Getting bigger and sleeker and wider and brighter

Do you ever find yourself trying to remember

Chain reaction

As NFT tech attracts big names – and big bans – does it have a future in videogames?

Rebel alliance

Inside Kepler Interactive, the studio-owned group putting new emphasis on collaboration

The lady’s not for burning

How Thatcher’s Techbase became the most talked-about videogame satire of 2021

PUNY HUMANS

Build a colourful army of pixel-art people – then feed them into an AI-designed meat grinder

Soundbytes

Game commentary in snack-sized mouthfuls

THIS MONTH ON EDGE

When we weren’t doing everything else, we were thinking about stuff like this

DISPATCHES CHRISTMAS

Dialogue

Trigger Happy

Shoot first, ask questions later

Unreliable Narrator

Exploring stories in games and the art of telling tales

THE GUNK

Goo your own way

OXENFREE II: LOST SIGNALS

The ghosts are back – and this time they’ve brought a cult

FINAL FANTASY XIV: ENDWALKER

Bringing out the scythes for the first saga’s finale

A MEMOIR BLUE

When childhood feels like only yesterday

MIDAUTUMN

Exploring the Asian diaspora via a Hades-style Roguelike

FRANK AND DRAKE

Shelley and Stoker would be proud

BACKBEAT

The studio behind Hexagroove is back to funk you up

ROUNDUP

BATTLEFIELD 2042 Developer/publisher Electronic Arts (DICE) Format PC,

CAT POWER

Four legs better: how Stray’s feline star makes BlueTwelve’s debut an urban adventure like no other

COLLECTED WORKS NOLAN BUSHNELL

The origins of the videogame industry, according to the man with the plan

CANADA DRIVE

In Montreal, the world’s largest concentration of game-making talent is still growing – but is it also growing up?

THE MAKING OF . . .

FROSTPUNK

10TONS

The Finnish shoot-’em-up specialist on two decades of top-down change

Let’s push things for ward?

Two entries in long-running series head up this

Genshin Impact

How the free-to-play smash encourages a new approach to open-world adventuring

Outer Wilds

A progress report on the games we just can’t quit

#366 December 2

Metroid Dread

Developer MercurySteam, Nintendo EPD Publisher Nintendo

Post Script

Has Metroid been left behind by the genre it essentially founded?

Far Cry 6

Developer/publisher Ubisoft (Toronto) Format PC, PS4, PS5

Post Script

Far Cry 6’s timid political perspective does a disservice to players and real-world struggles

Back 4 Blood

Developer Turtle Rock Publisher Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment

Post Script

The fight to become Left 4 Dead’s successor

Lemnis Gate

Developer Ratloop Games Canada Publisher Frontier Developments Format

Lost Judgment

Talk about a school of hard knocks. Investigating

Inscryption

Developer Daniel Mullins Games Publisher Devolver Digital

The Good Life

Developer White Owls, Grounding Inc Publisher Playism

Mon Amour

Developer/publisher Onion Games Format PC, Switch (tested)

ElecHead

Developer NamaTakahashi Publisher NamaTakahashi, Tsuyomi Format PC Release

Unpacking

Developer Witch Beam Publisher Humble Games Format PC

Beast Breaker

Developer/publisher Vodeo Games Format PC, Switch (tested) Release