It is maybe the best game, isn’t it, leapfrog? With pals it’s a stumbling jumble of laughs, and playing solo it’s sheer exuberance. Who doesn’t leapfrog over bollards on their way home late at night? Who hasn’t muffed a leap and fell flat in front of smokers outside a pub then tried to style it out with a smile as they rush to your aid? Surely no one.

What are you playing this weekend? Here’s what we’re clicking on!

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Eternal is probably the strongest of Hearthstone‘s rivals for the card-game throne, and out of early access today. Dire Wolf Digital’s take on the genre is presented in very familiar fashion, but reintroduces many of Magic: The Gathering’s more technical concepts without over-complicating things, and eases players in with an escalating solo campaign. Eternal has been in early access for nearly two years, and the road to launch has been “hard and messy”, according to its developers, but they’re happy to call it done now – just in time to announce yet another 250-card expansion.

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At Final Fantasy 14‘s fan-festival today, Square Enix announced the third expansion for their increasingly popular MMORPG. Shadowbringers ups the ante, story-wise, promising players the chance to finally take on the technologically advanced Garlean empire directly. Of course, there’s yet another world-ending threat to contend with too. On top of the usual new classes and a raised level cap, Shadowbringers is also introducing the “Trust” system, bringing NPC party members outside of dungeons. Check the cinematic trailer and a peek at the Blue Mage side-class below.

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I’ve previously described Fractal Softworks’s space sim Starsector (primarily the work of solo dev Alexander Mosolov) as ‘Mount & Blade: Warband in space’. High praise at the time, but as of today’s version 0.9a release, I feel it might be selling it short. Today’s update (patch notes here) is over a year in the works, and vastly broadens the scope of involvement you can have in its still-expanding procedural space sandbox, including colony management. The excellent real-time tactical combat has been improved too, including new battles against enormous orbital platforms.

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Two weeks ago, I was sat in a dive bar so scuzzy it was practically underwater. It was there my friend told me he spent nearly all his time playing Paladins on his Xbox, and I learnt two things. 1) Paladins must be bigger than I thought, and 2) platform restrictions can make me sad.

Today, in the opening announco-blast of Atlanta’s Hi-Rez Expo, Hi-Rez announced that cross-platform play is coming to Paladins, Realm Royale and Smite.

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Sunset Overdrive, Insomniac’s silly semi-open-world platform shooter has arrived on PC after a long stint as an Xbox One exclusive. It’s bright, loud, dumb and the PC version launches at budget price, including all the previously-expensive DLC. There’s just one horrible mutant fly in the ointment: Our version is single-player only, and misses out on the excellent eight-player Chaos Squad multiplayer mode. Still a good game, but it’s a pity to see such a major part axed in the transition. A familiar (but slightly sharper) trailer is below.

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While some nerks will wang on about the golden age of games writing from magaziners like Karen Gillan, the 90s words I most adored were Digitiser on Channel 4’s Teletext [For non-UK readers: Teletext was like a website but on the telly -localisation ed]>. With relentless jokes and foolishness, it was huge influence on my own writing. After resurrecting Digitiser as as a website a few years back, now editor Paul “Mr. Biffo” Rose and pals have made a TV sort of thing. Digitiser The Show is a weekly YouTube series which includes old people joking about old games, and my god it’s worth it all for the live-action Duck Hunt.

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Mega Man X, Metroid and Bloodborne are an odd set of inspirations, but from the demo I just played of Lore Finder, a Lovecraft-inspired exploration platformer, they blend surprisingly well. Developed by Kitsune Games and currently crowdfunding on Kickstarter, Lore Finder is halfway funded after just one day, and backed up with a ‘vertical slice’ early demo which you can play here. While condensed (compared to what’s planned for the full game) it’s a fun bit of running and gunning with a bit of LGBTQ representation in its cast too. An ominous trailer lurks below.

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Okay so get this rap, cats: You got you yer motorcycles, you got yer steampunk, you got you yer sadboy walking to the right. It can t go wrong, right? This is a sure thing. We got this. You, me, and the rest of us rat-eared mutants are gonna hit the big time with this thing. This here Steel Rats game checks all the boxes, and boy are we about to hit the big time.

Except we aren t. In a game that s about riding motorcycles, not much feels very motorcycley.

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Who remembers the Marble Blast games? Brilliant little 3D physics platformers, a bit like Super Monkey Ball but with a jump button, some clever power-ups and often non-linear levels. Marble It Up is a spiritual sequel from many of the original developers, now operating under their own namesake – ‘Marble It Up LLC’. It’s out now on PC today after a well-received debut on Switch. Today’s new incarnation includes a PC-exclusive level editor and Steam Workshop support to share your creations with the world. Roll on the launch trailer below.

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