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  • Doom co-creator’s canceled game could be saved as new publishers begin talks

    Doom co-creator’s canceled game could be saved as new publishers begin talks


    Last week’s gut-wrenching flurry of game cancellations and layoffs due to Microsoft’s Xbox Game Studios cuts didn’t just affect the company’s owned, first-party studios. Third-party developers, like Romero Games, were impacted too. The studio formed by Doom co-creator John Romero announced that funding for its upcoming, triple-A FPS game had been pulled, and dozens of devs announced they were being let go, with some claiming the whole studio was shutting down. However, there’s a glimmer of hope for Romero Games and its new project, as the studio has just released a new statement clarifying that the studio hasn’t fully closed and that other publishers have reached out that are “interested in helping us bring the game across the finish line.”

    The Xbox cuts have been truly savage. Hundreds of developers are going to lose their jobs, and some long-awaited projects like the Perfect Dark reboot, Rare’s Everwild, and an ambitious sci-fi game from Zenimax Online Studios were all shelved. While Romero Games hasn’t explicitly confirmed that Xbox Game Studios was backing its new project, the coincidentally timed cancelation of its next game and claims from employees strongly suggested that it was affected too. While very little was known about it other than it was a first-person shooter, Romero’s reputation for helping shape games like Doom and Quake was enough to make it one of the most exciting upcoming PC games.

    Despite some claims from employees (and then subsequent reports by the media) that the studio was letting all of its workforce go and would close, Romer Games has just released a statement clarifying that it has not been shuttered and that it’s currently in talks to save its project.

    “Romero Games is not closed, and we are doing everything in our power to ensure that it does not come to that,” the statement says. “Any suggestion otherwise is factually incorrect. Indeed, we were in the studio today to discuss next steps with the team.

    Doom: A statement from Romero Games set against an orange backdrop

    “We’ve been contacted by several publishers interested in helping us bring the game across the finish line, and we’re currently evaluating those opportunities.”

    This new FPS game has been in the works since 2022, and while it’s not got to the stage where Romero Games has fully revealed it or shown off gameplay, you’d expect a decent amount of progress to have been made in that time. Romero’s reputation for creating amazing shooters, the triple-A scope, and the fact that Xbox was compelled enough to back it originally no doubt makes it an interesting prospect for these new publishers. Hopefully the right deal is struck, because it’s one that could potentially save some or all of the jobs that are set to be lost at Romero Games.



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  • I am trying to find a specific Sci-Fi Board game I played once years ago


    I play many board games, this is not one of the obvious ones. I am trying to find the name of a game that I think went out of print.

    1. It is a sci-fi game.
    2. Every player is in charge of a faction.
    3. You are all trying to colonize/exploit the same planet.
    4. It is not Terra Forming Mars though the planet might be Mars. (There are fewer cards and more plastic pieces)
    5. I think every player had their own rectangular play mat that represented their stakes/claims on the planet.
    6. Trading resources was a critical part of the game. (The dynamic player influenced market is one of the biggest things I remember)
    7. It might be considered more of a worker placement game.

    My memory is getting less clear about details after this point

    1. Play took place mostly on your own mat. The "central board" was more a market where players exchanges resources and bought "units" (mostly excavators or androids?).
    2. I think the game initially came out in the 90s or earlier then got a reprint in the 2010s.
    3. The set I played was newly opened in the 2010ish and had bright plastic pieces.
    4. The theme/artistic style was slightly cartoonish.
    5. I think it was 4 player max.



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  • In Scrabble, what is the probability of not being able play a valid word using the NWL2023 (196,601 words) Scrabble dictionary to open the game?


    I know using the CSW2019 is known (0.572% (or 1 in 175)), but that has many strange words in it. This is regarding the first word of the game covering the center square of course. How many of the 3,199,724 racks are there with no playable word? I’m thinking the overall probability (out of 16,007,560,800) is near 1.000% or 1 in a 100.



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  • Mecha Break first impressions – hands on with Steam’s new top game

    Mecha Break first impressions – hands on with Steam’s new top game


    Image of Paul McNally

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    Published: Jul 2, 2025 10:49 am

    The first few minutes of Mecha Break are mindblowing. I’m torn somewhere between not having a clue what’s going on as hints and tutorials are thrown at me with voiced lines that are a little too low to pick out and are drowned out by the battle and explosions happening all around, and a unique adrenelin rush at all the on-screen action.

    Somehow, I get through it. Somehow, I keep managing to destroy the cannon fodder thrown in my path, and yet somehow I feel as though I am a mighty mech hammering my left mouse button with no mercy and splintering giant robots into flying shards everywhere.

    In truth, perhaps the opening salvo of Mecha Break is just a mainly, almost on-rails opener that is slickly produced and wonderfully executed.

    The first 25 minutes or so of Mecha Break are like living in a Gundam/Macross hybrid world being broadcast on kids’ Saturday morning TV in the 1980s, and it is absolutely glorious.

    It’s near 50 gig free download on Steam belies its true purpose in life, however, and that is to, immediately after the opening is done with, ram your face into an item shop filled with ludicrously priced skins and add-ons.

    The last time things felt this egregious was when Warhammer 40k Darktide launched with hardly any game but with a perfectly functioning item shop.

    Now, to be fair, Darktide was not a free-to-play game, so it deserved its flak, but being presented with a £48/$65 skin and mech bundle almost immediately is a bit in your face. There are plenty of other things to buy as well, bought with in-game currency and other opportunities to dump real money into. There is no way to tell yet how many people will pay for this stuff ultimately, and the publishers may well be hoping for whales to hoover it all up, but it all just feels a little, well, grubby.

    This is especially true as a lot of the purchases have a 7-day free trial, which sounds like a nice idea to try stuff out, but it’s unclear how many will actually not purchase and cancel during the free week.

    The two beta tests, which I didn’t actually play, were hugely lauded for the customization options for players. Many of the complaints on the Steam reviews where Mecha Break has a predictable Mixed rating bemoan that these have been whipped out or put behind a paywall.

    Yes, you can ignore all of this stuff, and there is a really fun game in there with face-paced mech-combat included, 6v6 PVP, and Arena mode where the first to eight kills wins. There’s even an extraction attempt with you versus both players and the environment.

    Mecha Break is a cool game….but….

    I also don’t really think you can compare this sort of cosmetic item dropping to something like DCS World, where, yes, the game is free and you have to purchase other aircraft and maps, but these you have to learn to fly and add to the gameplay. An overpriced skin is not that.

    I’m going to keep Mecha Break on my hard drive for a while yet and see how things develop. There are certainly enough people playing right now on Steam to confirm to me it’s a huge amount of fun. The payer drop-off numbers over the next seven days may be interesting. Whether the devs will take any of the initial critique on board may be significant for Mecha Break’s future successes.

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  • The reboot of classic stealth game Perfect Dark has been scrapped

    The reboot of classic stealth game Perfect Dark has been scrapped


    One of the most beloved stealth shooters of the 2000s, Rare’s Perfect Dark is still remembered fondly to this day. For years, we’ve been patiently waiting for its ambitious reboot to arrive – a tumultuous development cycle means it’s been a long time coming. Last year, we finally got to see gameplay of the new Perfect Dark, and it looked absolutely stunning. However, as part of today’s devastating round of layoffs at Microsoft, which impacts several teams under the Xbox Game Studios banner, the project has been canceled. It also means that The Initiative, the internal studio formed by Xbox to create the Perfect Dark reboot, has been shut down completely.

    After watching its gameplay reveal during last year’s Xbox showcase, I genuinely believed that the new Perfect Dark could one day end up on our best stealth games list. Even though the 2000 original was a bit before my time, the reboot’s blend of stealth, urban traversal, and immersive sim elements seemed right up my street. The gunplay also looked excellent, and anything with slow motion bullet time gets a thumbs up from me. Sadly, you and I will never get the chance to play it.

    As news of the Xbox layoffs spread throughout the day, Perfect Dark was being touted as one of the projects at risk alongside Rare’s Everwild and an unannounced new IP from the creators of The Elder Scrolls Online.

    In a statement sent to employees by Matt Booty, head of Xbox Game Studios, these rumors have been confirmed. Not only is Perfect Dark canceled, but The Initiative is also shutting its doors for good.

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    “We have made the decision to stop development of Perfect Dark and Everwild as well as wind down several unannounced projects across our portfolio,” Booty writes in the statement, which was obtained by Windows Central. “As part of this, we are closing one of our studios, The Initiative. These decisions, along with other changes across our teams, reflect a broader effort to adjust priorities and focus resources to set up our teams for greater success within a changing industry landscape. We did not make these choices lightly, as each project and team represent years of effort, imagination, and commitment.”

    The Initiative was spun up in 2018, with Perfect Dark being its first and only project. The studio was also being assisted by Tomb Raider trilogy developer Crystal Dynamics.

    Perfect Dark is one of several major upcoming PC games that have been scrapped this year already. Monolith suffered a similar fate to The Initiative, with its Wonder Woman game getting axed and the studio shut down. A co-op Transformers game from the folks at Splash Damage has also been canceled, and so too has promising platformer Earthblade from the studio that made Celeste.



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  • How to program Boggle game [closed]


    I’m interested in learning more about programming a variant of Boggle. The objective is to fit as many US state names as possible into a 5 X 5 Boggle grid. It is known, for example that the following 5 x 5 arrangement of letters will yield the list of spelled-out state names (represented below by their shorthand codes and points). According to the Boggle scoring rules, 92 points. No double counting allowed. Is it possible to score higher than 92? How do I write a program to methodically investigate this question?:
    SUTHC
    NORAD
    AILKS
    STONA
    IUMWT
    NC-13, SC-13, ND-11, SD-11, LA-9, AR-8, MT-7, AK-6, KS-6, IA-4, UT-4 for a total of 92 points.



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  • Clair Obscur Expedition 33 is the top-rated game ever on ‘Letterboxd for games’

    Clair Obscur Expedition 33 is the top-rated game ever on ‘Letterboxd for games’



    If you don’t know about Backloggd, maybe you should check it out. The basic pitch is Letterboxd for games. Its simple interface and robust social media features make it a fun place to track what games you are playing and to learn about new ones from friends. A new feature has officially crowned Clair Obscur Expedition 33 the highest rated game on the website.

    Backloggd recently made an official top 100 list and the critically acclaimed RPG has now overtaken Baldur’s Gate 3 in the top spot (the Dungeons and Dragons game is still holding strong at number two). Though there are some retro classics, like Chrono Trigger and Silent Hill 2, the list definitely tends toward more recent games. Disco Elysium and Red Dead Redemption 2 are both in the top ten. The ascendancy of Clair Obscur Expedition 33 is evidence of this bias, even if it is one of the best turn-based RPGs ever. Backloggd is far from the only website of its kind with this bias; soon after release Everything Everywhere All At Once was the top-rated film on Letterboxd.

    Nevertheless, a lot of different people with different tastes use Backloggd (it’s also low-key where some of the most interesting and insightful games criticism is happening). There are some unusual picks in the top 100. Visual novels like Utawarerumono: Mask of Truth and The House of Fata Morgana round out some of the more off-the-wall picks. Paid members can see the working version of the top 100 list right now. A public version will be part of a future site update.

    If you are curious about what our staff think should top a list like this, you can check out our picks for the best PC games. If this ranking has gotten you curious about the RPG-of-the-moment, take a look at the best Clair Obscur Expedition 33 builds.

    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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  • What is this game called? Or is it probably a family game?


    I need help identifying a card game I was taught by someone. I remember most of the rules except the "war" part. We played with two people and I can’t remember if it’s only a two player game or not.

    Dealing
    Deal out the entire deck of cards face down. Each player will have half the deck. Players aren’t allowed to look at their hand throughout the game and they aren’t allowed to shuffle their hand. With this method you can start to memorize them over time.

    War
    The part I remember here is players flip their top card. The high card will win out and stay the main player until the other player can beat it out.

    This is why I need help identifying the game because I don’t remember if there was a "catch" to winning the war other than having a high card. I also remember the losing player is accumulating cards somehow since you win by emptying your hand.

    Discarding
    You can only discard by arranging the cards by suite. I can’t remember if it goes king -> ace or ace -> king. All I remember is each suit is organized in order to discard.

    You can put down as many as you can while doing your "random draw" since you aren’t allowed to see the cards you have the entire game.

    I don’t remember if only the main player can discard or if anyone can as the cards pop up. There was a specific rule for this as well.

    Winning the game
    Discard your whole hand first.

    The person knew the rules very well and it was definitely a game they had played many times before based on how they played. The only thing I remember about the game was it had an "and" in it like "king and robber" or something like that.

    I know there is a chance this is just a family game as well. Thank you for your help!



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  • Super Woden is back with the next great arcade racing game

    Super Woden is back with the next great arcade racing game


    A side on view taken in Photo Mode of Super Woden Rally Edge
    Image of Paul McNally

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    Published: Jun 27, 2025 09:08 am

    Oh, this is good. If you have played Super Woden GP 2 you will instantly know why this is exciting news. SWGP2 (okay, silly name but..) remains a staple on my Steam Deck and is just pure, glorious, arcade racing fun. In many ways, it shows what the big publishing houses have been doing wrong with arcade games for years.

    Anyway, if you haven’t, then you simply must play it – and it currently has 35% off its price in the Steam Summer sale, so fill your boots.

    The more exciting news though is that developer Vidjuda has dropped a limited time demo for his just announced racing stablemate – Super Woden Rally Edge, and it is superb, really good fun.

    If you a fan of games such as the classic Neo Drift Out on the NEO Geo back in the day you are going to be right at home with this. Rally Edge takes the same isometric viewpoint as Super Woden GP 2 and transports it to the forest. Even at this stage, with only a vague release date of “2025” the level of polish is remarkable.

    Vidjuda describes the games features thus:

    ■ A vast variety of vehicles: from the smallest and humblest to the unstoppable Hillclimb machines.

    ■ A renewed, unique graphical style, carefully crafted down to the last detail.

    ■ An original soundtrack created to perfectly capture the emotions of rally racing.

    ■ Buy, sell, upgrade, and customize your cars in the garage.

    ■ Show off your photography skills in the photo mode.

    ■ Local multiplayer for up to 4 players in split-screen.

    ■ Record your times online and compete to beat other players’ records.

    The solo developer from Spain’s passion for the genre is literally seeping through in every aspect of the demo. There’s a competition for the best shot in Photo Mode, you can see my attempt at the top of the page, and the competition ends on July 5th, so with the demo being earmarked as “Limited Time” we can probably assume it will disappear around that point, so you need to move quickly to get on board.

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  • 27 years later, super realistic classic milsim game is getting a surprise sequel

    27 years later, super realistic classic milsim game is getting a surprise sequel


    Microprose is on a bit of a roll lately. The publisher has reached into a rich back catalog and supported new concepts through work on games like Dagger Directive, Exfil, Battlefall: State of Conflict, B-17 Flying Fortress, and Afterconflict. Now, Microprose has announced another project that returns to its past with Spearhead 2, sequel to a 1998 tank simulator akin to Steel Beasts or War Thunder, now returning with a focus on co-op play and modern military technology.

    Nearly three decades since the original simulation game launched, Spearhead 2 looks to pick up where its predecessor left off. Like the first game, the sequel will be a mix of simulation and action, with players heading into battle either alone or in co-op squads of up to 16 other people.

    The game’s missions take place across various regions of Europe and the Middle East, featuring vehicles like APCs, IFVs, and, of course, an M1A2 Abrams tank, all modeled closely on their real-world counterparts. Spearhead 2 emphasizes tactics, though its meant to offer immediate action, too, and requires careful thinking to handle objectives like defending bases, killing important targets, surviving or conducting convoy ambushes, and clearing cities.

    Though this sequel is the main part of Microprose’s surprise announcement, the publisher also plans to relaunch the original Spearhead on Steam as well.

    YouTube Thumbnail

    Spearhead 2 doesn’t have a launch date yet, but you can find more details or wishlist it on Steam right here.

    While you’re waiting, you can also find more to play with our picks for the best war games and best co-op games already out on PC.

    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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