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Thankfully, the Arbalist has been boosted by Empower and Flurry cards to deal a lot of damage when shooting from the backline. Otherwise, the Vanguard and Knights might be unable to deal with the hydra-like monsters that are coming from the depths. Our three units still take damage, and we use Favor which might be hard to replace, but the city gets valuable resources in return. Our six scavengers get back one tech fragment, a giant purple fruit, and some money. Back home, I send an envoy to the merchant, where we pick up some much-needed Favor and a Silver Spike, which will make our crossbow squad even more effective. A lucky ice roll means that more copper should be coming in in a few turns, if the city survives that long. My Knights also get a new attack card and launch a new expedition. We fight two spiky mining snails, and I try to use as little Favor as possible. That means extra damage taken, which in turn will make it much harder to eliminate the coming boss...

The Pumpkin Express has left the station a few times, loaded with the giant pencil that I’m pretty sure plays no role in the puzzle shadow I’m currently dealing with. I’m not sure of its route but the sound it makes and its excessive speed make it easy to reset my brain after looking at objects for too long, trying to understand which of them is best suited to create the target shadow. It might be a giant snail, which would be in keeping with the creepy theme of this run of puzzles. Or it might be a pirate ship. I’m not quite sure but it does not matter. I have one light source, one ghost that can make the shadow of one object disappear, and a ton of items to work with. The Pumpkin Express cassette is playing, setting the mood. For a few minutes, I can’t find something nice and round to provide the bulk I need. But then I spot the bright blue bowling ball and quickly twist it into the right shape. It’s not hard to find the base it has to sit on. From there, it’s ju...

Fashion magazines aren’t particularly effective when it comes to changing the past, even when wielded by a 29-year-old who has been sent back to a nexus historical point to help a particular influential thinker. The hope was that her actions would influence the world enough to shift the timeline toward a better present. The reality is that the change created a slightly less awful dystopia. The problem is that even good use of a sniper rifle failed to change things enough to make the world livable and the people free. We’ve discovered six points where changes can be made. The three kids that actually go into the time machine are now in their 50s and I’m running out of ideas. Maybe I need to use the drug lab more. We’ve learned about a range of political currents but none of them seems to be focused on freedom. They all seem ready to exploit individuals to secure power and then wield it aggressively. I have a nagging feeling that, despite the time machine, we’re runn...

The mushrooms really came through for the King of Nothing. His Paladins fought well, keeping the King of Blood’s frontline units at bay while all our ranged units and towers peppered them with projectiles. I joined in, throwing boulders from a fully upgraded castle, dealing area-of-effect damage to tens of opponents at once. With the battle won, it’s time to decide what the kingdom needs. I have farms boosting fighter numbers and two defensive towers. A blacksmith adds more damage every year. Maybe walls would be a good way to keep enemies out? Or is it better to throw a card in the well for extra gold and hope that the coming merchant has something good? 9 Kings is developed by Sad Socket and published by Hooded Horse and INSTINCT3. The title is now in Early Access on Steam on the PC. The video game combines auto-battles and management elements with a rogue-lite approach. The world is faux-Medieval with a strong dose of fantasy, with knights fighting in the frontl...

Morbid Metal caught my attention as soon as it was announced a few months ago, and for a very good reason. It has the combat quickness of Devil May Cry, various elements similar to Returnal, and it’s incredibly engaging. Like any roguelite, you can do unlimited runs, and each will bring you rewards, based on results. What’s great is that you don’t have to go through the same levels over and over. Instead, every room is procedurally generated, which means you never know what’s next. There is a pretty good enemy variety, and they do have some bosses in here as well. The combat is what shines for me the most, as Morbid Metal’s battles are fast-paced, and you really need to make use of dodges, special attacks and all kinds of powers at your disposal. You won’t face enemies 1v1 most of the time. Instead, there’s a bunch of enemies coming directly towards you, which means strategy is just as important as combat speed. And that’s something I thoroughly enjoyed in Morbid M...

Ever since Elden Ring launched, people have been clamoring for a multiplayer-focused version of the game. And that’s what Elden Ring Nightreign tries to be, since it’s a standalone adventure in the universe, with a roguelike approach and a re-imagining of the Elden Ring core gameplay. As expected, some stuff is pulled off very well, yet there are some caveats here as well. The way Elden Ring Nightreign works is very simple, you choose an expedition (and a main boss you need to face at the end of that expedition), right after picking one of the hero classes. You have 8 classes, such as Revenant, Executor, Raider, Ironeye, Dutchess, but also Recluse, Guardian or Wilder. I went with ranged combat, so the Recluse and Ironeye were the natural pick. However, each class has plenty of variety, and great passive abilities, along with an ultimate art. Elden Ring Nightreign’s game world is vibrant, and it feels in line with the other games. But here, there’s way more focus on...

Building the city of your dreams is always exciting, and City Tales - Medieval Era is one of those games that tries to take things even further. A lot of city builders keep a grid-based system, which can be great for beginners, but it’s very limiting. City Tales - Medieval Era gets past that, since you can get past the regular grids, while also customizing and organizing your city with ease. Right now, even in the early access release, the game already has multiple maps to choose from and more will come in the future. The maps are great, and you can choose where to place your city, something that can actually make the game more difficult. Some map regions have fewer resources, so if you want to make the game more challenging, you can do that. The way you build cities is totally up to you. I chose to keep my living quarters and farms or lumber mills away from each other. However, you can keep them in close proximity, based on your own building style. The fact that y...

A mysterious ritual has taken place on the beach, close to the water. I have no clue who’s involved or why they decided burning clothes was a good idea. There are some eccentric characters walking around this camping area and they have a weird tendency to hide important things on laptop screens that they leave unattended and don’t bother to lock with a password. Maybe an actual sanatorium ghost is involved. But it’s much more likely that at least one of these talking animals is lying. I, as the Duck Detective, can only be sure that Freddy the Crocodile is not involved. Everyone else is suspect, even the small body with a love of Magikorn. The chess influencer is giving off the weirdest vibe, so my initial investigation will focus on him and his assistant. I will need access to his special tent, which is currently cordoned off. Until I get it, I’ll interview everyone else, find out how they feel about each other, and note any inconsistencies. Maybe I can convince th...

Pogacar is in the lead, again. It might be impossible to bring him back, even if everyone in this third group on the road works together efficiently. And it’s highly unlikely that riders like Roglic, Gall, Mas, and more will collaborate given how bitterly they and their teams have battled each other during previous stages. My own Mattias Skjelmose is hanging at the back, trying to conserve energy. He’s already managed to place third in Liege-Bastogne-Liege and two stages in Circuit Grand Est. But in Le Tour, he is struggling, despite some solid support from teammates. His first-week performance was good enough for the White jersey awarded to the best young rider. But the mountain time trial was hard on him, mainly because I tried to take a few corners too fast while in cruising mode and crashed. For Lidl Trek, the tour is a success already. Keeping Skjelmose in the top ten would be nice. But Mads Pedersen was already won with some hilly attacks and Vacek added anot...

Pogacar is once again riding high. Vingegaard is out with a broken wrist, after taking a few stage races earlier in the year. Evenepoel hasn’t found his best form. So the Slovenian superstar is currently leading the Tour de France, winning two mountain finishes by close to one minute. Six days of racing lie ahead of us but it’s unlikely that anyone will be able to stop him from winning. My own team, Lidl Trek, tried to mount a challenge with Mattias Skjelmose but we simply don’t have the power to threaten the Yellow Jersey. Even when we set a strong tempo on climbs, Pogacar deals with it easily. Maybe the idea was to try and ambush him earlier in the race. Or maybe there’s no way of competing with such a generational talent. Fortunately, our lack of three-week tour success doesn’t make the entire season bad. We took the entire podium in Milan-San Remo, we did well in the classics, both on cobblestones and in the hills, and Milan is winning sprints when he gets the ...