What We're Playing

What you could play this weekend

If you had infinite time and money, obviously
By Graham Smith
A group of pixel art weirdos gather round to hear one old weirdo, who is standing on a raised platform, as if delivering a sermon.
My dream wedding.

It's one of those weeks where several long-anticipated videogames all release at the same time, and yet still that's just the tip of the iceberg of the interesting games that released this week. Me? I'll probably just be playing that great game that's about to be removed from sale.

You? Tell us what you are playing in the comments.

A red map pin, but dropped for real in a grassy field.
An educational game urging players to think carefully about the impact of dropping map pins upon local communities.

Map Map: A Game About Maps

I love maps, and videogame maps, and I have a lot of fondness for the stripped-back sexy-as-it-sounds orienteering sim Virtual-O. Map Map is similarly about orienting yourself in a world using landmaps, but here you do so to make the map itself, with a much more playful presentation.

A man cuddles a baby, in a children's bedroom, while another kid crawls on their bed and a third is cuddled by a woman.
Brendan, yesterday.

Paralives

I confess, when Paralives was first shown over five years ago, I figured it was a game that would either never come out or would be bad when it did. A wildly ambitious indie Sims? Sure, it already had a cool character creator, but the rest of the game would surely fall down just as every other Maxis challenger does. Oh me of little faith, I guess. After a long road, Paralives launched in Early Access last week, and apparently it's pretty good already. I'm thrilled to be wrong.

Brendan, tomorrow.

Mina The Hollower

From the makers of Shovel Knight, this is a similarly retro-looking but modern-feeling action platformer, with a top-down perspective and an emphasis on exploration and experimentation to make best use of the weapons it gives you. A bit Zelda-like, not quite a puzzle game, not quite a metroidvania, but seemingly as excellent as its predecessor.

Those are just three of the options. I highlight too many townbuilders in this article, but Town To City exited Early Access this week and looks wonderful; Rune Dice was a Next Fest hit that looks like the new Peglin; and LumenTale looks like a handsome Pokélike. Oh also there's that James Bond game. When will you let me sleep, videogames?

Sundays, I suppose. For now, tell us what you are playing below, in the internet's best and only comment section (now with better threading).

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What We're Playing
Graham Smith

Graham Smith

Graham is a former editorial director of Rock Paper Shotgun and editor-in-chief of PC Gamer. He has now been a games journalist for over twenty years, and retains a bottomless appetite for playing new games and tinkering with old ones.