Here’s the second part of the Monday gaming news:
Marvel Rivals has finally addressed 'incentivised throwing', the bounty system where people pay to ruin matches: 'We maintain a strict zero-tolerance policy against any form of malicious disruption'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/marvel-rivals-has-finally-addressed-incentivised-throwing-the-bounty-system-where-people-pay-to-ruin-matches-we-maintain-a-strict-zero-tolerance-policy-against-any-form-of-malicious-disruption/
Just when you thought Marvel Rivals' competitive balancing couldn't get any worse, a new system to throw games turns up. Incentivised throwing is the name, and ruining people's win streaks is its game.
Third party websites popped up with the sole purpose of placing bounties on players' heads. The intention being that if people find themself in a team with someone who has a bounty, they can throw the game and claim 80% of the reward (20% goes to the website, very convenient). People who throw games for any reason are already losers with paper-thin mental, but this sinks to new depths of deadbeats.
(...)
"Accounts found to be violating our policies will face serious repercussions, including, but not limited to, permanent bans. We strongly advise players against jeopardising their valuable accounts and hard-earned progress for the sake of temporary incentives."
'It's kind of like you're a butcher': Hundreds of Slay the Spire 2 card ideas were cut during development in an 'incredibly destructive process'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/card-games/its-kind-of-like-youre-a-butcher-hundreds-of-slay-the-spire-2-card-ideas-were-cut-during-development-in-an-incredibly-destructive-process/
Even in early access, Slay the Spire 2 contains more stuff—cards, enemies, and so on—than the original Slay the Spire, according to the developers at Mega Crit. Yet studio co-founder Anthony Giovannetti has described refining the hit roguelike deckbuilder as an 'incredibly destructive' process.
>> More articles: 1-They’ve joked about Marathon (link); 2-They later regreted making the joke (link); 3- A dev compared it to unexciting 'chicken noodle soup' (link); And 4- They hate microtransactions (link)
The makers of idle farming sensation Rusty's Retirement have announced a new game, and this one's taking over your whole screen
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/roguelike/the-makers-of-idle-farming-sensation-rustys-retirement-have-announced-a-new-game-and-this-ones-taking-over-your-whole-screen/
While we all impatiently shuffle our cards and stack our chips until Balatro 1.1 gets here, we've got plenty to keep us busy: there are lots of Balatro-like games out there to play right now, and plenty more on the horizon.
One of them is coming from a surprising direction. Mister Morris Games, maker of chill idle farming sim Rusty's Retirement, has announced its next game, and it's something like a mashup of Balatro and Peggle. Called Pegs X Stickers, this pachinko-roguelike is all about building a board of enchanted pegs and putting together ridiculous scores. (...)
The horse gamers have spoken: This new horse sim has 'a beautiful sense of realism I haven't felt since RDR2'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sim/the-horse-gamers-have-spoken-the-legend-of-khiimori-has-a-beautiful-sense-of-realism-i-havent-felt-since-rdr2/
Horse games have a reputation—a fairly earned one, I'm sad to say—for being bad. If they're horse-accurate, they're ugly. If they're pretty, they're boring. If they're highly anticipated, they're buggy and unsupported. Horse enthusiast gamers have been burned before and often left half-fulfilled by the latest horse games. Horse courier sim The Legend of Khiimori launched in early access this week and this might finally be the equine experience that horse gamers deserve.
It's a happy ending for the artist whose work was stolen by Bungie and used in Marathon: She's credited in the game as 'visual design consultant'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/its-a-happy-ending-for-the-artist-whose-work-was-stolen-by-bungie-and-used-in-marathon-shes-credited-in-the-game-as-visual-design-consultant/
It came to light in 2025 that Bungie had stolen work from artist Antireal and used it in Marathon—and I don't mean in the "borrowed ideas from" way, I mean in the straight-up "copied and pasted" way. The situation was made doubly awkward because this had happened previously, in Bungie's other game Destiny 2—and more than once.
(...)
Several months later, Antireal said on X that the matter had been resolved to her satisfaction. We still don't have any details on the deal they arrived at (which presumably involved some cash) and probably never will, but one very cool consequence has come to light following Marathon's release: Antireal is listed in the game's credits, conveniently posted on the Bungie website, as a freelance visual design consultant.
>> More Marathon articles: 1- There are peaceful lobbies (link); 2-We got the first uncovered secrets (link); And 3- Players have rallied together to solve the first stage of the Cryo Archive ARG puzzle (link).
American McGee has come out of retirement to make an Alice spiritual successor based on his plushie empire
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/american-mcgee-has-come-out-of-retirement-to-make-an-alice-spiritual-successor-based-on-his-plushie-empire/
American McGee, the Quake alumnus famed for his eponymous action-adventure series based on Alice in Wonderland, is returning to game development with a spiritual successor inspired by his line of plushies. McGee retired from game development in 2023 after a pitch for a third Alice game was rejected by EA. But nearly three years since hanging up his keyboard forever, McGee has apparently changed his mind.
Elder Scrolls wannabe Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon gets a 'huge' update overhauling its weaker third act with new locations, quests, enemies and more
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/elder-scrolls-wannabe-tainted-grail-the-fall-of-avalon-gets-a-huge-update-overhauling-its-weaker-third-act-with-new-locations-quests-enemies-and-more/
Last month, the developers of the Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon revealed that its impressive, Elder Scrolls-inspired RPG would receive a major update in March, one that gives its weaker final act a lick of paint. But it left out key details, such as what colour of paint they'd use, whether it'd have a gloss or matte finish, and so forth.
But all is clear now, if only because the Dulux is already on the walls. Patch 1.20 for Tainted Grail arrived earlier this week. Described as "huge" by Questline, the update seeks to improve the final act in numerous ways, while also making changes to the game at large.
I was pleasantly surprised by this BioShock-coded roguelike FPS, and its latest update adding a speargun has me yearning to dive back in
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/i-was-pleasantly-surprised-by-this-bioshock-coded-roguelike-fps-and-its-latest-update-adding-a-speargun-has-me-yearning-to-dive-back-in/
Roguelike FPS Abyssus was one of the more interesting games to embed itself in my Steam library last year. Generally, I am of the belief that first-person shooting and roguelike randomisation should never meet, as it generally results in mushy combat and poorly paced levels.
But Abyssus beat the odds, successfully infusing the power-curve of a roguelike into blasting goons with a gun. Its clever genre synthesis lets your diving suit-clad Brinehunter enter battle with chain-lightning revolvers and shotguns that pummel opponents with ghosts. But there was one thing missing from DoubleMoose Games' nautically-themed blaster—a harpoon gun.
(...)
Abyssus made the same mistake when it launched in August last year. But the recently released 1.2 update fixes this grievous error, folding in a harpoon gun as the primary feature of the patch.
Please send help: We can't stop opening packs in Wikigacha, a browser-based card game where you collect Wikipedia articles like 'List of Red Hot Chili Peppers band members' or 'Bariatric Surgery'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/card-games/please-send-help-we-cant-stop-opening-packs-in-wikigacha-a-browser-based-card-game-where-you-collect-wikipedia-articles-like-list-of-red-hot-chili-peppers-band-members-or-bariatric-surgery/
Thanks to reporting from Automata, a new card collecting game has taken PC Gamer by storm, and I'm not talking about Slay the Spire 2 (that has also taken us by storm). I'm talking about Wikigacha, a browser-based game where you open packs to collect little cards corresponding to Wikipedia articles.
Before Doom, there was Dangerous Dave, and John Romero's 8-bit hero is getting a spiritual successor next week
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/before-doom-there-was-dangerous-dave-and-john-romeros-8-bit-hero-is-getting-a-spiritual-successor-next-week/
There is an almost fractal quality to the history of id Software, in that the closer you look at it, the more games seem to appear. The studio's first official game is Commander Keen in Invasion of the Vorticons, but prior to that is a weird transition period where the creators of Doom were still partly tied to its previous employer, Softdisk.
It was during this period that id Software's four founders developed Dangerous Dave in the Haunted Mansion, a side-scrolling shooter released in late 1990. Sequel to 1988's Dangerous Dave in the Deserted Pirate's Hideout, which was created exclusively by John Romero, it's generally regarded as the best in the series, notable for how it let you blast zombies into chunky gibs with your shotgun—a shocking display of violence that would soon be massively eclipsed by id Software's first-person shooters.
While Dave himself has long been consigned to the recycle bin of history, his spirit lives on. Haunted Lands is a spiritual successor to Dave's 8-bit adventures, a passion project created by solo developer Alevgor.
The sci-fi survival game from the creator of DayZ heads to space Skyrim in its latest DLC, accompanied by a free update that adds oil processing and chainsaws
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/the-sci-fi-survival-game-from-the-creator-of-dayz-heads-to-space-skyrim-in-its-latest-dlc-accompanied-by-a-free-update-that-adds-oil-processing-and-chainsaws/
I haven't checked in on Icarus, the sci-fi survival game from DayZ creator Dean Hall, for quite a long time. And, well, a lot has changed in the years since it launched as a solid but somewhat unremarkable survival game. Over the course of hundreds of updates, RocketWerkz has added a fully explorable open world, masses of new missions, fishing, and paid DLC that expands the map and adds hardcore survival mode. Rocketwerkz even threw in a flamethrower to celebrate just how many updates it has done.
Contrary to the myth, Icarus' flight shows no signs of slowing down either. This week, the studio released another huge DLC accompanied by a substantial free update that, combined, seems like a game's worth of stuff.
Human Fall Flat, which is bizarrely one of the best-selling games of all time, gets a Viking-themed map featuring Dave the Diver for some reason
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/puzzle/human-fall-flat-which-is-bizarrely-one-of-the-best-selling-games-of-all-time-gets-a-viking-themed-map-featuring-dave-the-diver-for-some-reason/
Cooperative physics-platformer Human Fall Flat is one of my favourite back-burner games, something I check in on once every six months or so to see what nonsense has been added, eagerly play through the new levels, and then memory hole the thing until Christmas or whenever. Given how No Brakes Games' goofy wobble 'em up is one of the best-selling games of all time, I imagine the situation is the same for a lot of other people too.
Now is one of those moments where Human Fall Flat pops back into existence for me, as No Brakes Games has released another new map for players to boldly flop through. The Viking themed map will see players navigating a rugged Scandinavian landscape, piloting a longship and using a battering ram to break into a Viking fortress.
This bizarre CRPG features claymation graphics, beat 'em up combat and the option to send defeated enemies to a prison colony, and it just left early access after a massive final update
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/this-bizarre-crpg-features-claymation-graphics-beat-em-up-combat-and-the-option-to-send-defeated-enemies-to-a-prison-colony-and-it-just-left-early-access-after-a-massive-final-update/
We're in a golden era for the CRPG. Disco Elysium set a new standard for narrative driven roleplaying in 2019, while Baldur's Gate 3 did the same with pretty much everything in 2023. Even the 'B-tier'of modern CRPGs like Rogue Trader and Solasta: Crown of the Magister offer rock-solid roleplaying adventures of dizzying depth.
The hits keep coming, too. This week saw the launch of Esoteric Ebb, which blends Disco Elysium and Dungeons & Dragons with scintillating results. Personally, though, I'm more intrigued by Banquet for Fools, a CRPG that leans closer to Planescape: Torment in its darkly weird vibes.
Developed by a two-person team, Banquet for Fools takes place on an island recently colonised by your race—the Vollings—after being forsaken by their own gods and adopting paganism. All seems to be going well in your newly, uh, acquired home, until the inhabitants of one particular farmhold vanish without a trace.
>> Somewhat surprisingly, there’s another article about this game comparing it to Morrowind (link).
My favourite virtual co-working game has received its first content update, and the new minigame will no doubt derail my productivity for a bit
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sim/my-favourite-virtual-co-working-game-has-received-its-first-content-update-and-the-new-minigame-will-no-doubt-derail-my-productivity-for-a-bit/
On-Together, the virtual co-working game I've spent an unreasonable amount of time within already this year, has rolled out its first "major" update for 2026. I didn't expect this sweet little focus game to receive many patches, but now it's got the first I can't wait to see what's in store for the next few.
The first feature is the addition of 14 new facial hair styles, which have been pretty sought after since the game launched in January. Although you do have a lot of options when it comes to customising your character, I can't lie, the facial hair options were severely lacking. You don't have to use your hard-earned tickets to unlock any of these options either, which is a major plus.
Please excuse my bad English.
Former gaming PC: i5-4670k@stock (for now), 16Gb RAM 1600 MHz and a GTX 1070
Current gaming PC: R5-7600, 32GB RAM 6000MT/s (CL30) and a RX 9060XT 16GB
Steam / Live / NNID : jonxiquet Add me if you want, but I'm a single player gamer.
