In a confident nod to the enduring power of print, Glasgow-based Newspaper Club has launched The Printing Press, its first-ever self-published newspaper. Known for helping designers, brands, and artists print their own publications, Newspaper Club is now telling its own story through a medium it knows best. "We're always sharing the brilliant things people print with us – usually online, through our blog and Instagram," explains CMO Kaye Symington. "Our customers have some great stories behind their projects, and it just made sense for a newspaper printing company to have a newspaper of its own!" Teaming up with their brilliant design partner Euan Gallacher at D8 Studio, Kaye said they also wanted to show what's possible with the format: "A lot of people just think of newspapers as something for breaking news, but there's so much more you can do with them." The tabloid-style publication explores the creative resurgence of newspapers as branding tools and storytelling devices, which is music to our ears. Inside, readers will find thoughtful features on how modern brands are embracing print, including interviews with Papier's head of brand on narrative design, Cubitts' in-house designer on developing a tactile, analogue campaign, and Vocal Type's Tré Seals on transforming a museum exhibition into a printed experience. Why the mighty turnaround? "There's just nothing quite like newsprint," says Kaye. "It slows you down in the best way, especially when there's so much competing for your attention online. A newspaper isn't trying to go viral, which is refreshing." She adds: "Putting together a newspaper makes you think differently. It's scrappy and democratic, which makes it a great space to play around and tell stories more creatively. And at the end of it, you've got something real to hand someone instead of just sending them a link." To celebrate this almighty launch, Newspaper Club is going beyond the page with a striking national ad campaign. In partnership with Build Hollywood, the company has installed billboards in Glasgow, Birmingham, Brighton, and Cardiff, all proudly showcasing the work of Newspaper Club customers. These include colourful pieces from artist Supermundane and independent homeware designer Sophie McNiven, highlighting the creative range of projects that come to life through their press. In London, the celebration continues with a special collaboration with News & Coffee at Holborn Station. For two weeks, the kiosk has been transformed into a shrine to print — complete with stacks of The Printing Press and complimentary coffee for the first 20 early birds each weekday until 17 June. The timing feels deliberate. As digital fatigue sets in, social media continues to disappoint, and brands look for fresh ways to stand out in a 'post-search' world, newspapers are experiencing a quiet renaissance. But they're being used not just for news but also as limited-edition catalogues, keepsakes for events, and props in photo shoots. It's this playful, flexible nature of newsprint that The Printing Press aims to explore and celebrate. Since 2009, Newspaper Club has built its reputation on making newspaper printing accessible to all — from major brands like Adobe and Spotify to indie creators, students and storytellers. This campaign marks a new chapter: a chance to turn the lens inward, shine a spotlight on the creative possibilities of print, and reassert the joy of ink on paper. As Kaye puts it, "We want people to see that newspapers can be a really creative format. It might be a traditional medium, but that's exactly what makes it stand out in a digital world. "Sometimes the hardest part is just knowing where to start with a new project, so we hope this campaign helps spark ideas and inspire people to print something they're excited about!" As The Printing Press hits streets and kiosks across the UK, one thing is clear: print isn't dead. It's just getting started.

Wholesome Direct 2025 - everything announced at this year's cosy indie showcase Big hops! Discount shops! Spooky pups! More! Image credit: Eurogamer Feature by Matt Wales News Reporter Published on June 7, 2025 If you're the sort who just can't seem to resist the soothing rhythms of turnip planting and interior design, you've come to the right place. This year's Wholesome Direct - which marks the fifth anniversary of the showcase - has now aired, unleashing a fresh wave of cosy games to stick on your wishlists. We've got vending machine management, adorable puppies on spooking adventures, cheese-based puzzling, geckos, goats, seasonal cemetery exploration, and a whole lot more. So if that sounds like it might help sate your idyllic yearning, read on for all the big announcements from Wholesome Direct 2025. And for more indies, you can check out our round-up of this year's Day of the Devs showcase elsewhere. Leaf Blower Co. Leaf Blower Co. trailer.Watch on YouTube Ever wished your PowerWash Simulator had a little less splosh and a little more whoosh? That seems to be the starting point for developer Lift Games' Leaf Blower Co., a game about making the untidy tidy come rain, snow, or shine, one mechanised gust at a time. It's got a story mode plus a variety to locations waiting to be blown debris-free, and if that appeals, a demo's available now on Steam ahead of its release later this year. Instants Instants trailer.Watch on YouTube Instants is a creativity themed puzzler about the intoxicating pleasures of obsessive scrapbooking. It sees players attempting to sort images into chronological order and then assembling them into a scrapbook to reveal a "heartwarming" story inspired by the way family history can be passed down using pictures. It's developed by Endflame and launches today on PC (via Steam and Epic), and Switch. Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar trailer.Watch on YouTube Stardew Valley might be the face of farming sims these days, but the grandaddy of the genre - Story of Season (formerly Harvest Moon) - never went away, and another entry in the venerable series is looming. Grand Bazaar is actually a remake of 2011 DS game Harvest Moon: Grand Bazaar, and it's got pretty much everything you'd expect from these kind of things - including turnips to fondle, animals to rear, and locals to dazzle with your impressive root vegetable collection. The main twist is you'll be selling all this yourself by setting up shop in the titular bazar. And if that sounds like something you'd enjoy, it launches for Switch, Switch 2, and Steam on 27th August. Gourdlets Together Gourdlets Together trailer.Watch on YouTube Perhaps you're already a fan of last year's Gourdlets or perhaps you're completely new to its vegetable-themed low-stakes thrills. Either way, there'll soon be a new way to play, thanks to developer AuntyGames' Gourdlets Together. Essentially, it takes the laid-back village-building vibes of the original, slings in a bit of a fishing focus - where earnings can be spent on upgrades or accessories to decorate your island home - then lets you do it while hanging out with friends online. Gourdlets Together launches on PC later this year. Luma Island Luma Island trailer.Watch on YouTube Don't think we're done with the farming sims yet - not by a long shot! Luma Island launched last year, offering an attractive mix of crop whispering, profession-specific activities, creature collecting, exploration, and puzzle-y dungeoneering. And come 20th June, it'll be getting just a little be more swashbuckling, thanks to its free Pirates update, introducing a new profession, new Lumas, new outfits, and a pirate cove filled with mini-games, temples, traps, and treasures. It'll also bring a range of different difficulty modes to suit players of all tastes. Is This Seat Taken? Is This Seat Taken? trailer.Watch on YouTube Think you're a dab hand at the old 'awkward family gathering' seating plan challenge? Well then, this might just be the game for you. In Poti Poti Studio's "cosy, silly, and relatable" logic puzzler Is This Seat Taken?, the goal is to satisfy the demands of a particularly fussy group of chair occupiers to find the perfect spot that'll keep everyone happy - be they on the bus, at the park, or in the office. It's coming to Steam, Switch, iOS, and Android this August, and a Steam demo's out now. MakeRoom MakeRoom trailer.Watch on YouTube Here's one for the aesthetic tinkerers and furnishing fetishists out there. MakeRoom, from developer Kenney, sees players decorating a series of miniature dioramas - from cosy indoor retreats to camper vans and even forests - to fulfil the requests of adorable NPCs. You might, for instance, be tasked with creating the perfect room for cats, or a suitably moody hideout for a vampire. Then it's simply a matter of hanging drapes, plopping down plants, and even crafting furniture to bring these spaces to life and satisfy your clients' whims. It all sounds very much like Animal Crossing's weirdly compelling Happy Home Paradise expansion, so if it's more of that sort of thing you want, MakeRoom comes to Steam on 7th August. Ambroise Niflette & the Gleaned Bell Ambroise Niflette & the Gleaned Bell trailer.Watch on YouTube The apple bell - whatever an apple bell is - has been stolen, but luckily for apple bell lovers everywhere, renowned detective Ambroise Niflette is on the case. Over the course of Topotes Studio's investigatory adventure, Ambroise - and players - will roam the village of Touvoir, interrogating its inhabitants and searching for secrets, all while using a notebook of steadily amassing leads to reveal contradictions and unmask the culprit. It all sounds perfectly lovely, but the real draw is the delightful art style, which is heavily inspired by miniatures and stop motion. Ambroise Niflette & the Gleaned Bell is eventually set to launch on Steam, but first there's a Kickstarter, which is underway now. Let's Build a Dungeon Let's Build a Dungeon trailer.Watch on YouTube First there was Let's Build a Zoo, and now comes Let's Build a Dungeon. But while developer Springloaded kept its focus pretty tight for its debut release, Let's Build a Dungeon goes broad; not only is it a playable RPG creator where you can rustle up your own worlds and quests, it's also claiming to be an entire games industry sim too, where you'll need to manage all the malarky around releasing your game - from attracting funding right through to making a profit at the other end of the process. But if all that sounds too stressful, Springloaded has confirmed - as part of its latest showing - there'll be a cosy sandbox Build Mode too. There's still no release date for Let's Build a Dungeon yet, but it's heading to Steam (there's a demo here), Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. Squeakross: Home Squeak Home Squeakross: Home Squeak Home trailer.Watch on YouTube What do you get if you cross adorable mice with classic grid-filling puzzler Picross? Well, this thing, obviously. Squeakross: Home Squeak Home is the work of developer Alblune, and it adds its own twist to the familiar logic-testing formula by introducing a home decorating element. The idea is each puzzle corresponds to an unlockable bit of decor - including furniture, accessories, and stickers - so you'll slowly amass new furnishings and trimmings as you give your brain a work out. Is there an in-game lore reason why puzzles equals furniture? Who knows! We'll soon find out, though, given Squeakross launches for Switch and PC (via Steam and itch.io) today. Monument Valley 3 Monument Valley 3 trailer.Watch on YouTube Ustwo Games' perspective shifting puzzle series Monument Valley has been a big old hit, amassing tens of millions of downloads since its iOS debut back in 2014 - so it wasn't a huge surprise when a third entry showed up on mobile last year. Initially, however, it was locked behind a Netflix subscription, but Monument Valley 3 - which we quite liked despite it offering little meaningful evolution for the series - is finally spreading its wings later this year. As announced during today's Wholesome Direct, it's coming to Steam, Switch, PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on 22nd July. Big Hops Big Hops trailer.Watch on YouTube If you immediately thought bunnies, you're wrong. Big Hops is, in fact, a frog-themed action platformer, in which players attempt to help the titular Hop find his way home. Each world he visits on his adventure promises its own self-contained story - involving everything from mountain cultists to desert ne'erdowells - all interspersed with plenty of agile platform action. You can grapple across gaps, hoist levers, rotate wheels, even pick locks - all using your tongue - and it's accompanied by some veggie-based gameplay that lets players introduce the likes of climbable vines and mushroom-based bounce pads into levels. Big Hops is currently raising funds via Kickstarter and a Steam demo's out now. Little Kitty, Big City Little Kitty, Big City trailer.Watch on YouTube Here's quicky for you. Little Kitty, Big City - the feline-focused open-world adventure from Double Dagger Studio - is getting a little bigger. That's thanks to a free content update coming to all platforms this "summer", promising new story content, a new neighbourhood to explore, and new oddball characters to befriend. That's alongside a new cat customisation feature for you creative sorts out there. Vending Dokan!: Kozy Kiosk Vending Dokan!: Kozy Kiosk trailer.Watch on YouTube What's in a name? Well, pretty much everything in this case. Aftabi Games' Vending Dokan!: Kozy Kiosk is, just as it sounds, a cosy, laidback game about managing your own vending machine empire. You'll choose where your machines go and what they sell, and hire staff to ensure they stay stocked, clean, and in working order. There's a heavy customisation element too, as you're free to decorate the areas surrounding your vending machines in order to attract new customers. Kozy Kiosk is officially referred to as an "idle simulation", and can be played both actively and passively. And if that appeals, it launches for Steam today. Winter Burrow Winter Burrow trailer.Watch on YouTube Developer Pine Creek Games' "woodland survival game" Winter Burrow was unveiled during December's Wholesome Direct, but it's back to announce it's now coming to Switch. If you missed its original reveal, Winter Burrow casts you as a mouse who's attempting to fix up their burrow and turn it into a toasty retreat from the cold. That requires exploring the snow-covered world outside, gathering resources, crafting tools, building things, making friends, baking pies, and more. Winter Burrow launches next year and will be available for Steam, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Switch. Tales of the Shire: A Lord of the Rings Game Tales of the Shire trailer.Watch on YouTube After multiple delays, cosy hobbit life sim Tales of the Shire is almost upon us, and developer Wētā Workshop is readying for its arrival with a brand-new trailer. It's been described as a game about "finding joy in the small moments", and features all the usual life sim activities - fishing, cooking, gathering, decorating, merrymaking - with a bit of a Lord of the Rings twist. So yes, you CAN decorate your hobbit's hole. Tales of the Shire launches for Switch, PlayStation, Xbox, and PC on 29th July. Haunted Paws Haunted Paws trailer.Watch on YouTube If your interests lie at the intersection of spooky mansions and adorable pups, prepare to have your day made. In developer LazyFlock's supernatural adventure Haunted Paws, players - either solo or with a friend - control two brave (and customisable!) puppies as they explore a creepy old house in search of their human, who's been kidnapped by sinister forces. It promises puzzles, lighthearted spookiness, and even a few emotional bits. There's no release date for Haunted Paws yet, but it's coming to Steam. The Guardian of Nature The Guardian of Nature trailer.Watch on YouTube This wholesome, hand-drawn puzzle adventure from Inlusio Interactive is all about the interconnectedness of nature, and sees players embarking on a botanical journey as the lovably be-hatted Henry. Not only does Henry know his stuff about the natural world, he's also able to change his size, meaning players can explore both above and below ground as they solve puzzles to assist nature. The Guardian of Nature launches into Steam early access today, and it's coming to Switch, Xbox, iOS, and Android too. Everdeep Aurora Everdeep Aurora trailer.Watch on YouTube If you've ever thought Dig Dug would be improved if its protagonist was a cat, Everdeep Aurora might be the game for you. It follows the apocalyptic adventures of a kitten named Shell as she explores subterranean depths in search of her mother. You'll obliterate blocks, do some platforming, play mini-games, and converse with peculiar characters as you investigate the dark secrets buried below, all without a hint of combat. Its limited-colour pixel art looks wonderful, and it's coming to Steam and Switch on 10th July. Seasonala Cemetery Seasonala Cemetery trailer.Watch on YouTube From the creators of A Mortician's Tale, the "meditative" Seasonala Cemetery is a "peaceful but poignant reflection on life and death". It's set in an expansive, living cemetery that changes dynamically based on your system's time and date. The summer, for instance, might see the world bustling with vibrant life, while the winter brings quiet and snow. You can interact with NPCs and animals, rummage through nature, learn the history of the nearby city through its gravestones, or simply relax to its ambient sounds. Seasonala Cemetery is out today on Steam and itch.io, and is completely free. Camper Van: Make it Home Camper Van: Make it Home trailer.Watch on YouTube One of (bizarrely) several camper-van-themed games currently in the works, developer Malpata Studio's Make it Home is a pretty self-explanatory thing. You've got a camper van to make your own as it journey across beautiful, idyllic landscapes. Part of your goal is to solve organisational puzzles, but there's laidback interior design too. Camper Van: Make it Home is available today, alongside a demo, on Steam. Lynked: Banner of the Spark Lynked: Banner of the Spark trailer.Watch on YouTube FuzzyBot's Lynked: Banner of the Spark is a cheerily colourful action-RPG, that's part sci-fi roguelike, part relaxed life sim. At its most peaceful, you'll farm, fish, gather materials, and build your base with help from your robot pals, but that's all in service of its more frenetic hack-and-slash action. When you're ready for some proper adventure, you can brave the wilds, battle evil robot forces with a large arsenal of weapons, and search for helpful bots to bring back home. Lynked is already available on Steam, but it's coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X/S too. Omelet You Cook Omelet You Cook trailer.Watch on YouTube In this chaotic cooking roguelike from SchuBox Games, you're tasked with creating the perfect omelettes to satisfy your customers' increasingly peculiar demands. That involves combining ingredients as they fly by on a conveyor belt, from the relatively mundane to the rather more dubious, in the hope of earning enough money to increase your provisions, add useful relics to your pantry, and, hopefully, please the fearsome Principal Clucker. It all looks wonderfully ridiculous, and it launches on Steam today. Milano's Odd Job Collection Milano's Odd Job Collection trailer.Watch on YouTube Milano's Odd Job Collection (known as Milano no Arubaito Collection in Japan) is coming to the west for the very first time. It follows the adventures of 11-year-old Milano as she's left to her own devices over the summer. Free to do as she pleases, she embarks on a range of odd job - from pizza delivery to milking flying cows - in order to make money and have fun. Milano's Odd Job Collection, from developer Westone, is coming to Switch, PlayStation, Xbox, and PC later this year. Fireseide Feelings Fireseide Feelings trailer.Watch on YouTube If you've got something to get off your chest, what better place to do it than by a roaring fire in a cosy forest glade? Fireside Feelings is described as a "mental wellness experience" promoting empathy, connection, and positivity between players. Situated cosily in your customisable camp, you're able to answer questions on a range of topics, taking part in conversations between people "separated in space and time". Conversations aren't live, and there's no direct interaction with others, but the goal, according to developer Team Empreintes, is to "share experiences, express your emotions, and be a part of a caring community". It launches today on Steam. All Will Rise All Will Rise trailer.Watch on YouTube Well here's something you don't see every day. All Will Rise is a "narrative courtroom deck-builder", in which you and your team take a corrupt billionaire to court, accusing them of a river's murder. That involves accumulating cards and using them to engage in conversation battles, attempting to charm, intimidate and manipulate those you meet around the vibrant city of Muziris. "Obey a dead river god's summons - or defy them," developer Speculative Agency explains. "Pass information to violent ecoterrorists - or maintain your pacifist ideals. Convince a corporate stooge to testify for you - or blackmail him with sensitive information. Your choices will determine the [city's] fate." All Will Rise is currently crowdfunding, but it's aiming to launch on Xbox, PlayStation, Switch, and Steam. Gecko Gods Gecko Gods trailer.Watch on YouTube It's hard to go wrong with a gecko, which immediately gives developer Inresin's Gecko Gods a bit of an advantage. What we've got here is a "serene lizard-sized puzzle-platformer" set on a beautiful archipelago, in which its tiny protagonist clambers across forgotten ruins, solving puzzles as they go. There are secrets of a lost civilisation to uncover, hidden paths, and more, all of which you'll be able to explore for yourself when Gecko Gods launches for Switch, PS5, and Steam later this year. But if you're an impatient sort, a Steam demo is available now. One Move Away One Move Away trailer.Watch on YouTube If you quite fancied the idea of Unpacking, but thought it had far too much 'taking stuff out of things' for its own good, you might enjoy Ramage Games' One Move Away, which is basically the inverse experience. Here, you play as three different characters, starting with a young girl in the 1980s, gradually learning more about them as you pack their belongings away ready for another chapter in their intertwining lives. All this plays out in first-person across 20 levels, and if that takes your fancy, a Steam demo's out now ahead of a full launch on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. Heidi's Legacy: Mountains Calling Heidi's Legacy trailer.Watch on YouTube As you've probably already guessed, Heidi's Legacy: Mountains Calling takes inspiration from the classic children's stories. Which is why it's something of a surprise to learn its protagonist is called Adèle. Regardless, this is a game of grumpy old men, goat management, and alpine wandering, where you'll explore the beautiful countryside with your bleating pals, foraging for herbs, mushrooms, and more in a bid to help the nearby village. You can unlock abilities that open up more of the world, and chat to the locals in branching conversations'll that impact their lives. And as for those goats, they can provide milk, cheese, and wool. "Will you embrace slow living," asks developer Humble Reeds, "or push for bolder change?". Heidi's Legacy is coming to PC "soon". Hotel Galatic Hotel Galatic trailer.Watch on YouTube In Hotel Galactic, you're responsible for the running of a modular hotel on a strange cosmic island, which you'll customise and optimise in order to provide guests with the perfect stay. There are resources to manage, a workforce to build, and more, as you cater to the demands of your ever-growing colony, all with assistance from your ghostly Grandpa Gustav. There's a bit more to it than that, though, and the whole thing's framed by a tale of love and vengeance that's conveyed through some lovely anime-inspired art and animation. Hotel Galactic launches into Steam early access on 24th July, with consoles to follow, and a demo's available now. Out and About Out and About trailer.Watch on YouTube If it's serene forest meandering you're after, then look no further than Yaldi Games' Out and About. It's a "cosy foraging adventure" focused on exploring nature and identifying real-life plants and fungi. You'll cook recipes, make herbal remedies, and help rebuild your community after a devastating storm, all while hopefully learning a bit of botanical knowledge you can take out into the real-world. Out and About looks to be aiming for a 2025 release on PC, with a console launch to follow. And if it's piqued your curiosity, you can test out a Steam demo now. Discounty Discounty trailer.Watch on YouTube Forget the farm life; how about managing your own discount supermarket in a small harbour town? That's the premise of Discounty from Crinkle Cut Games, which sees you designing and organising your shop, managing stock levels, working the checkout, and striking trade deals. You'll make friends, navigate local drama, and expand your empire, but that doesn't mean you have to play nice. After all, can you really become filthy rich without making a few lifelong enemies along the way? Discounty launches for Switch, PlayStation, Xbox, and PC on 21st August and, yup, a demo's available now on Steam. Islanders: New Shores Islanders: New Shores trailer.Watch on YouTube We're big fans of developer GrizzlyGames' minimalist city builder Islanders around these parts, so news publisher Coatsink was developing a sequel earlier this year came as a pleasant surprise. It is, if you're unfamiliar, a game about attempting to squeeze as much onto a procedurally generated island as possible, maximising building synergies and minimising penalties to get the highest score. New Shores sounds like a gentle finessing of the formula, rather than a radical reinvention - it's got a sandbox mode as well as a high score mode now, alongside new power-ups called "boons" - but that's okay. The big news is it now has a release date and is coming to Switch, PlayStation, Xbox, and Steam on 10th July. Collector's Cove Collector's Cove trailer.Watch on YouTube VoodooDuck's Collector's Cove might be yet another farming game, but it does at least have a unique twist. For starters, your farm is on a boat endlessly sailing the oceans AND it's powered by an adorable sea monster who you'll need to forge a bond with. As you set out on a tranquil adventure across the water, you'll farm, fish, craft, and personalise your surroundings, sometimes stopping off at passing islands to catalogue their unique flora. Collector's Cove doesn't have a release date yet, but it's coming to PC and a Steam demo's available now. Town to City Town to City trailer.Watch on YouTube Fans of minimalist railway game Station to Station might want to pay attention here. Town to City is developer Galaxy Grove's follow-up to that earlier puzzler, sporting a similar voxel art aesthetic and vibe. This time around, you're charged with building quaint picturesque towns by placing shops, houses, amenities, decorations, and more - all in a bid to please your residents and encourage more to move in. Eventually, you'll have multiple towns under your care, helping the whole region grow and thrive. Town to City doesn't have a release date yet, but you can play a demo on Steam. Fishbowl Fishbowl trailer.Watch on YouTube And finally for the big, non-montage reveals, it's Fishbowl, a coming-of-age tale told over the course of a month. Developer imissmyfriends.studio describes it as a "warm and cozy story about living in isolation, nurturing friendships and understanding grief", and it's all focused on 21-year-old video editor Alo as she works from home while mourning her grandmother. As the days tick by, you'll video call loved ones, work to assemble videos, do care tasks, and solve puzzles to unpack your grandmother's belongings - recovering childhood memories as you do. There's no release date for Fishbowl yet, but it's coming to PS5 and Steam.

Resident Evil 9, Stranger Than Heaven, and more of the key reveals from Summer Game Fest 2025 10 highlights from Geoff Keighley's annual livestream Feature by Samuel Roberts Editorial Director Published on June 7, 2025 Geoff Keighley's annual Summer Game Fest showcase had a few big moments, including a major showing from Capcom, some sharp-looking indie games from well-known developers, and a creative tie-in between Hitman and James Bond by IO Interactive. Find a selection of 10 key SGF 2025 highlights below, including all-new reveals and several worthwhile updates on already-announced games. End of Abyss Created by Section 9 Interactive, a Malmö-based studio of developers who worked on the Little Nightmares games, and published by Epic Games itself, this was the horror highlight of SGF. In End of Abyss, a combat technician explores a facility that's riddled with fleshy monsters, in what looks a little like a twin-stick survival horror shooter. New pathways will emerge in the game as players become stronger, suggesting something of a Metroidvania structure. This one doesn't have a specific release date yet beyond 2026, but it's coming to Xbox, PlayStation, and PC. Lego Voyagers This two-player Lego game from the developers of Lego Builders Journey left an impression with a simple but perfect pitch: what if you played as a single Lego brick, and the entire game was built around that notion? Anyone still craving high-value co-op experiences for couch play after finishing this year's wonderful Split Fiction should keep this beautiful-looking game on their radar. It's coming to PC and consoles, including the original Nintendo Switch, and will be playable either locally or online (with only one purchase necessary for the latter). Mina the Hollower To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Mina the Hollower, the long-awaited new game from Shovel Knight developer Yacht Club Games, got a release date of October 31, 2025 during SGF. This trailer will set off fireworks for anyone familiar with its inspirations: Link's Awakening and the other Game Boy Color Zelda games, for example, as well as the side-scrolling adventures of the Castlevania series. Marvel's Deadpool VR Rather a lot of licensed games made the cut in this Summer Games Fest (who could've predicted that this year's livestream would offer viewers a real-time strategy game tie-in to Game of Thrones, a TV show that ended on a contentious note in 2019?). Meta's big reveal at SGF was Deadpool VR, another superhero-themed exclusive coming to Quest 3, following last year's killer app Batman: Arkham Shadow. This game stars Neil Patrick Harris as Marvel's Merc with a Mouth, and comes from 'Splosion Man developer Twisted Pixel. As ever, Deadpool's delivered-via-sledgehammer meta humour is something of an acquired taste, yet the recent history of pop culture would suggest it's never been more popular. Deadpool VR's first-person combat and storytelling look authentic to the character, which is either a dream come true or a living nightmare, depending on who you ask. It launches exclusively on Quest 3 and 3S in late 2025. Ill and Mundfish's push into publishing Mundfish, the latest developer to move into publishing, had a big presence in this year's SGF livestream. That included a colourful-if-muddled trailer for Atomic Heart 2, a follow-up to its 2023 hit FPS. But perhaps more interesting was the horror-themed FPS Ill, the debut game from studio Team Clout. What could be more frightening than being chased by dozens of decaying bald men, and occasionally, some fetid-looking evil giant babies? This game will launch on PC, Xbox, PlayStation, but it doesn't have a release date yet. Scott Pilgrim EX Considering the Scott Pilgrim graphic novels ended 15 years ago, the longevity of a story about a down-on-his-luck 20-something fighting all his new partner's exes in sequence continues to amaze. This spiritual sequel to 2010's acclaimed Ubisoft tie-in Scott Pilgrim Vs The World: The Game sees Scott and six of his pals teaming up to fight three different warring gangs who have taken over Toronto. Developer Tribute Games (creators of the brilliant Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge) comprises staff who worked on that prior Ubisoft title. Pleasingly for fans, too, series creator Bryan Lee O'Malley is behind the story on this project. With four-player co-op part of the mix, Scott Pilgrim EX launches in 2026. Casino Royale's Le Chiffre comes to Hitman: World of Assassination With IO Interactive's James Bond game First Light not arriving until 2026, this reveal was a real treat for fans of 007, and a fun stopgap. Actor Mads Mikkelsen joined IO's Hakan Abrak on-stage in announcing that his Casino Royale villain Le Chiffre has been added to Hitman: World of Assassination's Paris level as a limited-time Elusive Target. Players have until July 6 to take him out. Blighted Guacamelee studio Drinkbox is behind this visually stylish action RPG, which looks like it'll scratch the itch of anyone who got deep into Hades but wants something with a fresh twist (or co-op) to play. The setting is described as a 'psychedelic western nightmare' by the developers, and a 'blighted' mechanic alters the difficulty of the game dynamically depending on how afflicted the player is. It's coming soon to Steam. Stranger Than Heaven First unveiled last year as Project Century, this deeper look at the next project by Like A Dragon developer RGG Studio showed off the game's 1943 (seemingly) period Japanese setting, as well as its combat and other gameplay elements like moral choices (of the Xbox 360 era 'spare/kill' variety). Considering the last trailer was set in 1915, it would appear to suggest the game takes place across multiple decades. It's exciting to see this studio trying something a little different, even if some of the parts are superficially similar. Resident Evil Requiem The reveal of the ninth mainline Resident Evil game closed the livestream with a bang. Requiem is slightly hard to grasp from this first trailer, perhaps by design: the protagonist is an agent called Grace Ashcroft, and we see several glimpses of the ruins of Raccoon City amid the horrors in this teaser. No doubt Capcom will gradually put the pieces together in the run-up to its February 27, 2026 release date on PC, Xbox, and PlayStation. It firmly looks like a stylistic follow-up to the first-person hits Resident Evil 7 and Village. On-stage, it was promised the game will feature "high-stakes cinematic action" as well as survival horror.

Geoff Keighley has promised a record-breaking number of publishers at Summer Game Fest this year, so we’ve rounded up what we think we’ll be playing in the coming monthsTech23:00, 05 Jun 2025We're so ready to step into Samus' boots againE3 might be long gone, but Summer Game Fest has replaced it. While Nintendo Switch 2 has just launched, and Sony has held its own State of Play event, tonight’s show is about as unpredictable as you can get. So, naturally, we’re trying to predict what we’ll be seeing.With everyone from PlayStation to SEGA, Xbox and even Nintendo making an appearance, we’re expecting big things from the showcase, which will be packed with titles for 2025 and beyond.‌While some are known quantities, like Borderlands 4, Little Nightmares 3, and the upcoming Bond game from Hitman developer IO Interactive, we’re still expecting plenty of surprises. Here’s everything we’re predicting for Summer Game Fest 2025.‌There are plenty of big namesWith Geoff Keighley’s events in both the Summer and December being key fixtures on the gaming events calendar, he’s able to pull off plenty of surprises. The Game Awards 2023 revealed Monster Hunter Wilds, while the following year showcased the first gameplay of Slay The Spire 2 and Split Fiction, as well as Elden Ring Nightreign and Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet.As for Summer Game Fest itself, the show last year featured Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II and Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 - all games which were released since then.Article continues belowWe’ve heard rumblings that Capcom’s Pragmata, revealed alongside the PS5 in June 2020, could be shown at the event following an indefinite delay in 2023. It’s just as well, since we have no idea what the game really is yet.We’re also very curious about what Nintendo could show. The Switch 2 is out, but only as of yesterday, so we’d expect a sizzle reel to show what the console is capable of, as well as another look at Donkey Kong Bananza.‌PlayStation is probably easier to predict since the company is launching Hideo Kojima’s Death Stranding 2: On The Beach in just a few short weeks, and Geoff Keighley will likely find some way of getting the man himself on stage.SEGA has plenty to show, too. Sonic Racing CrossWorlds is still due this year, while the company has an ambitious plan to resurrect classic titles starting with Shinobi: Art of Vengeance and leading into Streets of Rage and Crazy Taxi.We tipped a Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 announcement for Sony’s State of Play, but we’re still waiting for more news on Kingdom Hearts 4.‌Pearl Abyss is still aiming to launch Crimson Desert this year (supposedly), but we’re without a release date as yet, while the company is also working on its colourful DokeV which has been MIA for years at this point.While Microsoft is expected to appear, the company has its own showcase just two days later with a big focus on The Outer Worlds 2. As a result, we might just get a sneak peek at this year’s Call of Duty with more to come on Sunday.With Bungie’s Marathon hit by plagiarism accusations, Embark Studios has a great chance to get players onto Arc Raiders as an alternative. Speaking of Bungie, expect a gameplay trailer for Destiny 2: Edge of Fate.‌Elden Ring is coming to Switch 2(Image: FromSoftware, Inc.)Call us crazy, but we want a bunch of Switch 2 news. We want to see From Software’s Duskbloods, get a release date for Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition, and maybe even a Metroid Prime 4 release date from Nintendo itself.Given the history of Monster Hunter on portable consoles, we’ve got everything crossed for the series to come to Switch 2, but coming off of the excellent Wilds, it’s perhaps unlikely.‌Naturally, we’ve always got our fingers crossed that we’ll see Silksong, but rumours have suggested that Team Cherry’s long-awaited Hollow Knight follow-up would be announced at Microsoft’s event if at all.As we said in our State of Play predictions, we’re also expecting to hear more about Resident Evil 9 by the end of this week, in some way, shape, or form.With The Division 2 getting what’s likely its final DLC recently, here’s hoping for The Division 3, which has been rumoured for a while. Or, maybe Ubisoft will finally share something about the Splinter Cell title it has in development.Article continues belowDid we get any correct? Find out with us, with the show kicking off at 10PM BST on Friday night.For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.‌‌‌

Launch week is finally here, and though I would love to be bringing you a proper review of the Nintendo Switch 2 right now, I still don’t have one at the time of writing. In its wisdom, Nintendo has decided not to send review units out until the day before release, so as you read this I will be standing impatiently by the door like a dog anxiously awaiting its owner.I have played the console, though, for a whole day at Nintendo’s offices, so I can give you some first impressions. Hardware-wise, it is the upgrade of my dreams: sturdier JoyCons, a beautiful screen, the graphical muscle to make games look as good as I want them to in 2025 (though still not comparable to the high-end PlayStation 5 Pro or a modern gaming PC). I like the understated pops of colour on the controllers, the refined menu with its soothing chimes and blips. Game sharing, online functionality and other basic stuff is frictionless now. I love that Nintendo Switch Online is so reasonably priced, at £18 a year, as opposed to about the same per month for comparable gaming services, and it gives me access to a treasure trove of Nintendo games from decades past.But here’s the key word in that paragraph: it’s an upgrade. After eight years, an upgrade feels rather belated. I was hoping for something actually new, and aside from the fact that you can now use those controllers as mice by turning them sideways and moving them around on a desk or on your lap, there isn’t much new in the Switch 2. Absorbed in Mario Kart World, the main launch title, it was easy to forget I was even playing a new console. I do wonder – as I did in January – whether many less gaming-literate families who own a Switch will see a reason to upgrade, given the £400 asking price.Brilliant … Mario Kart World. Photograph: NintendoSpeaking of Mario Kart World, though: it’s brilliant. Totally splendid. It will deservedly sell squillions. Alongside the classic competitive grand prix and time trial races, the headline feature is an open, driveable world that you can explore all you like, as any character, picking up characters and costumes and collectibles, and getting into elimination-style races that span the full continent. All the courses are part of one huge map, and they flow right into one another.Your kart transforms helpfully into a boat when you hit water, and I found an island with a really tricky challenge where I had to ride seaplanes up towards a skyscraper in the city, driving over their wings from one to the other. Anyone could lose hours driving aimlessly around the colourful collection of mountains, jungles and winding motorways here. There’s even a space-station themed course that cleverly echoes the original Donkey Kong arcade game, delivering a nostalgia hit as delightful as Super Mario Odyssey’s climactic New Donk City festival.Pushing Buttons correspondent Keith Stuart also had a great time with another launch game, Konami’s Survival Kids, which is a bit like Overcooked except all the players are working together to survive on a desert island. (Be reassured, if you generally find survival games hard work: it’s very much fun over peril.)However: I would steer clear of the Nintendo Switch Welcome Tour, an almost belligerently un-fun interactive tour of the console’s new features … that costs £7.99. Your tiny avatar walks around a gigantic recreation of a Switch 2 console, looking for invisible plaques that point out its different components. There are displays with uninteresting technical information about, say, the quality of the console’s HD rumble. One of the interactive museum displays shows a ball bounding across the screen and asks you to guess how many frames per second it is travelling at. As someone who aggressively does not care about fine technical detail, I was terrible at this. It’s like being on the least interesting school trip of your life.And it felt felt remarkably un-Nintendo, so dry and devoid of personality that it made me a little worried. Nintendo Labo, by contrast, was a super-fun and accessible way of showing off the original Switch’s technical features. I had assumed that Welcome Tour would be made by the same team, but evidently not.I couldn’t wait to get back to Mario Kart World, which, once again, is fantastic. I’m excited to spend the rest of the week playing it for a proper review. And if you’ve pre-ordered a Switch 2, you’ll have it in your hands in the next 24 hours. For those holding off: we’ll have plenty more Switch 2 info and opinions in the next few weeks to help you make a decision.What to playArms akimbo … to a T is funny and weird. Illustration: Annapurna interactive/SteamLast week I played through to a T, the beautifully strange, unexpectedly thoughtful new game from Katamari Damacy creator Keita Takahashi. It is about a young teenager who is forever stuck in a T-pose, arms akimbo. As you might imagine, this makes life rather difficult for them, and they must rely on their fluffy little dog to help them through life. It’s a kid-friendly game about accepting who you are – I played it with my sons – but it is also extremely funny and weird, and features a song about a giraffe who loves to make sandwiches. I love a game where you don’t know what to expect, and I bet that if I asked every single reader of this newsletter to guess how it ends, not one of you would be anywhere close.Available on: PS5, Xbox, PC Estimated playtime: What to readTake chances … Remy Siu (left) and Nhi Do accept the Peabody award for 1000xRESIST. Photograph: Charley Gallay/Getty images 1000xRESIST, last year’s critical darling sci-fi game about the immigrant experience and the cost of political resistance, won a Peabody award this week. From the creators’ acceptance speech: “I want to say to the games industry, resource those on the margins and seek difference. Take chances again and again. This art form is barely unearthed. It’s too early to define it. Fund the indescribable.” Keith Stuart wrote about the largely lost age of midnight launch parties – for the Switch 2 launch, only Smyths Toys is hosting midnight releases. Did you ever go to one of these events? Write in and tell me if so – I remember feeling intensely embarrassed queuing for a Wii on Edinburgh’s Princes Street as a teenager. The developers of OpenAI are very proud that their latest artificial “intelligence” model can play Pokémon Red. It’s terrible at it, and has so far taken more than 80 hours to obtain three gym badges. I’m trying not to think about the environmental cost of proving AI is terrible at video games. When Imran Khan had a stroke last year, he lost the ability to play games. I found this essay about the role that Kaizo Mario (super-difficult hacked Mario levels) played in his recovery extremely moving. skip past newsletter promotionSign up to Pushing ButtonsFree weekly newsletterKeza MacDonald's weekly look at the world of gamingPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotionWhat to clickQuestion BlockSoothing … Unpacking. Illustration: Humble Games/SteamReader Gemma asks:“At this moment I am cuddling my three-month-old as he naps on the sofa while I’m playing Blue Prince. It might be the best postnatal game: it has very little background sound or music; can be paused any time; is very chill with zero jeopardy; but also has a fascinating storyline and incredible puzzles. I also find myself narrating the letters and talking out loud for the maths puzzles. (Do three-month-olds understand algebra?) Your article [about Nintendo at naptime] made me feel less guilty, so thank you. Any other updated tips for similar games that you’ve discovered in the last eight years for postnatal gaming?”In the small-baby years I played two types of games: five-hour ones that I could complete in a couple of evenings, or endless Stardew Valley/Animal Crossing-type games where you could just drop in and zone out for as long as you needed, and it didn’t matter whether you were “achieving” anything. I couldn’t play anything with a linear plot because my brain was often mush and I’d simply forget what had happened an hour ago. It’s different for everyone, though – my friend Sarah was obsessed with Grand Theft Auto when her baby was wee.I became hooked on a couple of exploitative phone games that I won’t recommend – don’t go near those in a vulnerable brain-state, you’ll end up spending hours and £££ on virtual gems to buy dopamine with. Something like Unpacking or A Little to the Left might be soothing for a puzzle-brain like yours (and they’re short). I’ll throw this out there to other gamer mums: what did you play in the early months of parenthood?If you’ve got a question for Question Block – or anything else to say about the newsletter – email us on pushingbuttons@theguardian.com.

PlayStation State of Play June 2025: Everything announced Marvel at a night of sick reveals from Sony. Image credit: Eurogamer News by Connor Makar Contributor Published on June 4, 2025 Another PlayStation State of Play took place tonight, giving as a peak at what's to come on the PS5 and PS5 Pro. The event was stacked with new trailers, including some reveals of entirely new games we've not seen before. Sony even remembered the PS VR2 exists! Whether you're here to double check what you've just seen, or want a catch-up on all the reveals you missed, this article will take you through everything shown off at the June State of Play event. Enjoy! Lumines Arise The show kicked off with a reveal trailer for Lumines Arive, a colourful and very musical way to start the event. It comes from the developers behind Tetris Effect, which was a banger. It's coming this Fall, and you can wishlist in now. Watch the new Lumines Arise trailer here!Watch on YouTube Pragmata Next up is Pragmata, the mysterious Capcom game that we've seen precious little of since its first reveal years ago. This time we got gameplay, loads of third person action goodness and a lovely sci-fi setting. Also, Diana is adorable. The game is set to come out at some point in 2026 to the PS5. Watch the Pragmata trailer here!Watch on YouTube Romeo is a Dead Man Next up is a grisly and cartoonish action game called Romeo is a Dead Man. It's coming from illustrious and brilliantly weird developer Grasshopper Manufacture, with both Suda 51 and Ren Yamazaki working on it. It'll be coming out in 2026... Maybe. Watch the Romeo is a Dead Man trailer here!Watch on YouTube Silent Hill f Now for something totally different with Silent Hill f, a third-person horror title that's certainly ramped the creepy factor up quite significantly. In it we see plenty of horrific mannequins with bloody knives in hand. It's set to come out on the 25th September, 2025 on the PS5. Watch the Silent Hill f trailer here!Watch on YouTube Bloodstained: The Scarlet Engagement We now go to a lush looking 2D side scroller called Bloodstained: The Scarlet Engagement, which has just been revealed. A sequel to a beloved indie and spiritual successor to classic Castlevania games, it'll be coming out in 2026 on the PS5. Check out the Bloodstained trailer here!Watch on YouTube Digimon Story Time Stranger Up next a gameplay trailer for Digimon Story Time Stranger, which looks absolutely killer. In it we see a variety of fan-favourite Digimon and a variety of characters seemingly in the thick of some nefarious medling between the physical and digital worlds. It'll be coming on the 3rd November 2025. Love me some Digimon. Watch the trailer here!Watch on YouTube Final Fantasy Tactics - The Ivalice Chronicles Now for a blast from the past with Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles. It'll include two versions of the original game, a classic version which is a faithful recreation, and an enhanced version with improved graphics and more. It'll be coming to the PS5 and PS4 on the 30th September. FF Tactics is back!Watch on YouTube Baby Steps Next up is Baby Steps, which is a fun exploration game where you've gotta control your leg movements as you climb a mountain. Now we finally have a release date! It comes to PS5 on the 8th September. This is a must-watch for those who like a chuckle.Watch on YouTube Hirogami Now for something whimsical. Hirogami allows you to transform into a variety of creatures through the power of folding. It's coming to PS5 on the 3rd September. A neat reveal! Check out the new trailerWatch on YouTube Everybody's Golf Hot Shots To the green we go with Everybody's Golf Hot Shots, with courses in 10 different regions around the world, each with weather effects and night time variants. Those who pre-order get Pacman - rad! It comes to the PS5 on the 5th September. Check out some golf right here!Watch on YouTube Ninja Gaiden Ragebound Here's a retro throwback. Ninja Gaiden Ragebound got a new gameplay trailer, and is coming on the 21st July on PS5 and PS4. A big win for lovers of the classics. Watch the trailer here!Watch on YouTube Cairn The Game Bakers are back at it again with Cairn. A new gameplay trailer just dropped, showing a perilous and scenic climb up a massive mountain. Like all Game Bakers titles, the trailer has a rad music track. It's coming to PS5 on the 5th November 2025, but you can download a demo today! A moving trailer for you to watch right here!Watch on YouTube Mortal Kombat Legacy Kollection Get over here! A reveal trailer for the Mortal Kombat Legacy Kollection just dropped, and with it a blend of retro titles you'll be able to play with this new collection as well as some lovely retro arcade footage. It contains Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2, Mortal Kombat 3, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, Mortal Kombat 4, and more. It's coming to the PS5 and PS4 in 2025. Moooooortal Kooooooombat Traaaaaaailer.Watch on YouTube Metal Gear Solid Delta Snake Eater Here's a big one! We got a new gameplay trailer for Metal Gear Solid Delta Snake Eater. Loads of memorable locations, gadgets, and moments on display in the stunning new engine. This isn't a dream - it's Snake Eater!Watch on YouTube Nioh 3 A rad new reveal comes via Nioh 3, which got a fantastic new gameplay trailer at the State of Play. It releases in early 2026 on the PS5. A demo is available right now too, so give it a try! If you love some challenging and bloody action, you should watch this Nioh 3 trailer!Watch on YouTube Thief VR: Legacy of Shadow Finally some PSVR love! A new reveal trailer for Thief VR: Legacy of Shadow was shown off, giving us a glimpse of loads of stealth, robbery, and action. It's coming to VR in 2025. Some VR rep at the State of Play!Watch on YouTube Tides of Tomorrow Another new game got a trailer, this time Tides of Tomorrow. A very bright first-person action game set in a flooded dystopian world. It's coming 24th February, 2026 on the PS5. Loving the look of this trailer, give it a watch!Watch on YouTube Astro Bot new update An update to Astro Bot is up next, containing five new challenge levels, new guest bots, and an announcement that the Astro Bot DualSense controller is coming back this year... With a twist! Here's a look at what's coming to Astro Bot!Watch on YouTube Sea of Remnants Pirate time! A reveal trailer for Sea of Remnants was just shown off, giving us a peak of sailing, navigating various islands, and facing the mythical creatures of the deep. It'll be coming in 2026, you can wishlist it now. Grab your hat annd cutlass sailor.Watch on YouTube Sword of the Sea Here comes something beautiful. Sword of the Sea got a new trailer, with plenty of fantastic locations presented in vibrant tones throughout. It's coming on 19th August to the PS5, available on PlayStation Plus. Now this is my kind of vibe, watch it and find out why!Watch on YouTube FBC Firebreak Love co-op? FBC Firebreak is a spin-off to Remedy's Control series, and offers plenty of PvE action for those with a taste for the paranormal. It's coming to PS5 and the PlayStation Game Catalogue on 17th June, 2025. Here's the portion of the State of Play featuring FBC: Firebreak!Watch on YouTube New PS Plus games coming this summer A bunch of new games are coming to PlayStation Plus this Summer in a variety of forms. This includes: The original Deux Ex coming to PlayStation Plus Classics Catalogue on 17th June, 2025. Twisted Metal 3 & 4 coming to PlayStation Plus Classics Catalogue on 15th July, 2025. Resident Evil 2 & 3 coming to PlayStation Plus Classics Catalogue this Summer. Myst and Riven coming later this month as part of Days of Play First Light 007 A massive reveal for the show! James Bond took the stage with First Light 007, our first look at the game. It kicks off with some introductory cinematics, but there are snippets of gameplay showing loads of spy action. It's coming in 2026 to the PS5. It's Bond, James Bond... TrailerWatch on YouTube Ghost of Yotei A short one here. Ghost of Yotei is getting a gameplay deep dive in July. Stay tuned for more info!Watch on YouTube Marvel Tokon Fighting Souls Trying not to freak out over here. Arc System Works just revealed Marvel Tokon Fighting Souls. A 3v3 fighting game featuring plenty of beloved Marvel characters. It's coming to PS5 and PC in 2026. It's 11PM at night and I'm trying not to scream. Mahvel Baby!Watch on YouTube

Koto takes a human approach to digital protection branding.

BUTTPEACH Quantum Witch is a story of religious oppression, queer emancipation, and a dancing skeleton that hopes to popularise the ‘plotformer’ genre We spoke to Quantum Witch’s lone developer – NikkiJay – about how her experiences as part of a religious cult shaped the development of her game, an 80s-style ‘plotformer’ about finding your lost flock of faer. Image credit: NikkiJay Article by Kelsey Raynor Guides Writer Published on May 29, 2025 You might not have heard of Quantum Witch, but if you’ve an affinity for pixel-art platformers with engaging story-beats, meta-narratives, and an array of kooky characters, then you should be all over it. To just call Quantum Witch a colourful platformer with a strong narrative (read: ‘plotformer’) is to do it a disservice, though. Quantum Witch is so much more than its vibrant pixels; it is NikkiJay’s personal story of fleeing a religious cult, embracing her LGBTQ+ identity, and seeking solace in video games. There’s a dark undercurrent, but ultimately, Nikki chooses to tell her story – and a story that many others will no doubt see themselves in – with humour and pride. To get a better idea of exactly what informed Quantum Witch and how the indie ‘plotformer’ came together, VG247 sat down with NikkiJay to ask how growing up in a religious cult led to the development of the game and what she hopes audiences will get from it. The below interview discusses religious trauma, coercive control, and the abuse of power. To see this content please enable targeting cookies. VG247: I’m aware that Quantum Witch is largely informed by your own personal experiences of fleeing a religious cult; would you mind sharing some more about your experience, and how it has informed Quantum Witch’s story and characters? Nikki: I was born into the group and my family on both sides were third generation. Age 10, I needed my tonsils out and I had to tell the surgeon that I would rather die than accept certain medical treatments. As a 10-year-old, it's one of the questions they ask when you go for CPTSD diagnosis: “did you at any point honestly really believe you were going to die?” Yeah, I was told I had to be prepared for that. I had to die for God if that was the option that was presented to me. Either take this medical treatment that God said I couldn't have or die. I had to choose death. This cult literally kills kids for God. A lot of people stayed because the alternative was to lose your entire support structure and social network. You were literally by yourself with nothing, which was the option I chose in the end. It’s high coercive control. This way, they say that you have the personality God wants you to have. Religious control and abuse of that power is the biggest theme that made it into Quantum Witch. It is very much again about urgency and choice: I think if people have been through similar things, it's going to resonate with them. VG247: During the demo, I got the impression that Ren is largely not interested in the religious beliefs shared with her by others in Quantum Witch, but she still appears to have a fascination with the Old Gods. I have two questions about this: is Ren on the fence, so to speak, about her beliefs? Does this align with any of your thoughts and feelings about religion now? Nikki: Yeah, I am agnostic. I am a skeptic. I have to be open to the possibilities. A skeptic who isn't open to possibilities isn’t a skeptic. They're a cynic, and Ren is very much a skeptic. The majority of the characters in the game are just aspects of me that I've made into a character, it's just a little piece of me that I've enhanced without turning it into a stereotype as far as I can. Tyra [Ren’s partner] is more cynical: ‘come on, it's nonsense’. And Ren’s like, ‘no, let's go find out’. Her desire to go explore is going to lead her into things that she shouldn't have explored in the way that she's going to. But yeah, she is definitely that part of me who would like for there to be magic. Image credit: NikkiJay VG247: Quantum Witch’s marketplace – which features unnamed characters that bear uncanny resemblances to some iconic video game mascots – is what I assume to be a representation of some of your favourite games. The game itself regularly reminded me of themes and mechanics from Undertale, The Binding of Isaac, and even Stardew Valley. What other games or pieces of media helped inspire Quantum Witch, and how? Nikki: I love Undertale. What I loved about Undertale is the mixture of all those styles and then you'd be talking to a character and suddenly you have to play a really fast reaction game. I can't do that. I'm too old. But it was a big inspiration in the style of game I wanted to create. As for the reason why the video game characters are there in the plot of [Quantum Witch’s] story; they do tie into the plot and there's a little hint that they say. And I just loved putting in my alternate takes on who these characters were. You might know Paul Rose from Digitizer. At the very beginning of the project, I had all my story beats worked out. This is what's going to happen. This is how it's all going to interact, but I could not – for the life of me – start it. I couldn't build the bridges between these beats and Rose helped me a lot. He did a script treatment and some of the dialogue in the marketplace is directly from him; [one of the characters you meet is] talking about pills and I was like, ‘that that just fits in perfectly because there is a character later on who might need that pill’. It’s also a bit of a cue for me to have the characters talk about medication. . I also wanted to add some queer flavor to them, so Princess Nectarine – who is similar to but legally distinct from a certain Nintendo character – is in a polycule with Bowser and Mario and they like to roleplay kidnapping. I did not set out to make a queer game. It's turned out that way because I can't help it, but it's not all these characters are. VG247: I know you’re a solo developer and this is a largely solo project, but I’m aware you’ve received some help with the whole endeavour. You mentioned Paul Rose. So could you tell me more about the people who have helped you with creating Quantum Witch and what they did? Nikki: I must absolutely shout out Jerden Cooke for the music. We composed a lot of it together, [with] me mostly on the ukulele which you can hear in Ren's theme. I don't know if you've seen the video clip of David Lynch helping compose Laura's Theme from Twin Peaks. Working with him is like that. I got some fantastic music which was like the music I could hear in my head when I started playing on the ukulele. He was able to put it down, basically extract it from my head, and put it into a word file. And Paul Rose; I knew him through Digitizer meetups. We just got talking on Twitter one day and met up. He's a great guy and things came about quite naturally because it was when Covid hit and a lot of TV work got cancelled. I said to him, look, you should get yourself on Fiverr. Put your writing services out there because people should be paying for this. I will be your first customer, and so I was! Without his help, this would have still been a collection of little story beats that I would have had no idea how to wire together. And I've always wanted to work with Stephanie Sterling. What if I just ping her on Bluesky and say, "Hey, want to write a chapter of this game? It's got a dancing skeleton in it." She said, "Yeah, I'm in." She said that when she started to do it, she wasn't entirely sure whether it would be the right project because she just saw a [dancing] skeleton. The more she wrote for [Quantum Witch] and the more she played the game, she went, "Yeah, this is my wheelhouse,” and she poured her religious trauma into it, which happened to just fit absolutely perfectly. It's like I could not have asked for a better group of people to work with, and this is kind of what I want to say to indie developers who are solo. You're not alone. You might just want one name on the credit, but it takes a village to raise a child. Image credit: NikkiJay VG247: I was taken aback by just how cosy the game is. Admittedly, even with the subject matter, I didn’t expect – largely given the art style – for this to be all doom and gloom, but I definitely didn’t expect something so jovial and honestly, straight-up funny. How did you decide that this was the approach you wanted to take when creating Ren’s story? Nikki: [Stardew Valley], Chrono Trigger and Paper Mario: Thousand-Year Door are my three most played games. I love the style of Stardew Valley and I love that there's some darkness hidden in Stardew Valley. I really liked the humor in it. I mean, if you thought I shouldn't be laughing at this, but I am, then that’s an achievement. That's exactly what I wanted. My main coping mechanism is humor. I'm not saying it's a healthy coping mechanism, but it kind of works. And I mean, I was heavily influenced by reading a lot of Douglas Adams. and he was able to find humor in the most bleak situations. And the graphical style… When I started this, I couldn't draw a convincing stick figure. I look at the art that I did four years ago when I started messing about with this idea and it's just embarrassing. Objectively terrible, but my main influences were Stardew Valley and The Darkside Detective. I loved the low-resolution style art, but there was so much character in them. So, I took a pixel art course on Udemy and a color theory course and… then just found, hey, I can do this now. That's weird. VG247: While looking into Quantum Witch and yourself, I found a lovely quote of yours from The Guardian: “A lot of religion is about giving up autonomy to some mystical power that you’ve never seen, heard or met. Over the course of the game, Ren takes that agency back… It’s a queer emancipation story.” Could you expand on this? Nikki: The consequence of being yourself in a group that says ‘no, being yourself is wrong’ is that you just get thrown out. It's weird because I think of my experiences as unique, but the themes they really do seem to be universal. Stephanie Sterling from The Jimquisition: she wrote a chapter of the later part of the game. I originally said to her, can you write these three scenes? She came back and said “I couldn't stop writing. I just love this universe” It's weird, because you wouldn't know it was a different author. The religious oppression of queer people is the same wherever you go. I'm really hoping just that I've got that balance right between a game that's fun and cozy and humorous, – that there is a dancing skeleton who can see through time – but also has that deeper meaning and that message that you take back control. A lot of people would look at this and think ‘you must be anti-religion’ and I'm 100% for freedom of religion, but that also means I'm 100% for freedom from religion. Whether you've got faith or not, nobody wants somebody else's faith forced on you. You can't have freedom of religion without freedom from religion. Image credit: NikkiJay VG247: How long is Quantum Witch set to be, and how many endings will there be? I know you also mentioned some side quests having various conclusions, as well as the game’s main endings being different depending on your decisions. Nikki: I watched a tester play from beginning to end. It took him about three and a half hours, and he got my second favorite ending. He had questions about the lore and I said, "play it again and make different choices, and you'll get a different ending, which will probably answer that for you." It's difficult to say how many endings there are. There's three definite categories of endings. There's bleak. There's interesting, where you kind of get a bittersweet ending, and then there's the super happy ending, and there are variations on each of those. [These depend] on the characters you've helped. There's also little puzzles that you can go and solve which can enhance the happy ending. It's kind of like an open-world choose-your-own adventure book, but in pixel format. If I'm going to do a full playthrough of all choices and all stories, I will easily put aside six or seven hours to do it and I wrote it. So, I'm not trying to discover it. I think it's like The Stanley Parable in that sense. VG247: I also learned that Quantum Witch could have been a novel. It could have initially started out that way and you then obviously decided to turn this into a game. How did that come about? Nikki: One of my friends was doing the National Novel Writing November. I thought, I've got this story in my head which might fit, so I started writing it. I don't know if anybody's realized this, [but video games] are quite difficult to make, and novels are very easy because you just type... I was wrong and I really did not enjoy writing it. I decided, thinking back on my childhood, I want to make this into a game. I want to make this interactive. Choice is a big theme. I want to give the player a choice. And it did end up as a point and click [game] for a while, rather than a plotformer. No matter what you do, it is a valid choice. There are no game over screens in Quantum Witch. Anything you do is just a part of the story and the game is over when you get the credits. Quantum Witch is a surprisingly cosy and jovial take on topics of religious trauma and queer identities, but if your curiosity about this game is piqued, it’s up to you to find out all of its secrets. NikkiJay stresses that there’s so much to discover for those who are eager to explore the game and discover all of its various paths, endings, and dialogue. For those who want to try Quantum Witch out, you can find a demo for the game on Steam, and it’ll also be participating in Steam’s Next Fest during June.

Headset maker Turtle Beach has dug deep to deliver some new accessories for the Nintendo Switch console including wallet-friendly headsets and controllers for kid gamersTech15:26, 25 May 2025Updated 15:32, 25 May 2025Rematch Invincible MarioHeadset maker Turtle Beach has debuted a host of new Switch gizmos.They’re well known for their amazing audio cans but the accessory chiefs have stretched their legs and gone into controllers too for this batch of lower-priced offerings.‌The best of the gear is arguably the new Rematch controllers approved by Nintendo for their handheld.‌They are wireless and sync effortlessly to your console so you can avoid that dreaded Joy-Con drift and get gaming like a pro from as far as 30ft away.They’re a little plasticky in the feel, but have a lovely Xbox controller-style look and design to them, fitting comfortably in the grip.We tried the Mario star themed one and it’s great for kids who want a nice colourful joypad that also glows in the dark at night time after having been exposed to light.Article continues belowThe battery lasts a whopping 40-odd hours and is rechargeable via USB-C.The Rematch has a 40 hour battery lifeREAD MORE: Daily Star's newsletter brings you the biggest and best stories – sign up todayREAD MORE: Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Edition review: Cult classic gets new life on SwitchYou also have two programmable buttons on the back of the device to enhance in-game actions.‌And there’s motion control built-in too, so you can do your Wii-style bowling or tennis play with this controller just like a Joy-Con.Not bad for £49.99.Kids will also love the colourful Airlite Fit wired gaming headset for the handheld console.‌They cost £20 and for that you do get a somewhat compromised version of that famous Turtle Beach gaming sound, finely tuned audio through 40mm speakers.Again, officially licensed by Nintendo, they come in three different colours, including white and black and a neon purple.The Airlite Fit costs just £20 and has a wired connection‌We tried the classic red and blue mixed headset, one side red the other blue, that replicates the look of a classic Switch machine.Article continues belowThey’ve got soft padding under the hard plastic black headband, giving gamers a bit of comfort during long sessions at the screen.And the ear cups themselves are firmly padded, which is great for young ears.You have a flip-up-to-mute microphone built in that is flexible for positioning in front of the mouth and a 3.5mm cable connection for hard-wired audio.‌‌‌

Image: Zion Grassl / Nintendo LifeAnd we're back, once again, on the road to Mario Kart World - and we're in the final stretch. On the two previous laps we've looked at every console Mario Kart game from the Super NES up to the Wii. For this final go-round, we're looking at two console entries which span a massive 14-year period. MK8 got some significant expansions across two consoles, so we've split that into two separate sections. And if you're keen to hear more about Mario's non-console karting exploits, we'll take a quick look at those next week before starting our engines up for Mario Kart World on 5th June.Subscribe to Nintendo Life on YouTube813kWatch on YouTube This week's Nintendo developer interviews delved into the game in much more depth than the lacklustre Mario Kart Direct back in April, firing up our excitement once more. Once we've been able to leave the tracks, we wonder what it'll feel like to return to the restrictive circuits in these past games...but that's another article. Let's kick off this final lap with lucky number seven... Lap 1 - SMK, MK64 & Super Circuit Double Dash, DS, Wii Mario Kart 7 (2011) Image: Zion Grassl / Nintendo Life Ah yes, seven entries in and we finally arrive at the first numbered game in the series (pipe down, MK64). There was always something that made me laugh about this being called 'Mario Kart 7', made all the more hilarious by Mario Kart World not being called 'Mario Kart 9'. After cool names like Super Circuit and Double Dash!!, '7' felt decidedly uncool. Which is ironic because the game was anything but. Image: Nintendo Sure, it lacked the local multiplayer pull of the home console releases, but I got to drive a kart that could fly and go underwater, which I'd say is a fair trade-off. I distinctly remember driving around Cheep Cheep Lagoon for the first time and its aquatic appeal blowing my little mind. I played with the 3D slider cranked up to the max, you see, and drifting around that seaweed felt like the future. You know what else was cool? Customisable karts. I didn't particularly care for stats at the time and would instead set out to build the most horrific abomination ever committed to the track. Not getting to see my masterpiece was one of the main reasons why I rarely used the game's first-person driving mode — that and the fact that I tried it out in the back of the car once and it made me sick. - Jim Norman Standout tracks: DK Jungle, Rock Rock Mountain, Cheep Cheep Lagoon Fun fact: Despite the Nintendo Network servers shutting down in April 2024, it wasn't until November that year that the final Mario Kart 7 player finally crashed out of the last-standing game lobby. That's quite the victory lap! What does Mario Kart World take from this? Gliding has had a winged makeover in World, but it's the same fundamentals that we first saw in MK7. Underwater driving is another obvious one, although from what we've seen so far, racing atop the waves is the only option in MKW. The Fire Flower appears to still be going strong after making its series debut in the 3DS entry, though. What score would you give Mario Kart 7 (3DS)? (1,329 ratings) 10 - Outstanding14%9 - Excellent28%8 - Great35%7 - Good17%6 - Not Bad5%5 - Average1%4 - Poor1%3 - Bad  0%2 - Terrible  0%1 - Abysmal1% Mario Kart 8 (2014) Images: Gavin Lane / Nintendo Life, Nintendo There was an audible gasp when I told my colleagues that I'd spent more time playing Mario Kart 8 on Wii U than I have 8 Deluxe. It has nothing to do with preference — Deluxe is clearly the version to play now. But my life was pretty different between 2014 and 2017. Other than a few Virtual Console RPGs and Xenoblade X, Mario Kart 8 was one of the few games I actually played on the Wii U, a console I don't have a lot of love for otherwise. I was at university and barely in my 20s at that point; I also preferred playing stuff on the big screen, so I'd sort of skipped over MK7. Image: Nintendo 8's extravagantly bright courses and colourful worlds were like revisiting my childhood, except now we have anti-gravity and huge courses that look like they stretch for miles and miles. Gorgeous sky-high races and crowded city streets were back on the menu, and I got that old Mario Kart Wii feeling back. The biggest thing I remember was the downloadable content. Nintendo had been dabbling in DLC for a few years then, but I was still a sceptical student who only wanted to spend money on things I thought I would love. Then, Mario Kart 8 dangled the ol' Animal Crossing carrot. Oh gosh. Look, a free Mercedes-Benz was all well and good (though a bit weird), but Zelda, Animal Crossing, and F-Zero courses coming to a Mario Kart game? It's like Smash Bros. but Mario Kart. Oh, Baby Park's back? No, thank you - Hyrule Circuit awaits. I really like all of the DLC courses, but I admit I was a little disappointed by the Animal Crossing one. It's a little basic and while the seasonal changes are beautiful, I'd have loved a little more variety in the course obstacles per season. The big surprise were the F-Zero ones, a series I never really got into. It took Mario Kart to make me want a new F-Zero game. Big Blue on 200cc? It's pure magic. - Alana Hagues Standout tracks: Toad Harbour, Sunshine Airport, Cloudtop Cruise, Big Blue (DLC) Fun fact: Firehopping, or frogging, was a common technique used online to maintain longer boosts from a mini-boost. Nintendo removed this in Deluxe, meaning it was probably an unintentional glitch. What does Mario Kart World take from this? Hmmm... okay, well, since 8 Deluxe is essentially MK8 but better, maybe let's save this... Second Lap It's natural that the Switch version has totally supplanted the original in most players' memories - which is why I was keen to break out the Wii U version in its own section here. Besides disappointment around the Battle offering, this was a substantial, massively satisfying racer with a fun anti-grav hook, and there's something homely and attractive about MK8 on that chunky GamePad minus the bloat and the 'more, more, MOAARRRR'. I say 'bloat' - the Deluxe additions were great, I just quite enjoy the comparative simplicity and 'strangeness' of this version after eight long years with the upgrade. Deluxe is better, but it was all armour over this game's brilliant body. Gavin Lane Editor, Nintendo Life What score would you give Mario Kart 8 (Wii U)? (1,085 ratings) 10 - Outstanding33%9 - Excellent42%8 - Great18%7 - Good5%6 - Not Bad1%5 - Average1%4 - Poor  0%3 - Bad  0%2 - Terrible  0%1 - Abysmal1% Mario Kart 8 Deluxe & Booster Course Pass (2017, 2022-2023) Image: Zion Grassl / Nintendo Life It's the best-selling game on the Switch, although I wonder where it stands in the Most Played rankings. Even if you were one of the Nintendo faithful who'd bought a Wii U and unlocked every Cup, got the DLC, and played MK8 to absolute death, you still had to buy 8 Deluxe. The proper Battle Mode and the ability to hold two items were major boons (although I still miss the strategy that comes with being able to switch between the items à la Double Dash), but it was really the convenience of having full-fledged Mario Kart on the go with two pads that made MK8D indispensable for any Switch owner. You just had to have it. Image: Zion Grassl / Nintendo Life It was interesting to hear the devs discuss "kicking the can down the road" and using the Booster Course Pass as a stopgap. Still, what a stopgap! 48 new tracks, with returning courses, some reimagined, some borrowed from Tour, a couple of totally new ones - with so many new courses, it was tough to get upset with the odd dud, especially if you were getting access to all these via an Expansion Pack sub. And the real-world locales added a different flavour to the mayhem - they generally weren't up there with the best of the other courses, but I liked seeing Nintendo's take on London and Madrid. Throw in all the oddities from before (I loved the amiibo Mii outfits), plus a host of new ones (Labo controls, anyone?) and no wonder it's taken Nintendo eight years to come up with a sequel. - Gavin Lane Standout tracks: Bone-Dry Dunes, Mount Wario, Yoshi's Island (DLC) Fun fact: As of 31st March 2025, this has sold 68.2 million copies and is Switch's best-selling game - that's 59.74 million copies more than the original sold on Wii U, although MK8 was also that system's bestseller. What does Mario Kart World take from this? In some ways it feels like the end of the road for old-style Mario Kart on self-contained tracks - MK8D's completeness gave Nintendo the impetus to push beyond the bounds of the circuits into a bigger world. You might even say a Mario Kart W— *blue shell explodes* What score would you give Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch)? (2,863 ratings) 10 - Outstanding43%9 - Excellent34%8 - Great17%7 - Good4%6 - Not Bad1%5 - Average  0%4 - Poor  0%3 - Bad  0%2 - Terrible  0%1 - Abysmal1% Image: Nintendo And that brings us up to date!... Or does it? In fact, there are a few byways to travel before we hit the highway in Mario Kart World. Join us next week for a lap of honour where we take a quick look at the side-games and also-rans in the Mario Kart series. The sweat, the tears, the evil babies Related Games See Also Share:0 1 Gavin first wrote for Nintendo Life in 2018 before joining the site full-time the following year, rising through the ranks to become Editor. He can currently be found squashed beneath a Switch backlog the size of Normandy. Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment... Related Articles Shigeru Miyamoto Explains Why Donkey Kong Has Been Redesigned You want expressive? You got it Here's A Look At The Size And Inside Of Switch 2 Game Cases Arriving in store next month Talking Point: The Switch 2 Pre-Order Situation Sucks, But Can Nintendo Do Anything About It? 503sier said than done Random: Miyamoto Can't Talk About Switch 2, Talks About Switch 2 Anyway I do what I want, bruv!