Kotaku Saturday, January 31, 2026 9:11 AM
Right now, you can save between $30 and $50 on the Meta Quest 3S depending on how much storage you require. The post Meta Quest 3S Now the Cheapest VR Headset Option After Sudden Price Drop, While PlayStation VR2 Remains at Full Price appeared first on Kotaku. |
Kotaku Saturday, January 31, 2026 8:00 AM
With its latest update, Valve's secretive MOBA is really starting to define itself The post Steam's Invite-Only Shooter <i>Deadlock</i> Is Quietly Becoming An Absolute Monster appeared first on Kotaku. |
PCGamesN Saturday, January 31, 2026 11:53 AM Soulframe Devstream 12 reveals a dramatic Virtues rework, improvements to combat, a new mission type, and more weapons for the fantasy RPG. |
PCGamesN Saturday, January 31, 2026 10:17 AM Word of a mystery NDA from Alistair McFarlane, head of Rust developer Facepunch Studios, has New World players dreaming of a miracle savior. |
PCGamesN Saturday, January 31, 2026 7:37 AM New mountain-climbing indie game Cairn celebrates its launch success, offering a more atmospheric, personal twist on the format after Peak. |
PCGamesN Saturday, January 31, 2026 6:08 AM In a strange twist of fate, an Escape From Tarkov collaboration with namesake Duckov gives it an answer to Arc Raiders' beloved ducks. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Saturday, January 31, 2026 11:52 AM  I'm sure there's been many a Dweet and forum post about Highguard is already a dead game or some such silly thing to say about a game that's not even a week old, but it does at least seem like developer Wildlight is paying attention to some of the more constructive bits of criticism about the game. Namely, that many aren't fond of the shooter's 3v3 Raids simply because it feels like there aren't enough people for such large maps. So in turn, there's already an update adding in an experimental new raid mode. |
Siliconera Saturday, January 31, 2026 9:00 AM
There are games out there that serve as a means to step away from real life for a few hours and enjoy existing in a pleasant space, and the Animal Crossing-like Cozy Caravan is exactly that. It's a life sim with the lowest possible stakes and cutest possible appearances. There's no possible way to fail. However, as a result of that simplicity and relaxed approach, it can get a little repetitive and feel like there's no real thought necessary to spread kindness in a community. That, combined with Apple Arcade exclusive content, means that Cozy Caravan can be fun, but might be best on certain platforms at the start.
Cozy Caravan begins in the player's hometown of Fellowood Acres, following a pretty extensive character creator that involves a variety of animal species. You're a member of a Guild that goes from town to town, assisting people in different villages around Harvestvale to spread happiness and make their lives easier. This could involve cooking, crafting, finding folks who are lost, aiding farmers with crop care, and of course selling food at the weekly markets in different towns. By helping out, you get Guild Tokens to advance through the ranks and improve your caravan, increasing the range of things you can do. You also get to do things like dress up, customizing your avatar's appearance.
Now, while Animal Crossing will probably be the first thing that springs to mind when it comes to Cozy Caravan, it's only sort of like Nintendo's famous life sim series. The priority here really does feel like traveling around the world, taking on quests, and heading to the weekly market. In a way, the gameplay loop almost reminds me of a mix between some older Atelier games and Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar. People will ask for your assistance with an array of different type of tasks, leaning into a more quest-like situation. However, since there is also the sense of gathering food for the market and making NPCs happy, it brings Story of Seasons to mind too. Since personal caravan growth is tied to making the effort to cook things up and assist folks, there is a sense of accomplishment.
However, since there aren't things like demanding material requests or stringent timelines, there isn't really any challenge to Cozy Caravan. The only trouble I had sometimes involved occasionally finding out what to do next. But even then, it's such a freeform and relaxed game, the answer usually comes from taking the time to explore and talk to more characters. Said folks are generally all adorable. The downside is, while the character designs are fantastic, they aren't terribly deep. In that way, Cozy Caravan can feel a bit like Animal Crossing. I'm sure you'll find favorite friends while on the road. But while they do make it clear they know your avatar and like them, it feels superficial and not a more deep friendship (or more) as in Story of Seasons.
Speaking of presentation, there is a Switch issue that I noticed comes up and is exacerbated by the stop-motion design direction in Cozy Caravan. It can feel like there's a bit of lag when moving around and exploring the world. I did notice this is alleviated a tad by choosing to turn it off in the accessibility settings, making it run a bit better. However, I also saw that it performed a bit better and more smoothly on my Switch 2.
But there's another way in which the Switch doesn't feel like the ideal Cozy Caravan platform, and I brought that up earlier. There is Apple Arcade-exclusive content in the game. This adds the Pawcific Islands region to Harvestvale. In turn, it means new characters, quests, and spots to visit. 5 Lives Studio did confirm on the Steam Discussions forum for the game that it is a timed exclusive element. Which means if you have an iPad, that's with a subscription is probably the best way to play at the moment.
Cozy Caravan is a very relaxed approach to a life sim that is never taxing, but an exclusivity arrangement means the Switch might not be the best way to play it right now. After that deal with Apple expires and some patches release, that could change! It is pleasant, but know going in that the relationships with characters never get too deep and, while rewarding, the daily routine is quite simple.
Cozy Caravan is available on the Switch, PC, and mobile devices via Apple Arcade.
The post Review: Cozy Caravan Is a Casual Animal Crossing-Like Life Sim appeared first on Siliconera. |
Destructoid Saturday, January 31, 2026 5:32 AM
Pitons are one ofthe most important items in Cairn, and finding them will be necessary if you want to scale the highest peaks.
Pitons help to create a route when you ascend a hill for the first time. Placing them will allow you to quickly get back up if you lose your grip during a climb. Alternatively, they allow you to create a path that otherwise would be unscalable.
Table of contents
How to get more pitons in Cairn
All players begin with six pitons when they begin their adventure. This is the same for all, but you're going to need more. You can get additional pitons by getting them as loot. The first one is located in the Training Center by the Optional Challenges reward bag.
You can also repair your used pitons by interacting with Climbot. You'll need piton scraps as the base resource, and the repairs can only be done when Aava is in her tent.
How to place pitons in Cairn
Pitons can be placed at a location of your liking, and there's a quick time event. However, you can disable this event by going to Settings and then to Accessibility Options. Doing so will make it easier for you to place the pitons properly (while making things a tad more unrealistic).
How to get the Indestructibe Pitons in Cairn
Indestructible Pitons, or Troglodyte Pitons, are special items that you can find from guardian statues. You'll come across three such statues before you can reach Kami. The three statues are located in The Vault, The Ancient, and The Secret.
The post How to get pitons and place them in Cairn appeared first on Destructoid. |
Destructoid Saturday, January 31, 2026 5:24 AM
Sorcerer Ascent is a Jujutsu Kaisen-inspired PVE and PVP RPG with a ton of character-building options. Like with any Roblox RPG, a Trello or Wiki would go a long way as an info HUB while you progress. Here are the Sorcerer Ascent Trello and Discord links.
Sorcerer Ascent Trello and Discord Guide
Here's a full info HUB of all the links you need for Sorcerer Ascent:
The Trello is the best place to start browsing info for the game both in terms of progression and checking specific features like cursed techniques. You can read about all CTs like Ratio, Cursed Speech, Blood Manipulation, Disaster Flames, Crystal Manipulation, etc. Note that CTs will constantly be released in future updates so what you see right now isn't all of them.
As for the Discord it's your best community HUB of information as well as developer interaction. You can keep track of announcements, upcoming updates, patch notes and update logs. It pays to keep track of these because RPG games often get buffs, nerfs and remakes which are crucial to know for a PVP/PVE game like Sorcerer Ascent. Last but not least, it's also where you can find a full list of codes for free rewards or you can check out our codes article below so that we can do it for you.
That's it for my Sorcerer Ascent Trello board and Discord server guide. Check out our Sorcerer Ascent codes article for a bunch of free goodies.
The post Official Sorcerer Ascent Trello and Discord appeared first on Destructoid. |
Destructoid Saturday, January 31, 2026 5:12 AM
Zone Strykers is a unique 5v5 sports game based around striking the ball into the enemy zone and having it bounce off more than once in the enemy field to score. There's a ton of different customization features to try with your character so a Trello goes a long way to archive it for you. Here are the Zone Strykers Trello and Discord links.
Zone Strykers Trello and Discord Guide
Here are all the Zone Strykers links you need to play and enjoy the game:
There currently isn't a Wiki nor Trello confirmation by the devs so we'll just have to stay tuned to the release to see if anything is planned. As soon as I have more information I will update this article since I am glued to the Zone Strykers Discord. Speaking of which.
It's a great community hub for the game with the latest announcements, news and sneak peaks all in one place. For any game that has movesets and styles like Zone Strykers it's also important to keep track of the Changes channel for any update logs, buffs, nerfs and remakes that might release. At the end of the day it's also the best place to track codes for free rewards.
That's it for my Zone Strykers Trello board and Discord server walkthrough. Here are the Zone Strykers codes so you can score some free goodies.
The post Zone Strykers Trello and Discord Links appeared first on Destructoid. |
Gaming Instincts – Next-Generation of Video Game Journalism Saturday, January 31, 2026 10:13 AM Several stocks fall. The post Gaming Stocks Plummet After Google's New AI Model Was Announced appeared first on Gaming Instincts - Next-Generation of Video Game Journalism. |
Gaming Instincts – Next-Generation of Video Game Journalism Saturday, January 31, 2026 9:43 AM According to a recent report. The post MindsEye Developer Is Reportedly Leaving IO Interactive appeared first on Gaming Instincts - Next-Generation of Video Game Journalism. |
MonsterVine Saturday, January 31, 2026 9:00 AM 2025 was a weird year for me, but it's all part of the journey, right? But thankfully, what it happened to be was an absolutely stellar year for video games, and that is what we are here to talk about! Honestly, I feel like this was one of the better years I can remember for […] |