It seems only fitting that icy survival sandbox The Long Dark [official site] should launch its biggest update of the year two days before the solstice. Days round my way are now below seven hours and mercy me, I’m so excited to reach the longest dark and pass on through. The ‘Resolute Outfitter’ update has added a new world area, a desolate land of ice and dead trees, and hugely overhauled the game’s clothing. Every garment’s art has been redesigned and rebuilt, they way clothes work is hugely overhauled, and there’s a tidy paper doll to show what you’re wearing. Go on you scamps, wrap up warm then slip out in the night. … [visit site to read more]

We command you to open the next door in our calendar, Commander.

It’s 2016’s best strategy game, XCOM 2. … [visit site to read more]

Crytek is closing down five of its offices around the world after financial trouble has reportedly left many of its workers unpaid for months. Studios in Frankfurt and Kiev are staying open, the developers said in a classically verbose press release, but all other studios are being shut down, including offices in Seoul, Sofia, Shanghai, Istanbul and Budapest. “Management has put plans into action to secure jobs and to ensure a smooth transition and stable future,” said the notice. Translation: a large number of people are losing their jobs. … [visit site to read more]

I’d quite happily write and read about Dwarf Fortress and RimWorld [official site] all day long. There might even be time to play them every now and again as well, though I’ve become accustomed to enjoying them vicariously, reading about other peoples’ virtual lives and escapades. A new RimWorld update arrived today and it’s a big one, changing the way that worlds are built and operate at a fundamental level. Simply put (and nothing about RimWorld is actually simple), worlds are now modeled as spheres, and you can travel across them, nomad style. Or warband style. Your call. … [visit site to read more]

Have You Played? is an endless stream of game retrospectives. One a day, every day of the year, perhaps for all time.>

As VR and its out-of-this-world experiences is to 2016, so to the 1990s were ridiculously overblown claims about toy-based artificial intelligence. We had Furbies chattering garbage at us from the windowsill, Tamagotchis starving to death inside schoolkids’ backpacks, Aibos tightening the thumbscrews on wealthy Japanese folks’ existential crises and we had Creatures games cluttering the dusty racks of supermarkets’ tiny games sections. … [visit site to read more]

A bard, a prophet, and a petty criminal walk into a tavern and they all become friends, each blissfully unaware that their two drinking pals are – just like them – undercover agents sent by rival factions to pump townsfolk for information. That’s the sort of delightful unscripted situation to expect from management sim/anecdote generator Dwarf Fortress [official site] as developers Bay 12 work on its agent system to support its artifact system to support its creation myth system to support its magic system. Dwarf Fortress! That’s an anecdote Bay 12 shared in a recent dev blog, by the way. … [visit site to read more]

It’s a Christmas miracle: AI War 2 [official site] has hits its crowdfunding goal on its second attempt, its wonderful creators Arcen Games will live to dev another day, and we’ve probably all learned a little about feelings or some other sappy nonsense I guess. The original AI War is a fascinating RTS – and one of Adam’s favourites – with a wealth of options in a war against an AI overlord who’s playing entirely differently to you. Given the first Kickstarter’s failure and Arcen’s recent troubles, I’d worried about both this game and the whole studio but thankfully all is looking up. … [visit site to read more]

If you own a pair of cybergoggles and plan to jack your family into cyberspace this holiday season for giggles, plus do thump Thumper [official site] right in their eyes. The excellent musical hellride, which our Alec described as “knives in my skull” and which made John physically anxious, has now added support for Rift and Vive goggs, y’see. Please do share your videos of Uncle Sean stumbling round the tree holding, Event Horizon>-style, his own plucked-out eyes. … [visit site to read more]

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. It’s THE mosssssssst wonderful tiiiiiiiiiiiime ahaahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah I wish I had a machinegun ho ho ho ahahaha, get stuffed 2016. … [visit site to read more]

Botolo [official site] – a two player landgrab game with a kind of stylised quilt aesthetic – is out now and it does look lovely. You might need to bear with me a bit today because insomnia has resulted in a vastly diminished vocabulary. I’ve already called the fridge the “cold oven” and the washing machine a “clothes masher” today. Anyway! What do you do in Botolo? … [visit site to read more]