Shortly after its impresive Silent Hill 2 remake, Bloober Team announced Cronos: The New Dawn. As the developer's original IP, Cronos: The New Dawn blends survival horror with time travel, making it one of the most intriguing horror games slated for this year. The announcement trailer promises a tense atmosphere that appears to be inspired by the studio's work on Silent Hill 2. Another clear influence, though, is the Dead Space franchise.

SNAPs latest season, Dark Avengers, introduces Iron Patriot as the premium Season Pass card. This two-Cost, three-Power On Reveal card adds a high-Cost card to your hand, potentially with a discount. As his ability suggests, Iron Patriot fits seamlessly into the classic card-generation archetype, reminiscent of the strategies that once propelled Devil Dino to the top of the meta. Heres the best deck to maximize Iron Patriot's potential in Marvel SNAPs current metagame.

A new tweet from the official Call of Duty Twitter account has sparked outrage among the game's community, with over 2 million views and thousands of responses calling out Activision for being unable to "read the room." Various Call of Duty titles, such as Warzone and Black Ops 6, are currently experiencing a variety of game-breaking issues, but Activision's decision to continue promoting new store bundles instead of addressing these ongoing problems has tipped some players over the edge.

I managed to get attacking units avoid defenses. For now it's just one attacking unit that does that. In the video you can see how the red attacking unit travels towards the enemy half of the map notices the units that guard the entrance, turns back and choses another path to the enemy base.

2024, like every year since 2020, was a monumental year for tabletop role-playing games. While Wizards of the Coast put out the highly anticipated update to Dungeons & Dragons 5e One D&D, D&D 5.5e, D&D 2024, pick your favorite nom de game the ecosystem of TTRPGs has a budding crop of designers, and 2024 was certainly a year they bore fruit.You cant really say that 2024 was an easy year, however. The looming threat of tariffs, suppression of game creators reach on social media, and introduction of AI into creative spaces sit in the zeitgeist behind all these games. In the face of massive political and social instability, artists and designers have doubled down on the importance of their work and playing together and the games on this list highlight that. From the found family of Yazebas Bed & Breakfast to the conspiratorial The Slow Knife to the migrant refugees of City of Winter, each of these games tackles bigger issues in its own way, offering catharsis and escape through play.As has become tradition, Polygon asked some of the brightest minds and biggest personalities in the tabletop industry to share what TTRPGs they loved playing this year. This is what they had to say.City of WinterQuintin Quinns Smith, reviewer at Quinns Quest and co-founder of Shut Up & Sit DownCity of Winter is I want you to imagine a gymnast in the deepest lunge imaginable a game that capably straddles two distant worlds.A lot of people who play TTRPGs want to tell a story that deeply moves them, but they dont want to leave their comfort zone of role-playing in a plush fantasy world where pretending to be someone else feels lower-stakes somehow.City of Winter will break your heart, but itll also make you feel safe. In this game everybody (there is no game master) plays members of an immigrant community searching for a safe place to live, and in however many evenings you care to give it, youll explore a story with breathtaking presentation and equally gorgeous mechanics. I love it.DesperationJeff Stormer, host of the Party of One podcastOnce in a while, you play a game that rewires what you think TTRPGs can be. Our Desperation two-parter on Party of One was that experience for me this year. Blending unique mechanics and richly realized historical horror, the end result was something absolutely haunting and harrowing (in the best possible way). The creeping horror of watching hell descend upon Neola, Kansas, or making the difficult decisions of which sailors wouldnt survive the journey of the Isabel, was equal parts agonizing and thrilling. I still think about the character relationships that emerged, the stories that unfolded, and who could have lived if just one or two decisions went differently.JukeboxJohnny ONeal, founder and president of Brotherwise Games, home of Brandon Sandersons Cosmere RPGsJukebox is the Karaoke Musical Tabletop Roleplaying Game, and based on that description you probably already have a good idea of whether this is the game for you. In Jukebox, you and some friends collaborate to tell a story inspired by music. Before play, and before you know the story, youll choose some songs youre up for singing. After an opening number sets the stage, youll randomly draw songs to sing, sending the narrative in a new direction in every scene. Its the ultimate RPG for theater kids, and the most fun Ive had this year.Legend in the MistCharlie Hall, senior editor, tabletop gamesNearly a full year after playing an early version, Legend in the Mist from Son of Oak Game Studio continues to stick with me. Im not a numbers guy; in fact, as a journalist I even count differently. Here I go to 10 one, a pair, a trio, a quartet, five, a half dozen, more than a half dozen, eight, less than 10, 10 see? ITS ALL JUST WORDS!!! Maybe thats why Im so bad at spellcasting classesI like that Legend in the Mist runs on words. The rustic fantasy role-playing game uses these tags, as theyre called little phrases, really to fill out the character sheet. The effect is to turn your characters motivations and backstory literally into the powers theyll use in combat and other encounters, building their legend with more words and phrases that will evolve and change them over time. Im excited for this counter-Dungeons & Dragons system to launch fully later this year, but you can get a head start with the free demo available now.Oh Captain, My Captain!Rowan Zeoli, co-founder of Rascal News and tabletop contributor at PolygonWhile there are many, many games I could put down on this list as being the best for a multitude of reasons, the game I played the most last year was Oh Captain, My Captain! by James DAmato. Based on the original For the Queen card-based RPG by Alex Roberts, Oh Captain is a game that takes minutes to explain and less than an hour to play. Where For the Queen explores the trauma of abusive codependency, Oh Captain tackles hero worship and cult of personality. You were chosen for this mission because the captain knows that you believe in them. And deconstructing that relationship through prompts that evoke answers of admiration, betrayal, and a desperate need to belong is something Ive found everyone can understand. More than any other game I played last year, I used Oh Captain to introduce the people in my life to RPGs and every single time, they wanted to play again.Starfinder Second Edition PlaytestSamantha Nelson, freelance writer and Polygon contributorI really enjoyed being part of a yearlong Starfinder campaign, so I was very excited to try the Starfinder Second Edition Playtest. While still a work in progress, the rules feel well balanced and offer a huge amount of character possibilities thanks to being fully compatible with Pathfinder 2e. I loved playing through a modified version of the adventure A Cosmic Birthday as a reincarnated android tapping into the Akashic record to heal my friends and bestow them with knowledge about how to face gremlins. Paizo has developed a wonderfully weird world and excellent mechanics for exploring it.The Slow KnifeTasha Robinson, entertainment editor at PolygonIts been two years since I wrote about the paranoid conspiracy-thriller RPG The Slow Knife and interviewed its designer for his Kickstarter launch, and the games been out nearly that long but I didnt have a chance to play it until Origins 2024. And good googly-moogly, was it ever an experience. The game is designed to tell a Count of Monte Cristo-type story of betrayal and revenge, which could be set anywhere and in any genre our playthrough was a galaxy-spanning far-future sci-fi story, but I can see how the mechanics would work just as well in a Greyhawk setting or a historical one in any era with rich opportunists and fickle allies. Highly recommended for anyone who loves drama, court intrigue, and dark, destructive endings.Subway RunnersAaron Voigt, TTRPG video essayistIve never laughed as hard during character creation than in my first session of Subway Runners a Forged in the Dark game where you play as gig workers fighting monsters and performing maintenance on the megasubway system humming beneath your citys streets. Because all characters are procedurally generated to absurd detail, it was a delight to look through the sheets of my fellow players, giggling as we discovered the hand fate had dealt us. Its all well and good to have a sweaty vibe and apple-bottomed build. But what purpose does it serve to give me an AB Double blood type, or a party magic proficiency? Subway Runners is more than happy to hand you a box of oddly shaped toys and let you smash them together in the weirdest way possible.Two Moons Rising from the World of Life Is StrangeJohnny Stanton, co-creator of Sink!: The 5e Guide to Pirates & Tattoos and former NFL fullbackIts only natural for the Life Is Strange universe to have its own official TTRPG, considering the award-winning video game series has prominently depicted dice rolling in the past. Two Moons Rising is an adventure created by Noxweiler Berf of Hunters Entertainment set within the world of the newly released game Life Is Strange: Double Exposure. Built with its own custom-made game mechanics, named the Butterfly System, this mystery boxs core mechanics utilize a shared pool of dice for character abilities designed to build tension among both the players as well as the characters they inhabit.I might be biased choosing Two Moons Rising, as I had the opportunity to be a part of the debut of the adventure in October, but when a brand-new TTRPG system is designed well with accessibility in mind and fits naturally within the context of the world, you cant help but be impressed.Yazebas Bed & BreakfastEm Friedman, associate professor of English at Auburn University, director of 18thConnect.org, actual play scholar, and Polygon contributorWhen I teach, I look for games that dont need a game master, are quick to pick up and play, and reward thinking about their structure and craft. Meanwhile, my students increasingly want a respite from any digital nonsense, clamoring for A Mending or City of Winter and plaintively asking, Dr. Friedman, do you have a physical copy of the game?So Yazebas Bed & Breakfast landing in its full glory with a satisfying thunk on my doorstep was among the highlights of 2024. While Ive played the game since its ashcan days, and adore the gloriously pixelated One More Multiverse online interface, the game really sings in its deluxe, bookish form, where I can have new players sign the Ledger, pour jewel-like tokens into their hands, and have them spread out character sheets already marked by other hands and all. those. stickers.Beyond the classroom, a Pensive chapter played in a shadowy basement this summer was a reminder that this isnt a cozy game beneath its candy-colored veneer are the kinds of questions that keep you up at night:Do you worry about losing control?Who are you trying to impress?Do you think youre too much, or never enough?What do you think people see when they look at you?

This article is a sponsored by DebugBearI was chatting with DebugBears Matt Zeunert and, in the process, he casually mentioned this thing called Tight Mode when describing how browsers fetch and prioritize resources. I wanted to nod along like I knew what he was talking about but ultimately had to ask: What the heck is Tight mode?What I got back were two artifacts, one of them being the following video of Akamai web performance expert Robin Marx speaking at We Love Speed in France a few weeks ago:Tight Mode discriminates resources, taking anything and everything marked as High and Medium priority. Everything else is constrained and left on the outside, looking in until the body is firmly attached to the document, signaling that blocking scripts have been executed. Its at that point that resources marked with Low priority are allowed in the door during the second phase of loading.Theres a big caveat to that, but well get there. The important thing to note is thatChrome And Safari Enforce Tight ModeYes, both Chrome and Safari have some working form of Tight Mode running in the background. That last image illustrates Chromes Tight Mode. Lets look at Safaris next and compare the two.Look at that! Safari discriminates High-priority resources in its initial fetch, just like Chrome, but we get wildly different loading behavior between the two browsers. Notice how Safari appears to exclude the first five PNG images marked with Medium priority where Chrome allows them. In other words, Safari makes all Medium- and Low-priority resources wait in line until all High-priority items are done loading, even though were working with the exact same HTML. You might say that Safaris behavior makes the most sense, as you can see in that last image that Chrome seemingly excludes some High-priority resources out of Tight Mode. Theres clearly some tomfoolery happening there that well get to.Wheres Firefox in all this? It doesnt take any extra tightening measures when evaluating the priority of the resources on a page. We might consider this the classic waterfall approach to fetching and loading resources.Chrome And Safari Trigger Tight Mode DifferentlyRobin makes this clear as day in his talk. Chrome and Safari are both Tight Mode proponents, yet trigger it under differing circumstances that we can outline like this: Chrome Safari Tight Mode triggered While blocking JS in the <head> is busy. While blocking JS or CSS anywhere is busy. Notice that Chrome only looks at the document <head> when prioritizing resources, and only when it involves JavaScript. Safari, meanwhile, also looks at JavaScript, but CSS as well, and anywhere those things might be located in the document regardless of whether its in the <head> or <body>. That helps explain why Chrome excludes images marked as High priority in Figure 2 from its Tight Mode implementation it only cares about JavaScript in this context.So, even if Chrome encounters a script file with fetchpriority="high" in the document body, the file is not considered a High priority and it will be loaded after the rest of the items. Safari, meanwhile, honors fetchpriority anywhere in the document. This helps explain why Chrome leaves two scripts on the table, so to speak, in Figure 2, while Safari appears to load them during Tight Mode.Thats not to say Safari isnt doing anything weird in its process. Given the following markup:<head> <!-- two high-priority scripts --> <script src="script-1.js"></script> <script src="script-1.js"></script> <!-- two low-priority scripts --> <script src="script-3.js" defer></script> <script src="script-4.js" defer></script></head><body> <!-- five low-priority scripts --> <img src="image-1.jpg"> <img src="image-2.jpg"> <img src="image-3.jpg"> <img src="image-4.jpg"> <img src="image-5.jpg"></body>you might expect that Safari would delay the two Low-priority scripts in the <head> until the five images in the <body> are downloaded. But thats not the case. Instead, Safari loads those two scripts during its version of Tight Mode.Chrome And Safari ExceptionsI mentioned earlier that Low-priority resources are loaded in during the second phase of loading after Tight Mode has been completed. But I also mentioned that theres a big caveat to that behavior. Lets touch on that now.According to Patricks article, we know that Tight Mode is the initial phase and constraints loading lower-priority resources until the body is attached to the document (essentially, after all blocking scripts in the head have been executed). But theres a second part to that definition that I left out:In tight mode, low-priority resources are only loaded if there are less than two in-flight requests at the time that they are discovered.A-ha! So, there is a way for low-priority resources to load in Tight Mode. Its when there are less than two in-flight requests happening when theyre detected.Wait, what does in-flight even mean?Thats whats meant by less than two High- or Medium-priority items being requested. Robin demonstrates this by comparing Chrome to Safari under the same conditions, where there are only two High-priority scripts and ten regular images in the mix:<head> <!-- two high-priority scripts --> <script src="script-1.js"></script> <script src="script-1.js"></script></head><body> <!-- ten low-priority images --> <img src="image-1.jpg"> <img src="image-2.jpg"> <img src="image-3.jpg"> <img src="image-4.jpg"> <img src="image-5.jpg"> <!-- rest of images --> <img src="image-10.jpg"></body>Lets look at what Safari does first because its the most straightforward approach:Nothing tricky about that, right? The two High-priority scripts are downloaded first and the 10 images flow in right after. Now lets look at Chrome:We have the two High-priority scripts loaded first, as expected. But then Chrome decides to let in the first five images with Medium priority, then excludes the last five images with Low priority. What. The. Heck.The reason is a noble one: Chrome wants to load the first five images because, presumably, the Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) is often going to be one of those images and Chrome is hedging bets that the web will be faster overall if it automatically handles some of that logic. Again, its a noble line of reasoning, even if it isnt going to be 100% accurate. It does muddy the waters, though, and makes understanding Tight Mode a lot harder when we see Medium- and Low-priority items treated as High-priority citizens.Even muddier is that Chrome appears to only accept up to two Medium-priority resources in this discriminatory process. The rest are marked with Low priority.Thats what we mean by less than two in-flight requests. If Chrome sees that only one or two items are entering Tight Mode, then it automatically prioritizes up to the first five non-critical images as an LCP optimization effort.Truth be told, Safari does something similar, but in a different context. Instead of accepting Low-priority items when there are less than two in-flight requests, Safari accepts both Medium and Low priority in Tight Mode and from anywhere in the document regardless of whether they are located in the <head> or not. The exception is any asynchronous or deferred script because, as we saw earlier, those get loaded right away anyway.How To Manipulate Tight ModeThis might make for a great follow-up article, but this is where Ill refer you directly to Robins video because his first-person research is worth consuming directly. But heres the gist:We have these high-level features that can help influence priority, including resource hints (i.e., preload and preconnect), the Fetch Priority API, and lazy-loading techniques.We can indicate fetchpriority=`"high"andfetchpriority="low"` on items.<img src="lcp-image.jpg" fetchpriority="high"><link rel="preload" href="defer.js" as="script" fetchpriority="low"Using fetchpriority="high" is one way we can get items lower in the source included in Tight Mode. Using fetchpriority="low is one way we can get items higher in the source excluded from Tight Mode.For Chrome, this works on images, asynchronous/deferred scripts, and scripts located at the bottom of the <body>.For Safari, this only works on images.Again, watch Robins talk for the full story starting around the 28:32 marker.Thats Tight ModeIts bonkers to me that there is so little information about Tight Mode floating around the web. I would expect something like this to be well-documented somewhere, certainly over at Chrome Developers or somewhere similar, but all we have is a lightweight Google Doc and a thorough presentation to paint a picture of how two of the three major browsers fetch and prioritize resources. Let me know if you have additional information that youve either published or found Id love to include them in the discussion.

Set in the heart of Los Angeles Brentwood neighborhood, a meticulously restored mid-century home bridges the gap between its storied design lineage and contemporary aesthetics. Originally built in 1963, the Park Lane home was nearly hidden by its overgrown landscape. Spearheaded by designer and developer Jordan Bakva, the reimagining drew inspiration from the citys celebrated Case Study Houses, honoring original features while seamlessly integrating modern materials and spatial strategies.The Case Study Houses, conceived between 1945 and 1966, represented a groundbreaking vision: to create affordable, beautiful housing that could be replicated for post-war American families. Architects like Charles and Ray Eames, Richard Neutra, and Pierre Koenig transformed residential design, championing open floor plans, integration with landscape, and innovative materials that celebrated function and form.Bakva goes onto say, I wanted the atmosphere to feel relaxed, warm and almost calming a place where you can equally unwind and recharge or entertain and explore. This was achieved primarily through a deep connection to nature, visible from every room. Expansive walls of pocketing doors allow for seamless indoor-outdoor living, further enhancing that connection.Bakvas approach channeled this pioneering spirit. Where lesser designers might have erased the homes historical traces, he instead chose to amplify its original dialogue. The kidney-shaped pool, brick exterior, and terrazzo entry elements that could have been dismissed as dated became architectural artifacts to be understood and celebrated. A prime example is the primary bathrooms original sunken tub. Rather than replace it, Bakva refreshed the feature with Ceppo marble and hand-finished micro-cement walls, creating a nod to its origins without compromising relevance.Comprising 3,488 square feet, four bedrooms, including the primary suite, line one side of the residence, while the fifth sits opposite, serving as an office. Public areas, such as a formal living room with a drop-down projector, a lounge with a wet bar, a seating nook in the entry, and an open dining space near the kitchen, complete a layout designed for contemporary living while preserving the homes mid-century spirit.For more information, visit jordanbakva.com.Photography by Evan Ramzi.

Design in a mergingworldPhoto byauthorAs industries consolidate, we face the challenge of joining products that were designed in isolation. It requires making connections, across screens and betweenpeople.The story, and whatfollowsFor a while now, EdTech, the domain in which I work, has been in its consolidation era. It is not unique. As companies merge and acquire in order to meet strategic needs and keep up with competition, their product portfolios swell.On a purely narrative level, the sequence of events looks clean and logical: the business identifies a strategic need, finds a product that fills it, and acquires that product. The acquirer is on an upward trajectory, continuously building on success, each new acquisition a step on the staircase.Here in the UX trenches, where it falls on us to turn that narrative into a coherent experience that provides actual user (and business) value, things are messier. The merging of products creates a system of systems, which raises new and unique design challenges. This piece will dig into some of those challenges, and offer suggestions for navigating them.Merging productsthe risk and therewardWhen we talk about the collection of products that coexist under a shared umbrella, we tend to use optimistic metaphors. We have a suite, a portfolio, or an ecosystem. This makes sense in an aspirational way, and it reflects the vision. An ecosystem is characterized by balance andharmony.Theres another metaphor we could use, though, that serves as a cautionary tale: the story of Frankensteins monster.SourceDr. Frankenstein had two main challenges in his quest to create life, both daunting. First: make a coherent organism out of disparate parts. The vital systems must connect and the pieces must fit together to form one functional whole. Here he succeeded.Second: dont freak out the villagers. Here is where he failed, and where we should pay attention. As we stitch together our products, even if everything functions as designedidentities are connected, data flows freely, and users can navigate between appsall of our efforts are wasted if our new amalgamation fails to improve on the disjointed set of product experiences that our users are accustomed to.We hope, in making these connections, to create a whole that is much greater than the sum of its parts by enabling each product to build on and enhance the value of the others. But, if were not painstakingly thoughtful about how we proceed, it could all go wrong, and quickly. Before we sketch any sketches or move any pixels, we need a firm grounding in:common user tasks and needs across the products were connecting (how could using these things together make ones lifebetter?)constraints and requirements within the specific domain (what are the rules we need to be awareof?)the mechanics of each product (where is the devil in the details?)In the absence of any of the above, we risk creating change for changes sake. Few things enrage a user more than having to relearn a system for no benefit at all. Lets not rouse the angrymob.Mapping thesystemOur job is to take the overwhelming complexity underlying our nascent system of systems and channel it into an experience that looks so clear and logical that it seems obvious, even if it was far from obvious when we started. In order to get there, we have to wade through a giantmess.Use casesOnce we have conducted research to sufficiently understand who our target users are and what problems we think we can solve for them, we can narrow down to a prioritized list of use cases. At this point, a good way to make sense of our current state and the work still ahead is to make it visual. For each use case identified, we can map the specific connections, as well as the inputs and outputs of eachproduct.Diagram made inFigmaIts crucial to be thorough and specific when documenting the gaps. For example: Data from Product C synchs on nightly cadence, but to adequately support Use Case 1 we need to feed all user activity from Products B and C into Product As recommendation engine in realtime.Once the gaps are documented, ask: are they showstoppers? What would it take to address them? Can we work around them? Do the answers to those questions change how we want to prioritize?To platform or not toplatformAs we analyze each use case, we notice a recurring need to define logic that will govern what information to display, what actions become available under which conditions, and, sometimes, what to recommend. Where does all this logic live? Is it spread out among the products, or is there a central logic layer that handles it all? If form follows function, then this line of thinking may lead us to the idea that we need a central platform experience connecting the products.What does that look like? Again, its useful to diagram all of the data that must flow into the platform from the products, and viceversa.Diagram made inFigmaAs we fill in the details, the map begins to look quite wild, and we will naturally question its utility. This does not look like an artifact we would hand off to a dev team. So, why did we do it, and who was itfor?Three things: first, the artifact itself is less important than the journey we took to create it. Having immersed ourselves in the process, we have gained a deep and abiding understanding of the challenges we face and what we have to do to meet them. Second, despite its complexity, it can be a very useful reference when creating actual documentation for hand off. Third, hopefully at least one member of the dev team was deeply involved in this process, and has gained the same deep understanding.TacticsOnce weve established our conceptual framework, we turn our attention to the equally challenging questions that arise as we start to make it all tangible.Balancing I.A.N.Lets now consider our new platform, connecting all the products in our ecosystem. What is it, exactly? It can be useful to think about each screen as having some combination of three components:Information (what can you learnhere?)Action (what can you dohere?)Navigation (where can you go fromhere?)The tendency and the temptation when combining multiple product experiences is to go all in on navigation. In many cases, this approachthe wall of tilesis perfectly fine. These are the cases in which each product is mostly inert and self-contained. In other cases, though, this approach leaves a lot on thetable.I.A.N. is unbalancedThe front page of our platform is incredibly valuable real estate. Its where our users may be introduced to newly-added products, and its the primary provider of an ecosystem-level context. So, lets ask ourselves: how can we help users save time here that would otherwise be spent hopping from app to app attempting to gain a holistic view of their current situation? What insights can we provide that incorporate information from all of their apps? What recommendations can we make based on those insights, and how can we make them easy to follow? How can we do all of this without overwhelming our users with too much information? In other words, how do we balance ourI.A.N.?Cross-product navigationWhen you introduce a new product to your ecosystem, you may be connecting your users to an unfamiliar experience. We hope we have built up enough credibility and loyalty with these users that they are willing to trust that this product that has abruptly appeared in their lives is worth the time and effort it will take to incorporate it into their routine. That trust can be quickly undermined if the cross-product experience is confusing and disjointed.We are responsible for helping users understand why they are being sent to this new place, and what they can do when they get there. To that end, good UX writing is invaluable. If we are unable to briefly and clearly explain why this product integration is beneficial to the user in context, that may be a sign that we need to re-examine our strategy.A stark mismatch in look and feel can also add to a feeling of incoherence. While a wholesale UI update across all products based on a new, shared design system is likely unrealistic, there are smaller steps that can be taken to reassure the user that they have not been suddenly transported to Oz. Brand identity is key here. Even limited alignment of product logos and strategic adjustments to color palette and typography can go a long way to establishing a visual connection between the familiar experience and the newone.SourceThink of a fully consistent, ecosystem-level style as a longterm goal, and take a phased approach that allows you to continuously, if slowly, keep moving in that direction.Wheres mycheese?!Its inevitable: when we change a core experience, no matter how thoughtfully we planned and how much we believe we have improved it, a subset of users will be angry. They will also be vocal. Be aware going in, and prepare yourself emotionally, while also recognizing the validity of their anger (as well as the validity of our need to step away from it and take abreath).Change management is a tough nut to crack, which is not to say that theres nothing we can do to make the transition less painful. To the extent that we can help our users anticipate the coming change, we should. Even better to provide a level of control over the transition by giving users the ability to opt in and back out of the new experience for some set amount oftime.Living throughchangeWhile the focus of this piece has been on the impact of corporate consolidation on product design, there is a larger picture to keep in mind here. When companies combine, the impact on workers can be dramatic. The joining together of people, products and systems creates work, disrupts routines, and shakes up the social order. It is not surprising that employees tend to leave en masse in the wake of theseevents.Within a newly-expanded UX team, the change may mean more meetings, new processes and tools to learn, and more layers of decision making. It can feel slower, and less nimble. As a team gets larger, communication becomes harder. But as we adapt to new ways of working, we learn from each other. Fresh ideas keep us from getting stuck in oldhabits.For many of us, particularly those of us who are neurodivergent, the expansion of the team can be jarring and uncomfortable. We have established routines, habits, and trust with our old team. Now, we feel like we have to rebuild our professional equity from scratch. But hopefully, as we form relationships with new colleagues, we remind ourselves of our strengths, and reaffirm ourvalue.We may feel defensive, as our design debt and the state of our design systems are suddenly exposed to strange new colleagues. But, as we feel defensive, we recognize those same feelings in our counterparts, and realize that we all have room to improve along with reasons to beproud.Relationships are everythingFor workers in startups and smaller companies that are acquired by one of the big fish, its reasonable and justified to worry about assimilation into the larger system. They may feel a sense of protectiveness over this thing they so lovingly designed, and a fear that the special qualities that won over a devoted base of users will erode as they get incorporated into the big new platform.These new teammates are crucial to the effort. The ecosystem is defined by its dependencies. We rely, heavily, on our partners to also commit to making it work, and so we must build trust with a wide range of stakeholders, each of whom have competing incentives. This commitment will eat up large portions of their roadmap. It will require engineering teams to connect disparate technologies, and to work through the bugs and frustrations that inevitably arise in the process. It will present design challenges that can feel overwhelmingly complex.It may be tempting, after a point, to declare good enough! on the organizational level and consider it a wrap. Dont give up! The most profound benefits of an ecosystem, and the most rewarding relationships made along the way, can take a long time to develop. Its our job to create the conditions under which they willprosper.Building a product ecosystem was originally published in UX Collective on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The creator of The Password Game has returned with another maddening browser game that threatens to break your brain in the worst way possible. Neal Agarwal's Stimulation Clicker does what it says on the tin. You start by clicking a button to increase your stimulation, which is the game's currency. It doesn't take long before you start buying bouncing DVD logo animations, a news ticker, Subway Surfers gameplay and chill beats from Lofi Girl.From there, you can toss in the likes of loot boxes, a true crime podcast and a meditation story (which, hilariously, you can double the speed of to turbocharge your stimulation). There's an item shop that you can use to turn the clicker button into a Captcha prompt or Sign in with Google button, or convert your cursor into a cat's paw. Mukbang videos, Duolingo language questions, a Twitch chat and reactions from famed streamer Ludwig add to the chaotic but oh-so-captivating sensory overload. As 80 Level points out, your progress won't be saved, so if you close the tab you'll have to start all over again.Stimulation Clicker, the worst webpage, is out now! pic.twitter.com/z5AMAFmm9X Neal Agarwal (@nealagarwal) January 6, 2025 Clickholding, another clicking game, was the most nightmare-inducing thing I played in 2024 but Stimulation Clicker has absolutely surpassed that. It's a funny, bruising commentary on how practically every app, website and game is constantly trying to lock in your attention to boost engagement by making you momentarily and artificially happy. It's a reminder for us to maybe leave the devices behind and touch grass (or, I suppose, snow for many of us in the northern hemisphere right now) once in a while.I've long suspected that my mind started to fry when I first switched to Firefox to use tabbed browsing. Stimulation Clicker is a harsh reminder of how the constant dopamine hits of notifications, video game trophies and tiny increases in my investment portfolio have only made things worse.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/stimulation-clicker-is-a-nightmarish-free-browser-game-powered-by-internet-brainrot-134537169.html?src=rss

There's more nuance to Doomguy than him just being a fella who eradicates hellspawn with the BFG. He's quite the art connoisseur as well or at least that's what a new Doom mod might have you believe.Modders Filippo Meozzi and Liam Stone turned E1M1, the first map in the original game, into an interactive art gallery. Doom: The Gallery Experience, which is a free browser game on Itch.io and Newgrounds, sees Doomguy wielding a glass of wine or can of beer as he peruses classic works of art, collects cash and listens to Johann Sebastian Bach's "Suite No. 1 in G major.""Doom: The Gallery Experience was created as an art piece designed to parody the wonderfully pretentious world of gallery openings," the game's Itch.io page reads. "In this experience, you will be able to walk around and appreciate some fine art while sipping some wine and enjoying the complimentary hors doeuvres in the beautifully renovated and re-imagined E1M1 of id Software's Doom (1993)."You can use the cash to buy items like socks and a tote from the gift shop, and munch on hors d'oeuvres to fill up a cheese meter (there's one for drinks too). Doomguy even sports a pair of fashionable glasses here.When you interact with artworks such as Jacopo da Sellaio's Scenes from the Story of the Argonauts or Piero di Cosimo's The Return from the Hunt, you'll see a link to the relevant Metropolitan Museum of Art webpage. Alternatively, Doomguy might tell you he doesn't want to look at a particular piece anymore. Maybe he just wants to get back to shooting demons. Same, Doomguy, same.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/modders-turn-doom-into-a-classic-art-gallery-133100725.html?src=rss