Gaming in city Sandbox. Reviews, Walkthroughs, News

Got some nice rain for you today. Second-Loop is an upcoming sci-fi shooter featuring mechs, physics puzzles, and at least one freaky umbilical-corded being struggling against the confines of a horrific laboratory womb. Video games! All of that sounds interesting. But it's the moody reflections on the rain-slick surfaces and the game's bodycam-style presentation that's really got me going "oooooo". Don't you want to say "oooooo" too? C'mere and see.

In its continuing quest to become Everything to Everyone, Fortnite has shapeshifted, The Thing-like, into a new Lego Star Wars game. The Lego Fortnite survival mode has been expanded with a new, permanent Star Wars world, with this weekend - which includes May the Fourth, don’tcha know - also kicking off a new battle pass and bringing additions to every other part of Fortnite: whether you’re playing it as a battle royale shooter (remember that?), racing game or music-rhythm successor to Guitar Hero.

11 bit studios kicked off its beta for its post-apocalyptic city-builder, Frostpunk 2, this week for those who have pre-ordered the Deluxe Edition of the game. The beta runs through April 22.

For someone who’s spent an embarrassing amount of my life staring at virtual maps, I am a downright directionless dunce when it comes to geography. Not ‘the country of Africa’ bad, but certainly not good enough that you’d want me on your pub quiz team. Also, I still do the Shredded Wheat rhyme internally when I have to follow directions. However, I do enjoy making maps turn a different colour in strategy games, Total War chiefly among them. Well, one such map is expanding before my confused idiot eyes, that being Total War: Pharaoh’s. It’s getting a new, distinctly Mesopotamia and Aegea-shaped bit. I believe that’s just south of Eastopotamia and Wegea.

Ravenlok and five other games are leaving Xbox Game Pass later today, April 30. This wave of outgoing titles will round off an uncharacteristically busy month for Xbox Game Pass in terms of departures.

Armadillos, the grumpy pistachio nuts of the animal kingdom, have been added to Minecraft in a recent mob update. You can brush them to harvest "scutes", the boney armour plating of the animal's back, which you can then use to craft armour for pet wolves. Speaking of wolves, this update also sees an explosion in canine diversity, with eight varieties of the wolf now appearing across different biomes. Awoooooo!

It seems that Prison Architect 2 is going method in its approach to launching the 3D sequel to the jailhouse management game, as - like its inmates - it just can’t seem to secure a solid release. Originally due to arrive in March, before being pushed into May, developers Double Eleven have now shunted it all the way back to September.

Here’s a heads-up on a sweet deal you might not want to miss. Down in Bermuda, the puzzle game by Yak & Co has just dropped its price from $4.99 to $1.49. Yup, you read that right. You can dive into the mysterious Bermuda at a much cheaper price than usual.

11 bit Studios’ Frostpunk 2 isn’t even out yet but is garnering praise for its recent beta. A new accolades trailer highlights what critics think of the social survival sequel. Check it out below.

Prison Architect 2 has been delayed once again. The upcoming jail sim sequel will now arrive this autumn, following the discovery of «unexpected issues occurring too often».

Snail Games has just launched one of its popular PC titles on Android. It’s Dark and Light Mobile, the mobile version of the original Dark and Light PC game that dropped in 2017. If you’re in the United States, Europe or Southeast Asia, you can get a sneak peek at this survival game on Android.

While Cities: Skylines 2 has made progress on the performance front, not everything about the troubled citybuilder is on the up. In fact, player reception to the recently released Beach Properties DLC has proven so un-sunny that both developers Colossal Order and publishers Paradox Interactive have issued a joint statement apologising for the state it launched in.

We rather liked Toy Trains when we reviewed it earlier in the year — a cute, if slight, experience all about putting together little tracks to deliver materials around each level. It won't be quite so small soon, though, as a massive free update is set to seriously scale things up.

Cities Skylines 2 publisher Paradox Interactive and developer Colossal Order have issued a stark apology for the state of the game and the release of its recent DLC, admitting to fans: «We let you down».

Treasure is a big part of 's shrunken survival adventure, but the Melted Moat Chest in particular can unlock one of the best tools in your arsenal. The numerous insects you'll fight throughout your adventure can be dangerous enemies without the right weapon. Finding the key to this Chest will give you a recipe for a strong weapon, but only if you explore a hazardous area.

The beta for 11 bit Studios’ Frostpunk 2, available by pre-ordering the Deluxe Edition, is now live. Alongside it, the developer has released a new gameplay deep dive discussing the larger scale of the sequel and the challenges players will face. Check it out below.

Make an early descent into World of Warcraft®: The War Within™. You'll journey through never-before-seen subterranean worlds filled with hidden wonders, earn the trust of the new Earthen allied race, and face an ancient evil lurking in the darkness when you sign up for the beta!

EA's upcoming game could let players explore Wakanda in a way no other Marvel game has. Very little has been revealed surrounding the title since its announcement in July 2023 other than the fact it is being developed by a new AAA development studio based in Seattle, Cliffhanger Games, which consists of a team of,,, and veterans.

The Black Panther video game from Electronic Arts appears to be an open sandbox game.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Fans want to see Sandbox make a return. The Call of Duty franchise is known for having an expansive amount of content throughout each iteration, with variety being one factor that keeps many gamers coming back. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 has received plenty of seasonal updates that draw player attention and prevent gameplay from getting stale, with one of their biggest attractions being fresh maps.

EA's Black Panther game will be open world.

The recently announced Black Panther game in development at EA may be open world, judging from a new job listing posted for the title. Given the amount of open world fatigue some gamers have experienced in recent years, this aspect of Black Panther could prove divisive if done poorly.

A Fortnite player has a unique idea for LEGO Backblings of all the skins that gamers have acquired over the years. The LEGO collaboration has resulted in an influx of players who may not have joined Fortnite otherwise, and this idea may bridge the gap with the Battle Royale mode.

User-generated content, or UGC, has been a continued source of discussion recently, particularly when it involves minors doing the creating and, in some cases, earning off the back of it.

Back in September of 2023, the European Union officially designated Apple a «gatekeeper» under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), stipulating that it must open its App Store on iOS in a number of ways, including adding the ability to «side-load» apps from the web rather than the store, to have other storefronts available, and more.

Sandbox detective simulation game Shadows of Doubt will be available for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series alongside PC when it leaves Early Access later in 2024, publisher Fireshine Games and developer ColePowered Games announced.

The Splintered Sea is an upcoming expansion for beloved battlements blasting building game Besiege, taking its so far decisively land-based action to the high seas for some aquatic anarchy. You’ll be able to pit your custom war machines rudder to fin with enemy fleets and underwater nemeses when it launches May 24th on Steam.

Do you remember the noughties fan warz over which game had the best terrain destruction physics? The victors of that particular forum skirmish were probably DICE's Battlefield games, with their woozy Frostbitten cinematography and dependable multiplayer tactic of having a whole team focus fire on a single capture point, gradually reducing it to stumps of foundation. But leftier souls may have preferred Volition's (RIP) Red Faction series, the third of which, Red Faction: Guerrilla, featured a granular demolition engine that you bash apart whole bases with a sledgehammer.

Yellow Brick Games, the studio co-founded by Dragon Age creative director Mike Laidlaw, has finally announced its first project. Titled Eternal Strands, it looks like an incredible blend of Shadow of the Colossus with modern Zelda, and it's instantly shot to the top of my gaming wishlist.

Sega will shed 240 staff across its European studios, and sell off Company of Heroes developer Relic Entertainment as part of a cost-cutting drive.

Lego Fortnite's latest update lets players construct their own vehicles. The Mechanical Mayhem update, out now, adds three vehicle builds, and new items which let players craft their own custom designs. It's the second major update to the blocky survival game since its launch last year.

Fantasy craft-o-building survival sandbox game Enshrouded today launched its first big content update, two months after entering early access. You can now enter the Hollow Halls, a series of challenging dungeons scattered around the world with new enemies and rewards. Or at the opposite end of the intensity spectrum, you can now decorate your home with loads of lovely potted plants then sit down on a chair to admire them. Come watch this video showing off these changes and many more.

Troubled city building game Cities: Skylines 2 is getting a little less troubled, as new patch 1.1.0f1 adds various performance and bug fixes alongside the main event: much requested mod support and tools in the form a nifty editor. We got a first look at the new editor tools last October, which looks to simplify the process by combining what was previously several different separate editors into a single application. It was later available only to some closed beta testers, but is now released for everyone. Emphasis on everyone, actually, since the tool looks refreshingly approachable, even for those with basically no modding experience.

Lego Fortnite gets its second major update today, with the arrival of vehicles to build and drive around.

Grab a pencil and start respooling, as tape-based Pokémon 'em up Cassette Beasts today revealed that the previously announced free update adding multiplayer will arrive on the 20th of May. Up to eight players will be able to explore together, as well as take part in two-player cooperative "raids" and duel each other. Also launching alongside this will be a collaboration with another Poké 'em up, Moonstone Island. Have a peek at all this in the video below.

BitCraft: Age of Automata’s announcement way back in 2021 caused quite the commotion in the IGN community, and I’m not going to lie: I was sceptical. Though this survival-crafting sandbox MMO looked absolutely beautiful, I wanted to see some evidence of how exactly players are supposed to craft this world together from the ground up.

allows players to craft anything they can think of, including the game itself. With limitless potential, it seems only fitting that the game itself would be a material that can be used to further make weird and creative combinations. Unfortunately, it takes a little work as various materials are needed to craft it.

Later this week, Payload Studios' open world vehicular survival builder TerraTech Worlds launches into early access. As the name implies, it's a bigger, bolder and more ambitious take on their still very popular sandbox game TerraTech, but according to Payload's founder and CEO Russ Clarke, they're viewing this new version as more of a successor to TerraTech than a full-bodied sequel. "The overall quality of experience is really a huge leap forward," Clarke told me during a press presentation last week. "We're not calling it a sequel because we felt that making it a sequel would be a bit too constraining." Rather, it's "more of a reimagining" of the original game, says Clarke, with a change in engine and fresh investment from Tencent allowing them to reach the full potential of their original vision.

Official mod support for Cities Skylines 2 is finally ready to begin its roll out, developer Colossal Order and publisher Paradox have now said.

Former professional esports player Dennis Fong founded GGWP in 2022, more than a year before companies like Microsoft and Google debuted their natural-language search engines and the AI revolution officially gripped the globe. GGWP is an AI-powered moderation system that identifies and takes action against in-game harassment and hate speech, and after two years on the scene, it’s now integrated into titles at more than 25 studios.

Following Enshrouded's impressive early access launch back in January, developer Keen Games has shared the first iteration of its 2024 roadmap for the co-op survival action-RPG, featuring the likes of animal farming, weather, world events, and more.

PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S owners will have to wait a little bit longer before they can play House Flipper 2, as the game's developer has announced that its upcoming console ports have just been delayed. The cozy building simulator was originally supposed to launch on Sony's and Microsoft's current generation systems this March.

At yesterday’s Xbox Partner Preview, in addition to showcasing new gameplay for The Alters, 11 bit studios also revealed a new trailer for Frostpunk and confirmed a July launch date for the highly anticipated city building survival sequel’s PC version.

11 bit Studios brought a release date reveal trailer for Frostpunk 2 at the Xbox Partner Showcase. The sequel to the popular city building survival game released in 2018 will be available starting on July 25 for PC (where the game will support AMD FSR 3) via all main stores, including Steam, Epic Games Store, and GOG. Additionally, it will be added to Microsoft's Game Pass subscription service from day one.

Frostpunk 2 will launch for PC via Steam, Epic Games Store, and GOG on July 25, followed by PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series at a later date, publisher and developer 11 bit studios announced. It will be available for PC Game Pass and Xbox Game Pass upon release.

Xbox Game Pass is scheduled to add Space Engineers to its content catalog later today, February 29. This will be the final February addition to the platform and the 14th new title overall to reach Xbox Game Pass during the shortest month of 2024.

A new horror FPS called Fossilfuel 2 has strong Dino Crisis vibes, and it has already gained positive reviews soon after its release. Dino Crisis is among the most beloved of Capcom’s forgotten franchises, and its fans will be glad to know that this new indie game could be considered its spiritual successor.

Fortnite's partnership with Lego continues today with the launch of two family-friendly mini-games: Lego Raft Survival and Lego Obby Fun.

The «biggest regret» of the developer behind Cities: Skylines 2 is the game's ongoing lack of modding support, Colossal Order CEO Mariina Hallikainen has said.

Petroglyph, the makers of the Command & Conquer Remastered Collection and The Great War: Western Front, have just released their next RTS game into early access. 9-Bit Armies: A Bit Too Far is a sequel to their 8-Bit Armies series of real-time strategy games, the first of which came out all the way back in 2016. 9-Bit Armies retains the cute, voxel look of its predecessors, only now maps are even larger (4x bigger than the original, say Petroglyph), with naval battles, superstructures for your base and lots more to dig into either alone or in online co-op.

Myth of Empires, the multiplayer sandbox survival MMO taking place in a feudal world where the threat of war looms, has officially launched on PC via Steam. Explore the world, gather resources and supplies, and craft a society and an army to fit your playstyle. 

The 3D sequel to Prison Architect has failed to impress the parole board it seems, as it’ll need to spend a little more time behind bars. After being revealed with a March 26th release date earlier this year, developers Double Eleven and publishers Paradox Interactive have announced that Prison Architect 2 will now launch in early May after being delayed by over a month.

Paradox Interactive has announced a two-month delay for Prison Architect 2, with the management sim sequel now set to release on 7th May as developer Double Eleven opts for «extra time to identify more bugs and further optimise the game».

Kingmakers has too much going on to easily summarise, but I'll try. Really, though, you should just click below and watch the trailer, which will surprise and delight you with its twists and scope in a way my words will not.

The Xiaomi 14 series is all but official in the international markets, and we know for a fact that the Xiaomi 14 Ultra is going to be the star of the show. The phone will launch in China on 22nd February, followed by an international release on 25th February, later this month. As expected, Xiaomi is not shying away from talking about the phone, and today, the company has revealed some more details about the phone--mainly the camera that will be found on the flagship.

I'm kind of fascinated by what happened to Hello Neighbor. The original, a stealth horror game against a creepy AI that learned your likely movements, was hugely popular in alpha in 2016. The series was acquired by TinyBuild in 2020, and since then there has been a heroic number of spin-offs. There's one set in an amusement park, a multiplayer game called Secret Neighbor in which one small child is actually a large adult man in disguise, a direct sequel called Hello Neighbor 2, and a VR game called Search And Rescue. I think everyone got a bit of Neighbor fatigue there, lads.

A talented LEGO Fortnite player is receiving attention from hundreds of other fans due to their impressively massive castle build. The imposing structure, which is filled with plenty of subtle and clever details, is just the latest example of the architectural ingenuity LEGO Fortnite players have exhibited since the surprisingly popular mode's launch.

So, there's pretty much a new Sea Dogs game, but first I have a lot of context to share. If you'd rather not indulge in the long and confusing history of a cult classic pirate series, just scroll down until just after the picture of some pirates in front of a ship and that'll take you straight to the point.

OpenAI's Sam Altman said the United Arab Emirates could serve as the world's “regulatory sandbox” to test artificial intelligence technologies and later spearhead global rules limiting their use.

Sega has reported poor financial results for the past quarter, due to the «weak» performance of some recent releases.

Palworld developer Pocketpair has apologised to fans affected by cheating in Palworld, admitting that «it is currently difficult to completely prevent all cheating».

Now see here Ollie Toms, supposed guides editor of this supposed videogames website - if Enshrouded really does have "the best building system in the survival genre" then why does the floor of my hovel look like a petrified sneeze? I was innocently carving myself a nice stone foundation last night when the Devil jogged my elbow and I dug a massive, raggedy trench straight through it. I've spent an hour now trying to fill in the trench and flatten it out, to no avail. There's always a jaggedy bit right in the middle, and I'm getting displaced trypophobia from the awareness that my efforts have seeded the terrain beneath with random cavities.

Myth of Empires has opened up a limited-time Steam playtest starting today through January 30th. The test comes as the open world survival sandbox set against the backdrop of warprepares for launch next month.

As much as I love looking at and admiring sandbox citybuilders like Townscaper, I am terrible at actually playing them. I get the same kind of blank canvas choice paralysis I do in games like Minecraft, or anything where there's no real clear objective for what I'm meant to be building. I sit there with a big toybox of lovely things to stick together, but always end up deflated and disappointed with my own lack of imagination. But Summerhouse, the sandbox citybuilder (or townbuilder, more like) from solo developer Friedemann is just teeny-tiny enough to give me a sense of creative satisfaction. I've been playing its gorgeous little demo this week in between Palworld sessions, and yes, more of this please, this is utterly delightful. Happily, we don't have to wait too long for the final game now either, as it's coming to Steam on March 8th.

The first major LEGO Fortnite update since the mode launched is now live. Various gameplay changes have been made, as well as performance fixes, and the elimination of pesky bugs that have been getting in the way of your playthrough. In addition, a new item has become available in both Survival and Sandbox modes that’ll elevate you to new heights. That’s right, the Launch Pad has joined LEGO Fortnite and here’s how you can craft one the next time you play.

Ravendawn is the latest MMORPG to hit the masses today, as it is now available for play to anyone who enjoys a good ol’ top-down 2D classic style game with a massive open world to explore. 

Radical Forge, co-developer of titles including Gang Beasts and Sea of Thieves, has announced sandbox farming game Southfield for PC (Steam). A demo will be available during Steam Next Fest in February.

Prison Architect 2 was announced earlier this evening and will switch the carceral management sim to 3D when it releases on March 26th.

Creative Assembly has announced a free update for strategy game Total War: Pharaoh will be available from next week.

Popular jail simulator Prison Architect will get a 3D successor, and it'll release on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on 26th March.

Back in December, Creative Assembly posted a lengthy apology to players for their recent handling of the Total War strategy series, in particular Total War: Warhammer 3 and Total War: Pharoah. Seeking to smooth down feathers ruffled by overpricing and buggy launches, to pick out two of the biggest fan complaints, the developers offered to - amongst other things - make Pharoah’s first paid DLC pack a free update.

After teasing a 3D sequel when Prison Architect received its final update last May, developers Double Eleven and publishers Paradox Interactive have announced that, yep, Prison Architect 2 is indeed a thing that is happening - and in 3D, no less. Prisons will now have multiple floors to police, as well as a whole new inmate behaviour system to navigate along the way that will feed into gang warfare, escapes and other budding management problems. It's coming out surprisingly soon, too, with its reveal trailer dating it for March 26th.

Myth of Empires will be officially relaunched on February 21st. Developer Angela Game and Imperium Interactive Entertainment announced the multiplayer strategic sandbox’ launch date, along with a new trailer, and a Steam playtest later this month.

The Quinfall team continues to push its closed beta, which is supposed to open on January 30th. The team had confirmed the beta and said there would be no delays, but then quietly changed the date on Steam to “coming soon” amid lots of criticism and skepticism.

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It’s notable to see a smaller game given the time to grow into something special. When Empyrean’s House Flipper arrived in 2018, it felt less like a house flipping game than a bare-bones cleaning sim. While big updates and DLC added more and more to do over the years, it was an experience broken into chunks. By contrast, House Flipper 2, which arrived earlier in December, is a fully cohesive game straight out of the box.

In , there are multiple missing Bessie the Beaver collectibles that players must find to get all the trophies in the game. These little guys can be a little hard to spot, but once players get used to spotting them, the rest should be easier to see. Finding them all will result in players earning the Full House achievement.

With all the unique LEGO Fortnite creations, are we really surprised that one player already discovered how to create a catapult?

With astress test planned for early 2024, and Early Access in February, the Nightingale team is reflecting on recent changes and happenings in its latest devblog.

2023 has been a weird year. We've seen multiple MMORPG expansions come down to us, despite not really having one from one of the major hitters in the genre, while we've also seen excellent games release across the industry as a whole. It was a banner year especially for RPGs, with games like Final Fantasy XVI, Sea of Stars and, of course, Baldur's Gate 3 launching to much critical acclaim.