Shivering more than the timbers in a trip out to sea

Exclusive subscriber edition As we’ve discussed here in

All hands on Deck

As the portable PC race hots up, we weigh up two rivals to Valve’s game-changing handheld

Creative crucible

The creator of Shadowrun returns with Adventure Forge, an entirely code-free game-creation kit

Gathering of developers

This year’s Develop conference in Brighton features an abundance of game-making talent

THE COSMIC GARDENER

Cultivate and annihilate as a spacefaring Monty Don in Hadoque’s Ultros

Soundbytes

Game commentary in snack-sized mouthfuls

THIS MONTH ON EDGE

Some of the other things on our minds when we weren’t doing everything else

DISPATCHES AUGUST

Link up Like most people, every waking minute

Trigger Happy

Shoot first, ask questions later

Alternate Reality

Notes from videogaming’s borders

You take what you give

Game-makers often talk about design by subtraction, even

COCOON

A beautiful puzzle adventure emerges from its chrysalis

COUNTER-STRIKE 2

What CT did next

BLASPHEMOUS 2

An expansive sequel embraces its inner Castlevania

SALTSEA CHRONICLES

All aboard for an ensemble adventure

STRAY GODS: THE ROLEPLAYING MUSICAL

Making choices, awaking voices

TIMES & GALAXY

Robot journalists? A dystopian vision indeed

ALONE IN THE DARK

Developer Pieces Interactive Publisher THQ Nordic Format PC,

FAIRGAME$

Developer/publisher SIE (Haven Studios) Format PC, PS5 Origin

DRAGON’S DOGMA 2

Developer/publisher Capcom Format PC, PS5, Xbox Series Origin

SWORD OF THE SEA

Developer Giant Squid Publisher Annapurna Interactive Format PC,

NEVA

Developer Nomada Studio Publisher Devolver Digital Format PC,

DEEP TROUBLE

The Chinese Room drills into a rich vein of ’70s horror in terrifying first person chiller Still Wakes The Deep

SYNATIC LEAP

After a decade in VR, UK studio nDreams is ready for the big time

HENRIQUE OLIFIERS

The Bossa boss on selling off hits, doubling down on co-op, and reinventing the ZX Spectrum

THE MAKING OF...

TUNIC

ENDNIGHT GAMES

How The Forest gave a tiny studio an outsized success

You’re welcome

Sequels and remakes might be very different nuts

X-Com: UFO Defense

What did Firaxis leave behind when adapting alien-invasion strategy for the modern world?

The Case Of The Golden Idol

Developer Color Gray Games Publisher Playstack Format PC, Switch Release 2023

Street Fighter 6

For a long while Tobal 2, the experimental

Post Script

Q+A: Takayuki Nakayama, director Takayuki Nakayama (right) first

Diablo IV

Roughly halfway through Diablo IV’s main questline, we

Post Script

On telling tales

System Shock

Something was wrong with the Citadel station’s onboard

Post Script

Q+A: Stephen Kick, game director

Miasma Chronicles

When your entire world operates on the logic

Amnesia: The Bunker

Trapped with an unkillable monster inside a First

After Us

This eco-conscious action adventure carries itself with the

Firmament

With its latest quiet science-fiction mystery, Cyan Worlds

The Lord Of The Rings: Gollum

How do you approach depicting one of fantasy

What The Car?

H aving immediately struck gold four years ago

Mask Of The Rose

L ove is surprisingly easy to come by,