Monster Train 2 – running on time is the least of your problems (Big Fan Games) One of the few deck-building roguelites to challenge Slay The Spire gets an impressive sequel that may be the most fun you can have on a locomotive. Roguelike deck builders are having a moment. A search for them on Steam will net you an astounding 861 results, making it a category that’s quite a bit more populous than you might imagine. Despite the high number of matches though, it’s a genre that’s been made famous primarily by just two games: Slay The Spire and Balatro. The latter is regularly cited as one of the best games of 2024 but it’s the former whose content and style is closest to Monster Train, which was originally released in 2020. It was a game about defending the frozen wastes of Hell against the invading forces of Heaven. In its sequel, Heaven and Hell are forced to unite to face the Titans, a new threat that could lead to the destruction of both realms. None of that’s especially relevant to the gameplay, which once again takes place onboard a quadruple-decker train. The turn-based battles are waged across the bottom three floors, with the train’s penthouse reserved for the pyre, the burning heart of your train, which in a mechanic borrowed from tower defence games is effectively the train’s power bar. Your job is to stop invaders reaching the pyre, because if they do and its health gets down to zero, it’s game over. In the original that often meant stacking your third floor with the strongest troops you had available. The sequel prefers you to mount a defence across all three floors and to encourage that, there are now room-level upgrades available, that for example will increase valour – the stat that equates to armour – to all troops, or reduce the cost of magic, making different floors more suitable for certain troop types. This adds a fresh layer of tactics and feeds into the meta game of deck building. There are now a total of 10 different clans to choose from, with each run featuring a main and support clan, both of whose cards you’ll have available as you play. Completing runs earns experience for the clans you’re using and as each one levels up, you’ll slowly gain access to more of their cards. Naturally, the game tends to gate the more powerful ones behind those higher experience levels. All of this reinforces the fact that Monster Train 2 is very much a roguelite, your power growing as you unlock new cards and spells, as well as adding permanent upgrades that make each subsequent run easier. It also adds a pleasing sense of progress, which persists even after a run that otherwise went badly. Plus, you’ll still earn experience and potentially extra cards or magic items to assist in future escapades. As with all roguelites, there’s a powerful sense of repetition, with the entirety of the game’s action taking place in the relatively claustrophobic confines of your train’s four storeys. It’s fair to say though, that the random elements in runs tend to make each one feel quite different from the last, especially as you start to unlock more clans and the extra cards they offer. To add further variation, there are challenges, which you play on a grid, with the next one opening up once you’ve beaten its nearest neighbour. Challenge levels constrain you to the use of specific clans and each comes with ‘mutators’ that add extra conditions, like reducing the cost of spells or giving certain card types extra health or attack strength. You can also change your pyre heart. Each heart has different attack and defence stats, which come into play when the top floor of your train is invaded by Titans, and each comes with a special ability. These can be anything from reduced prices at the shops you encounter after each level, to more esoteric benefits, like the power to heal the front unit on each floor of the train once per battle. This adds to the interconnected network of effects that stack to create some truly formidable stat increases, even if it’s not easy remembering what’s active and how each of those different buffs interacts with the others. Obviously, the game automatically calculates all the bonuses on each attack and defensive play you make, but it can be tricky keeping all those layered effects in mind when you’re placing cards or activating spells. More Trending It’s also important to know which bosses you’ll be dealing with and to plan accordingly. There’s only so much you can do when you’re always partly dependent on the luck of which cards you draw, but you can still make sure you have troops available that act to counter bosses’ special abilities, hopefully containing them before they can overwhelm your defences. There’s notably more focus on character and story in this sequel, the plot playing out in a series of text-only encounters triggered when you return to the game’s hub between runs. Clearly inspired by Hades, it doesn’t quite equal that game’s wit and personality, but it’s nice to see additional elements fleshing out the game beyond its core, quick fire turn-based combat. If you loved the original Monster Train, this goes further than simply delivering more of the same. There’s fresh new strategic options and combinations of troops and spells to experiment with, as well as cards from the game’s new clans to unlock and slot into your deck. There are many games that try to copy Slay The Spire and yet very few that come close to its quality, but Monster Train 2 is certainly on track in that regard. Monster Train 2 review summary In Short: An effective expansion of the original’s deck-building roguelite structure, that adds lots of enjoyable new features and becomes one of the few games to rival Slay The Spire. Pros: Pacy and easy to understand, with complexity layered in as you progress. Lots of fresh systems and mechanics to try out, and as immaculately well balanced as ever. Cons: Eventually gets repetitive. Using a controller isn’t as intuitive as a mouse or touchscreen. Some runs can be severely compromised by random factors beyond your control. Score: 8/10 Formats: PlayStation 5 (reviewed), Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S, and PCPrice: £19.99Publisher: Good Shepherd EntertainmentDeveloper: Shiny ShoeRelease Date: 21st May 2025Age Rating: 7 The world’s least authentic train simulator (Big Fan Games) Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter, and sign-up to our newsletter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader’s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. GameCentral Sign up for exclusive analysis, latest releases, and bonus community content. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Your information will be used in line with our Privacy Policy

Sciel is a true heavy-hitter in your Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 party, offering a fairly straightforward way to make number go up compared to her counterparts. While, yes, Lune and Maelle can dish out serious damage, both require some preparatory work to achieve that output, whereas Sciel only requires you to be aware of her comparatively more streamlined Twilight mechanic. If you’re interested in the best of the best for your scythe-wielding teacher, this Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 guide will break down the best Sciel build, including her best weapons, attributes, Pictos, and skills to quickly dispatch foes. Best Sciel build in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Sciel works as a support unit and DPS, but we believe her talents are much better in a damage-dealing role. She’s at her best as the team’s primary source of damage. With Sciel, you want to apply Foretell stacks on enemies and then trigger those stacks with the appropriate skills. The best skills for Sciel will allow her to mark enemies as well for her other teammates to trigger, so she works well with at least one other dedicated damage dealer — preferably Maelle. The best Sciel build in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is: Attributes: Defense and Luck Weapon: Charnon Skills: Twilight Dance, Sealed Fate, Final Path, Delaying Slash, Fortune’s Fury, and Plentiful Harvest Pictos: Immaculate, Glass Cannon, and Inverted Affinity Sciel’s best attributes by far are Agility and Luck. Her skills and playstyle are meant for someone who can attack often and deal critical hits, too. What’s more, in the game’s opening act, the best weapon for Sciel, the Scielson, scales well with the stats mentioned above. As you progress, you’ll be swapping weapons to the Rangeson and Charnon, respectively, but once you reach the endgame and the Charnon, you’ll have access to guaranteed critical hits. This allows you to Recoat her attributes away from Agility and put them into Defense instead. Below, we’ll explain in more detail why this is the best Sciel build in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Best attributes for Sciel Your attribute spread for Sciel will look different depending on how far in the game you are. Make sure to save a Recoat for the late game so you can prioritize the perfect attributes for the final stretch. In Act 1, prioritize Agility and Luck for the extra turns and crit chance. (You can also put points into Vitality to give Sciel some survivability in the early game.) In Act 2, the best weapon for Sciel becomes the Rangeson, so her attributes should reflect that. You should alter your strategy and prioritize Agility and Defense. Once you get Charnon, you’ll want to Recoat your attributes again, only this time prioritizing Defense and Luck for that weapon’s scaling. Best weapon for Sciel The best weapon for Sciel is the Charnon. This missable weapon can be found by defeating the Gestral Merchant, Grour, at Renoir’s Drafts. To find this merchant, you must have Esquie’s diving ability, which you get when he reaches relationship level 6. Defeating Grour will allow you to purchase the Charnon. Hopefully you’ve been saving your cash — it costs a whopping 89,884 chroma! The weapon’s strength comes from its Level 4 passive, granting guaranteed critical hits when Sciel is in Twilight. Sciel’s abilities fit into one or two categories, Sun and Moon. Using a skill will generate a card of the assigned typing. Once you’ve generated both a Sun card and a Moon card, Sciel will enter Twilight, offering increased damage and double the amount of Foretell you can stack on an enemy. The goal is to ensure Sciel spends as much time in Twilight as often as possible, so it only makes sense you’d want a weapon that empowers the stance to new heights. Best Pictos and Luminas for Sciel You will need some time to build up the best Pictos and Luminas for Sciel. The best Pictos in her case are Immaculate, Glass Canon, and Inverted Affinity. Below are the detailed descriptions of what these Pictos do and the stats they grant bonuses to. Immaculate — Speed and Crit Rate. 30% increased damage until a hit is received. Glass Cannon — Speed. Deal 25% more damage, but take 25% more damage. Inverted Affinity — Health and Crit Rate. Apply Inverted on self for three turns on battle start.50% increased damage while Inverted. These Pictos are pretty much the “One Shot Setup.” They provide Sciel and other DPS characters the scaling and damage necessary to dictate the battlefield. However, the trade-off of these Pictos is low survivability. If you’re not a God at Expedition 33’s defense mechanisms, maybe you should practice them as you make your way through the game and to Sciel’s perfect build. You can also offset this weakness a bit with the right Luminas. We’d recommend using the following Luminas, depending on how many Lumina Points you have. Augmented Counter I Auto Rush Critical Burn Dead Energy II Roulette Empowering Parry Energising Jump Energising Parry Energising Start II First Strike Tainted Full Strength Painted Power Recovery Cheater Solidifying Sweet Kill Warming Up Best skills for Sciel The best skills for Sciel are the following: Twilight Dance: Deals extreme single target Dark damage. 4 hits. During Twilight, extends Twilight duration by 1 turn. Consumes all Foretell to deal additional damage. Sealed Fate: Deals high single target damage. 5-7 hits. Uses Weapon’s element. Each hit can consume 1 Foretell to deal 200% more damage. Critical Hits don’t remove the Foretell but still gets the damage increase. Final Path: Deals extreme single target Dark damage and applies 10 Foretell. 1 hit. Can Break. Delaying Slash: Deals medium single target damage. 2 hits. Uses weapon’s element. Consumes Foretell to increase damage and delay target’s turn. Fortune’s Fury: Targeted ally deals double damage for one turn. Plentiful Harvest: Deals medium single target Physical damage. 2 hits. Consumes all Foretell on a target and gives 1 AP to a party member for each Foretell consumed. These moves allow you to properly set Sciel or your chosen sub DPS unit for success. Fortune’s Fury will be your primary skill. Combined with a skill like Marking Card, it is perfect for unleashing considerable damage on the game’s more challenging encounters. Final Path and Twilight Dance are your primary sources of damage if you prefer another weapon. However, with the Charnon and its awesome critical hit passive, you can’t go wrong with Sealed Fate.

Blaze a Trail of Destruction in Sea of Thieves Season 16The Reaper’s Bones reveal new Voyages and schemes as they seek to dominate the waves!Frances 'Fracas' Addison (Writer/Editor)Posted in: Announcements on 22 May 2025Season 16 has arrived in Sea of Thieves! It’s been a little while since the fearsome Captain Flameheart regained his physical form, but the time has now come for him to expand the reach of his loyal followers and strengthen the standing of The Reaper’s Bones. In this latest free Seasonal update, pirates will be able to set out on their first ever Voyages for The Reaper’s Bones and work together with the legendary skeletons of the Order of Bone and Blade to uncover Ancient secrets – and that’s just the beginning… New Crews First, a note on another milestone: as Season 16 dawns, the Sea of Thieves is set to welcome in a whole host of new players! As you might have heard, Sea of Thieves arrives on Battle.net® on May 22nd to enable a wave of wide-eyed explorers to start their pirate journey on a brand new platform. Some Battle.net players have already been spied out on the seas, either as part of our Closed Beta or, more recently, during Early Access. But it’s Season 16’s launch that marks the official launch of the game on this new platform, and opens the doors for everyone who has purchased the game via Battle.net to set out on their maiden voyage. Alongside all the permanent free content added to the game since launch, Battle.net players will have access to all the goodies included with their chosen edition of the game, including any pre-purchase bonuses. You can find out more about it all in our announce article or the video below. Be sure to give these fresh-faced freebooters a warm welcome!Battle.net Announce Trailer: Official Sea of ThievesDuration 1:08Stronger Bones With their leader Captain Flameheart returned to full strength and armed with forbidden knowledge thieved from Ancient Temples, The Reaper’s Bones are making their move on the Sea of Thieves! This Season, for the first time, they’ll be offering Voyages for pirates to undertake, beginning with the Search for Ancient Secrets. In this Voyage, players will need to work with a lost crew of skeletons from the fabled Order of Bone and Blade to unearth long-buried Ancient Sarcophagi. Along the way, Ancient Phantoms will emerge to defend their hidden secrets. You’ll need to fight them off to finish activating the mechanisms and uncover a Skull of the Banished to take back to the Servant of the Flame. Voyaging for The Reaper’s Bones isn’t quite so simple, however: Flameheart values strength and dominance above all else, so if you want to sail in his name, you’ll have to fly a Reaper’s Mark Flag! The flag will be raised automatically whenever you undertake a Voyage for The Reaper’s Bones, revealing the location of your ship to all other nearby crews and inviting them to come and claim your loot for themselves, if they have what it takes…Sea of Thieves Season 16: Official Launch TrailerDuration 1:01Emergent Excitements The growing influence of The Reaper’s Bones is having an impact on emergent activities too. Their cunning weaponsmiths have devised a way of tapping the raw power of the Chest of Rage to construct a new, devastating weapon: the Cannon of Rage. This portable armament grants pirates who find it the freedom to fire cannonballs from almost anywhere, then pack up the cannon and carry it on to a new location for redeployment. There’s a risk, however: whenever the Cannon of Rage fires or takes damage, it starts to overheat. Fail to give it time to cool down (or speed up the cooling process with water), and it’ll live up to its name with a violent explosion that’s liable to sink the ship you’re standing on! Meanwhile, skeletal members of the long-lost Order of Bone and Blade have started clawing their way up towards the sandy surfaces of islands, waiting to be fully unearthed by curious passers-by. Rescue them and you’ll be friends for life – or at least until they fall in battle, as they’ll happily throw in their lot with the next pirate to revive them. You’ll find they’re also unable to leave the island to which their bones are bound! Until then, though, they can lend a hand with whatever needs doing, whether it’s demystifying tricky treasure maps, digging up treasure or helping to carry your haul to safety.Sea of Thieves Season 16: Official Content Update VideoDuration 4:50More to Come The Season 16 additions don’t end with May’s update. Over the next few months, new features will be arriving as part of our staggered Season delivery, including a second Voyage for The Reaper’s Bones and the introduction of breakable seals on Reaper’s Chests! If a crew decides to take the plunge and investigate what’s actually inside these strange glowing boxes, they might just find themselves with a sturdy crew of skeletons ready to defend their new companions to the death. The Followers of the Flame Voyage also focuses on these mysterious treasures favoured by The Reaper’s Bones. Pirates will be tasked with using an enchanted lantern known as the Follower’s Flame to search for a new kind of Reaper’s Chest in need of recovery, helped along the way by some of Flameheart’s loyal forces. These further additions will be arriving throughout Season 16, so be sure to keep an eye on our social channels for more news on each update as it approaches!Sea of Thieves Season 16: Unlockable CosmeticsDuration 0:52Flaming Fashions Any expansion to The Reaper’s Bones wouldn’t be complete without a fresh round of Commendations to work towards and the rewards unlocked by doing so. Season 16 introduces a wealth of new Reaper-inspired cosmetics to personalise your pirate, ensuring you can always show your allegiance via your wardrobe. Pirate Captains will also find that they have new Captaincy Milestones awaiting them to keep track of their contributions to Flameheart’s plans. Beyond Commendations, Season 16 promises everything you’d expect from a new Sea of Thieves Season, including another 100 levels of Renown to climb through with daring deeds and a rich bounty of cosmetics, gold, Doubloons and Ancient Coins to earn along the way. For pirates who already have some Ancient Coins ready to spend, the Pirate Emporium is ready to light up the night with its latest array of offerings, while the Season 16 Plunder Pass includes the luxurious Oyster’s Prize ship set (including Collector’s items) and matching Oyster’s Prize Eyepatch, Jacket and Belt!Pirate Emporium Update - May 2025: Official Sea of ThievesDuration 0:52The seas will be abuzz with activity during Season 16 as the Reapers roll out their plans, so keep your eye on the horizon for everything that’s coming. For a full breakdown of the features included and improvements made in this month’s update, check out the latest release notes. More information about the features coming later in the Season will be revealed in the weeks ahead, so follow Sea of Thieves on the social media platform of your choice to get all the latest updates. Good luck out there, and may the Flame burn!Connect With Us:

For our Financial Transparency theme, independent design executive and educator Rachel Gogel gets into navigating pay disparities, pricing for value, and why true success lies in unlocking human energy, not just income. Rachel Gogel’s career spans some of the most recognisable names in publishing and tech – GQ, The New York Times, Meta – and now, as an independent creative executive, she brings that experience to startups, nonprofits, and purpose-driven ventures alike. But the journey to building a financially sustainable, values-led practice wasn’t always smooth. From $12-an-hour gigs to leading multimillion-dollar design teams, Rachel has faced the realities of wage gaps, client pushback, and burnout culture head-on. In this powerful Q&A, she shares the hard-earned lessons that shaped her pricing philosophy, the tools that helped her take control, and why choosing impact over scale is her definition of success. How did you learn to navigate pricing, salaries, or negotiations in your field? My journey with pricing started from a place of absolute uncertainty. After graduating during the 2009 recession amid a hiring freeze, I took an internship at Diane von Furstenberg for about $20 a day, just trying to get my foot in the door. When they later offered me $12 an hour as a “full-time freelancer,” I thought that was a normal starting point! My first real design contract at Travel + Leisure was $20/hour—which felt like a fortune compared to my internship. Around the same time, I quoted a WordPress project for GQ at $60/hour, originally estimating it would take only 15 hours (I was way off). I still remember sending that first email, nervously suggesting just $900 for the entire project. My contact called me immediately to say, “This is not my money, this is GQ’s money. You should have a $1,000 down payment for taking on the project, then charge an hourly rate after that.” That conversation was a trigger to start taking myself more seriously. With each career move, I learned to negotiate better. From my $70,000 base starting salary at GQ (which I barely negotiated because I was so excited about the offer), to $120,000 as Creative Director at The New York Times, to $230,000 plus stock and bonuses at Facebook—each step taught me to advocate for my worth. When I officially launched my independent design business in 2020, I had this history to draw from, but establishing consistent pricing still involved a lot of trial and error. What transformed my approach was implementing a time tracker (I use Toggl) which helped me gather real data on how long projects actually take versus my estimates. This was eye-opening and gave me confidence in pricing conversations. Today, I maintain a sliding scale across client types and engagement models. My fractional executive work commands $375/hour, while nonprofits start at $200/hour. For my Airbnb creative director maternity coverage contract (40 hours weekly), I’ve structured a $200/hour rate with $300/hour overtime. I’ve also diversified beyond hourly rates to include day rates and project-based fees tailored to specific services. The biggest shift came when I stopped thinking about charging purely for hours and started charging for value—my unique perspective, expertise, and what the work will do for a client’s business. As Jessica Strelioff from Goodside puts it: “We built Goodside to do good work for good people but we also built it to fit into the lives we want to live. Staying small is hard but it’s worth it and it’s what works for us.” This resonated deeply with me as I’ve built a practice focused on quality and impact rather than size. Have you ever experienced pay disparity or financial challenges in your career? Absolutely. Early in my career, I discovered through casual conversations that male colleagues with similar or even less experience were making substantially more than me. That realization was both infuriating and motivating—it pushed me to become more assertive in negotiations and more transparent about compensation (see my Contractor Wrapped 2024 on LinkedIn). Throughout my career trajectory, being a woman in this industry has come with distinct financial challenges. I’ve been challenged during salary negotiations and requests for promotions in ways my male colleagues haven’t. As an independent practitioner, I’ve received comments about being “too expensive” from potential clients—feedback that often makes me wonder if male creatives face the same resistance. These micro-aggressions around compensation reinforce why I encourage women—and all marginalized voices—at every stage of their careers to talk more openly about money so we can help each other get paid equitably. Going independent came with its own financial challenges. The feast-or-famine cycle hit hard, especially in 2023 when clients rescinded contracts and my projected income fell short by about $40K from what I had forecasted. There were months when I questioned everything about my business model. But these challenges taught me to build financial resilience—creating a robust emergency fund, diversifying income streams through teaching and speaking engagements, and being much more strategic about planning for both busy and quiet periods. I’ve had to acknowledge the privilege embedded in my trajectory too—being a 37-year-old white woman in a dual-income household has allowed me to capitalise on opportunities not available to all. The volatility can be stressful, but I’ve learned that transparency about these challenges helps others prepare for similar situations. What’s the best piece of financial advice you’ve received as a creative professional? “If you’re not embarrassed by the amount you’re asking for, you’re not asking for enough.” A friend told me this early in my career, and it completely changed my approach to negotiations. As creatives, especially those of us who identify as women, we often undervalue our contributions. This advice pushed me to recognise my worth and ask for compensation that reflects not just my time, but the unique perspective I bring as a designer working at the intersection of brand, culture, and technology. When I transitioned from in-house roles to founding my San Francisco-based solo consultancy, this advice became even more crucial. What’s often left unsaid is that going independent can be financially empowering—especially for those historically underpaid in conventional roles. By setting our own rates and being transparent about money, we’re not just making a living—we’re thriving. While the business logistics may seem daunting (incorporation, taxes, insurance), the real breakthrough is mental: realising we have the ability to create sustainable businesses on our own terms, often matching or exceeding previous full-time compensation. How do you balance making a living with doing work that feels meaningful? I visualise my work as a Venn diagram of activities that bring me joy, generate income, and create impact. The sweet spot is where all three overlap, but I don’t expect every project to hit that trifecta. My consulting work (about 45% of my time) provides financial stability and allows me to be selective about other opportunities. I deliberately allocate time for teaching at California College of the Arts (15%), mentoring and volunteering (20% combined), and both speaking and writing (20% combined). While these non-consulting activities may not always be as financially lucrative, they fulfill my desire to support the next generation of creatives, contribute to causes I believe in, and share my perspective with wider audiences. I’ve learned to say no to projects that might pay well but don’t align with my values or wouldn’t allow me to do my best work. This has sometimes meant walking away from significant income, but it’s preserved my energy for more meaningful opportunities like collaborating with women-founded ventures such as A Space, In Between, Acora, Anew, and Chicken & Egg Films. Success isn’t necessarily about scaling up, and growth doesn’t always mean expansion. For me, it means intentionally keeping things small and intimate. There’s power in being selective; there’s wisdom in recognizing that sometimes, less is more—especially in a society that subconsciously breeds burnout, and women especially are not giving themselves permission to rest. As Jacqueline Novogratz, Founder and CEO of Acumen, once asked: “What if we measured true success not by the amount of money you have, but by the amount of human energy you unlock, the amount of potential you enable? If that were our metric, our world would be a different place.” This question has become central to how I approach my solo venture. For me, it’s always been about depth of impact rather than breadth of reach.

Physical games are under siege. Collector’s Editions often come with codes instead of discs. Game-key cards for the Switch 2 only allow you to access downloads. The newest Doom isn’t playable out of the box. In one or two decades’ time, large swaths of contemporary gaming history could become completely inaccessible to future players. Lost In Cult is one of a growing number of smaller companies now trying not only to preserve that history but to celebrate it with physical releases as artfully constructed as the games they contain. Suggested ReadingNintendo Switch 2 Could Launch With Almost No Reviews Share SubtitlesOffEnglishSuggested ReadingNintendo Switch 2 Could Launch With Almost No Reviews Share SubtitlesOffEnglishNintendo Switch 2 Could Launch With Almost No ReviewsKnown for its Lock On and Design Works series of lavish printed volumes of art and writing about games, the UK-based publisher this week announced a new Editions label that will be packaging and distributing bespoke physical versions of acclaimed indie titles. The debut releases are interactive film puzzler Immortality, the folk horror point-and-click adventure The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow, and the absurdist comedy Thank Goodness You’re Here! though in addition to these, Lost In Cult promises it already has lots of games in the pipeline, with new collections to be announced on an almost monthly basis. “People might think that we’ve selected our best games to start with,” marketing director Ryan Brown told Kotaku. “We actually haven’t. We’ve pretty much just released them in the order that we’ve signed them, because one thing we wanted to do right is not just in optically, in front of people, but also behind the scenes with our developer partners, like we want to make sure that they’re treated right, that they don’t get contracted and have to wait many years for the games to be released.”Image: Lost In Cult / KotakuEach collection runs roughly $80 and includes colorful boxed sleeves, posters, art cards, slip cases, and booklets featuring critical essays and developer interviews. Also a copy of the game with curator group Does It Play’s seal of approval certifying that everything is playable to completion right out of the box. Brown said they’re even working with some developers to time upcoming releases to when big new patches are ready so the physical version feels definitive. The platforms currently supported are PlayStation 5 and Switch, with Switch 2 following later in the year. Xbox remains MIA, though it’s not off the table for future releases.In just 24 hours since the announcement, the company has already sold through almost half of its limited-run collections of around 1,500 units each. But anyone who wants just a physical copy of one of the games being sold will still be able to secure retail versions for just $40 each. Those won’t come with original art or the rest of the materials that make Lost In Cult’s collections stand out, but they will be restocked on an ongoing basis. “I don’t think you can say that you’re all about preservation if you make a game and then it’s limited to 2,000 copies and it’s gone forever and costs 300 pounds on eBay,” Brown said. “For us, in promising preservation and availability, we don’t want to lock these games away. There’s going to be so many people that just want the game in a box and that’s fine. They can go do that.”The Criterion Collection, A24, and special-edition book publisher The Folio Society are cited as inspirations for Lost in Cult’s Editions publishing label, both in how games are presented and how they’re selected in the first place. “It’s really hard to pin down what that curation process looks like without sounding too overly artsy fartsy, but it is a little bit artsy fartsy, and that, you know, we kind of just know what a Lost in Cult-type game is when we see it. And that’s really hard to define, but it is a game that is usually very artful, whether that’s through its design, through its visuals, through its story. Again, that is in some way pushing the medium of video games as a serious form of art forward.”The physical medium of gaming also faces certain limitations that movies and books do not. For one, platform holders like PlayStation and Nintendo have strict rules about the certification process for physical games, down to where company logos and legal language appear on the boxes. You also can’t include developer commentary or other extras directly on a disc the way you might with an Ultra HD 4K Blu-ray re-release. When it comes to the rest of the packaging and physical inserts, however, publishers can let their imaginations run wild. Image: Lost In Cult / KotakuA devotion to physical media in the increasingly digi-fied gaming space adds Lost in Cult to a growing landscape of boutique curators who scavenge for smaller indie titles that wouldn’t otherwise have the scale or notoriety to play in a market still mostly structured around big retail stores. Fellow travelers include Limited Run, iam8bit, and Super Rare, where Brown worked previously. These companies serve collectors and fans who still cherish not just how a game plays but what it looks like when it’s displayed on a shelf, and knowing the magical experience that resides inside isn’t reliant on servers a thousand miles a way to bring it to life.“The way that we see games is just very different from how most do, like I personally care, slash we care, [that] if I pull a game off of my shelf in 40 years time I [can] go, ‘I remember that game, I want to play that.” You can pull it off your shelf, you can play it, and it’ll work. Most companies, unfortunately, aren’t really thinking about that.”While big publishers frequently invest in Deluxe Editions and Collector’s Editions, they more often prioritize digital rewards and branded merch over the games themselves and highlighting their artistry. The result is big boxes on store shelves with toys, hats, and statues instead of developer booklets, original art, or physical soundtracks. Like the three days of “early access” these editions often come with, the biggest bonuses are mostly virtual. “I personally would really, really, really love it if I managed to work with Bethesda and do a proper physical edition version of Doom: the Dark Ages,” Brown said. “That would be sick. But at the moment it is increasingly on boutique companies to solve this physical problem. And it seems a bit far-fetched for me to sit here and say I wish it wasn’t, because I have one, but I do wish it wasn’t. I do wish that this was taken seriously, and the sort of presentational aspects and ownership aspects were taken seriously across the board. I would love it if some other companies copied us.”.

Unlike most of her fellow party members, Lune can work equally well as a damage-dealer or a support in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, depending on your preferred playstyle. With the wide range of weapons and accessories in Expedition 33, you might feel like you can turn anyone into anything. A triple tank team? A team designed to shatter damage totals? The sky is the limit with the game’s robust system, but just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. If you’re interested in the best for the barefoot mage, this Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 guide will break down the best Lune build, her best weapons, attributes, and skills to prioritize. Best Lune build in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Lune can serve as a DPS unit, but we believe she is much better suited as a support role. This isn’t to say that Lune inferior to the other party members in terms of how much damage she can deal, but instead that her skills and weapon are better suited for a supportive role. A team with a Lune support is much more flexible than other team compositions due to her ability to debuffs enemies and heal allies. In the game’s opening act, you’ll want to improve Lune’s Vitality and Luck attributes to increase her damage and survivability. Any leftover points can be put into Might for extra damage, but survivability is most important. Her best attributes change throughout the game’s runtime from prioritizing luck and health to agility and defense. The best Lune build in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is: Attributes: Agility and Defense Weapon: Choralim Skills: Earth Rising, Ice Lance, Immolation, and Electrify Pictos: Empowering Parry, Shortcut, and Charging Critical Like Maelle, in the long run, Lune’s best attributes are Agility and Defense because they scale the best with her strongest weapon, the Choralim. Lune’s gameplay is built around properly managing her Skill Stains and AP. In order to get the best out of her toolkit, you have to make sure you’re actually using the stains accrued. Skills benefiting from a stain will be highlighted, so make sure to make use of your stains. While you’ll want to prioritize skills that provide utility Crippling Tsunami and Hell, once your debuffs are applied you can follow a simple rotation of skills to increase your teams overall DPS. Below, we’ll explain in more detail why this is the best Lune build in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Best attributes for Lune Your attribute spread for Lune might look different depending on how far in the game you are. You can use a Recoat to reset your attributes and will likely find multiple Recoats in your average playthrough. In Act 1, prioritize these attributes: Vitality Luck In Act 2, you can begin to prioritize Agility over Luck, as those attributes will work better with the weapon upgrades present throughout Act 2. In the opening hours of Expedition 33, damage is king, since the more quickly you can wrap up a battle, the less you have to worry about defending yourself. The dodge and parry mechanics will become second nature throughout the game, but enemies in the first act doesn’t stand a chance against Lune’s damage potential. The Act 2 attribute spread will suffice until you achieve Esquie’s flying ability. Then you can finally access Lune’s best weapon, Choralim, which scales with Agility and Defense. The stats you’ll receive from those attributes alone will outscale putting points in attributes like Might or Luck. Best weapon for Lune The best weapon for Lune is the Choralim. It’s easy to miss, especially if you aren’t exploring the map and spending time with your party. To find this weapon, you must increase your relationship with Lune to the 6th relationship rank, which you can increase by spending time with her in the camp. Once you do this, Verso will speak of a location close to the colosseum of Sirene. This location is home to an optional boss who happens to drop the weapon. (You may have run into the area, Sirene’s Dress, by accident only to find a door inside that wouldn’t budge. You must raise Lune’s relationship rank to at least 6 to properly interact with it.) The weapon’s strength is in its synergy with certain Pictos. It’s level 10 passive ability works great with Pictos and Luminas that offer multiple turns, and its level 20 passive is great for damage with its synergy with Lune’s multi-hit skills. Whether you follow our guidance or decide to craft your build, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better weapon for Lune than the Choralim. Best Pictos and Luminas for Lune The Pictos and Luminas you want on Lune depends on where you are in game. Broadly speaking, the best Pictos for Lune are Empowering Parry, Shortcut, and Charging Critical. Below is what these Pictos do in full detail such as the stat bonuses they grant as well as the passives they offer. Empowering Parry —  Speed and Critical Rate. Each successful Parry increases damage by 5% until end of the following turn. Taking any damage removes this buff. Shortcut —  Speed and Critical Rate. Immediately play when falling below 30% Health. Once per battle. Charging Critical —  Defense and Critical Rate. 20% of a Gradient Charge on Critical Hit. Once per turn. These Pictos give Lune extra scaling with her best weapon and allows for her to support her team with utility skills and damage over time. With Choralim’s passive granting 100% crit chance you can rapidly farm Gradient Charge and use her Tree of Life Gradient Attack to cleanse all status ailments and heals your allies. With the Shortcut Pictos allowing for a turn when you’re below 30% health, you can save this Gradient Attack for a moment when you need it most and instantly turn the tides of combat. As for Luminas, we recommend using the following, depending on how many Lumina Points you have. Burning Affinity Cheater Confident Fighter Dead Energy II Double Burn Energising Burn Energising Start I Energising Start II Energising Start III Energising Turn First Strike Full Strength Glass Canon Immaculate Inverted Affinity Painted Power Warming Up Tainted Sweet Skill Best skills for Lune The best skills for Lune are the following: Elemental Trick: Deals low single target Ice, Fire, Lightning, and Earth damage. 4 hits. Critical Hits generate the corresponding Stain. Elemental Genesis: Deals extreme damage to all enemies. 8 hits. Each hit deals damage in a random element. Can only be cast with one Lightning, Earth, Fire, and Ice Stain. Rockslide: Deals medium single target Earth damage. 2 hits. Can Break. Consumes one Lightning, Ice, and Fire Stain for greatly increased damage. Lightning Dance: Deals very high single target Lightning damage. 6 hits. Critical Hits trigger an additional hit. Consumes one Earth, Ice, and Fire Stain: Greatly increased damage. Crippling Tsunami: Deals medium Ice damage to all enemies. 1 hit. Applies Slow for 3 turns. Consumes 1 Earth, Lightning, and Fire Stain for greatly increased damage. Hell: Deals very high Fire damage that applies 5 burn per hit to all enemies. 2 hits. Deals self-damage if failed. Consumes one Ice, Earth, and Lightning Stain for greatly increased damage. These skills best take advantage of Lune’s Stain mechanic. You’re going to want to start combat with the Elemental Trick skill to guarantee you have one of each stain. Once you’ve generated your stains you are free to use the corresponding elemental skill to hit enemy weaknesses or cast Elemental Genesis for raw damage. Lune is one of the most versatile characters in the game — she can do anything you need her to.

Posted on : May 21, 2025 By Tech World Times Development and Testing  Rate this post In big companies, HR tasks can be complex. Many employees work across different teams and roles. Managing their pay, benefits, and performance becomes hard. This is where HUM COMPBEN E MER helps. It makes HR work faster and easier. What Is HUM COMPBEN E MER? HUM COMPBEN E MER is a modern HR tool. It is used to handle compensation and benefits. It works with SAP systems. The tool is powerful and smart. It helps big companies manage HR tasks smoothly. Why Is It Needed in Large Organizations? Large companies have many employees. Each employee has different pay, roles, and benefits. Tracking all this manually takes time. Errors can happen. HUM COMPBEN E MER solves this problem. It automates tasks and reduces errors. Key Features of HUM COMPBEN E MER Let’s look at the main features: Compensation Planning It helps HR teams set fair salaries. It supports bonus plans and pay grades. HR can manage yearly raises with ease. Benefits Management It tracks employee benefits like health and insurance. Employees can see and choose their benefits. HR can control costs better. Employee Records It stores all employee data in one place. Data is updated in real-time. Managers can access it anytime. Analytics and Reports It gives HR real-time insights. Reports show trends in salaries, bonuses, and costs. HR can plan better with this data. How HUM COMPBEN E MER Supports HR Strategy HR teams need data to make good decisions. HUM COMPBEN E MER provides that data. For example: It helps track who gets which benefit. It shows which department spends more on pay. It helps fix pay gaps quickly. These insights lead to better planning. HR leaders can focus on growth instead of fixing mistakes. Easy Integration with Other Systems HUM COMPBEN E MER works well with other SAP tools. It can connect with payroll, finance, and performance tools. This creates a full HR system. No need to switch between tools. Everything stays in one system. How It Improves Employee Experience Employees can view their pay and benefits easily. They log into a simple portal. They see their bonus, insurance, and pay history. This builds trust. Employees feel informed and valued. They can also update their data. For example, they can change contact details. They can choose or update benefits. All of this reduces HR workload. Time and Cost Saving Manual work takes time. HR teams can spend hours on just one task. With HUM COMPBEN E MER, these tasks take minutes. This saves both time and money. Also, fewer errors mean less rework. That saves cost too. For large companies, saving even 1% means a lot. Better Planning with Real-Time Data Planning is key in HR. HUM COMPBEN E MER helps with smart planning. With real-time data, HR teams can: Plan pay hikes Adjust benefit costs Set bonus plans Control payroll budgets Real-time data makes all these decisions more accurate. Case Example: How One Company Benefited Let’s take an example. A large tech company used manual systems before. Their HR team was overworked. They had errors in payroll and bonus distribution. Employees were unhappy. Then, they adopted HUM COMPBEN E MER. In 3 months: HR work time dropped by 40%. Payroll errors dropped by 90%. Employee trust increased. HR had time for employee growth projects. This shows how powerful the tool can be. Easy to Use Even though HUM COMPBEN E MER is powerful, it is simple to use. HR staff can learn it quickly. The interface is clean. Dashboards are clear. No need for deep tech knowledge. Employees also find it easy. The self-service portal is user-friendly. Buttons and steps are simple. Scalable for Growing Companies As companies grow, HR tasks grow too. HUM COMPBEN E MER can grow with the company. It handles new teams, departments, and countries easily. It supports multiple languages and legal rules. So, it works well for global businesses. Data Security and Privacy HR data is very sensitive. It includes salary, ID, and benefits info. HUM COMPBEN E MER follows strong security rules. Data is encrypted. Only authorized users can access it. It also helps companies follow laws like GDPR. This protects both the company and its employees. Customization for Company Needs Every company is different. HUM COMPBEN E MER can be customized. You can set your own pay grades. You can design your own benefits plan. You can create your own reports.This flexibility makes it perfect for large firms. How HUM COMPBEN E MER Builds Trust When employees see correct and clear pay info, they feel respected. When they can pick their benefits, they feel valued. When HR handles issues fast, employees feel heard. This trust improves workplace happiness. Happy employees stay longer. They also work better. Summary: Why Use HUM COMPBEN E MER? Here’s a quick recap: Automates HR tasks Reduces errors Saves time and money Improves employee experience Gives real-time insights Keeps data safe Grows with the company Large companies need strong tools. HUM COMPBEN E MER is one of the best for HR needs. Final Thoughts HR is not just about hiring and firing. It’s about building a great place to work. Tools like HUM COMPBEN E MER help make that possible. They give HR teams more power and more time. This helps the whole company grow. In 2025, HR needs smart tools. HUM COMPBEN E MER is that tool. It transforms HR from paper-based to powerful. Tech World TimesTech World Times (TWT), a global collective focusing on the latest tech news and trends in blockchain, Fintech, Development & Testing, AI and Startups. If you are looking for the guest post then contact at techworldtimes@gmail.com

Deloitte UK is reducing some bonuses. Peter Dazeley via Getty Images 2025-05-21T16:42:47Z Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Staff in one of Deloitte's four UK divisions will get lower bonuses after missing profit targets. The firm will also promote fewer staff this year, according to an internal email seen by BI. The promotions move was demotivating and has "dampened" the office mood, a Deloitte employee said. Deloitte told employees in one of its UK consulting divisions to expect lower annual bonuses following weaker-than-expected financial performance.Richard Houston, a senior partner and chief executive of Deloitte UK, wrote in a companywide email on Tuesday that employees in the technology and transformation (T&T) consulting division would receive an average of 80% of their annual bonus.Partners in the division will also face a drop in annual rewards, Houston said in the memo seen by Business Insider.The news was first reported by The Financial Times.The T&T business had "faced a particularly challenging year and fell materially short of its performance goals," Houston wrote. Richard Houston is chief executive of Deloitte UK. Liam McBurney/PA/Getty Images Bonuses have always been linked to individual and firm performance. However, for the 2025 financial year, they will also take into account performance variations in each of Deloitte's four business lines.The shift means that workers in Deloitte's other three business lines — which cover deals, tax and legal, and audit and assurance services — will retain their full bonus.Those three divisions have either exceeded targets or, in the case of the audit and assurance branch, had still increased profits in the 2025 financial year, Houston wrote.Deloitte will also promote fewer employees than in previous years, Houston said.The firm would promote 5,500 employees, or about 25% of the UK workforce, at the start of the next financial year, he said. The previous year 28% were promoted, Houston said.A Deloitte consultant in the T&T division said the news about promotions was demotivating and had "dampened" the mood. The person added that their division had taken "a beating."It's "not the best feeling since T&T functions have historically pulled the firm forward in times of crisis," the employee added.Deloitte UK's total profits for its 2025 financial year, which ends on May 31, would be "slightly ahead of last year" but "below our original plan," Houston wrote."At the start of FY25, we expected greater economic stability and a gradual return of growth opportunities. But an early election, geopolitical complexity, and unexpected economic headwinds — like changes in trade policies — have continued to cause market uncertainty," he said.Deloitte's global revenue climbed 3.1% to $67.2 billion in the 2024 financial year, which marked a sharp slowdown in growth compared to the 14.9% increase in 2023.The firm's UK arm has reorganized its business divisions and laid off workers as it grappled with an industrywide slowdown in demand for consulting services that has hit revenue growth.Cost-cuttingIn October 2024, Deloitte UK cut its spending on staff travel and expenses by more than 50%.Houston addressed the cost-cutting measures in Tuesday's email, acknowledging "it has not been easy" for teams to be unable to meet in person for much of the year.He said the efforts to manage costs had "made a significant difference" and had directly contributed to bonuses for the 2025 financial year.A Deloitte UK spokesperson told BI: "Amid ongoing market uncertainty, we are pleased to be able to recognize our people for their hard work with salary increases, bonuses, and promotions this year. This is alongside other benefits such as fully funded private medical insurance, recently enhanced family policies, and our commitment to offering flexibility and choice in our ways of working."Have a tip? Contact this reporter via email at pthompson@businessinsider.com or Signal at Polly_Thompson.89. Use a personal email address and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.

Adobe will be giving its priciest subscription tier an AI-first rebrand—and adding an even higher price tag. Adobe’s Creative Cloud All Apps subscription, which includes access to more than 20 Adobe apps, will soon be known as “Creative Cloud Pro,” the company announced last week. The renamed subscription plan will give users expanded access to Adobe’s AI-powered tools and apps, but for a price: For subscribers on an annual plan, the cost will increase from $59.99 to $69.99 monthly, or from $659.88 to $779.99 annually. Beginning on June 17, any members of Creative Cloud All Apps will be automatically opted into Creative Cloud Pro. According to Adobe’s announcement of the plan, Creative Cloud Pro pricing will be effective at your next renewal on or after June 17. Currently, these changes are only rolling out in North America. This follows better-than-expected first quarter 2025 financial results for the software company, which reported a record revenue of $5.71 billion, equal to 10% year-over-year growth. Still, Adobe’s shares dropped after the report, as several experts and investors noted concerns that the company might be falling behind competitors with its AI efforts. Creative Cloud Pro appears to be the next step for Adobe to monetize its newly robust suite of AI tools by making them a mandatory investment for the company’s most dedicated users, even as it rolls out “made without generative AI” image labels. Here’s what to know about the new plan. What’s new on Creative Cloud Pro? To start, Creative Cloud Pro comes with all of the features that were included under the Creative Cloud All Apps umbrella. The plan includes a portfolio of more than 30,000 fonts, unlimited Creative Cloud libraries, millions of stock photos and videos, and 100 gigabytes of cloud storage. In addition to these perks, the upgraded plan will include several new AI features. First, users will gain unlimited access to “standard generative tools” like Photoshop’s Generative Fill, which can essentially “deepfake” anything within a composition, and Lightroom’s Generative Remove, which eliminates unwanted details in a photo. Creative Cloud Pro users will also have 4,000 monthly credits to use for Adobe’s class of “premium generative features,” like Premiere Pro’s Generative Extend, which uses AI to add frames to the beginning or end of any video. The rebranded subscription also includes the most recent Firefly app, which Adobe bills as its “one-stop shop for exploration and ideation with creative AI.” The app comes with Adobe’s new text-to-image generator Image Model 4, as well as its Firefly Video Model, which first entered public beta testing last month. Another feature called Firefly Boards allows teams to do some Pinterest-style mood board brainstorming.  For any Creative Cloud Pro users who have a different AI model of choice, they can also choose to import Google Imagen 3 and Veo 2, OpenAI image generation, or Flux 1.1 Pro into Firefly. More details on Creative Cloud Pro features are available here. How much will it cost for different kinds of users? Prices are set to rise across the board for all kinds of Creative Cloud All Apps users.  For rolling subscribers (those not on an annual plan), prices will rise from $89.99 to $104.99. For teams, prices will jump from $89.99 to $99.99 per month. And for student and teacher plans, renewal prices are set to increase from $34.99 to $39.99 monthly. What if I don’t want to join this new plan? If you’re a current Creative Cloud All Apps user but don’t want to be automatically shuffled into Creative Cloud Pro, Adobe has created another subscription tier called Creative Cloud Standard. This tier is the same price as the former Creative Cloud All Apps ($54.99 per month for annual users), but it comes with a bit less value.  Whereas All Apps included 1,000 monthly credits for the aforementioned standard generative features, Creative Cloud Standard only includes 25 credits. It also limits access to premium features on mobile and web apps, and, of course, does not include premium generative features or Firefly.  While Adobe’s web page states that Creative Cloud Standard is “only available to existing customers,” an Adobe spokesperson clarified that new users can actually join this tier by contacting customer support. It’s a trade-off that essentially means you’ll be paying the same amount for a subscription with fewer bonuses, but it might be the option that makes the most sense for users who have no interest in Adobe’s AI features. On Reddit, plenty of users have already expressed displeasure with the new plan. It’s easy to see why. Adobe is automatically upgrading subscriptions to the more expensive Creative Cloud Pro tier, a UX pattern that makes it less likely for users to opt out than if they had to make an active choice and tick a subscribe box, for instance. Both this and the Creative Cloud Standard journey for new users could be seen as dark patterns, which are UX pathways that manipulate users into taking actions that they may not have intended but are in the business interests of the company. The U.S. sued Adobe over its hard-to-cancel subscriptions last year. The goal of the automatic upgrade, in combination with the decreased appeal of the Creative Cloud Standard tier due to its reduced features, seems to be to draw more daily active users into the company’s existing AI products. That would be in close keeping with its recent focus on monetizing generative AI tools following its last earnings report, which was plagued with fears that Adobe isn’t staying ahead in the AI race. An Adobe spokesperson declined to comment on the reasoning behind the subscription tier rebrand and whether users will be personally notified before the change takes place.

The popularity of the actual play show Critical Role helped make 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons wildly successful. But now, Critical Role Productions has become more than a booster and frequent collaborator for D&D: It’s become a competitor. After years in development, Daggerheart, a tabletop RPG from Critical Role’s publishing imprint, Darrington Press, launches today. And the book shows just how much lead designer Spenser Starke and the book’s other designers have learned from playing 5e, as they address some of that game’s biggest issues.Problem: Failure is boringThere are few things as satisfying as rolling a natural 20 in a clutch situation in D&D, but D&D’s d20 system has a big drawback. It’s inherently very swingy, with a wide range from success to failure, and it can lead to situations where failure means the PCs accomplish nothing, and the story doesn’t move forward in a meaningful way. Roll low, and you might miss an attack, miss a key clue needed to progress the plot, or be unable to bypass a locked door to get to the next goal.Daggerheart changes the math by having players roll two d12s and add the results, which generally smooths the probability curve in favor of success. But the more significant change is a system inspired by how Fantasy Flight’s Star Wars roleplaying game represents the pull of the light side and dark side of the Force. One of the d12s represents hope, while the other is fear, and the higher number determines which aspect is dominant in the totalled roll.Succeeding with hope is nothing but good news for the PCs. Failing with hope gives them a hope point, a resource that can be spent on numerous special abilities, as a sort of consolation prize. Fear, in turn, gives the game master a fear point they can use to introduce complications or activate abilities for antagonistic NPCs.That system, combined with a collaborative narrative focus, means there’s never an instance where a roll has no effect. If you can’t pick that lock, you might hear guards approaching, or even trigger a trap, depending on whether you failed with hope or fear. Miss a roll with fear in combat, and an antagonist will get a turn to act. Failure always has consequences that move the game forward.Image: Darrington PressProblem: Advantage and disadvantage are too significantOne of 5e’s key mechanics is the concept of advantage and disadvantage — rolling two d20s and taking the better or worse result, respectively. It’s an elegant way to avoid having numerous modifiers for conditions like being aided by an ally or trying to strike a hidden foe. But the math makes those edges and penalties too significant.Daggerheart keeps the concept, but changes the effect to adding or subtracting a d6. The game also simplifies D&D’s laundry list of conditions — “grappled,” “paralyzed,” “heavily obscured,” etc. — to just three options: “hidden,” “restrained,” and “vulnerable.” It creates a convenient way to modify rolls without making GMs worry about the specific mechanics too much.Problem: Species and background choices are too importantIn the original 5e ruleset, players had to limit their species and background choices to ensure they got attribute boosts to the key stats for their class, or risk not being able to hit as frequently or do as much damage as players who made the more optimized choices. The 2024 ruleset removed attribute bonuses from species, but instead shunted them into backgrounds. That means you’re operating at a real disadvantage if, for story reasons, you want your wizard to have been a soldier instead of a scribe.Attributes are entirely divorced from these decisions in Daggerheart, and just assigned based on what’s best for your character class. The other decisions give you flavorful minor abilities that might be better for some classes, but are fairly broadly applicable, like a giant having extra hit points, or a person who grew up in the wilderness being able to move silently. It keeps the mechanics from getting in the way of the fantasy.Image: Darrington PressProblem: Spellcasters have a lot more choices than non-castersAdmittedly, this isn’t a problem for everyone. Some new TTRPG players can be intimidated by lots of options, and might prefer the simplicity of playing a fighter who’s mostly going to move and attack on their turn, rather than considering which spells to use and prepare. Wizards of the Coast worked to offer more complexity to martial characters in the 2024 rules with the weapon mastery system, but mostly created more subclasses that are hybrids of casters and weapon-wielders.No matter your class, Daggerheart characters all have equivalent options, thanks to a card system reminiscent of 4e D&D or Gloomhaven. Every level, characters get to choose new cards, which could represent a wizard using a runic ward, or a bard bolstering their allies with a pep talk. The modularity of the system also makes it easier to multiclass by just taking cards associated with other classes, at the price of digging deeper into your base abilities.There’s still more work to be doneFor all the problems they’ve solved, the Daggerheart designers left some big holes that need filling. The downtime action section is very thinly sketched. The game is deeply ambivalent about loot, preferring to abstract treasure rewards and costs into amounts like “a handful of gold” or “a chest of gold.” Upgrading gear is important to stay competitive, but the section on weapons is the weakest past of the entire book: Weapons follow a clear linear progression based on character tier, but their stats are printed over and over again, rather than being condensed with the formula.And GMs are encouraged to come up with their own gear, but there are no tools provided. Special items only available at higher tiers have random names, like Wand of Essek or Aantari Bow, with no descriptions to give them the character of powerful D&D magic items.But overall, Daggerheart is a strong evolution of medieval fantasy roleplaying. It shows a deep understanding of Dungeons & Dragons’ flaws, addressing them by drawing on the strengths of other systems. Even for groups not ready to fully make the switch to a new game, the book can provide some inspiration for making a D&D game a bit better.Daggerheart is available for purchase now at through Critical Role shops and local game stores in the Darrington Press Guild, which offer a PDF free with a physical copy. The core set will arrive at Amazon and book stores including Barnes & Noble and Books-A-Million starting June 3. The free beta playtest is still available at DriveThruRPG.For those who want to see Daggerheart in action, Critical Role has released several one-shots and specials. “Age of Umbra,” new eight-episode series run by Matthew Mercer will launch on May 29.See More: