Let it be known that whatever I write lower down about what I'm playing this weekend may end up being a big old lie, as I'm exhausted and will likely instead spend my entire weekend asleep. But with my last conscious breath of the week, I shall shout to the heavens... What are you playing this weekend, my friends?
It must have been a stressful few days for Microsoft. Game Pass changes nobody likes, admitting the first Xbox-branded handheld costs a thousand bucks, having to tell the Israeli military that they need to see other people. Yeesh. No wonder they’re so intent on blowing off steam by taking a scythe to Windows 10 security updates this month, a move that will effectively end official support for the operating system.
Today sees the release of Éalú, a point-and-click puzzler about a wooden mouse exploring a maze. It's a lovely-looking thing - a "true stop-motion game", as the Steam page puts it, with every frame of animation based on photography of physical props and sets. After watching the trailer, it's no huge surprise to learn that designer, animator and writer Ivan Fisher-Owen has a wider background in puppet-making and gadgetry. He and his partner Dr Emma Fisher-Owen run Beyond the Bark, an inclusive theatrical fabrication company based in Limerick, Ireland ("éalú" is an Irish word for "escape").
Backstage know-how aside, Éalú draws upon Ivan Fisher-Owen's misgivings about the brain-souring effects of being terminally online, with some interesting metaphors for everyday hellsite routines I will try my best not to baldly unpack. I listed Éalú in this week's Maw round-up, and Fisher-Owen got in touch with me afterward to share code and chat briefly about the project's guiding anxieties.