Ho ho ho! A merry Christmas to one and all. I hope you have a lovely time, or at least get a few days off work. If you don’t do Christmas, pardon my exuberance: what I’m mostly excited about is that we’ve now passed the solstice and daylight will start returning. I have missed daylight so very much.

RPS are now officially on holiday until January 3rd, though we have plenty lined up to fill your eyes before then. Some of our favourite freelancers will share their game picks of 2018, articles about subjects from seas to smooching are scheduled, Have You Played will continue, and oh god help me I’m told the Christmas cracker jokes will return. I want you to know the cracker jokes are not my fault.

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

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It s well known that games are an awful mistake that should have never been unleashed on an unsuspecting humanity. That said, here s five that hushed the howling primates that reside in my skull just long enough for me to consider them a worthwhile investment.

Honorable mentions go to Cultist Simulator (For it s alchemical harmony of theme and mechanics), Vermintide 2 (for being the second best Lord of the Rings game ever made) and Prey: Mooncrash (For being more Prey). Not in order of goodness: (more…)

Here’s a free little something to raise a smile before I (mostly) disappear for the holidays – it’s a new Nathalie Lawhead game-o-thing! Desktop Love Story is sweet way to spend ten minutes – living on your desktop in two folders are two files. They’ve never met in person, but the ambiguously_shy_file.exe has a bit of a crush on cute_file.exe, and it’s your job as admin of all the files in your domain to help them. Go on, grab it from Itch and lend them a hand. Or read Lawhead’s design notes on how something as simple and small as this was a headache to create. Love ain’t easy.

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While I’ve my issues with Amazon’s global mega-monopoly, I can’t deny that the monthly sack of games that Twitch gives out to Amazon Prime subscribers is an oft-impressive bunch. This month more impressive than most – it’s a bundle of Devolver Digital’s best, including Broforce, both Hotline Miami games, Strafe (much improved by updates), Crossing Souls, The Swords of Ditto and recently lauded ninja platformer The Messenger. You can grab a month of Prime (even the free trial) and once it lapses you get to keep the games, to be launched through the Twitch desktop app.

Update: Until December 31st, Twitch Prime also gives you the SNK Bundle, Hacknet: Complete Edition, Smoke & Sacrifice and Poi, all of which you get copies for yourself to keep and a spare to give to friends. The Devolver pack doesn’t come with extra gifts, but is available until January 31st.>

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Jeff Minter is back on PC with a trio of VR-optional games today, one of which is so cool that Nine Inch Nails made a music video about it. Originally for PlayStation VR, Polybius is – as you’d expect – a trippy thousand-mile-an-hour arcade shooter with hypnotic visuals, although today’s PC release can be played on a regular monitor too. Also out today is Minotaur Arcade Volume 1 – remakes of Llamasoft’s arcade shooter Gridrunner and iOS platformer Goatup, extruded into the third dimension and also playable in VR. You really should watch the NIN video below.

Update: Unfortunately the VR support on PC is for Oculus Rift only – no Vive support at present.>

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I imagine most of you have done your Christmas shopping already given its December 21 and just four days before a whole sleigh of stuffed turkey and roast potatoes arrives on our dinner plates, but just in case you’re in need of a few last minute emergency gift ideas, your deals herald is here to provide. To that end, this is a slightly more rounded edition of our usual best PC gaming deals round-up, including a few bits of other so-called ‘gaming merchandise’ in addition to our game and hardware deals. Don’t worry, though, I promise there isn’t a Funko Pop in sight, mostly because I’ve already burned them all in a fiery pit of boggle-eyed despair. Happy holidays!

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The end of the bizarre and troubling year 2018 is close, and with it comes a time of reflection. I hope you’re enjoying the RPS Advent Calendar, but even that cannot hope to contain the bounty this year provided.

When I joined Unknown Pleasures a year ago, I was a little fatigued with games. There were both too many to see and none that were grabbing me. This isn’t the critic speaking – I’d written only one article in a year – but the player. 2016-17 were by no means bad years for the PC, but despite all the industry drama (not to mention wider sociopolitical troubles) I think this is the best year we’ve had for PC games for absolutely ages.

The games are out there. The weird, the funny, the clever, the silly, the exciting, the touching, the unambitious-but-plain-good> games are positively sloshing about the place. But which ones were the best? So here it is: the pick of picks. A selection of the very best, weirdest, most original, and plain fun> Unknown Pleasures of 2018.

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Darksiders 3 seems like a game with an identity crisis, but it latest patch looks to align the Souls-inspired sequel a bit more with its predecessor’s less punishing combat. In its second major patch (noted here), Gunfire Games have added an optional “Classic” combat option, intended to feel a bit more like earlier Darksiders games. In this mode, players can now cancel out of attack animations by dodging and use items instantly. Outside of the new mode, Vulgrim now sells stat respecs, the level cap has been raised and they’ve added a few more checkpoints to the world.

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With Steam’s Winter Sale raging all over the store, where does one even start? Other than Dominic Tarason’s recommendations yesterday. Why, more recommendations of course! The RPS treehouse is a bit empty today, with many folks already sacked it off for the year, but I’ve shook the remaining few by their ankles until recommendations fell out.

Lots of our picks are cheaper than a Greggs lunch too, if you fancy tossing your virtuapals some games as digistocking stuffers.

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Monster Hunter: World has seen a fair number of collaborations, the latest one on PC will be between Capcom and Square Enix. The Behemoth update comes with some new armour, emotes, references to Final Fantasy, and a new Elder Dragon in the form of Behemoth. While not a siege battle like Kulve Taroth, this creature is perhaps the toughest single monster that you can kill in Monster Hunter: World to date. This will be a permanent addition for the game, with an extreme version used for limited time events, so you’ll need to know how to kill this hulking giant. This guide will go over the strengths and weaknesses, as well as all these interactions that you should be aware of going in, while of course keeping your distance.

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