Just don’t say “Maya” Basically the only sort ofstrategygames I like are city builders, so I was interested in the playtest forEl Dorado: The Golden City Builder, which casts you as the leader of an ancient Mayan-ish city. The playtest is only the prologue, but the eventual goal is to take over the Yucatán peninsula, and if nothing else it’s refreshing to see a city-builder that doesn’t feel overwhelmingly European. It also has a complicated system of religion....

Admit or deny entry to a fantasy kigndom Some indie hits create a legion of copycats, but others, not so much. I don’t think there are too many Papers, Pleaselikes, for example - perhaps for obvious reasons given that game’s grim subject matter. Lil' Guardsmanis a Papers, Pleaselike though - and a seemingly delightful one. You play as 12-year-old Lil, who is a substitute guard at the castle gate for a fantasy kigndom, and you must decide who to admit and who to deny entry....

Take a walk on the Planetside If you’re in need of some quiet time - and I certainly am, because the people upstairs are having their kitchen refitted, and the resulting powerdrill noise is literally shaking things off my desk - I recommend a stroll across the plains ofPlanetside 2. This might seem odd advice, given that PlanetSide 2 is ashooterin which hundreds or even thousands of players fight each other simultaneously, but the thing about planet-sized wars is that they require plenty of legroom, and the thing about crowds is that you can lose yourself within them....

He’d prefer you walk or board an ox-drawn cart Ahhh, fast travel: the opinion generator. Speaking toIGN,Dragon’s Dogma 2director Hideaki Itsuno threw his own hat into the ring, saying that he’s keen to avoid fast travel in DD2 and would prefer that “players travel normally and experience the world around them”. If you’re someone who argues all games should let you teleport to the objective, then Itsuno thinks you’re wrong. Hey, he doesn’t mess about, and I don’t disagree with him, as long as the game isn’t actually wasting my time....

Major Orders, reporting for duty It turns out that helldivers don’t just rain from the sky when needed, but live on a spaceship in between missions. On that spaceship, you and your co-op buddies have a space map where you can look at different planets on which battle is raging, and different battlefields upon those planets. The galactic war is synchronised for all players in such a way that sorties undertaken by you and your pals are contributing to the overall war effort....

Here’s how to get the Grappling Gun in Palworld Wondering how to get the Grappling Gun in Palworld?The Grappling Gun is a piece of equipment you can craft inPalworldto make traversal easier. The Grappling Gun essentially tethers itself to nearby terrain and launches the player into the air. As such, it’s a useful crafting recipe to unlock early on in the game, especially if you haven’t caught anymount Palsyet to make traversal speedier....

A knife in the back I didn’t think it was possible forPalworld’s animal sweatshop-style base building to get even morebleak and depressingthan it already was, but it turns out I was wrong. Last night, I reached a part of the game’s Technology tree that sent an actual shiver down my spine, it was that awful and morbid. No, it wasn’t the option to arm my leaf monkey with an assault rifle, or my green squirrels with machine guns - though they were on the same tech branch....

Deck performance, FSR, and battery life tested For such a ma-bloody-hoosiveRPG, it turns outLike a Dragon: Infinite Wealthcan fit rather snugly in the diminutiveSteam Deck. Developers RGG Studiorevealed, a full two weeks before launch, that Valve had awarded it covetedVerified status– a mark of honour for games that run, control, and generally operate well on the handheld. What that golden sticker doesn’t explain is that to keep above a suitable 30fps, Infinite Wealth does demand that you swing the stolen bicycle of quality reductions directly into the soft skull of its graphical settings....

I won’t need another game for several years Yakuza: Like A Dragon was a brilliant foray into turn-based chaos, but some of itsRPGelements didn’t quite lead anywhere. Well, in swaggers the frankly ginormousLike A Dragon: Infinite Wealthto tie off the loose ends and give us a follow-up that links all the best bits of Yakuza into a far more satisfying reward loop. Some of the refinements make for superb silliness, while others are a bit eh - not everything is perfect....

Obsidian gives an extended breakdown of its Xbox Developer Direct presentation Obsidian’sAvowedis a game for the more indecisive or changeableRPGplayer, with no “enforced” classes and an emphasis on easily respeccing and experimenting with different combinations of weapons and abilities. Or at least, that’s my overall takeaway from a new Xbox podcast interview featuring game director Carrie Patel and gameplay director Gabe Paramo. In the video, the pair delve a little deeper into last week’s Xbox Developer Direct showcase and how the game compares to their previousPillars of Eternitygames, which are set in the same world....

Need a hint for today’s Connections? Read our guide for help with Connections #226 This guide is for a previous day! Looking for today’s solution? Check out theConnections hint and answers for Thursday 12th December! Want a hint for Connections today?Piggybacking off the monumental success of daily puzzle gameWordle, the New York Times has another fantastically popular word game out now. It’s calledConnections, and if you haven’t played it before, now’s the time to start....

The second highest ever Palworld, that survival game mashup, continues to grow in popularity. In the past 24 hours, its peak concurrent player count reached 1,864,421, the second highest of any game on Steam, ever. It took that spot fromCounter-Strike 2and the only game to reach higher is now PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, aka Plunkbat, aka PUBG. PUBG’s number one spot is a ways out in front with a peak concurrent player count of 3....

Locations of all the Pals that drop Pal Fluids Want to know how to get Pal Fluids in Palworld?Pal Fluids are a useful (and perhaps mildly disturbing) resource that you’ll need to gather inPalworld, especially if you want to keep yourbase Palsrelaxed with a nice Hot Spring. Literally described as “body fluids taken from a Pal,” Pal Fluids are harvested and utilised for their “high viscosity.” Putting aside the dark question of exactlywhatthese fluids are, it’s important to start farmingwater Palsif you want to stockpile Pal Fluids as soon as possible....