Kotaku’s Weekend Guide: 5 Games To Play While Prices Are Still Normal

Play it on: PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Windows PCs

Current goal: Humble another trash talker

Last month, I bought EA Sports College Football 25 for the low, low price of $15. It released back in July and ultimately became 2024’s second-highest selling game in the U.S. I was slow to the party, though, as I had never played the original NCAA Football games, meaning I was decidedly less geeked for the series’ reboot. But since I scooped it on sale, CFB has quickly replaced Madden as my favorite sports franchise—this became apparent to me last night, around my 141st hour of play time.

There I was, silently prepared to take my first loss for the night in Road to the College Football Playoff, one of CFB 25’s two ranked online modes. The game opened as I marched down the field via a methodical, run-heavy drive with the Colorado Buffaloes and settled for a field goal on 4th and a few deep in the red zone. My opponent, who was playing with the LSU Tigers, rocking a massive advantage in both offensive and overall team ratings, responded with two quick bombs that put him in the endzone. I intended to finish the game, but I knew I was outmatched. Having already accepted defeat, that’s when I heard the muffled voice crackle through the base of my DualSense controller: “’Ey, I know you there, lil boy,” he said with a southern drawl as his wide receiver did a touchdown dance. “You so sorry.”

It was finally happening. I had encountered my first CFB 25 trash talker. I threw a pick on the very next drive, a trick play out of the Wildcat to Travis Hunter, and my opponent scolded me for even trying “that stupid-ass shit” in the first place. “My players live back here,” he said, cosplaying as if he actually had a clipboard in his hand and an LSU coaching paystub in the mail. After my “it’s just a game” appeal only resulted in him calling me names, I quietly told myself I’d take the first chance I’d get to rib him back. Turns out I didn’t have to wait that long.

Coach Cosplay must have lost the locker room after such an insufferably cringe comment, because he wouldn’t score another point from that moment on. Each time he took a sack, threw a pick, turned the ball over on downs, sailed it over his target’s head, chucked it into the stands, whiffed on a user tackle, or gave up a crucial score, I’d clown him for that corny “my players” quip: “What happened, Coach?” “Talk to your boys, Coach.” “LSU ‘bout to have yo ass applying for a JUCO gig after this one, Coach.” I called him all types of bums and losers for living his sideline dreams vicariously through video games, questioning whether he had a job of his own IRL. It was glorious.

Before Coach Cosplay rage quit, the score was 13-7, just as I was about to kick another field goal to make it 16-7. By the fourth quarter, my trash talker had gone from “I know you there, lil boy” to “shut the fuck up…you talk so much, oh my God.”

I don’t know if I’ll come across another fictitious leader of men in College Football 25 this weekend. If I do, I hope he reads the paper and finds out how LSU sent a trash talker to the coach carousel for losing to a casual who bought the game nine months late for 80 percent off. Let this be a lesson to him and other aspirant young play-callers: CFB isn’t an RPG, and you’ll get put in a Kotaku post if you catch an L acting like it is. — Austin Williams

Play it on: PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Windows PCs

Current goal: Reach the beginning of the end

Blue Prince is a genre-defying puzzle game (currently included with Game Pass and PS Plus) that mashes together elements of Inscryption, Gone Home, and adventure games with layers that are slowly pulled back to reveal satisfyingly unexpected epiphanies. You explore a mysterious mansion in first-person with the hook that you’re “drafting” which rooms appear in front of you every time you open a door. Progress is run-based and governed by resource management, including stamina, which is needed to keep opening new doors. That’s the roguelite part, and on its face, these elements don’t make Blue Prince anything extraordinary.

But the more you explore, linking fixtures and references from one part of the mansion to another, a deeper, more compelling experience begins to unfold. It’s the iceberg effect. I’m currently at the cusp of that second headspace and hoping to crack into it for good this weekend. Despite being the highest Metacritic-rated release of 2025 so far, there’s already been some lowkey debate around whether Blue Prince is overrated. Personally, the very fact that people are disagreeing about that is another notch in its favor. You can read a great interview with the creators over at Bloomberg. — Ethan Gach

Play it on: Windows PCs

Current goal: Figure out how it works

Okay, full disclosure: This is one I haven’t played yet but can’t wait to dig into. Sultan’s Game is a dark strategy RPG sim with beautiful card-based art and a fascinating pitch. You draw random cards with objectives you have to complete within seven in-game days. Surviving to the next round requires managing time, resources, and relationships to accrue more and more advantages. “The result is a dark, challenging, and utterly fascinating puzzle,” writes PC Gamer. “There’s a hint of Crusader Kings to the scheming and political machinations, and a touch of Sunless Sea to its branching, text-driven narrative and resource management, but altogether it’s something unique.” Sultan’s Game’s has been steadily climbing up the Steam charts all month, and I can’t wait to finally check it out. — Ethan Gach

Play it on: Windows PC

Current goal: Start making some pictures!

After following Hollywood Animal for a few months, it’s finally launched on PC, and I’m excited to jump in. The game is a business sim all about running a movie studio in 1940s Hollywood. You have to manage budgets, stars, crew, and more while building out your movie studio lot. Some of you might read this and think it sounds boring. But the sickos out there who love tinkering with buildings and employee pay in games like Two Point Muesum are likely salivating at the idea of building and maintaining a large ‘40s era movie studio. And best of all, the game has a slick art style, too. I’m going to try to play some this weekend and write up some thoughts in the near future. Stay tuned. — Zack Zwiezen

Play it on: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One

Current goal: Stay cool, calm, and collected

Recently, a friend and I played through the co-op game We Were Here Too, the second in the We Were Here series, which sees two players split up and have to communicate with each other to make progress as they face a sometimes-deadly assortment of puzzles and traps. I’m not gonna lie, it was pretty stressful! In one section, for instance, I had to quickly describe to my partner what various suits of armor in my chamber were holding so that he could recreate them in his room, all while a wall closed in on me, ready to crush me to death. I got flustered at times, not so much with the game as with myself, when I had to do things I don’t think I’m very good at. At one point, I had to guide my partner through a maze that he was trapped in while I looked down from above; I’m terrible at spatial orientation and really struggled to clearly communicate the path to him. And yet, as uncomfortable as some of the situations made me, I came out grateful for the experience, because we did manage to overcome it in the end, which felt great, and I think sometimes being forced out of your comfort zone by a game can be a good and exciting thing.

This weekend, we’ll probably start tackling that game’s sequel, We Were Here Together. According to howlongtobeat.com, Together is about twice as long as Too, at around 6 ½ hours. That would definitely be too much stress for me to endure in one sitting, so we’ll be splitting it up a bit. If you and a friend are looking for some co-op excitement, perhaps after finishing Split Fiction, and you’re open to something pretty different, I’d probably recommend starting with the shorter We Were Here Too yourselves just to see if this kind of game is your thing.

Oh, and there’s one more thing I want to share about these games. Of course, you and your friend could just hop on a Discord call for unfettered communication while you play, but within the games themselves, your characters have walkie-talkies that make communicating one more thing you have to manage, something that can contribute to the stress and pressure when things get dangerous, because you can’t both be talking at the same time. For my part, I think the friction this generates added something to the experience, and I really enjoyed saying “over” at the end of my comments to let my co-op partner know he could start talking. So I recommend trying the game’s built-in communication system yourselves first if you give the game a shot; if you don’t like it, you can always resort to something else. — Carolyn Petit