access to iOS technologies to provide a better experience with external devices such as Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses and Meta Quest headsets. However, Apple says that it already provides interoperability with these devices without the need for special permissions.The EU may launch a formal probe against Apple if the company fails to comply with the DMA rules. This could result in heavy fines of up to 10% of the companys global annual sales.Apple could face EUs first-ever DMA fineLast month, the Brazilian regulator also ruled that Apple should open up its ecosystem to third-party developers. Although Apple has appealed the decision, the company could still be forced to enable sideloading in Brazil as well.Add 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre reading 9to5Mac experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel