Games

Play it for laughs: wonderfully madcap UK sports

Could you be the world’s next worm-charming champion? Or maybe toe wrestling is more your thing? These (real) sports are ripe with joyful eccentricity – but for contestants and supporters, it’s serious competition

Elizabeth McCafferty

06, Apr, 2025 @1:00 PM

South of Midnight review – beautiful surfaces can’t hide thin gameplay

A spell-casting high-school athlete ventures into the heart of southern folklore in this distinct yet uneven action adventure

Lewis Gordon

04, Apr, 2025 @1:35 PM

Mario Kart World: hands-on with Nintendo’s crucial Switch 2 launch game

It may not reinvent the wheel but the forthcoming racer looks awesome, plays flawlessly, offers more exhilarating carnage than ever before – and even allows some open-world exploration

Chris Godfrey

04, Apr, 2025 @11:00 AM

I got to play Nintendo Switch 2: hands-on with 2025’s gaming must-have

There are new ways to catch goombas, a Mario Kart battle royale and innovative gameplay ideas abound, but Nintendo will need to work hard to sell its next-gen machine

Chris Godfrey

03, Apr, 2025 @1:01 PM

Shenmue voted the most influential video game of all time in Bafta poll

The idiosyncratic adventure from 1999 beat the likes of Doom and Super Mario Bros in a public vote, proving that, in a world of blockbusters, there’s still room for strange, exotic games

Keith Stuart

03, Apr, 2025 @10:55 AM

Everything we learned from Nintendo’s ‘deep dive’ into the Switch 2

In this week’s newsletter: Finally, the sequel to the revolutionary handheld console was unveiled – and it was a reminder that no one does joy like Nintendo

Keith Stuart

02, Apr, 2025 @3:39 PM

Nintendo reveals Switch 2 console due to launch on 5 June

New console features larger screen, double the pixels and magnetically attached controllers

Keith Stuart

02, Apr, 2025 @3:13 PM

Atomfall review – everybody’s gone to the reactor

Inspired by the 1957 Windscale fire, Rebellion’s open-world adventure features an interesting mystery, but suffers from middling combat, poor stealth and an underutilised setting

Rick Lane

28, Mar, 2025 @4:11 PM

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was the hardest game I ever played – so why am I back? | Dominik Diamond

It drove me to distraction on the ZX Spectrum and now that a new version of TMNT is available on a PlayStation collection, I had to test myself against it once more – with inevitable consequences

Dominik Diamond

28, Mar, 2025 @9:00 AM

These games were indie smash hits – but what happened next?

The developers of Thank Goodness You’re Here!, Frog Detective and Consume Me discuss burnout, ‘second-album syndrome’, erotic fan art, and the other highs and lows of having a breakout success

Sarah Thwaites

27, Mar, 2025 @12:24 PM

Why bloated budgets mean open world games are starting to think small – but mighty

After years of soaring costs and ever-expanding maps, open world games are getting smaller, and developers are creating richer landscapes in the process

Keith Stuart

26, Mar, 2025 @3:30 PM

Your House review – scavenger hunt through a delightfully difficult puzzle

Inspired by a remarkable true story, this book-like journey through a deserted house filled with secret panels and hidden passages presents some ingenious conundrums

Lewis Packwood

26, Mar, 2025 @3:00 PM