Category Archives: Terraforming Mars

Board games have been having a bit of a cultural moment. They experienced a resurgence of popularity at the beginning of the pandemic. A Statista report projected the total overall board game market might reach US$12-billion by 2023.

It makes sense that board games gained popularity during the pandemic. Board games can provide relatively affordable, reusable, home-based entertainment. Scrabble was designed by Alfred Mosher Butts during the Great Depression. Eleanor Abbott created Candy Land after her contracting polio and spending extended time in the hospital during the epidemic in the United States.

I have loved board games my whole life and in the last 10 years spent my time browsing shops for the newest releases, growing increasingly addicted to watching board game channels on YouTube and collecting games a collection which has taken over several rooms in my home.

I regularly noticed that these friendly local game shops were filled with mostly white men, often on their own, wandering the stacks. It made me wonder, why is board gaming so white and male?

As a doctoral student at X University and York University in their joint communication and culture program, I have noticed a lack of contemporary scholarship on board games, as most game scholarship focuses on video games.

To fill this gap, I decided to spend the last four years of my life delving into the industry.

Board gaming, like many other cultural spheres, has been socially shaped and constructed, with products being created for an imagined audience. The imagined audience for board games is, most often, a cis, straight, middle-class able-bodied white man.

The result of this social shaping has been that board gaming spaces have, over time, have become an exclusive preserve for this default, imagined audience. Sometimes, this kind of social shaping, intentionally or not, can create a vicious circle of exclusion for other identities.

As I talked to people in board gaming communities and examined the games themselves, I realized that there were big, systemic social, labour and economic issues that were limiting the wide-spread adoption of board gaming and market growth.

My research argues that one of the key factors facing board gaming is the homogeneity of the current board game design labour pool and limited representation on the products themselves.

I found that 92.6 per cent of the designers of the 400 top-ranked board games on BoardGameGeek were white men.

The cover art images on the boxes of the top-ranked 200 BoardGameGeek ranked games with games such as Gloomhaven (2017),Marvel Champions: The Card Game (2019), Terraforming Mars (2016) and Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization (2015) skewed heavily toward white-presenting males. Of the total 1,974 figures analyzed during my board game cover art analyses, white male imagery was predominant.

Images of men and boys represented 76.8 per cent of the human representation on covers, or 647 images in games such as Great Western Trail (2016) and War of the Ring: Second Edition (2012), compared to 23.2 per cent of the images of women and girls, which represented only 195 of the images counted as in games with more gender representation like Arkham Horror: The Card Game (2016) and Pandemic Legacy: Season 1 (2015)

White imagery was found on 82.5 per cent of the images or 528 compared to BIPOC imagery which made up only 17.5 per cent of the images, or 112 total images.

A lack of representation sends a message to potential audiences. But does this lack of representation matter to current board gamers?

I conducted an online survey of 320 respondents in late 2020. In total, 70.7 per cent of respondents shared that they play board games at least once a week. More than half (53.5 per cent) of the sample have been board gaming for 11 years or more.

I tried to get a diverse sample through exhaustive recruitment efforts as I was looking to hear from voices that were not often heard from in other board game surveys.

I got back a set of respondents who were mainly from North America (73.8 per cent). The majority of survey respondents identified as women at 60.4 per cent, including trans women which represented 4.9 per cent. More than a quarter of my survey respondents identified as men at 25.3 per cent and 9.4 per cent identified as non-binary.

Most of the respondents were white (74.9 per cent), while 20.4 percent identified as BIPOC. More than half of the sample (52.8 per cent) identified as being part of the 2SLGBTQiIA+ community.

The survey respondents shared that gender and racial representation did matter to them, in fact it mattered a lot. Respondents agreed or strongly agreed (80.2 per cent) that board gaming has a problem with a lack of equitable gender representation in games design and 84 per cent agreed or strongly agreed that board gaming has a problem with a lack of equitable racial representation in games design.

Another overwhelming majority (83.6 per cent) agreed or strongly agreed that board gaming has a problem with a lack of equitable gender representation in board game artwork. Similarly, 84 per cent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that board gaming has a problem with a lack of equitable racial representation in board game artwork.

The current reality? Despite straight white males making up roughly 25 per cent of the U.S. population the U.S. being one of the worlds largest consumer markets and straight white males being an even smaller portion of the global market they currently make up about 80 per cent or more of the representation in board games.

Do these realities the board game industrys persistent focus on a small demographic and its skewed representation on the products toward this small population create the necessary conditions for market growth and expansion of the board game industry?

The answer can only be no.Tanya A Pobuda, PhD Candidate, Graduate/Research Assistant, Communication and Culture, Toronto Metropolitan University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Why Is Board Gaming So White And Male? I'm Trying To Figure That Out - Kotaku Australia

The term terraforming was first used in Jack Williamsons 1941 story Collision Orbit. As you know, Bob, terraforming is the process of transforming an environment hostile to Terrestrial life into a habitable environment. Humans have been doing this in a minor way for millennia, even before they started domesticating plants. But what were talking about here is going from you die outside the dome to you can go outside, breathe the air, and plant a garden.

Sapients from other worlds might also want to reshape other planets to suit their needs and tastes. Call it xenoforming. Perhaps they might want to xenoform our planet. Theres no guarantee that what suits us would suit them and considerable dramatic potential if it does not, particularly if the aliens have better tech than we do. H.G. Wells was an early pioneer of this conceit in his The War of the Worldsthe Red Weed pushes aside terrestrial plants, at least for a timebut he is hardly the only author to use the idea. Consider these five works about hostile xenoforming.

Will Parker is born and raised in an orderly world, where young people grow to adulthood and are Capped, transforming them into docile, well-behaved adults fit to serve Earths rulers. Said rulers are not other humans but rather the Masters, unseen aliens who govern Earth from their great strongholds. Given that Capping is a form of lobotomy, it is just as well that Will and his chums escape Capping and turn rebel, joining the miniscule resistance against humanitys overlords.

After infiltrating one of the Masters strongholds in The City of Gold and Lead, Will discovers that the situation is far more serious than the resistance thought. The Masters huddle within their cities because they cannot breathe terrestrial air. The aliens have both the ability and the intention to xenoform the Earth, a side effect of which would be the total extinction of the human race (well, a few might be saved as zoo exhibits). The Masters must be stopped if humanity is to be savedbut if humanity at its height fell before the aliens, what hope is there for the rebels?

***

Military and political defeats followed by humiliating concessions to Americas enemies have shaken the United States. Distraction would be welcome, if only distraction did not come in the form of deadly plagues (that kill two-thirds of the human population) and voracious alien lifeforms (that attack the survivors).

Earth is under attack. Protagonist Jim McCarthy joined Americas elite military forces almost by accident, but having survivedthus farhe is determined to do his bit to convince Earths enemies to abandon their plan to reshape Earth. Alas, the first step in changing an invaders mind is establishing communicationand the architects of the invasion have not yet revealed themselves.

***

Post-Reagan Era housewife Sue leads an unrewarding life. Her energetic children make cleaning a never-ending task. She does love her husband Fred, but there are also the days she cannot stand him (particularly when work problems follow him home). Its completely understandable that Sue would want to escape into a fantasy world. But it is less clear why Sue keeps returning to the world she inhabits as Lady Amalia, as Lady Amalias troubles are so much greater than Sues.

Its not clear if this fantasy world is real or imaginary. What is obvious is that the Dark is inexorably spreading across Lady Amalias world, displacing familiar plants and animals withother things. If this continues unchecked, the world about which Sue daydreams will become Dark and alien. Odd that this process mirrors challenges in Sues own life.

***

The aliens who dispatched the engineered lifeforms humans call Mimics did stop to consider the morality of xenoforming a world that might well be inhabited. But they concluded that xenoforming would be as ethically neutral as killing insects to make way for housing construction. No need to examine Earth before reshaping it.

Keiji Kiriya, human, thinks human needs are more important than alien schemes. Thus, his brief, glorious career in Earths defence forces. Thus his inevitable death the first time he encounters Mimics. His resurrection in the paston the morning before the first battlecomes as an unexpected surprise. Alas, the results of the rerun battle are little better than the first. The same is true of the second. And the thirdbut by death 157, Keiji is getting the hang of the time loop in which he is trapped and well on his way to figuring out how he might save the Earth for humans.

***

Eight times the Jurelia have invaded Sarn; eight times they have been driven off by the Eborans. What they have left behind: tracts of poisoned lands haunted by malevolent spirits. This would be the fate of the whole world should the Jurelia ever succeed. Regrettably for Sarn, the Eboran tree-god Ygseril died during the Eighth Rain. Without Ygseril, the Eborans have dwindled into a sad remnant of their former selves. If there is a Ninth Rain, the Eborans will not be able to save their land and their world.

Lady Vincenza Vintage de Grazon is determined to replace semidivine warriors with something far more powerful: science! She and her Eboran companion Tormalin the Oathless seek out Jurelia relics to better understand the invader and why it behaves as it does. Perhaps Vintage will uncover a relic that, once disassembled and understood, will allow the scientist to save her world from the invaders. Or perhaps she and Tormalin will simply get eaten by a nightmarish predator.

***

Of course, Wells and the five authors above are hardly the only authors to explore xenoforming as a plot device. Feel free to visit the comments below and list all the other works I could have cited.

Originally published May 2021.

In the words of Wikipedia editor TexasAndroid, prolific book reviewer and perennial Darwin Award nominee James Davis Nicoll is of questionable notability. His work has appeared in Publishers Weekly and Romantic Times as well as on his own websites, James Nicoll Reviewsand the Aurora finalist Young People Read Old SFF (where he is assisted by editor Karen Lofstrom and web person Adrienne L. Travis). He is a four-time finalist for the Best Fan Writer Hugo Award and is surprisingly flammable.

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Five Stories in Which Aliens Attempt to Reshape the Earth - Tor.com

The digital version of the popular board game, Terraforming Mars, is free on Epic Games until early Thursday (May 12).

If you act quickly, PC players can nab the base game off the Epic Games store until Thursday at 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT). If you still want the physical board game, the base version of Terraforming Mars is still 22% off at Amazon, saving you just over $15 off its $69.95 price.

The popular space board game sets up players for long-term settlement of the Red Planet. The game is set in the 2400s and envisions an era where humans are remaking (or terraforming) their surroundings to improve oxygen levels, raise the temperature and increase ocean coverage to improve habitability.

If you want to try the board game and other space games like it, be sure to check out our best space board games and space board games deals guides. If you like space games but this isn't quite the deal for you, then you can also check out our Lego space deals and best VR space games pages.

The Terraforming Mars sale comes during a large push to reach the Red Planet in real life. While we're not quite at the moment where we plan to alter the planet right now, we have numerous Mars missions in orbit and on the surface searching for ancient signs of habitability.

For example, NASA's Perseverance Mars rover mission is seeking out signs of ancient microbes that the agency and its partner, the European Space Agency, will ship back to Earth via sample return no earlier than 2033.

The digital version of Terraforming Mars was first released in 2018 with assistance from Jacob Fryxelius, the original board game author. It comes with add-ons that you'll have to pay for at this time. One expansion includes extra Hellas and Elysium maps and another expansion, Prelude, focuses on more game mechanics and expansion.

Today's best Terraforming Mars deals

Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter@howellspace. Follow uson Twitter@Spacedotcomand onFacebook.

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Get the Terraforming Mars video game for free right now from Epic Games - Space.com

Wednesdays best Android game and app deals are now up for the taking courtesy of Google Play. Just be sure to scope out the ongoing deals on Samsungs latest Galaxy S22+/Ultra as well as offers on its foldable Galaxy Z Flip 3 and Sonys new Xperia PRO-I 4K OLED smartphone while youre at it. Our app collection is highlighted by titles such as Terraforming Mars, Green Project, Swapperoo, Fenix 2 for Twitter, and much more. Take a complete look at todays best Android app deals down below the fold.

Alongside ongoing price drops on Samsungs latest Galaxy S22+/Ultra and the ASUS Chromebook Flip CX5, todays Android hardware offers are headlined by Samsungs foldable Galaxy Z Flip 3 at a new all-time low at $200 off. That offer joins the first notable price drop on Sonys new Xperia PRO-I 4K OLED smartphone with $200 in savings. Then go hit up these fresh new Anker gear deals from $11 and everything in our smartphone accessories roundup.

Lead a corporation and launch ambitious Mars terraforming projects. Direct massive construction works, manage and use your resources, create cities, forests and oceans, and set rewards and objectives to win the game! Mars for all: Play against the computer or challenge up to 5 players in multiplayer mode, online or offline. Game variant: Try the rules of the Corporate Era for a more complex game. With the addition of new cards, including 2 new corporations, focused on economy and technology, you will discover one of the most strategic variants of the game!

Subscribe to the 9to5Toys YouTube Channel for all of the latest videos, reviews, and more!

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Android app deals of the day: Terraforming Mars, Green Project, Fenix 2 for Twitter, more - 9to5Toys

Board games are an excellent way to spend an afternoon or evening socialising with friends around a table. No doubt their popularity has skyrocketed in recent years, not just because of the pandemic but because theres been plenty of new and familiar classics hitting the shelves.

There really is something for everyone, with games ranging from traditional world-conquering strategy or even ones themed around niche hobbies, like bird watching. But, while there are board games aplenty, it can be difficult to find enough people to play with.

As a social in-person event, rounding up enough players for a quick game can be a painful exercise and thats before youve even had a chance to read the rulebook.

Even if you rally the troops, trying to recount complex turn movements or keep people engaged enough to play can be a challenge in itself, especially for tabletop games that can take hours to work through. So maybe you want to find a game that you can play through by yourself?

Thankfully, there are plenty of tabletop experiences that now come included with a single-player element. Whether you want to play through solo to teach yourself the rules or just want a quiet night in, these are some of our favourite board games that can be enjoyed with just one player.

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How we tested

Each game on our list was included based on not just the engagement and quality of the gameplay itself, but the contents of the box, including game pieces, cards, instructions and other paraphernalia. While our list is focused on the single-player experiences being offered, we only considered games that could also be played in a larger group, so that if you wanted to take it over to a friends house or invite people over to play it, thats still possible you wont find any exclusively solo experiences here.

The difficulty ranking assigned to each entry not only covers how hard it is to play, but also to learn the rules and generally set it up before the game commences. Weve tried to include a variety of different challenge levels and prices so that players new to tabletops can start things off easy before throwing themselves into more complex games. Heres the ones to buy ahead of your next games night.

The best single-player board games for 2022 are:

Best: Overall

Rating: 10/10

Gloomhaven has been cited as one of the best board games ever made, and for good reason. Its deep, player-driven campaign goes far beyond most other role-playing board games and an evolving narrative gives plenty of reasons to keep returning. Players will make choices along the way, fight stronger enemies improve the towns prosperity, and even retire their characters once theyve completed their story arc before taking on a new role.

Its certainly a good fit for a party of would-be adventurers but it works equally as well as a single-player experience with one person controlling two characters. Each game session can be broken down into a single scenario which makes it much less daunting than the number of pieces would have you believe. Like all good adventure games, it will take time to complete but players will be grateful for the journey.

Best: Easy set up

Rating: 8/10

Assemble a quilt that will attract the most cats by laying hexagonal tiles on a small board. Points can be gained for matching pattern-types with a particular cats preference or simply having three adjacent colours.

Its an easy game to set up with tiles being stored in a drawstring bag before being laid on the table for players to choose to add to their quilt. Single-player mode works by having each of the tiles moving out of the game like a production line and means there is a constant fresh supply to choose from. Calico is easy to learn and challenges a players spatial reasoning and pattern recognition.

A fun little note, the cats featured in the game are based off of each of the game designers real-life pets, which is just lovely.

Best: Survival

Rating: 8/10

As a cooperative board game, players assume different roles such as a cook, soldier and explorer. They are stranded on a deserted island and must build shelter, hunt/forage for food and gather resources to survive long enough to be rescued. The survival element is what makes it a worthy solo experience if not for the added authenticity.

There are a number of different scenarios that players can choose from, starting with a basic castaway premise all the way up to escaping an island of cannibals. As more of the island is explored, players can re-establish their base camp to make the most of their new surroundings but tropical storms blowing in or wandering apex predators can easily undo a lot of progress.

Best: Engine builder

Rating: 9/10

About as wholesome as a board game can get, players are tasked with attracting birds to their aviary to score points. Birds can be summoned based on their preferred habitat and as the number of birds start to grow, players can use their abilities to create a chain reaction that benefits them such as laying more eggs or gathering more food tokens.

The single player component works against an AI opponent known as Automa so while there is still a competitive element, players can use a separate deck of cards to determine their counterparts moves. Players can even determine how much of a challenge Automa will put up, so theres plenty of opportunities for replayability.

Best: Sci-fi

Rating: 8/10

In Terraforming Mars, players take control of a corporation as they go through the process of making the red planet inhabitable. This is achieved by creating oceans, building greenhouses and raising the temperature of the planet so that it is liveable. Each turn (or generation) gives players a chance to move one step further towards achieving a sustainable space colony.

While a group-based game requires players to score points and complete objectives, the single-player experience is a simple race against the clock, with all parameters (oxygen, temperature and oceans) needing to be completed by the end of the fourteenth turn to achieve victory. Each corporation plays differently, so its worth replaying as each one to get a feel for their strengths and weaknesses.

Best: Town builder

Rating: 8/10

In Tiny Towns players build, well, a tiny town. Each player has a four-by-four grid that they place resource cubes on to create a new building for their town. Once a building is complete, the tile it is located can no longer be used for construction so the grid gradually gets smaller as the game goes on and players finish when theres no space left to build.

Its single player variant requires players to draw from a deck of cards rather than choose resources themselves, with players tallying their scores at the end to determine their success in miniature city planning. Its a game that requires a careful balance of forward planning and resource management with players needing to adapt their strategy based on what resources are available.

Best: Strategy

Rating: 9/10

In an alternative 1920s post-war landscape on the fictional continent of Europa, different factions are all vying for control of resources to rebuild their economy using workers and giant mechs. Players win by having the most money by the end of the game which can be achieved through a number of different objectives, such as controlled resources and even their popularity with the common people. Its a game with a lot of depth and interlacing systems but it is much easier to follow than its set up would have you believe.

Like Wingspan (42, Amazon.co.uk), single-player games are played against our old friend, Automa. Difficulty levels will differ based on what deck of cards are being dealt, with Automas turns determining everything from worker movements to combat. It may take a bit more time to adjust to the updated rules the AI has to follow in order for it to work, but it makes for a decent adversary when the ball gets rolling.

Best: Horror

Rating: 9/10

Mansions of Madness sees characters exploring creepy houses in a Lovecraftian setting to reveal the Eldritch horrors therein. The board game works with an app that dictates what happens next in the story, such as what new rooms, non-playable characters and enemies are revealed.

Players move their characters figurines around the board to explore different rooms, escape monsters and gather clues hidden around each mansion. As the app is doing a lot of the heavy lifting, its a fairly simple board game to learn and makes a one-person game move quite quickly if youre using it on your phone.

Best: Fantasy

Rating: 8/10

If youre looking for a similar experience to that of Mansions of Madness (72.99, Amazon.co.uk) but without the horror, then the official Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-Earth is a great alternative. It has similar rules and a familiar fantasy setting but there are a few mechanical differences, for example, the roles that each character can choose at the start of each game. However, exploration takes much the same form, using a companion app to dictate where enemies come from and what new areas appear in each scenario.

If you are already a Tolkien fan, then this will clearly be the better choice to showcase your devotion and offers enough deviation from Mansions of Madness to be considered in its own category for its simple set up and the quality of its miniatures.

Best: Escape room

Rating: 7/10

Boiling down the experience of a timed escape room into a deck of tarot-sized cards is a great way to spend an hour at home. The first card drawn gives a detailed description of each scenario before an in-app timer is started and the card is flipped to reveal the room.

Players draw numbered cards from the deck according to different points of interest in the room and must use them to find a means of escape. When two corresponding cards (such as a key and a door) have their numeric values added together, another card is drawn to reveal the result, which may not always be the correct solution and can cost you time if you get it wrong. The app can also be used to solve other puzzles such as a opening a padlocked box or finding the right button combination on an electronic door.

Most of the scenarios available in this box of three can be played with just one player but The Island of Doctor Goorse will require at least two players. The only drawback is that once a scenario has been completed, the mystery is revealed so it can really only be played once (unless you really like solving puzzles you already know the answer to).

Best: Choose your own adventure

Rating: 8/10

If you remember choose your own adventure books, where different pages take you down different paths of a branching narrative, then What Next? works in much the same way. There are three decks of cards each with their own story of varying difficulty. Once the first card is drawn, each new card directs players through the deck until the story is resolved, but there are a few twists.

At certain points, each card will task players with completing a mini-game of sorts, such as assembling puzzle pieces in a set amount of time, locating different-shaped items in a blind bag or pushing a puck on a miniature shuffleboard. Players also have to be wary of peril pieces essentially stackable cairn stones and if players knock them down, its game over.

Certain mini-games must allow for at least two players but there are variations that can be undertaken if played solo. Naturally, the different story paths players can take also means that each of the three campaigns can be replayed to explore different options but this can only be done a finite number of times before repetition will set in. The mini-games also offer a more dextererous challenge that gives the game some added flare. Its fun alone but also works well in a group of four as an accessible party game thats simple to set up.

Our pick for our favourite board game that you can play solo is Gloomhaven, a deeply expansive RPG that will give players plenty of reasons to return just to see their characters grow as the campaign unfolds. It consistently tops the list of best board games ever made for a reason and it really is worth the journey.

If you are completely new to the world of designer board games, then Calico is also a good place to start, if only to prove that tabletop games dont need to be gritty, complicated affairs in order to be enjoyed. It also helps that it comes in a relatively small box and can be set up and put away in just a few minutes without much fuss.

If youre looking for a good middle ground between those two extremes, then something like Wingspan or Terraforming Mars are also good games to delve into deeper once youve caught the board game bug. Theyre both quite popular and can easily be found online and in stores.

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Want to double the fun? Read our review of the best board games for two players

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11 best solo board games that can be enjoyed by one-player - The Independent

Do as Arnold says and get your ass to Mars

This week on the Epic Games Store, board game purveyor Asmodee Digital is giving out Terraforming Mars for free. Just claim the PC game by May 12 to lock it up in your library.

As a quick aside, this music puts me in a real Commander Shepard state of mind.

Terraforming Mars is an adaptation of Jacob Fryxelius 2016 strategy board game, and like its award-winning source material, youll try to forget all of the terrible stuff you saw in Total Recall and Red Faction as you work to bend Mars to your will. Progress must be made!

Corporations clash as you and your big-business rivals transform Mars into a habitable planet by spending vast resources and using innovative technology to raise temperature, create a breathable atmosphere, and make oceans of water to pile up Victory Points.

The PC game has single-player support if you want to really take your time, or you can compete under pressure with five others, whether thats AI opponents or real players.

I wasnt there at launch, but looking through the user reviews, Terraforming Mars was in dire need of bug fixing and other fine-tuning and it has gotten better with updates.

As an avid fan of the board game, I can recommend this game for new and experienced players, noted a player who goes by nimrod. The way it keeps track of your points and cards is super convenient and the interface is easy to learn. If you enjoy a nice calm game to play alone or with friends that wracks your brain a lil bit, this ones for you.

If you ever need a feel-good palette cleanser, keep an eye on Terra Nil, too.

Terraforming Mars will be free to claim and keep until May 12, at which point the Epic Games Store will swap in Jotun: Valhalla Edition and Prey until May 19. Arkanes paranoid space-station FPS with immersive-sim tendencies gets a lotta love around here.

Jordan Devore

Jordan is a founding member of Destructoid and poster of seemingly random pictures. They are anything but random.

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Terraforming Mars is free on the Epic Games Store - Destructoid

Welcome to our guide PUBG: How To Use Crossplay?. The multiplayer shootinggamePlayerUnknowns Battlegrounds is extremely popular, but is it cross-platform? Heres an overview of which platforms are compatible with PUBG crossplay.

Yes, PUBG allows players to play across platforms, but only between PlayStation & Xbox platforms. This means that theXbox One, theXbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4& PlayStation 5 users will be eligible to play together. Players on PC & Stadia will only be allowed to compete with other people who have PUBG on their platform.

Although PUBG is supported on smartphones, gamers are unable to access to the game on other platforms. This means that players that play PUBG on their mobile devices will be unable to compete in crossplay. They can, however, still join with fellow mobile PUBG players.

Simply follow these instructions to activate crossplay in PUBG:

Choose the Settings option from the games main menu. Choose Cross Platform Play from the Gameplay menu. Now, Enable must be selected.

Thats all youll now be ready to play against players from all around the world on a number of platforms.

We hope you liked our guide PUBG: How To Use Crossplay?. Feel free to leave a comment below!

In conclusion, stay tuned for more such awesome articles and guides related to all your favorite and exciting games. We post fresh content daily and if there is something specific that you would like us to cover then please do let us know all about it in the comments section below. Your thoughts and opinions matter the most to us because they helps us to serve you better.

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Vampire the Masquerade - Bloodhunt: What Are The Best Features Of Nosferatu Prowler? - The West News

Zelda: Breath Of The Wild 2 are you worried? (pic: Nintendo)

The Thursday letters page thinks Sony are justified in blocking PS Plus subscription stacking, as one reader loses faith in the Prince Of Persia remake.

To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Testing the limitsAs much as Im looking forward to Zelda: Breath Of The Wild 2 does anyone else worry that its taking just a little too long and that its probably too ambitious for the Switch hardware? I guess maybe they could announce the Switch Pro or Switch 2 by the time it comes out next year but that sounds more like wishful thinking than something Nintendo is likely to do.

For generations now Nintendo has been running low-powered hardware and as we know that has no effect on their ability to produce classic games. That doesnt mean it doesnt create problems though. Nintendo would probably have beaten PlayStation if the N64 had had CDs and the Wii wouldve probably put Sony and Microsoft out of business if it had everything it did and was just as powerful as its rivals.

I understand why this didnt happen, and that being underpowered is often a benefit to Nintendos creativity, but after playing Elden Ring I want a Zelda game that looks like that, not a reheated Wii U game. Of course Ill still buy it, and Im sure itll be great, but if it ends up having performance problems or struggles to get across its idea with limited graphics I think itll be a sign that the Switch 2 is long overdue.Trisco

Angry upgradeSomeone needs to do something about Sony basically scamming people with this new subscription. For one, I better not have to pay extra money when they automatically transfer my PS Plus and PS Now. It better be the same price or Im throwing my PlayStation in the garbage.

Two: lower their goddamn price for Premium. Its horrid. Only extra thing we get is PlayStation 3 games and guess what!? You still cant download them! Not everyone has NASA internet, OK? We cant just stream the classic games we know and love from PlayStation.

Theyre just getting worse and worse and Im harshly considering switching to Xbox forever. As terrible as their UI is, at least they care about their fans and dont beg for my money.Idiot Boy

GC: Why are you so angry? You dont seem to have read up on anything about the new services, the current PS Plus and PS Plus Essential are exactly the same price.

Sensible decisionI have to agree with Chris about Korbies Readers Feature, what hes saying is its OK for him to rip-off Sony on stacking PS Now but when Sony block it he says hes being ripped off? How can he be ripped off? Sony has hinted and said on reveal that day one Sony games are not included with their Game Pass so how is Sony ripping gamers off? All they have done is stopped gamers getting though a loophole that shouldnt of been there in the first place.

If I owned Sony Id of done the same and if Korbie owned Sony so would he. If Im honest, Sonys three tiers are wrong anyway. The only way you can get their Game Pass is wrong. You have to buy PS Plus to get their Game Pass, thats wrong. The three levels should be 1. Just PS Plus, 2. Game Pass on its own, and 3. You get everything PS Plus and Game Pass. But like I said Im not interested in Game Pass not without day one PlayStation games.David

E-mail your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Common knowledgeI have to chime in on the PS Plus stacking madness that was featured the other day. It was an awful read. I had second-hand embarrassment reading it.

To describe Sony as basically going down the pan because they fixed a loophole that, effectively, gives 50% off their new product for the next X years was a strange conclusion.

When did we become a nation of Karens, ready to see the manager, because the price sticker said its 1.99, so its 1.99? Thats just not how the world works.

It was good while it lasted, you were getting a great deal you werent supposed to, and its nice of them to honour those that managed to get in and stack a few subscriptions, but that wasnt how it was supposed to work. You know that. We all know that.Matt

Off the shelfIn response to Geoff, asking about a 2,000 PC, I actually wouldnt suggest building your own but rather getting a build from the likes of Chillblast. I have my own PC from them and the customer service is excellent. An example of a 2K build.

Graphics cards and processors are getting a bit easier to find, and closer to standard prices, but are by no means easily found yet.Joe/Just1MoreTry

Double recommendationOn recommending audio headsets I have had an Astro wired headset since 2016, recommended by another reader. It was my first surround headset for my home, as I cant have surround speakers because of the amount of noise they can generate in a block of flats where I live. The Astro is really good and I still use it now. There will be wireless versions available now, obviously.

The one I have connects to the optical out on the back of my LG TV and then when I play games on varying Xboxes, PlayStations, Nintendo consoles, and PC I can get the audio through the Astro headset and amp. I also bought the Sony 3D Pulse headset for my PlayStation 5 because of the 3D audio feature, they are very good too.Andrew J.Currently playing: Roki (PC)PS: The free game on Epic Games Store on Thursday from 4pm is Terraforming Mars and it hasnt been given away free by Epic before.

Money on the tableWith Nintendo Switch Sports reminding people motion controls do exist on the console(!), I do wonder why Nintendo havent released a Ring Fit 2 or DLC maps or new exercises for it. Or maybe brand new games that make inventive use of the Ring-Con controllers.

Though seeing how long it took them to release new Mario Kart tracks, maybe Im being too optimistic in expecting any more Ring-Con goodness!ttfp saylow (gamertag)Now playing: Ring Fit Adventure and Chinatown Detective Agency

GC: They did release a bit of free DLC early on but, like you say, its baffling why they havent done more with it. But then we still dont understand why they ended support for Splatoon 2 and Animal Crossing: New Horizons so early.

Almost perfectSo whats all this one of the in your Bloodborne article, eh GC? I think you meant to write is the.

In all seriousness, I reloaded it just to have a meander around Yharnam again and just the thought of it looking as stunning as Demons Souls on PlayStation 5 and running at a fully locked 60fps is enough to enough to make a man whats that smell? The sweet blood, oh how it sings to me. Its enough to make a man sick.

And if they do a full remake using the Kos (though some say Kosm) Bluepoint graphics engine like they once did for the Vacuous Rom then this cursed beast will grant them eyes!

The original is still utterly fantastic even now. Vicar Amelias screams still run right through me.Wonk

GC: If only theyd have released a PlayStation 5 patch to sort out the performance issues, we wouldve upped its score to 10/10 right then and there. Sony better have something planned, and soon.

Inbox also-ransThat Prince Of Persia remake mustve been pretty bad if even Ubisoft didnt want to publish it as it was. I cant say I have much faith in Ubisoft Montreal turning things around. The Sands Of Time was an imaginative, precision design platformer of the sort that doesnt exist any more, I doubt they could even copy it for a remake, let alone create a sequel.Marco

Oh, so Star Wars Day turned out to be a big nothing burger. I shouldve just listened to GC and not expected anything. Even the Obi-Wan trailer wasnt as good as the first one. Roll on Star Wars Celebration?Finkle

This weeks Hot TopicThe subject for this weekends Inbox was suggested by reader Malam, who asks what is your favourite video game weapon?

It can be anything from a gun in a first person shooter to a favoured sword in a role-playing game, but which have you enjoyed using the most and why? Is it simply because of how the weapon looks or feels or is there a story element to it that makes it a favourite or perhaps the fact that you spent a large part of the game upgrading it?

Whats the most original or strange weapon youve ever used in a video game, and which has been the most annoying or useless?

E-mail your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.uk

The small printNew Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content.

You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Readers Feature at any time, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot.

You can also leave your comments below and dont forget to follow us on Twitter.

MORE : Games Inbox: The future of Tomb Raider, Legacy Of Kain legacy, and Star Wars Day hopes

MORE : Games Inbox: Why Square Enix sold Tomb Raider, Microsoft buying WB Games, and Legacy Of Kain redux

MORE : Games Inbox: Best PS1 game to play today, COD: Modern Warfare 2 story, and Star Wars strategy game

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Games Inbox: Zelda: Breath Of The Wild 2 performance worries - Metro.co.uk

Welcome to our guide PUBG: How To Use Crossplay?. The multiplayer shootinggamePlayerUnknowns Battlegrounds is extremely popular, but is it cross-platform? Heres an overview of which platforms are compatible with PUBG crossplay.

Yes, PUBG allows players to play across platforms, but only between PlayStation & Xbox platforms. This means that theXbox One, theXbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4& PlayStation 5 users will be eligible to play together. Players on PC & Stadia will only be allowed to compete with other people who have PUBG on their platform.

Although PUBG is supported on smartphones, gamers are unable to access to the game on other platforms. This means that players that play PUBG on their mobile devices will be unable to compete in crossplay. They can, however, still join with fellow mobile PUBG players.

Simply follow these instructions to activate crossplay in PUBG:

Choose the Settings option from the games main menu. Choose Cross Platform Play from the Gameplay menu. Now, Enable must be selected.

Thats all youll now be ready to play against players from all around the world on a number of platforms.

We hope you liked our guide PUBG: How To Use Crossplay?. Feel free to leave a comment below!

In conclusion, stay tuned for more such awesome articles and guides related to all your favorite and exciting games. We post fresh content daily and if there is something specific that you would like us to cover then please do let us know all about it in the comments section below. Your thoughts and opinions matter the most to us because they helps us to serve you better.

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Bleach Brave Souls: What Are The Best Beginner Tips? - The West News

Yet another dreary week is almost over, which means there are freebies on Epics storefront waiting for you. Go ahead, treat yourself. Its all free-to-keep, after all!

This week, Just Die Already and Paradigm are free on the Epic Games Store until May 5, 2022, at 8:00 A.M. PDT // 11 A.M. EDT // 4 P.M. GMT. Just Die Already is some strange sandbox title about terrorizing the neighborhood as a senior citizen, while Paradigm is a surreal arthouse-like experiment. You can pick both up here and here, respectively. Its probably not intentional, but Epic sure is all-in on wonderfully weird stuff right now, eh?

Next week, Terraforming Mars will be free on the Epic Games Store from May 5, 2022, through May 12, 2022, at 8:00 A.M. PDT // 11 A.M. EDT // 4 P.M. GMT. Anyone that loves space exploration and colonization sims might be into this one. There arent many impressions out there for Terraforming Mars, aside from the Mostly Positive user rating on Steam. Again, its free, so scooping it up wont be an investment.

May is looking great for upcoming releases overall. If Epics free stuff doesnt tickle your fancy, maybe one of the many titles Amazon Prime Gaming is giving away will.

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.

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Terraforming Mars will be free on the Epic Games Store next week - For The Win