استریم

Thinking Beyond Mechanisms Ep 17

Welcome!

Welcome to Ludology, an analytical discussion of the hows and whys of the world of board games. Rather than news and reviews, Ludology explores a variety of topics about games from a wider lens, as well as discuss game history, game design and game players.

We post a new Ludology episode every other week. In these episodes, hosts Erica Bouyouris and Sen-Foong Lim deep-dive into a single topic within game design, often with a well-regarded guest from the game industry. We generally focus on tabletop game design (mainly board games and RPGs), but we often pull in experts from all forms of games, from video games to escape rooms to slot machines.

On weeks where there is no flagship Ludology episode, we will alternate between two smaller mini-sodes. Erica and Sen are happy to announce that Sarah Shipp of Shippboard Games and Stephanie Campbell of TTRPGKids will be joining us for the next year, providing additional content between our longer episodes.

Sarah’s segment, Thinking Beyond Mechanisms, is a monthly feature that dives deeper into the other aspects of games beyond the dice and cards we’re all familiar with.

Stephanie’s segment, TTRPGKids, explores how parents and teachers can use role playing games with children in the home and in the classroom.

We hope you enjoy the additional content!

Our History

We aim for most Ludology episodes to be timeless, so you are welcome to explore our entire catalog. Most of it should age quite well. The podcast was started in 2011 by Geoff Engelstein and Ryan Sturm, with Mike Fitzgerald taking over for Ryan in 2015. Gil and Scott joined the show in 2017 when Mike stepped aside, and Emma joined in 2019 when Geoff ended his tenure as host. Emma left in 2021, and Erica and Sen joined us. Since then, Scott stepped down in 2022 and Gil will be hanging up his mic in 2023, leaving Erica and Sen to carry on this amazing legacy.

Erica and Sen are working to bring new voices to Ludology and have some great things to announce as gaming expands to include even more people!

Contact Us

Have your own thoughts about our topics? We encourage you to visit us at our guild on Boardgamegeek to get involved in a continuing discussion.

You can also email us at hello@ludology.net.

Ludology is part of The Dice Tower Network, the premier board game media network.

If you have questions that you’d like answered on Ludology, let us know by filling out this Google Form; you can also leave an audio question that we can use on the show, if you wish!

Burning Questions for Ludology

Support the Show

Ludology is made possible through the support and donations of listeners like you.

We currently have 3 “First Listen” series that will go out to Patrons well in advance of the audio being released to the wider audience.

The Memories that Made Us (monthly) – memories about gaming experiences that helped shape the people that bring modern games to life
Tales from the Designer Toolbox (monthly) – tips and tricks from industry pros learned from both success and failure
Ludology Live – recordings from conventions around the world

Patrons will also get extra consideration for any giveaways that we might have!

Become a Ludology Patron

You can also make a one-time or monthly donation here. The link will take you to Erica’s account. People who donate in this way will not have access to the Patreon page – sorry!

Source link

05/06/2025

Complete Etheria Restart Tier List & Reroll Guide [RELEASE]

When talking about the best characters in Etheria Restart you have to consider all the different roles and game modes. I’ll be ranking characters based on how useful they are in a team composition per role for all game modes with PVE and PVP combined. Here’s my ultimate Etheria Restart tier list with the best DPS, Debuff, Support and Sustain rankings.

Etheria Restart Damage Tier List

best damage characters in etheria restart tier list — Image by The Escapist

When it comes to the best DPS in Etheria Restart you want the ones that will either specialize in single target or AOE or have a balance of both. For PVP I generally prefer burst damage to take out key targets as fast as possible but sustain damage comes in just as useful for Thresholds and Union Bosses. Speaking of which you can clear story and general PVE with anyone so I’ll be focusing on how useful and powerful characters are in both Story and also Thresholds, Union Bosses, and PVP. Note that SSS-Tier doesn’t deal the most damage they are just the most useful DPS characters to have in a team comp. Below you’ll find my rankings for each character for both PVP and PVE.

SSS-Tier DPS

Character	Ranking Reason
Khloros	• Khloros deals the most raw sustained damage in Etheria Restart • He struggles with providing team utility but that’s not his role • His amazing DPS and Debuffs is what you want him for • Just don’t bring him to DokiDoki since you need more burst there
Diting	• Diting deals the most single target burst damage from my tests • Include him in a team that can set him up to burst down key targets • You can pull off some crazy plays in PVP
Fangus	• Sania is queen of DoTs but Fangus is a close second • Great sustained damage • Brings lots of utility to the team with Delays and Follow-Ups • Not the best for DokiDoki like Khloros because you need more burst and AOE
Xiada	• Some of the best if not the best AOE sustained damage dealer in the game • Best for Doki Doki and all game modes that favor AOE damage • Not the best for Terrormaton

Character	Ranking Reason
Rilmocha	• Rilmocha is the best character for DokiDoki and Terrormaton as well as one of the best PVP characters • Her combination of CC, Delays, and burst damage is incredibly useful for controlling the enemy • Just don’t bring her to Aurora, she’s useless there
Victor	• Now Victor is a huge tank and quite hard to kill • Best of all he gets more damage the lower his HP is and his Shields keep him alive • Best for Terrormaton but he’s generally useful anywhere
Rin (The Unbowed)	• Great sustained single and AOE damage • Overall a useful DPS with good Delay abilities • Not the best on Terrormaton

Character	Ranking Reason
Tsutomu	• One of the best things about Tsutomu is that he can Dispel effects by stealing buffs with Vanishing Shade • He can also disable buffs and heals on enemies so use him for utility • This weird mix of utility and lower than average DPS makes him bad for PVP and Aurora
Oboro	• Has pretty mid damage so she’s not the best for DPS • She shines in comboing DoTs, Debuffs, and Delays • Don’t bring her to PVPs but she’s pretty good for Aurora and Union Bosses

Character	Ranking Reason
Andrew (Odd)	• Bad DPS but can Debuff okay • I would skip
Andrew (Reason)	• More useful than Andrew Odd because the Reason version can Taunt

Character	Ranking Reason
Sybil	• The worst DPS character in Etheria Restart in terms of numbers • Can reduce enemy Defence

Character	Ranking Reason
Freya	• One of the best supports in Etheria Restart • Can auto cleanse debuffs with Dreamwave and boost your Defence crazy high • Bring her everywhere except Aurora, she’s not the most useful there
Lily	• The best support in Etheria Restart overall for all Thresholds, Union Bosses, and even PVP • Drastically boosts your Turn Meter and Speed • Shadow Trick boosts critical damage as well for more DPS • Can follow up with Hat Trick which has Assist
DokiDoki	• Can buff up your team’s damage and speed to crazy numbers • The second-best support in Etheria Restart in my opinion after • Can even cleanse debuffs
Beyontin	• Can revive your team, period, SSS-Tier • She also buffs your attack and crit damage which is amazing • The only reason I prefer Lily or DokiDoki is because I would rather keep my team alive than count on the revive • That said, revives are really great to have as backup if you’re tackling harder content like Aurora or Terrormaton

Character	Ranking Reason
Tsukiyo Mi	• Tsukiyo Mi is an all around great support but her abilities aren’t as powerful support wise as SSS Tier • However, her Silence is broken for PVP and she’s probably one of the strongest PVP Supports in Etheria Restart because of that
Chiaki (The Echo)	• For everything but Aurora Chiaki’s Ave Maria immunity to Turn Meter reduction and steal effects is amazing • She can also cleanse debuffs • Not the most useful on Aurora so swap her out

Character	Ranking Reason
Turandot	• Has some decent damage and ATK and DEF buffs • Mainly she’s good because of her ACC+ skill Severing Blade which is amazing when upgraded • Bad on DokiDoki so bring a better support
Yang	• A decent support with the ATK and CRIT buff for allies but you want him for the Cleanse as well • Also a pretty good off-DPS since he can buff his own CRIT • Bad on Terrormaton so bring a stronger support

Character	Ranking Reason
Dorothy (The Wisher)	• Has some good damage buffs and also applies Life Leech to allies • Really useful on everything except DokiDoki
No. 41	• The opposite of Dorothy because she prevents enemy healing • Really strong on DokiDoki

Character	Ranking Reason
Cachi	• Can delay enemies with Justice Beam • You want him for the Stun through Heroic Strike as his strongest ability but it’s not that good except for PVP where’s it’s really strong

Character	Ranking Reason
Celince	• Celince might deserve higher placement but I just haven’t played her that much during the testing phases • She’s a weird mix of DoTs but not as good as Obol and debuffs but there might be better Debuffers • She can Silence well so I used her a lot for PVP
Cachi (The Guard)	• Cachi is an all-rounder that’s pretty good for all game modes • He debuffs CRIT rate and also SPD with Brave Charge being an amazing Delay skill • I love his AOE DEF buff the most so he might be a better Support than Debuff • Steadfast Dreamer also blocks debuffs and delays on allies
Lilith	• My favorite A-Tier debuff character (Not as strong as S-Tiers in most situations) due to a crazy mix of debuffs and damage procs • Lilith can also Stun with two skills • Not to mention Courteous Gesture has a chance to gain 1 extra turn

Character	Ranking Reason
Kazami Kazuyo	• Not as powerful of a Debuff character as the higher ups but she can Dispel buffs from enemies which is really good for Aurora and Terrormaton • Debuffs SPD and increases ally SPD
RC-77	• RC-77 is a decent mix of Stuns and Debuffs • Complete Overwrite is why he’s in B-Tier and not lower since that skill reduces DEF and ATK and can stun • He also debuffs Turn Meter with Anomalous Onslaught

Character	Ranking Reason
Asshu	• Such a weird mix of SPD debuffs, damage over time effects, and Silence • I prefer Debuffs who specialize in one or two things and Asshu is all over the place and master of none

Character	Ranking Reason
Vice	• Built to Taunt and then sustain through Strike and Heal by applying debuffs • It’s not the strongest playstyle with real Debuff utility • He tries to heal allies with Strike and Heal but he’ll usually not be full HP to reliably heal

Character	Ranking Reason
Helkid	• Helkid is an amazing off-DPS unit with great survivability skills • Keeping Shourd Barrier active to boost other skills is the key to his playstyle • Can Stun and debuff ATK
Lingluo	• Lingluo is the best healer in Etheria Restart • Bring her to sustain your team and cleanse debuffs • A must-have on all game modes except Terromaton
Valerian	• Valerian sustains your team through minor heals, immunity to damage, and shields • Really strong on all game modes and a great alternative to Lingluo • She also has decent crowd control with Slumber

Character	Ranking Reason
Mia	• A bunch of heals and shields that you cannot go wrong with • That said, you want Mia for her debuff cleanse Cascade • You don’t need her on Aurora but she’s strong everywhere else
Sania	• Extremely flexibile since you can either heal well or revive if you need to with Forest Heart but the skill then has a higher cooldown • She also has mechanics with Twine Dance to keep her Turn Meter up so that you can act before bad stuff happens • You don’t need revives on Aurora but bring her everywhere else

Character	Ranking Reason
Chiaki	• Has pretty good heals • Her specialty is reducing DMG taken with Origami Guardians so she’s good on all modes except DokiDoki Threshold

Character	Ranking Reason
Dorothy	• Great single and full team healing • Has a full cleanse for a single target • Chiaki is a little bit strongest because she can reduce damage as well as heal but Dorothy has better healing on average
Rin	• Rin switches out heals for team shields • Her playstyle is about taunting enemies and shielding allies while reducing the damage they take via DEF buffs • This is pretty good on Terrormaton, Union Bosses, and Aurora but isn’t anything special on DokiDoki • I prefer healers for my sustain so Rin isn’t the strongest choice

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05/06/2025

Ludology 338 America’s Top Model(er)

Welcome!

Welcome to Ludology, an analytical discussion of the hows and whys of the world of board games. Rather than news and reviews, Ludology explores a variety of topics about games from a wider lens, as well as discuss game history, game design and game players.

We post a new Ludology episode every other week. In these episodes, hosts Erica Bouyouris and Sen-Foong Lim deep-dive into a single topic within game design, often with a well-regarded guest from the game industry. We generally focus on tabletop game design (mainly board games and RPGs), but we often pull in experts from all forms of games, from video games to escape rooms to slot machines.

On weeks where there is no flagship Ludology episode, we will alternate between two smaller mini-sodes. Erica and Sen are happy to announce that Sarah Shipp of Shippboard Games and Stephanie Campbell of TTRPGKids will be joining us for the next year, providing additional content between our longer episodes.

Sarah’s segment, Thinking Beyond Mechanisms, is a monthly feature that dives deeper into the other aspects of games beyond the dice and cards we’re all familiar with.

Stephanie’s segment, TTRPGKids, explores how parents and teachers can use role playing games with children in the home and in the classroom.

We hope you enjoy the additional content!

Our History

We aim for most Ludology episodes to be timeless, so you are welcome to explore our entire catalog. Most of it should age quite well. The podcast was started in 2011 by Geoff Engelstein and Ryan Sturm, with Mike Fitzgerald taking over for Ryan in 2015. Gil and Scott joined the show in 2017 when Mike stepped aside, and Emma joined in 2019 when Geoff ended his tenure as host. Emma left in 2021, and Erica and Sen joined us. Since then, Scott stepped down in 2022 and Gil will be hanging up his mic in 2023, leaving Erica and Sen to carry on this amazing legacy.

Erica and Sen are working to bring new voices to Ludology and have some great things to announce as gaming expands to include even more people!

Contact Us

Have your own thoughts about our topics? We encourage you to visit us at our guild on Boardgamegeek to get involved in a continuing discussion.

You can also email us at hello@ludology.net.

Ludology is part of The Dice Tower Network, the premier board game media network.

If you have questions that you’d like answered on Ludology, let us know by filling out this Google Form; you can also leave an audio question that we can use on the show, if you wish!

Burning Questions for Ludology

Support the Show

Ludology is made possible through the support and donations of listeners like you.

We currently have 3 “First Listen” series that will go out to Patrons well in advance of the audio being released to the wider audience.

The Memories that Made Us (monthly) – memories about gaming experiences that helped shape the people that bring modern games to life
Tales from the Designer Toolbox (monthly) – tips and tricks from industry pros learned from both success and failure
Ludology Live – recordings from conventions around the world

Patrons will also get extra consideration for any giveaways that we might have!

Become a Ludology Patron

You can also make a one-time or monthly donation here. The link will take you to Erica’s account. People who donate in this way will not have access to the Patreon page – sorry!

Source link

05/06/2025

Undertale spinoff Deltarune soars on Steam as Chapters 3 and 4 finally arrive

One of the most surprising, out-of-nowhere indie hits of the 2010s was undoubtedly Undertale, but its episodic spinoff, Deltarune, is just as highly regarded and beloved. Developer Toby Fox already released the first two episodes of Deltarune in 2018 and 2021, but the wait for Chapter 3 and Chapter 4 has been a long one. Now though, they’re both here as part of the complete and ‘final’ version Deltarune. While it was always going to be a momentous occasion for the pixel art RPG, I’m completely blown away by just how high it’s flying on Steam right now, rising above recent behemoths like Elden Ring Nightreign on the platform’s best sellers list.

Undertale is a cherished indie game thanks to its visuals, soundtrack, and choice-influenced story. However, being worked on even before Undertale came out was Deltarune, a spinoff that takes a lot of the same gameplay formula (and even some of Undertale’s characters) and transplants them into a “parallel” narrative and world.

Fox has been chipping away at Deltarune since 2012, but so far only two episodes have seen the light of day. The developer promised that Chapter 3 and 4 would arrive at the same time – bundled together with 1 and 2 – in the future, and after 13 years of work, that day has finally arrived.

Deltarune’s complete collection of Chapters 1-4 is now available on Steam, and fans of Fox’s work have flocked to it in their droves. At the time of writing, just over 133,000 people are currently playing Deltarune on Steam, and that number could rise by the end of today. Right now, more people are checking out the new chapters than are playing huge hits like Marvel Rivals, Apex Legends, and Helldivers 2.

It’s also shot straight to the top of Steam’s top-sellers charts, sitting above the likes of recent megahit Elden Ring Nightreign and the imminent Dune Awakening.

Deltarune: A graph showing Steam player count statistics for Deltarune

While Chapters 1 through 4 are available in the new release of Deltarune, Fox has already pledged that a fifth chapter will arrive as a free DLC for anyone that owns the game. If you want to try before you buy, a free demo will let you play the previously released first two chapters. You can grab Deltarune or download the demo right here.

For more, check out our lists of the best RPGs and best story games.

You can follow us on Google News for daily PC games news, reviews, and guides. We’ve also got a vibrant community Discord server, where you can chat about this story with members of the team and fellow readers.

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05/06/2025

Beach Day Preview – One Board Family

For many people, the beach is the epidemy of rest and relaxation. The sun, sand, and ocean waves can wash away the stress of our everyday life. I’m not in that group of people. Sand and myself are mortal enemies that have been in a battle since my teenage years. Thankfully, games like Beach Day from CakePie Games exist so I don’t have to actually be on a beach to enjoy this atmosphere.

Beach Day is a tile placement game for 1 to 5 players that’s illustrated by Ammon Anderson (Gnome Hollow) and designed by Brennan Smith and Josh Bowman. This small box game brings all the joy of the beach as you chase victory points and stay away from pesky sand.

Fun in the Sun

Each player is adding cards to their own beach tableau on their turn, chasing five global goals and their own unique goal. You’ll receive two crab cards at the start of the game, discarding one and keeping the other. This is a personal scoring goal that is unique to just you.

Everyone starts with a single tile 2×2 card that is marked with a sea turtle in one of the corners. This sea turtle is important and can never be covered by another card.

On your turn, you can take two cards from the top of the draw pile, placing one and discarding the other to one of the two discard piles. OR, you can take and place one of the top cards on either of the discard piles. In adding a new card to your beach, you can place it adjacent to another card or overlap another previously placed card. Overlapping is generous in this game since you can cover one or more of the four squares on a card. You can never place a card diagonally adjacent or tuck a card under another previously placed card.

Beach Activities

On the cards in Beach Day, you’ll find beachballs, sand castles, pools of water, shells, sand dollars, and even trash. Each item on the beach has a different method of scoring based on the goal cards that were chosen at the start of the game. Beachball halves need to be paired with another half in order to be scored. Sea shells score the most when grouped in contiguous paths.

Don’t forget about your crab card! That secret scoring criteria can be helpful in outscoring your opponent. Players will watch how each beach is being built at the table. In many of our games, the score has been tight and competitive which is exactly how we like our games.

Since the goal cards in the game are double-sided, players can pick their favorite scoring cards each and every game. Once you get a couple games under your belt, you’ll start to enjoy some goals more than others. The game gives you the agency to just pick your favorites and run with it.

After the draw pile is empty, players score based on the goal cards and crab card that each player has. The highest score wins.

Final Thoughts

Like a day at the beach, Beach Day is a relaxing and breezy time at the game table. The small box makes this a great game to throw into a bag or to play over a meal. It’s easy to understand how everything is scored and the placement rules are straight-forward.

Beach Day is a filler game that is going to check a lot of boxes for anyone looking for a quick game that you can take on the go. The gameplay and theme absolutely go hand-in-hand with this release.

Beach Day is being funded through Kickstarter starting in June from CakePie Games. Check out the campaign today.

A prototype of the game was provided for this coverage. Components and rules covered in this preview are not finalized. Read more about our preview policies at One Board Family.

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04/06/2025

Ludology: TTRPGKids Ep 22

Welcome!

Welcome to Ludology, an analytical discussion of the hows and whys of the world of board games. Rather than news and reviews, Ludology explores a variety of topics about games from a wider lens, as well as discuss game history, game design and game players.

We post a new Ludology episode every other week. In these episodes, hosts Erica Bouyouris and Sen-Foong Lim deep-dive into a single topic within game design, often with a well-regarded guest from the game industry. We generally focus on tabletop game design (mainly board games and RPGs), but we often pull in experts from all forms of games, from video games to escape rooms to slot machines.

On weeks where there is no flagship Ludology episode, we will alternate between two smaller mini-sodes. Erica and Sen are happy to announce that Sarah Shipp of Shippboard Games and Stephanie Campbell of TTRPGKids will be joining us for the next year, providing additional content between our longer episodes.

Sarah’s segment, Thinking Beyond Mechanisms, is a monthly feature that dives deeper into the other aspects of games beyond the dice and cards we’re all familiar with.

Stephanie’s segment, TTRPGKids, explores how parents and teachers can use role playing games with children in the home and in the classroom.

We hope you enjoy the additional content!

Our History

We aim for most Ludology episodes to be timeless, so you are welcome to explore our entire catalog. Most of it should age quite well. The podcast was started in 2011 by Geoff Engelstein and Ryan Sturm, with Mike Fitzgerald taking over for Ryan in 2015. Gil and Scott joined the show in 2017 when Mike stepped aside, and Emma joined in 2019 when Geoff ended his tenure as host. Emma left in 2021, and Erica and Sen joined us. Since then, Scott stepped down in 2022 and Gil will be hanging up his mic in 2023, leaving Erica and Sen to carry on this amazing legacy.

Erica and Sen are working to bring new voices to Ludology and have some great things to announce as gaming expands to include even more people!

Contact Us

Have your own thoughts about our topics? We encourage you to visit us at our guild on Boardgamegeek to get involved in a continuing discussion.

You can also email us at hello@ludology.net.

Ludology is part of The Dice Tower Network, the premier board game media network.

If you have questions that you’d like answered on Ludology, let us know by filling out this Google Form; you can also leave an audio question that we can use on the show, if you wish!

Burning Questions for Ludology

Support the Show

Ludology is made possible through the support and donations of listeners like you.

We currently have 3 “First Listen” series that will go out to Patrons well in advance of the audio being released to the wider audience.

The Memories that Made Us (monthly) – memories about gaming experiences that helped shape the people that bring modern games to life
Tales from the Designer Toolbox (monthly) – tips and tricks from industry pros learned from both success and failure
Ludology Live – recordings from conventions around the world

Patrons will also get extra consideration for any giveaways that we might have!

Become a Ludology Patron

You can also make a one-time or monthly donation here. The link will take you to Erica’s account. People who donate in this way will not have access to the Patreon page – sorry!

Source link

04/06/2025

Complete Universal Piece Styles Tier List and Guide [UPDATE 0.5]

Fighting Styles in Universal Piece play a big role in how you approach battles and progress through the game. Whether you’re just starting or looking to upgrade your skills, choosing the right style can make a big difference. Each style offers unique moves, strengths, and requirements, allowing players to find what suits them best. In this Universal Piece Styles tier list and guide, we’ll cover how to unlock each style, what makes them stand out, and which one ultimately comes out on top.

Universal Piece Styles Tier List

In Universal Piece, Styles scale with the Melee stat which also increases your energy. The auto-unlocked Combat Style is a solid starter choice but sits at C-tier due to its basic move and limited power, while Cyborg Style lands in A-tier thanks to its flashy tech-based attacks and strong damage. Cursed Fist Style stands at the top in S-tier, offering powerful combos and excellent versatility that make it the best option for serious fighters.

Universal Piece Styles List

Below is a complete and detailed list of all Styles in Universal Piece, ranked from best to worst:

Cursed Fist Style from the Universal Piece Roblox Experience

Cyborg Style from the Universal Piece Roblox Experience

Style	Moves	How to Get
Cursed Fists (Yuji)	M1 – Devastate Z – Cursed Combo X – Smash Fall C – Bursting Strike	Cursed Teacher (Shinuya Island) 5x Cursed Force 9.000G$ 7.000.000¥
Cybrog (Genos)	M1 – Strike Z – Plasma Gun X – Infernal Grasp C – Blazing Impact	Cyborg Master (Cold Island) 50x Core 100G$ 1.000.000¥
Combat	M1 – Punches Z – Slam	Free when you start.

Cyborg Style, inspired by Genos, features high-tech abilities such as the Plasma Gun and Blazing Impact, making it effective for burst damage and PvE scenarios. Cursed Fist Style, modeled after Yuji, is the best of the three due to its powerful and visually striking abilities like Smash Fall and Bursting Strike, offering superior damage, mobility, and overall combat effectiveness, justifying its high cost and advanced requirements.

How to Change Style in Universal Piece

The Cyborg Master that teaches players Styles in Unioversal Piece. — He is just standing there… menacingly.

In Universal Piece, players can freely swap and change fighting styles by visiting the specific NPCs who teach them. The Combat Style is automatically given when you start the game, so you can always return to it without any cost. To switch to Cyborg Style, head to Cold Island and talk to the Cyborg Master after collecting 50 Cores, 100 Gold, and one million Yen. For the powerful Cursed Fist Style, visit the Cursed Teacher on Shinuya Island with five Cursed Force, 9000 Gold, and seven million Yen. Once unlocked, you can revisit these NPCs anytime to change your fighting style based on your playstyle or needs.

And that is all for my Universal Piece Style tier list and guide. Check out our Universal Piece Fruit Tier List to learn which one to use for maximum power.

What are Styles in Universal Piece?

A Style is a set of combat moves that defines how your character fights in battles.

What is the best Style in Universal Piece?

The best Style is Cursed Fists (Yuji) because of its explosive damage and versatility.

Can I change my Style in Universal Piece?

Yes, you can change your Style by going to a specific Style Teacher which are scattered around the map.

The Escapist is supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Learn more about our Affiliate Policy

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04/06/2025

Demeo’s DnD spinoff debuts gameplay and reveals release window

It always felt like Demeo’s biggest source of inspiration was Dungeons and Dragons. Bringing a tabletop RPG to PC and virtual reality headsets, its co-op fantasy battling felt like a DnD game in all but name (and official license, of course). Later this year, the seemingly inevitable crossover is going to be realized with Demeo Dungeons and Dragons Battlemarked, and we’ve just got a first look at gameplay alongside some fresh details about it.

Demeo DnD Battlemarked was announced earlier this year, and in truth we already had a pretty solid expectation of what the game would be like – the virtual board game action of regular Demeo, but with a Dungeons and Dragons like of paint. While this is technically its own standalone game, it’s not looking to reinvent too much of the Demeo formula. Today’s new trailer and information about DnD Battlemarked confirms those early suspicions.

The RPG once again creates some beautifully designed worlds in a board game format, this time resembling real locations from the DnD universe, with characters represented by miniatures. Combat is turn-based, and the focus is on playing with friends as a squad and reacting to emergent situations – that means that, despite its tie-in with Dungeons and Dragons, Battlemarked won’t have any form of dungeon master. If you played past iterations of Demeo, this will all feel very familiar.

To accommodate such a lore-heavy universe and to better replicate the feel of a proper Dungeons and Dragons session, there have however been some advancements and changes for DnD Battlemarked.

“With Dungeons and Dragons, story is just as important as combat, so we’ve rebalanced our approach to make sure we can deliver more of it,” says Tommy Palm, founder and CEO of Resolution Games, in a press release. “With the addition of dramatic cut scenes, richer dialogue, and deeper player choices, Battlemarked truly marks the start of the next iteration of the Demeo Action Roleplaying System.”

One of the original story designers for Dungeons and Dragons, Matt Sernett, who has also worked on the Baldur’s Gate series, has been brought in as Battlemarked’s narrative lead as well. Just in case you thought Resolution Games wasn’t taking the whole story thing seriously enough.

Just like the original Demeo, DnD Battlemarked is being made with virtual reality in mind. While it will launch on Steam and Playstation 5 as a regular release you can play on a traditional monitor or TV, there will be a VR version for Meta and PSVR2.

Resolution Games has also confirmed that Demeo Dungeons and Dragons Battlemarked will be launching in late 2025, so there isn’t going to be too big a wait for it to arrive.

For more, check out our lists of the best DnD games and best VR games.

You can follow us on Google News for daily PC games news, reviews, and guides. We’ve also got a vibrant community Discord server, where you can chat about this story with members of the team and fellow readers.

Source link

04/06/2025

Ludology: Ludology 339 History of the Game

Welcome!

Welcome to Ludology, an analytical discussion of the hows and whys of the world of board games. Rather than news and reviews, Ludology explores a variety of topics about games from a wider lens, as well as discuss game history, game design and game players.

We post a new Ludology episode every other week. In these episodes, hosts Erica Bouyouris and Sen-Foong Lim deep-dive into a single topic within game design, often with a well-regarded guest from the game industry. We generally focus on tabletop game design (mainly board games and RPGs), but we often pull in experts from all forms of games, from video games to escape rooms to slot machines.

On weeks where there is no flagship Ludology episode, we will alternate between two smaller mini-sodes. Erica and Sen are happy to announce that Sarah Shipp of Shippboard Games and Stephanie Campbell of TTRPGKids will be joining us for the next year, providing additional content between our longer episodes.

Sarah’s segment, Thinking Beyond Mechanisms, is a monthly feature that dives deeper into the other aspects of games beyond the dice and cards we’re all familiar with.

Stephanie’s segment, TTRPGKids, explores how parents and teachers can use role playing games with children in the home and in the classroom.

We hope you enjoy the additional content!

Our History

We aim for most Ludology episodes to be timeless, so you are welcome to explore our entire catalog. Most of it should age quite well. The podcast was started in 2011 by Geoff Engelstein and Ryan Sturm, with Mike Fitzgerald taking over for Ryan in 2015. Gil and Scott joined the show in 2017 when Mike stepped aside, and Emma joined in 2019 when Geoff ended his tenure as host. Emma left in 2021, and Erica and Sen joined us. Since then, Scott stepped down in 2022 and Gil will be hanging up his mic in 2023, leaving Erica and Sen to carry on this amazing legacy.

Erica and Sen are working to bring new voices to Ludology and have some great things to announce as gaming expands to include even more people!

Contact Us

Have your own thoughts about our topics? We encourage you to visit us at our guild on Boardgamegeek to get involved in a continuing discussion.

You can also email us at hello@ludology.net.

Ludology is part of The Dice Tower Network, the premier board game media network.

If you have questions that you’d like answered on Ludology, let us know by filling out this Google Form; you can also leave an audio question that we can use on the show, if you wish!

Burning Questions for Ludology

Support the Show

Ludology is made possible through the support and donations of listeners like you.

We currently have 3 “First Listen” series that will go out to Patrons well in advance of the audio being released to the wider audience.

The Memories that Made Us (monthly) – memories about gaming experiences that helped shape the people that bring modern games to life
Tales from the Designer Toolbox (monthly) – tips and tricks from industry pros learned from both success and failure
Ludology Live – recordings from conventions around the world

Patrons will also get extra consideration for any giveaways that we might have!

Become a Ludology Patron

You can also make a one-time or monthly donation here. The link will take you to Erica’s account. People who donate in this way will not have access to the Patreon page – sorry!

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04/06/2025

After many bet against it, a PS5 State of Play is coming tomorrow with over 40 minutes of game reveals

Sony has officially announced that it’s going to be hosting an event in June after all. It’s going to be of the State of Play variety, and it will be airing live tomorrow. Sony has, in recent years, made a habit of announcing those livestreams one or two days before the event’s scheduled date.

This June’s State of Play is no different, and it looks like it won’t be heavy on first-party games.

This week’s State of Play will be live tomorrow, June 4 at 2pm PT, 5pm ET, 10pm UK. In the announcement blog post, Sony said we can expect “news and updates” on games coming to PS5.

“The show highlights a selection of great games from creators across the globe,” the blog post adds, which really doesn’t tell us much. It is clear, however, that this won’t be a first-party-focused show, though it is curious that Sony elected not to use the terms ‘first’ or ‘third-party’ in the announcement.

In any case, this State of Play is going to a little beefy, clocking in at over 40-minutes-long. As always, you’ll be able to watch it live on PlayStation’s official Twitch, and YouTube channels.

This week is going to be very busy with events and game reveals. Summer Game Fest’s live opening show is scheduled for Friday, June 6, and the first edition of IO Interactive’s IOI Showcase is taking place just a couple of hours later on the same day.

Then, on Sunday, June 8, Xbox will take its turn to host its own showcase, which will be followed by a dedicated The Outer Worlds 2 direct, so it’s all popping off. EA and Ubisoft are seemingly going to sit this one out, but we wouldn’t bet against some of their rumoured and in-development games showing up at one (or more) of these shows.

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03/06/2025

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Thinking Beyond Mechanisms Ep 17

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Ludology: TTRPGKids Ep 22

Demeo’s DnD spinoff debuts gameplay and reveals release window

Ludology: Ludology 339 History of the Game

After many bet against it, a PS5 State of Play is coming tomorrow with over 40 minutes of game reveals

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