If you hoped to build yourself an oasis of calm away from the cryptocurrency storm by simply leaving any conversation as soon as you hear the sound ‘bitc…’ start to emanate from someone’s face-hole, I’ve got some bad news for you. The effects of the alt-money goldrush are no longer confined to twitchy-eyed evangelists and screechy news headlines – for the second time in recent memory, it’s caused a huge spike in graphics card prices, both new and second-hand, as the crypto-clan rush to snaffle up any GPU they could possibly use to mine blockchain currencies such as Ethereum and Zcash.

This means two things for us, in practice. 1) Now is the worst possible time to buy a new graphics card for gaming, and no-one knows how long this will remain the case 2) now is the best possible time to eBay any old graphics cards you’ve got sat around. Case in point: I just got almost twice the price for my old 2015 Radeon that I would have done if I’d sold it two months ago. (more…)

The news that Bullfrog & Lionhead veterans Gary Carr and Mark Webley were leading the development of a spiritual sequel to beloved 90s manage’em-up Theme Hospital seemed to go down rather well last week. So much of PC gaming’s past has been revisited in recent years, but the design’n’build’n’simulate’n’giggle formula used so successfully in Theme Park, Theme Hospital and Dungeon Keeper hasn’t enjoyed anything like the degree of 21st century resurrection that, say, pre-2000 RPGs have. Two Point Hospital is planned to rekindle that flame whilst doing a few things of its own, as well as being the first part of a wider universe of Two Point sims.

But while I coaxed plenty of detail about the whys and wherefores out of Carr and Webley, we didn’t get to see all that much of the game itself. This new video shows off a fair bit more, along with chatter from the devs about their plans for it. (more…)

At the start of every Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds match, players wake up confused and hungover after a fierce night on the lash at their stag and hen parties. They blink, squint at the 99 other zombies, search in vain for a Red Bull or ideally a fried breakfast, then pass out before awaking on a plane. This will change, a little. With the next update (currently live on the test servers), the game will split players in the loading lobby between several different areas of the map. Having 100 people in the same spot harms performance too much, the devs say, so they’re spreading people out. Guns will be removed from the lobby too. (more…)

Darling it s better, down where it s wetter, take it from me – a Subnautica player.>

Underwater survival game Subnautica is finally out and we like it. So we spoke to director Charlie Cleveland about the terror of the deep and safety of the shallows. Earlier this week we heard that they intend to make a paid expansion and an Arctic biome (even if those plans are not finalised). But we talked about much more, so here s a special podcast of the full interview and some of Cleveland’s thoughts scribbled out, old-school. For example, why does he thinks it s a terror game rather than a horror one? And why are there no guns?

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Ah, Blizzard World! Take the family, shove the kids in front of someone in a plush orc costume, get hammered on spacegrog and ride the coasters until you hurl, then visit the gift shop on the way out. Overwatch‘s new theme park level has finally arrived in the main version of the game, following a stretch on the test servers, and a whole load of new costumes and other cosmetic bits have arrived alongside it. Some characters’ new skins are getting into the Blizzard World spirit by dressing as characters from other Blizzard games while others, like D.Va up there, just like being fancy. (more…)

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

Prison Architect delivers all the satisfaction of a traditional Bullfrog-style management game. You place walls, lay pipes and wires, and soon slip into a zen state familiar to anyone who played Theme Park. What makes the game special is the simulation of the game’s people, which reminds you over and over that you’re not building Disneyland. (more…)

What’s your favourite paradox? My current one is ‘how can the many awesome games in The Humble Paradox Bundle 2018 cost so little money?’. Wait, that’s not a paradox – it’s just a really good deal. Looks like I need to finish this news post then head back to paradox school.

Fortunately I won’t need to enrol to enjoy the games on offer here. This bundle has 8 in total, with highlights including Obsidian’s RPG Pillars of Eternity and the surprisingly funny wizard brawler Magicka 2. This is Paradox though, so best of all is the selection of sprawling strategy games. Let’s dive in!

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Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the Cadian Sector, here comes Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 2 bursting forth with more Warhammer 40,000 real-time-strategy spaceship combat. Publishers Focus Home today announced a sequel to Tindalos Interactive’s 2016 game, saying it will launch some time later this year. Armada 2 boasts many more playable factions, I’m told, with “the Imperial Navy, Space Marines, Adeptus Mechanicus, Necrons, Chaos, Aeldari Corsairs, Aeldari Craftworld, Drukhari, the T’au Merchant and Protector Fleets, Orks, and finally, the Tyranids.” Here, meet some of those in the cinematic announcement trailer: (more…)

Following crossovers with Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Halloween, and A Nightmare On Elm Street, Dead By Daylight has opened another forbidden book, touched another ominous bloodstain, and said another forbidden name thrice into the mirror. This time, the 1v4 horrorshow has summoned DLC from the world of the Saw movies. The new killer is The Pig, Jigsaw’s apprentice trapmurderer Amanda Young, and she’s armed with those iconic head-mounted beartraps. If she pops one on your head, you’ll need to find a key to unlock it before it pops and bites ya. The DLC adds a new map and survivor character too. (more…)

The best survival games are about conquering fear. Last year, when I first splashed about in Subnautica s alien ocean, I was wary of leaving the shallow reef in which you first crash land. I eyed the hazy green water of the nearby kelp forests with fear, knowing it was full of Stalkers, an aggressive fish whose body is mostly one long croc-like jaw. Today, I swim among these beasts, collecting vines and seed pods as they impotently pursue me through the weeds. I ve become a proficient scavenger, making the journey from trouserless idiot to Tom Hanks in Castaway s third act. But even now there are places I do not like to go. (more…)