Jun 15, 00:00

Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Saturday, June 14, 2025 5:55 PM GTA Online's next update will let you pull off a classic, if slightly dull, type of crime: money laundering       I feel like money laundering is one of those concepts you see in a lot of crime TV shows but it's not really something that seems to come up much in games. I certainly can't think of any games that feature money laundering as an actual mechanic, but I'll be able to add one to the list next week: GTA Online. The multiplayer game is getting a new update this coming June 17th called Money Fronts, and is literally all about buying up small but generally lucrative businesses that you can sneak some money through. Read more

Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Saturday, June 14, 2025 4:27 PM Starlight Re:Volver is an upcoming anime as hell Hades-esque, MMO inspired roguelite that already has the vibe       I'm not much of an MMO person, I've dabbled over the years like with RuneScape in my youth, and a bit of Final Fantasy 14. These days it's the level of commitment that puts me off, even though I really do love being able to partake in what feels like living, breathing worlds, the hustle and bustle of actual people going to and fro. Luckily, I think I have a lower-key way to get this kind of feeling in the upcoming action roguelite Starlight Re:Volver. Read more

Destructoid Saturday, June 14, 2025 4:15 PM Rematch release countdown for all editions       Popular football game Rematch is about to be released worldwide very soon, as of this writing. This guide will help you know the exact time when the game goes live. Developed by Sifu-makers Sloclap, the sports title is available in three different editions. Naturally, the three editions have different launch calendars, thanks to early access available with the Pro and Elite versions. We have added a countdown for all editions so you can remain on top with the upcoming release. Table of contents Rematch release countdown Is Rematch early access worth it? Rematch early access release countdown Sloclap will follow a simultaneous launch schedule instead of going with regional releases. Hence, the release time will differ based on your location. Let's first take a look at when the early access will launch. You can enjoy up to three days of early access, starting June 16, with either the Pro or the Elite Edition. Screeshot via Sloclap Time Zone Release time PST 3:00AM CST 5:00AM EST 6:00AM BST 11:00AM CEST 12:00AM JST 7:00PM ACT 8:00PM NSZT 10:00PM Once early access goes live, the following countdown will be over. [hurrytimer id="1078352"] Rematch release countdown The Standard Edition of Rematch goes live on June 19. The release timings are practically the same, but you will have to wait for three extra days if you decide against getting either the Pro or the Elite edition. Time Zone Release time PST 3:00AM CST 5:00AM EST 6:00AM BST 11:00AM CEST 12:00AM JST 7:00PM ACT 8:00PM NSZT 10:00PM Here's a countdown for the Standard Edition release. [hurrytimer id="1078353"] Is Rematch early access worth it? Based on my experience with the beta, I won't stress too much about the three days of early access. If you loved the gameplay in the previous betas and are desperate to play as early as possible, getting early access becomes necessary. The benefits of the Pro and Elite Editions aren't restricted solely to early access. Both editions cost extra, but they also offer extra in-game goodies for your in-game progression. The early access, in fact, is a nice bonus on top of everything extra you find in the Pro and Elite Editions. The post Rematch release countdown for all editions appeared first on Destructoid.

Destructoid Saturday, June 14, 2025 4:13 PM All EA FC 25 1 of 10 Historical Player Pick SBC rewards       The 1 of 10 Historical Player Pick SBC is an interesting challenge to complete in EA FC 25, especially if you're looking to add new Heroes and Icons to your Ultimate Team squad. For starters, it offers you to pick one out of ten options. The options will include every Hero and Icon released in Ultimate Team before April 14. In simpler words, the SBC's rewards include every promo that came before TOTS. All EA FC 25 1 of 10 Historical Player Pick SBC Icon rewards Let's first take a look at all the Icon cards available as part of the rewards. Centurions Sol Campbell CB 87 Gianluca Zambrotta RB 87 Hernan Crespo ST 88 Pavel Nedved LM 89 Edwin Van der Sar GK 89 Bastian Schweinsteiger CM 89 Michael Laudrup CAM 89 Ruud van Nistelrooy ST 90 David Beckham RM 91 Foudy CM 91 Franck Ribery LM 91 Thunderstruck (Some of the card ratings have been upgraded) Roy Keane CM 88 Ashley Cole LB 88 Gennaro Gattuso CDM 88 John Barnes LW 89 Ian Rush ST 89 Lilian Thuram RB 90 Juan Riquelme CAM 90 Fernando Hierro CB 90 Patrick Vieira CM 90 Wayne Rooney ST 91 Kelly Smith ST 91 Jairzinho RW 91 Lothar Matthaus CM 92 Zico CAM 93 Ruud Gullit CAM 93 Zinedine Zidane CAM 96 Ultimate Succession Icon Steven Gerrard CM 89 Picon ST 89 Kaka CAM 90 Philip Lahm RB 90 Alessandro Del Piero CAM 91 Franco Baresi CB 92 Roberto Baggio CAM 92 Paolo Maldini CB 93 Ronaldinho LW 94 Winter Wildcards Nemanja Vidic CB 88 Kenny Dalglish ST 88 Paul Scholes CM 89 Gheorghe Hagi CAM 89 Mia Hamm ST 99 Carles Puyol CDM 90 Ronaldo ST 90 Xavi CM 91 Gianluigi Buffon CM 91 Rivaldo LW 92 Carlos Alberto CDM 92 Homare Sawa CM 92 Carlos Alberto CB 92 Homare Sawa CAM 92 Kenny Dalglish ST 93 Birgit Prinz ST 93 Mia Hamm ST 94 Ronaldo ST 95 TOTY Icons Nemanja Vidic CB 88 Kenny Dalglish ST 88 Paul Scholes CM 89 Gheorghe Hagi CAM 89 Mia Hamm ST 99 Carles Puyol CDM 90 Ronaldo ST 90 Xavi CM 91 Gianluigi Buffon CM 91 Rivaldo LW 92 Carlos Alberto CDM 92 Homare Sawa CM 92 Carlos Alberto CB 92 Homare Sawa CAM 92 Kenny Dalglish ST 93 Birgit Prinz ST 93 Mia Hamm ST 94 Ronaldo ST 95 Grassroot Greats Didier Drogba ST 92 Ian Wright ST 93 Foudy CM 93 Franck Ribery LM 93 Roberto Baggio CAM 94 Diego Maradona CAM 96 Future Stars Alan Shearer ST 91 Bobby Moore CB 91 Lotta Schelin ST 91 Rio Ferdinand CB 92 Emilio Butragueno ST 92 Lev Yashin GK 93 Samuel Eto'o ST 94 Bobby Charlton ST 94 Garrincha RW 94 Johann Cruyff CAM 96 FUT Birthday Marco van Basten ST 92 Emmanuel Petit CM 91 Sol Campbell CB 93 Gary Lineker ST 92 Marinette Pichon ST 92 Kenny Dalglish ST 94 David Beckham CM 94 Patrick Vieira CM 94 Ronaldinho LW 95 Dreamchasers Marcel Desailly CB 92 Claude Makelele CDM 92 Birgit Prinz ST 94 Raul ST 94 Edwin van der Sar GK 93 Lilian Thuram RB 94 Rivaldo LW 94 Xavi CM 94 Kaka CAM 94 Immortals Gianfranco Zola ST 88/CAM 93 Javier Zanetti CM 89/RB 93 Laurent Blanc CAM 89/CB 94 Gianluca Zambrotta RM 89/RB 93 Pavel Nedved CAM 89 Wayne Rooney CAM 89/ST 93 Lothar Matthaus CB 90/CM 94 Kelly Smith ST 90/93 Gareth Bale LB 90/ST 94 Angerer GK 91/95 Luis Hernandez ST 91 Alessandro Del Piero CAM 92 Camile Abily CM 93 Jairzinho RW 93 Steven Gerrard CM 93 Zico CAM 94 Paolo Maldini CB 94 Thierry Henry ST 95 Gianluigi Buffon GK 95 Ronaldo ST 96 Franz Beckenbauer CB 96 Mia Hamm ST 96 Eusebio ST 96 Pele ST 97 All EA FC 25 1 of 10 Historical Player Pick SBC Hero rewards The rewards will include plenty of Heroes from all the promos that have been released in EA FC 25 until April 14. Base Heroes Ludovic Giuly RM 86 Dirk Kuyt CAM 86 Williams CM 86 Joan Capdevilla LB 86 Guti CM 86 Park Ji-Sung LM 86 Smolarek ST 86 Riise LB 86 Sonya Bompastor LB 86 Robbie Keane ST 86 Sydney Govou ST 86 Jerzy Dudek GK 86 Ledley King CB 86 Jamie Carragher CB 86 Kanu ST 86 Freddy Ljunberg LM 86 Landon Donovan CAM 86 Mostovoi CAM 86 Tomas Rosicky CAM 86 Rui Costa CAM 87 Ivan Cordoba CB 87 Marek Hamsik CB 87 Claudio Marchisio CM 87 Campos GK 87 Yaya Toure CDM 87 Georges CB 87 Hidatoshi Nakata CAM 87 Brolin ST 87 Harry Kewell LW 87 Joe Cole RW 87 Stephen McManaman RM 87 Ze Roberto LM 87 Dimitar Berbatov ST 87 Jaap Stam CB 87 Antonio Di Natale ST 88 Maicon RB 88 Javier Mascherano CB 88 Mario Gomez ST 88 Eden Hazard LM 88 Paulo Futre LW 88 Nadine Kessler CM 88 Vincent Kompany CB 88 Diego Milito ST 88 Diego Forlan ST 88 Rafael Marquez CB 88 Wesley Sneijder CAM 88 Carlos Tevez ST 88 Enzo Francescoli CAM 88 Ricardo Carvalho CB 88 Bixente Lizarazu LB 88 Jari Litmanen CAM 88 Jay-Jay Okocha CAM 88 Rudi Voller ST 89 Jean Pierre Papin ST 89 Abedi Pele CAM 89 David Ginola LM 89 Celia Sasic ST 89 Gianluca Vialli ST 89 Jurgen Kohler CB 89 Lucio CB 89 Fernando Morientes ST 89 Prime Heroes Jamie Carragher CB 88 Noor CAM 88 Blaise Matuidi CDM 88 Williams CM 88 Guti CM 88 Japp Stam CB 89 Tim Howard GK 89 Yaya Toure CM 89 Ze Roberto LM 89 Marek Hamsik CAM 89 Georges CB 89 Maicon RB 90 Eden Hazard LM 90 Celia Sasic ST 91 Track Stars Heroes Gary Cahill ST 86 Ludovic Giuly RM 87 Landon Donovan CAM 87 Joe Cole RW 88 Ivan Cordoba CB 88 Harry Kewell LW 88 Jay-Jay Okocha CAM 89 Bixente Lizarazu LB 89 David Ginola ST 90 Lucio CB 91 Ultimate Succession Clint Dempsey CAM 87 Rui Costa CAM 88 Sonya Bompastor LB 87 Winter Wildcards Ole Gunnar Solksajaer ST 88 Jorge Campos ST 88 Alex Scott LB, RB 88 Steven McManaman RB, RM 88 Antonio Di Natale ST, LW 89 Javier Mascherano CDM, CB 89 Diego Milito CB 89 Vincent Kompany CB 90 Carlos Tevez ST 90 Yaya Toure CDM 90 Eden Hazard LM 91 Grassroot Greats Tim Cahill ST 89 Abedi Pele CAM 90 Japp Stam CB 91 Marek Hamsik CAM 91 Fantasy FC Kanu ST 90 Tim Howard GK 91 Robbie Keane ST 92 Joe Cole RW 92 Enzo Francescoli CAM 92 Mario Gomez ST 93 Gianluca Vialli ST 93 Williams CM 93 Jerri Litmanen CAM 94 Ze Roberto LM 94 Eden Hazard LM 93 Jamie Carragher CB 94 Georges CB 94 Blaise Matuidi CDM 95 FUT Birthday Ricardo Carvalho CB 91 Ledley King CB 91 Smolarek ST 92 Govou ST 92 Marchisio CM 92 Gervinho LW 93 Celia Sasic ST 93 Doumbia ST 93 Wesley Sneijder CAM 93 Victor Ibarbo RW 93 Okocha CAM 93 Ramires CDM 94 Dreamchasers Hero Ivan Cordoba CB 92 Harry Kewell LW 92 Bixente Lizarazu LB 92 Nadine Kesler CM 93 Lucio CB 94 Immortals Hero DaMarcus Beasley LB 88/LM 92 Mostovoi CAM 90 Al Jaber ST 90 Javier Mascherano CB 92 Sonya Bompastor LB 92 David Ginola LM 94 The post All EA FC 25 1 of 10 Historical Player Pick SBC rewards appeared first on Destructoid.

Destructoid Saturday, June 14, 2025 4:12 PM This long-forgotten Monopoly game is still a joy to play (and absolutely bonkers)       Like with any board game, adapting Monopoly to the gaming world is a challenging proposition. You can slavishly stick to the original formula or turn it into a nightmarishly exploitative mobile game—or both. At least that seems to be the trend these days. Well, travel back two decades with me to find a lovely gem for an exception – one that used the Monopoly license as a springboard to create something unique. Monopolizing my free time While the gameplay and execution are quite imaginative for this Monopoly tycoon game, its title—Monopoly Tycoon—most definitely is not. But hey, we are talking 2001 here, a time of RollerCoaster Tycoon and Transport Tycoon and Tycoon Game Maker Tycoon (ok, that one might be fake), so it made sense to capitalize on the craze. And it's not like it's an inaccurate title. You are looking at a business sim, one that takes the Monopoly game board and reimagines it as distinct plots of land that you can build businesses and apartments on. Your utilities and railroads are also present, and – here is the key part – every square of real estate can go up for sale at an auction. The city is your oyster. Screenshot by Destructoid Otherwise, it would be like any run-of-the-mill business empire, plopping down shops based on what the peeps would like to buy, adjusting (read: jacking up) the prices wherever possible and jockeying for space and market share with your business rivals. But things get a whole lot more hectic once the auctions roll around, giving you an opportunity to outright buy specific map squares, which will stop anyone else from building on them (and force them to pay you rent for the shops that are already there), and should you get a monopoly by buying up all squares of the same color, make them watch helplessly as you buy out their stores at discounted prices. Apartments, hotels, and bankruptcy also come into play, making for some fun chaos. The presentation also adds a lot to the charm. Your opponents are all based on the various classic Monopoly board pieces. Battleship is a captain with a navy hat, a white beard, and a funky shirt. Top Hat is a magician. Iron is a kind old lady with a tea set. Racecar is a racer with a moustache so Tom Selleck that he must be compensating for something. Cannon is a cigar-chomping army man. You get the point. A colorful cast. Screenshot by Destructoid The shops themselves appear out of nowhere and expand rapidly, accompanied by the sound of an air pump, giving everything a cartoonish vibe. In what must be the wet dream of a marketer somewhere, every citizen is carrying a colorful tote bag based on whose shop they last spent money in, making it easily identifiable who is dominating any given area of the city. Whenever a sale is made, green bills literally fly into your account in the top right corner, accompanied by cash machine sounds and a nice bit of dopamine. As the dreaded 6am timeslot approaches – this is when you pay your utility bills and stock up your stores, so it's often a huge expense – a scary alarm signal plays as you get ready to watch your money disappear. It's all good fun and doesn't take itself too seriously. Sometimes I flew the camera to the luscious park in the middle of the city, sook out the giant statue of Mr. Monopoly, and asked it for advice. Also, goodness me, the soundtrack has no right to slap this hard. Every day is a five-year period in the game, and each decade has a separate soundtrack – from the mellow trumpets of the '30s to the '70s disco vibes and the "we're almost in the future" electronica of the '90s, it's banger after banger after banger – and the main menu theme makes me want to run to the nearest shop, buy out its owner, and embark on a business adventure right here, right now… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9cXWQJC3Bk It's as American Dream as it can get. Capitalism for dummies Returning to the game as an adult, I found that it does a good job of getting some basic capitalistic tenets across. You have a near-infinite free line of credit, meaning you can go very far into the red, with the caveat that if you have a negative balance at midnight, you have to end the next day in the black or get eliminated via bankruptcy. So the optimal strat is to go nuts on your business empire in 1930, risk bankruptcy in 1935, barely make your money back by 1940, then repeat the process again. It also doesn't hurt if you find the real moneymakers of the game: residential buildings and taking advantage of monopolies. Whatever cash is, it certainly is not king. Screenshot by Destructoid You can build apartments to house the residents of the city – there are no private homes at all, making for a somewhat dystopian affair. They pay their fees at 6am, giving you a good cushion for that dreaded time of day. It's a good racket, but it won't win you the game – you want to secure a monopoly at any cost—and the AI will make you pay top dollar for each property as you get closer to this goal—then wait for the rental payout the following day before buying out your opponents' stores. This will usually crush them in whatever business metric the scenario calls for while bolstering your own, so all you need to do is not go bankrupt. The fact that monopolies also allow you to build hotels to get exorbitant income for each visitor is just a cherry on top. I always found that the light brown locations (Old Kent Road and Whitechapel Road) are the best way to go for your first monopoly: you only need to secure two of them, and they are nominally the cheapest on the board. From then on, the world is your oyster. Scenarios range from daily profit quotas to total business empire value to getting a certain number of sales or winning elections, but this approach will always serve you well. I got quite far into the game as a kid, but never quite cracked the code – and while I think I found the optimal strategy, I'd still struggle on the later levels if I were to force myself to try something else. But even if that's the only reliable way to win, it is a ton of fun to execute the strat over and over again. I wonder how cutthroat the game would be in a proper multiplayer setting—which the game does support, but, you know, good luck finding a game these days for something that relied on GameSpy. Monopoly Tycoon was a commercial slow burner, but it ultimately sold almost two million copies by 2006, five years after its release. Unfortunately, developer Deep Red Games (now DR Studios) has never quite lived up to its promise with their later projects, though I was surprised to see that they apparently developed Terraria's mobile and console ports. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll go back to listening to the soundtrack. The post This long-forgotten Monopoly game is still a joy to play (and absolutely bonkers) appeared first on Destructoid.

MonsterVine Saturday, June 14, 2025 5:15 PM 13Z: The Zodiac Trials Drops New Trailer and Steam Playtest at Southeast Asian Games Showcase       13Z: The Zodiac Trials, the upcoming roguelike from Mixed Realms, made a splash at the Southeast Asian Games Showcase: Summer Game Fest Edition with a brand-new trailer showcasing its first playable characters and fast-paced combat. Selected as one of just 40 titles from over 300 entries across Southeast Asia, 13Z stood out with its striking […]

MonsterVine Saturday, June 14, 2025 4:30 PM Arcane Eats Is a Roguelike Deckbuilder That Lets You Cook Your Way to Culinary Greatness       Announced during this year's PC Gaming Show, Arcane Eats is a roguelike deckbuilder that throws players into the high-stakes world of magical cuisine. Developed by Roundguard Studio, Wonderbelly Games, and published by Skystone Games, this enchanting new title blends fast-paced culinary chaos with strategic deckbuilding, all set in a whimsical fantasy world where food is […]