Culture

Arkham Horror‘s April Fool’s Gag, Barkham Horror, Becomes Real Game

Earlier this year, Fantasy Flight’s April Fool’s joke was to announce an expansion to Arkham Horror’s card game called The Dogwich Legacy, in which the human heroes were replaced by dogs and the Lovecraftian horrors by cats. The joke came and went, but people loved it so much that it’s now an actual game. Barkham…

Civilization VI Bug Crashes Game Unless You Declare War

There’s a bug affecting the Switch version of Civilization VI at the moment that’s causing the game to crash just before the player claims victory, and the current solution is maybe not the most ideal for anyone with a pacifist’s approach to the game. This Reddit thread (via Eurogamer), beginning with one person complaining about…

YouTube Is Relaxing Its Rules Against Video Game Violence

In a “Policy enforcement update” posted earlier today, YouTube announced a series of changes coming to the site’s content moderation, most of them centred around new distinctions between actual real-world violence and the “scripted or simulated violence” you see in video games. Starting today, “scripted or simulated violent content found in video games will be…

Twitch Briefly Bans One Of The Biggest Moderation Bots

If allowed to chatter and meme unchecked, Twitch chat can grow into an unstoppable avalanche of ugly behavior. Many streamers rely on at least a handful of volunteer or paid moderators, as well as chat bots that allow streamers to auto-block specific terms, stop spam before it starts, and quarantine questionable comments. Yesterday, Twitch accidentally…

Inside Twitch’s Wildest Talk Show

It’s the beginning of another episode of the Rajj Show, a livestreamed reality show with what may euphemistically be described as 13 of Twitch’s strongest personalities, and already, it’s on a waterslide straight to hell’s navel. A new guest is immediately cut off after introducing himself as a lawyer who streams at night. “Can you…

My Dad Would Like To Buy You A Drone For Christmas

Hi reader. Would you like a drone for Christmas? See, my dad really wants to give one to someone, and I’m trying to help him out. My dad loves tech toys, and often buys them for himself for Christmas. Many years ago I awoke on Christmas morning to find that my dad had haphazardly wrapped…

Outer Wilds Has Made Exploration In Other Games Boring

When it comes to video games, “exploration” is kind of a bullshit word, a sexier way of saying hey you’re gonna be doing a lot of running and stuff. “And stuff,” in this context, can be climbing, walking, riding a horse, swimming, or what have you. All the basic ways you get from here to…

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order Thanksgiving Commercial Spoils The Damn Ending

Imagine: you’re sitting with your family on Thanksgiving Day, watching football or the parade or a Hallmark movie marathon, when suddenly you see a commercial for the new Star Wars game. “Cool,” you might think, for roughly twenty seconds, until it spoils the ending and one of the game’s coolest surprises That’s what it was…

Ghost Recon Breakpoint Players Really Want AI Teammates

Ghost Recon Breakpoint players want to see the game become more tactical, less grindy, and be less online, according to the results of a player survey Ubisoft shared on Friday. Thousands of players participated in the survey. The requested changes and additions, many of which are already in the works, aren’t that surprising to anyone…

Super Mario Maker 2 Update Adds Link

Super Mario Maker 2 is getting a free update this Thursday that adds a bunch of new enemies and blocks for players to build levels out of, including a Master Sword power-up that will transform Mario into Link. When Mario becomes Link he’s able to use the character’s abilities, ranging from smacking enemies with his…

The Week In Games: Life Is Farming

Happy week after Thanksgiving! Life is Strange 2: Episode 5 launches this week, and Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey comes to Xbox One and PS4. Red Dead Redemption 2 comes to Steam. And, of course, Farming Simulator 20 arrives on the Switch, which I will admit I kind of super want to play. December 2 Trax (PS4)…

Track: New Me | Artist: Double Experience | Album: Alignments 

Running Down A Path. Croatia, Tribalj. By Eduard Tucaković | Instagram JPGs is a photo peek into wherever gamers might find interesting. If you’re a photographer and have images you want to share, drop us a line!

I Scream, You Scream, Gun Screams

Jeremie Feldman is an artist based in France. I’m getting very strong Blame! vibesfrom all of this, and I love it. You can see more of Feldman’s stuff at his ArtStation page

This is New Cities, an upcoming city-builder for the PC with a strong focus on road networks and the economy. I really like the scale of it, those cities look enormous

Streamer Sets World Record By Playing Games For 572 Hours

Last month, Cecilia ran a great feature on Andrew “GiantWaffle” Bodine, who was in the middle of an attempt to set a world record by streaming himself playing video games for 570 hours. Yesterday, he reached the finish line. Obviously, like any world record attempt these days in pretty much any field, participants are allowed…

Sunday Comics: OK Boomer

Hello! It’s time for Kotaku’s Sunday Comics, your weekly roundup of the best webcomics. The images enlarge if you click on the magnifying glass icon. Corpse Run by Alex Di Stasi. Published Nov. 25. Read more of Corpse Run Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich. Published Nov. 25. Read more of Awkward Zombie Clueless Hero by…

Ask Dr. NerdLove: Why Was It So Easy To Get Over My Ex?

Hello, you joyous nipplewarmers, and welcome to Ask Dr. NerdLove, the only dating advice column to help you make a love connection while you’re trying to survive the Black Friday Riots. This week, we’re dealing with our exes and soon-to-be exes. Why was it so easy for him to let go of his relationship while…

Ghost Trick Has One Of The Catchiest OSTs On The DS

Ghost Trick was one of my favorite games on the DS. A big part of what made it so good was the amazing music. The whole concept behind Ghost Trick is making ghostly possessions a game mechanic. That meant every object in an area was either a potential tool to be manipulated or a method…

Track: Naeem | Artist: Bon Iver | Album: i,i