For most of his game-making career, Australian developer dweedes has projected an image of cheeky, punkish rebellion. His website WET GAMIN has accumulated a trove of experimental games over the last decade: short works by various freeware developers that exemplify a scribbly, DIY spirit. Now, making and selling games on Steam under his studio Nonsense Machine, dweedes finds himself in the position of stepping up his commercial and craft ambitions while trying to stay true to his anti-corporate roots.
“I’ll put out games for free because it kind of lightens the load off my head,” he tells me as we chat over Discord. “I don’t have to market it, I don’t have to invest time in it. I just want to get the idea out, and then people can play it. There’s no quality target, so it’s fun for trying new ideas and throwing whatever you want out and not thinking too hard about it.”
Oh, throw me in an ancient tomb and lob some snakes down there for good measure, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle got some DLC this week. I can’t imagine why that might have flown under the radar a bit. Anyway, the Order of Giants has brought with it a patch that makes a few noteworthy additions to the base game.
This past week players snuck through Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater and shared memorable moments using #PSshare #PSBlog. Here are this week’s highlights:
Michael_Jamborshares a detailed close-up of Snake’s face
Search #PSshare #PSBlog on Twitter or Instagram to see more entries to this week’s theme, or be inspired by other great games featuring Photo Mode. As for next week…Share of the Week will be taking a short break! Check back in a few weeks when we focus our lens on Fall games.
The Third Edict, the next major update for Path of Exile 2 in Game Preview, is out now, and brings a massive amount of new content alongside overall improvements to the game. One of the largest additions is the introduction of Act Four, with 12 new bosses to challenge players.
Alongside diving deeper on some of those bosses, we’d like to offer an introduction to some of the new areas included in The Third Edict.
In Act Four, you will have 8 islands to explore, each with its own dangers and, of course… bosses! As each island has a distinct identity, we were able to create a completely unique set of monsters on every single island, allowing us to explore many different cultures of Wraeclast. In total, Act Four brings over 100 new monster varieties to Path of Exile 2!
With nature left to its devices, it seems the creatures on these islands have evolved in rather interesting ways. One such fierce creature is The Great White One. This boss is a trophy kill, dropping a quest item for an optional quest. This is just one of many optional boss encounters throughout Act Four.
The Great White One is a shark – at least at first. As you approach the edge of the rocks on its island you’ll see its fin swim by. You feel safe and comfortable on land, but only for a moment – because, in short order, it will leap out of the water to reveal a very unexpected form. It’s at this moment the player will think “Of course I should have seen this coming… It’s Wraeclast!” as you begin in an epic battle against this land-shark, which attacks with vicious bites and tail swipes, and frequently burrows underground to attack you from below. If it manages to land a bite on you, you’ll find it frenzied by your blood loss, making its attacks more accurate, and more deadly.
After you’ve faced the creatures of the island above, you’ll descend into the Singing Caverns beneath. In these eerie caves, a beautifully disturbing voice echoes throughout, enticing you to its origin. The Siren, Diamora, Song of Death, is the reason the settlements have been abandoned on the shores of Whakapanu Island. Countless Karui and wanderers have met their end here, but perhaps you can put a stop to it.
Diamora is an awesome boss fight that utilizes some pretty difficult mechanics. Diamora initially appears as a Siren, singing and conveying absolute beauty as she shines and maneuvers in the serene water filling her arena. As you approach, you are lured in by her voice and glow. Just as you get close, that’s when things turn dark – she immediately goes into the water, and what emerges is the opposite of what initially brought you there. She is a mutant hybrid fish creature that uses a human form to attract people in to be eaten.
As she dives in and out of the water, summons walls of water, fires concentrated water beams and performs deafening screeches, you’re left fighting to survive. Look closely at her arena and you’ll notice that, in the darkness, there are figures turned to stone – unlucky victims preserved as pets until she grows tired and uses them for food.
This attention to detail is reflected in a mechanic in the fight – as she dives back into the middle and begins singing, you find yourself turning to stone if you look at her directly. You must avoid looking at her, while fighting off swarms of her siren spawn. As you progress through this mechanic, walls of reflective water appear around the outside of the arena too, which can also turn you to stone if facing in the wrong direction. You’ll need to keep moving, face in the right direction, and survive the swarm in order to overcome Diamora. Good luck!
In your travels you may eventually visit the most sacred of all Karui locations: The Eye of Hinekora, a massive sinkhole in the middle of the ocean. After venturing down into the Eye, the worthy are invited into The Halls of the Dead, where notable Karui spend their afterlife. If you are so lucky to be invited, you will face many tests of mettle within.
One such test comes from The Mother of Death’s Speaker – Navali. Navali gives this task to her faithful companion, Yama, the White. This monkey may not look like much at first, but don’t be fooled… his true form reveals a challenging final test you must pass before you can speak with the Mother of Death herself.
Yama, the White combines high agility combat with two powerful spells to truly test your limits. He is extremely agile, able to maneuver around the arena with ease, and jump on top of clusters of totems to get a height advantage over you – only to flip off them, slamming down back onto you. On top of that he embraces Chaos Magic, a type of damage rarely seen in Wraeclast, which shreds your Energy Shield, and your Life.
His true power, though, is one granted to him by Hinekora herself – the power of Foresight. Yama has the capability to see many futures all at once, meaning he can predict what you will often do. This is reflected by a unique mechanic where, all of a sudden, the arena becomes completely dark. You are alone – until you see a copy of yourself running and dying. Then another… and another. These are alternate futures, showing what will happen to you if you follow them. Your job is to find the one version of your future where you don’t die, and attempt to follow it – easier said than done…
As if all of that wasn’t enough, the final boss of Act Four is an entirely different challenge — but we will not be spoiling that fight for you today. Let’s just say we can’t wait to see your reactions…
Path of Exile 2: The Third Edictis available on Xbox Series X|S now.
Path of Exile 2 (Game Preview)
Grinding Gear Games
☆☆☆☆☆ 293
★★★★★
This game is a work in progress. It may or may not change over time or release as a final product. Purchase only if you are comfortable with the current state of the unfinished game. Path of Exile 2 is a next generation free-to-play Action RPG created by Grinding Gear Games. Journey across the deadly continent of Wraeclast, meeting multiple immersive cultures while facing off against evil in many forms. Path of Exile 2 features twelve character classes, 240 Skill Gems, hundreds of equipment base types, a six-act campaign, more than a hundred unique boss fights, a deep endgame system and so much more. Play with your friends without losing any progress with couch co-op, cross-play and cross-progression on all available platforms. Full details on the latest status of the game, how you can give feedback and report issues can be found at pathofexile2.com.
I fear and covet no videogame genre on this Earth like the bullet hell shoot ’em up. I find these scions of the arcades irresistibly beautiful. They look like how I imagine human nervous systems appear to thunder spirits. By the same token, I’m not sure they’re actually designed to be processed by the human nervous system. They’re the sort of game the androids will play, once they’ve hunted down and incinerated the last of our kind.
We’ve seen portable storage drives that cost more than the limited-time $158 price you can now grab the GMKtec G2 Plus Mini PC for, and while it wasn’t very long ago at all that we would shamelessly roll our eyes at a $158 PC, this one brings the goods. It has an Intel Twin Lake N150 processor that can hit up to 3.6GHz on the speedometer, a 512GB solid-state storage drive, and if you have three external 4K monitors that are sitting around in need of a connection, the tiny GMKtec G2 Plus Mini PC can run them all while hiding behind one of them.
One of the major selling points of the GMKtec G2 Plus or any other mini PC is the tiny amount of desk space it takes up. But there’s also the option of devoting no desk space to it — literally. Even if you can spare a modest footprint of 3.42 inches square by 1.55 inches tall, the GMKtec G2 Plus also comes with a vesa mount so you can securely anchor it to the back of an external monitor. With all the wired connections also hiding behind the display, you can make the GMKtec G2 Plus disappear.
What you can’t hide is the performance this mighty mite delivers. That upgraded Intel Twin Lake N150 processor is backed by 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM and an Intel Graphics chip with a frequency of up to 1000MHz to keep things moving along at a brisk pace. If the 512GB of storage isn’t enough for you, it’s expandable to 2TB, or you can use its ample supply of USB ports for external storage.
Immense Bang for the Buck
Is the GMKtec G2 Plus going to replace a high-end gaming PC, or win benchmark contests against the Mac Mini? No. Will it give you more than enough processing power and speed to get all of your work and maybe some light gaming done, and make your browsing a breeze thanks to Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 connections, or the dual RJ45 Giga LAN ports? Absolutely.
Welcome to Next Week on Xbox! In this weekly feature we cover all the games coming soon to Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Xbox on PC, and Game Pass! Get more details on these upcoming games below and click their profiles for further info (release dates subject to change). Let’s jump in!
Borderlands 4 brings intense action, badass Vault Hunters, and billions of wild and deadly weapons to an all-new planet ruled by a ruthless tyrant. Crash into Kairos as one of four new Vault Hunters seeking wealth and glory. Wield powerful Action Skills, customize your build with deep skill trees, and dominate enemies with dynamic movement abilities. Pre-order and receive the Gilded Glory Pack, one Vault Hunter Head, and one Vault Hunter Skin both usable by all Vault Hunters, a Weapon Skin, and an ECHO-4 Drone Skin!
Play like a superstar in EA Sports 26. That starts with Ice-Q 2.0, now powered by NHL Edge data, so your favorite superstars think, move, and play like their on-ice selves. That includes data-informed attributes and tendencies which make star players perform in true-to-life fashion, with their playstyles and decision-making game-aware and impactful. Start playing today with the EA Sports NHL 26 10-hour EA Play early access trial, available on Xbox Series X|S for Game Pass Ultimate members. You can also pick up the NHL 26 Deluxe Editionto start playing on September 5.
New season of a game about love! Swap blocks to help hearts have a date, but avoid the black heart, spikes and other obstacles. Optional challenge: make the hearts meet specifically in a romantic zone – a special part of some of the levels.
Face unpredictable dangers head-on, fight perilous fires with your crew, and save lives in Firefighting Simulator: Ignite. Step into the boots of a U.S. firefighter in a sprawling city in the American Midwest, where every mission pushes your skills to the limit.
Hellstuck: Rage With Your Friends is a punishing platforming game where you start in the deepest depths of Hell and must escape. But the way out is a long way up and the only thing in between you and escape is how much rage you can endure.
Follow a college student named Jaden Black who’s on the run from the government. Jasmine Miles who’s hired by the CIA is sent after him to kill him. But the task isn’t as easy as she thought it would be. Follow two amazing stories, one being Jasmine and Jasmine the main story then follow Villainous Situations which is a story following 3 young adults Hakeem, Chris and Tyler.
Snack and Quack is a 2D pixel art puzzle game designed for casual players. The goal is to guide all the ducklings to eat the scattered bread in each level. The game focuses on logical challenges and progressive difficulty across two distinct maps to keep players engaged.
Play as Loki – the fluffiest house defender – and fight off endless pests until your humans return! Dodge, upgrade, and fiercely survive with your 9 lives and infinite zoomies. Unlock Lokis from other dimensions, equip useful amulets, and build the weirdest card combos in this chaotic cat roguelike!
Ready to race against a real heavyweight? Garfield, Odie, Nermal, and the whole crew are at the starting line, raring to go! Play as one of the eight cult characters from the Garfield universe, fill up your karts, customize your look, and race away at breakneck speeds.
It’s time for some good old-fashioned gambling with all the fun and none of the risk! Hot Stakes Casino – American Roulette is a game designed to be casual and infinitely replayable, letting you enjoy the classic game of roulette at your own pace. Choose from four playable characters, each with their own unique skills, and place your bets using a pool of credits granted at the start of each game.
A first-person cinematic psychological thriller set in a dystopian world where the Leviathan Corporation is omnipresent. The year is 1984, the place is East Germany, and things are not quite what they seem.
A fantasy-themed puzzle game where a brave knight ventures into a dungeon filled with deadly traps and ancient secrets. Your goal is to clear the path and collect all the treasures to complete each level. By pushing blocks, sealing acid holes, and unlocking gates, you’ll create a safe route for the knight to reach every treasure.
Forge your squad to your liking with permanent upgrades. Decide upon how you’d like to progress and if you change your mind just reset and try something else. Pursue the specialization you enjoy the most and observe how your team becomes death, destroyer of worlds.
Trapped in a terrifying deathloop, surgeon Cole Mason is kidnapped and brought to an underwater facility, forced to operate on a patient to extract an evolving parasitic horror. Dead Reset is a blood-soaked interactive horror, where each death brings you closer to the truth.
Bananitro is a 2D runner that combines speed, action, and a unique gravity mechanic, bringing an amazing mix of monkeys and bicycles. Race with Monkey and his bike, using Bananitro to reach insane speeds, ride on walls, perform crazy maneuvers, and make jumps that defy the laws of physics! But be careful, each track presents a new challenge, filled with obstacles that require agility, skill, and precision!
Otherwar is a surprising mash-up of Tower Defense and Bullet Hell with the charm and classy aesthetic of the timeless pixel art. Embody the role of the defender angel who has been called forth to stem the tide of an encroaching hell horde. It falls upon your halo to plan out the defenses, however your adversaries shall not stand idly as they will blot out the sun with fire just to clip your wings. Yet, you are not defenseless as the angel can smite enemies on his own if need be.
The explosive finale to the Trasmoz trilogy: a retro arcade platformer built like a lost 1980s cabinet. Featuring ultra-crisp pixel art limited to 16 colors and an authentic YM2203 chiptune soundtrack, it’s a love letter to the golden age of coin-op gaming.
Welcome to Theme Park Jam, a vibrant and fast-paced puzzle game where organizing chaos is all part of the fun. In this whimsical world, your task is to sort theme park visitors by color and seat them in the matching roller coaster carts before the ride takes off.
Enter the brutal world of Baki Hanma: Blood Arena, a thrilling 2D action game inspired by the anime phenomenon Baki. With gameplay reminiscent of classic fighting titles, this game blends precision, timing, and shonen-style flair to deliver a high-energy combat experience.
In Claim the Forest, you enter a magical clearing where two unusual clans compete for territory: brave wolves and calm capybaras. Your challenge is to organize the pieces of these animals, along with logs, stones, and bushes, to fill the board without letting rivalry disturb the harmony.
A first-person, multiplayer cooperative horror game that offers an unforgettable journey into the realm of nightmares. With an emphasis on exploration, puzzle-solving, and atmospheric storytelling, it keeps you on the edge of your seat. Pre-order now to get the exclusive Labyrinthine – Werewolf Deluxe Edition!
Get ready for a splashing good time in Smoots Crazy Wave! This fast-paced arcade racer brings the beloved Smoots characters to thrilling water tracks where you’ll compete for victory. Whether you prefer classic Slalom races, power-up-filled mayhem, or intense Battle Royale showdowns, there’s a mode for every type of racer.
A mesmerizing journey through breathtaking landscapes inspired by Viking mythology. In this relaxing exploration game, you take on the role of a small, graceful bird soaring through the skies, experiencing the pure joy of flight while uncovering the secrets of an ancient Norse tale.
Start a fashion and dance adventure with your BFFs, the Bratz Pack! Rule the runway and take the stage with Cloe, Yasmin, Sasha, and Jade. Conquer the world in style, creating customizable fashions in the Bratz Fashion Studios. Showcase your signature looks and groove to your favorite songs from the Bratz universe, including ‘So Good’.
In a world plunged into eternal night and torn by conflict between the living and the undead, one faint glimmer of hope still flickers in the hearts of two special souls. Gloomy Eyes tells the tale of Gloomy, a sweet zombie boy, and Nena, a mischievous human girl, who defy the rules by teaming up and embarking on a quest to bring back the daylight.
A top-down detective adventure with point-and-click mechanics and puzzles to solve, inspired by classic games. Follow a young Waffles, a cunning and witty cat, in his first days as an Inspector. Your partner, Pancakes, is an experienced Inspector and probably the only one at the police station that isn’t an incompetent policecat. With this top-tier team, catching bad guys could sound easy, but beware… Your future worst enemy is hiding in the shadows, waiting for you to make the first mistake.
Welcome to Hollywood, the fabulous land of VIPs! Here, fashion rules, and all the amazing celebrities and fabulous models need to look their best to maintain their star status. That’s where you come in – you’re the stylist to the stars! Everyone’s talking about the incredible looks you created at the latest red carpet event!
In The Devil is in the Details, is an Anomaly detection meets Escape Room meets Survival Horror hybrid, played from a first-person perspective. You find yourself trapped in a hellish mansion. Each step forward is a gamble in this ever-changing nightmare, where no two playthroughs are alike.
Play as a young Christopher Wells whose job is ensuring the peaceful coexistence of monsters and humans. Tired of feeling stuck in an unimportant bureaucratic position, he requests a transferal to Saint George, the city with the highest population of monsters in the country. Unfortunately, not everyone around is happy about having to work with a human. Explore themes like identity, belonging, and the lengths people are willing to go to reach their goals.
Get ready for a thrilling retro journey where you command your tank to face off against enemies and navigate through obstacles. Your mission: destroy opponents and blast through blocks, walls, and anything else in your path.
You are the neuro-salvager…You dive into deep, dangerous neural networks…And your rent is due…You need this job badly, but you have a feeling this can be…different…in a bad way…This time, will you be able to silence the echo in your mind? The Echo is a retro-cyber punk themed, first-person horror/mystery game…
Not long before joining Rock Paper Shotgun, I wrote a feature for Edge magazine about the origins of the very silly term “AAA game”. The overall conclusion I came to is that “AAA game” is possibly a boardroom-level borrowing from the credit rating industry and Hollywood, and that it has little meaning beyond “most expensive/biggest”.
It’s time to see which PS5, PS4, PS VR2, and free-to-play games topped last month’s download charts. August continued sports supremacy as Madden NFL 26 led the charge on the charts in the US, while Mafia: The Old Country had success on both the US and EU charts for PS5, and Delta Force dominated the free-to-play charts in both the US and EU.
Check out the full listings below. What titles are you playing this month?
PS5 Games
US/Canada
EU
Madden NFL 26
Mafia: The Old Country
Ready or Not
Grand Theft Auto V
Mafia: The Old Country
Ready or Not
Gears of War: Reloaded
Forza Horizon 5
College Football 26
Minecraft
Grand Theft Auto V
METAL GEAR SOLID Δ: SNAKE EATER
METAL GEAR SOLID Δ: SNAKE EATER
Gears of War: Reloaded
Minecraft
The Crew Motorfest
Forza Horizon 5
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
It Takes Two
HELLDIVERS 2
Among Us
Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles 2
Hogwarts Legacy
WWE 2K25
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
CarX Street
Midnight Murder Club
WWE 2K25
Mortal Kombat 1
Grounded
MLB The Show 25
F1 25
CarX Street
Split Fiction
Grounded
No Man’s Sky
Phasmophobia
Raft
*Naming of products may differ between regions *Upgrades not included
PS4 Games
US/Canada
EU
Red Dead Redemption 2
Red Dead Redemption 2
Batman: Arkham Knight
A Way Out
A Way Out
Batman: Arkham Knight
Battlefield 4
Grand Theft Auto V
Need for Speed Heat
Need for Speed Heat
Grand Theft Auto V
Unravel Two
Mortal Kombat X
Minecraft
Minecraft
Batman: Return to Arkham
Batman: Return to Arkham
Battlefield 4
STAR WARS Battlefront II
Assassin’s Creed Syndicate
Middle-earth: Shadow of War
Watch Dogs 2
Alien: Isolation
Assassin’s Creed Unity
Gang Beasts
The Forest
Watch Dogs 2
Mortal Kombat X
The Walking Dead: The Telltale Definitive Series
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
Call of Duty: Black Ops III
Middle-earth: Shadow of War
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint
Kingdom Come: Deliverance
The Forest
Mafia: Trilogy
Bloodborne
Battlefield V
Injustice 2
Assassin’s Creed Origins
*Naming of products may differ between regions
PS VR2 Games*
US/Canada
EU
Beat Saber
Beat Saber
Creed: Rise to Glory – Championship Edition
Creed: Rise to Glory – Championship Edition
Alien: Rogue Incursion VR
Job Simulator
Among Us 3D: VR
Alien: Rogue Incursion VR
Job Simulator
Kayak VR: Mirage
Skydance’s BEHEMOTH
Skydance’s BEHEMOTH
GORN 2
Among Us 3D: VR
Pavlov
Dead Land 2 VR
Arizona Sunshine 2
Flight Simulator Delivery 2025 VR
Before Your Eyes
Horizon Call of the Mountain
*PlayStation Store purchases only. Game upgrades or games bundled with hardware not included
Don’t let anyone else out-steal you! Redeem Steal an Anime codes and get all heroes for yourself!
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Published: Sep 5, 2025 07:02 am
Updated: September 5, 2025
We added a new code!
Collect anime characters, make them earn Cash for you, and then steal other people’s teams—what’s not to love in Steal an Anime? Better yet, you can redeem Steal an Anime codes for maximum gain with minimum effort. Check out the active codes below, and don’t wait for them to expire before trying to claim the goodies!
All Steal an Anime Codes List
Active Steal an Anime Codes
SOZ4SHUTDOWN: 10 Wheel Spins (New)
SECRETSPINCODE: 5 Wheel Spins
GIMMIEGOKU: 15 Spins
UPDATEBREAK: 10M Cash
SPINSOMG: 10 Wheel Spins
FOLLOWSCZEVI: Free rewards (follow @sczevi to redeem)
FOLLOWMAGE: Free rewards (follow @mageAxis to redeem)
ONEPUNCH: 20 Wheel Spins
PLZSPINZ: 10 Wheel Spins
LIKETHEGAME: 10M Cash
FOLLOWCODE: 10 Wheel Spins
GIMMIESPINS: 10 Wheel Spins
PLZHAKI: 5 Wheel Spins
PLZUNIT: 5 Wheel Spins
GIMMIESPINS2: 20 Wheel Spins
GIMMIESPINS: 10 Wheel Spins
FOLLOWCODE: 10 Wheel Spins
EZSPINS: 5 Wheel Spins
SORRYFORDELAY: 10 Wheel Spins
TRADINGSOON: 5M Cash
RABBITGOD: 1M Cash
KEEPSAFE: 10 minutes of Door Locked Time
GETLUCKY: 10 Wheel Spins (need to play for 48h to redeem)
ANIMEGOD: Random Secret Unit (need to play for 168h to redeem)
STEALANANIME: 100k Cash
KAMEHAMEHA: 500k Cash
LOCKIN: 10 minutes of Door Locked Time
WOO: 100k Cash
STEALINGSOON: 50k Cash
VIP: Free rewards (must be in your own server to redeem)
ANIMELEGEND: Free rewards (need play for 78h to redeem)
LOCKDOOR: 10 minutes of Door Locked Time
RAGAISHERE: 250k Cash
PROTECTMEPLZ: 10 minutes of Door Locked Time
ANIMEPRO: Free rewards (need play for 48h to redeem)
100KLIKES: 100k Cash
TIMECHAMBER:100k Cash
RAGASOON: 150k Cash
NOSTEALING: 10 minutes of Door Locked Time
MONKEYSECRET: 5 minutes of Door Locked Time
ANIME: 5K Cash
STAR: 5K Cash
JOYBOY: 15K Cash
LOCKEDIN: 10 minutes door time
DONE: Goja
Spoilers! Secret code: MONKEYSECRET: 4 minutes lock time
Here are the simple steps to redeem codes in Steal an Anime:
Image by Twinfinite
Launch Steal an Anime on Roblox.
Go to Codes (the ABX button) on the right.
Type in or paste your code in the Enter here! text box.
Click on Redeem! to get your reward.
For more goodies in other Roblox games, don’t forget to check out our Roblox codes section!
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Trying to find Hokers in Hollow Knight: Silksong is part of the Flexile Spines quest you get from the Seamstress in her balloon in the Far Fields area. It’s also kind of urgent, as you’re basically trapped in the areas near her until you do, since she crafts you the item you need to use on the wind pillars to float your way out of the hole.
You need to gather 25 Spine Cores from these creatures, but unlike gathering the pilgrim shawls for Bone Bottom, these items don’t simply drop from killing them—there’s a special trick to farming the item. All that said, here’s where to find Hokers and how to gather Spine Cores in Silksong.
Hollow Knight: Silksong Hokers location
Image 1 of 2
You can find Hokers in the room directly to the right of the area with the Seamstress’ balloon(Image credit: Team Cherry)
Hit the Hoker to make it fire out its spikes, then hit the spikes where they embed to collect a Spine Core(Image credit: Team Cherry)
To find Hokers, you need to go right from the Seamstress’s balloon into the next area—the first one is above the initial platform you come to. These monsters are essentially floating faces that fire out spikes in different directions if you hit them, but you need to do more than kill them to actually get the 25 Spine Cores for the Flexile Spines quest. What you need to do is:
Jump up and hit a Hoker once so it fires out its spikes
Hit the spikes where they’re embedded into the floor or wall
This will turn them into a collectible “Spine Core” item
Rinse and repeat until the Hoker is dead. Depending on its position and where it fires the spikes, you can usually get quite a few per monster. Once that first one is dead, keep heading right until you find the next. There are a couple of Hokers you can farm in that room to the right of the Seamstress, so once they’re depleted, simply leave and return to respawn them until you have 25 altogether.
When you’re done, bring them back to the Seamstress and she’ll craft you the Drifter’s Cloak so you can use the wind pillars to escape Far Fields.
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
There was really no chance Hollow Knight: Silksong wasn’t going to be a major hit for Team Cherry; the only question was how much of a hit it was going to be. We no longer need to guess, because the game is out and everyone seems to be onboard.
Silksong has officially become one of Steam’s biggest releases of 2025, and certainly one of the most significant launches for any indie game.
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Quickly after Silksong went live last night on Steam, it started shooting up Steam’s Most Played chart, overtaking heavy-hitters like Path of Exile 2 (which, incidentally, just had a major update that boosted its spot), and perennial multiplayer titles like PUBG.
Silksong had no trouble landing into the top five – and staying there. Even at the time of this writing, the game occupies the number three spot, just below DOTA 2, and Counter-Strike 2 with over 317,000 in-game.
Its peak concurrent was a staggering 535,213 players (via SteamDB), which it managed to achieve around 14 hours ago. Silksong is also, of course, Steam’s current number one top-seller, with the game and soundtrack bundle at number two. It is especially impressive that it only spent one week in the top 100, no doubt the result of its gamescom revival and subsequent release date news.
And, just like how beloved that game was, it seems Silksong is getting the same level of love from players. As it stands, Silksong has an Overwhelmingly Positive Steam user review rating, based on nearly 16,000 reviews.
All that time spent in development has also seemingly resulted in a polished game, because there’s barely any mention of bugs or any other technical problems. Given this incredible momentum, it’s possible the weekend will boost Silksong’s numbers even further.
Intuitive Level Design” is an interactive course for aspiring game developers who want to master the art of level creation. Explore a world filled with audio commentary nodes. Activate them to learn the key principles of intuitive level design. Each commentary is supported by clear, practical examples. Learning your passion in a fun and interactive way — what could be better? This project will continue to evolve after release — free updates with new episodes will expand the knowledge base and add new content to the game. Adventure Of Samsara
Features and System Requirements:
Levels are structured to guide players naturally, removing unnecessary confusion and keeping the gameplay flow smooth.
Every stage encourages exploration without overwhelming the player, using smartly placed landmarks, paths, and visual cues.
Challenges scale in complexity as players progress, ensuring both newcomers and experienced gamers stay engaged.
Screenshots
System Requirements
Recommended
Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
OS: Windows 10 64-bit or later
Processor: Intel Core i7-8700K | AMD Ryzen 5
Memory: 16 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA® GeForce® 3070RTX or AMD Radeon™ 6800XT
DirectX: Version 12
Storage: 2 GB available space
Sound Card: Windows Compatible Audio Device
Support the game developers by purchasing the game on Steam
Installation Guide
Turn Off Your Antivirus Before Installing Any Game
1 :: Download Game 2 :: Extract Game 3 :: Launch The Game 4 :: Have Fun 🙂
Adventure of Samsara is a mysterious, 2D Metroidvania action-adventure that captures the spirit of the original Atari 2600 title, Adventure, and takes it in an entirely new and unique direction. With stunning, 2D pixel art, Adventure of Samsara combines classic gameplay, a deeply connected world, and a heady, twisting narrative of death, rebirth and memory. Developed by the Brazilian studio Ilex Games, players take control of the Solar Champion, a long-dead Plutonian resurrected by the primordial light of the Sun. Tasked with reactivating a mysterious interdimensional fortress, the Champion must restore balance to the multiverse. As players battle through a series of diverse, interconnected biomes and confront brutal mutant bosses, they will unlock new abilities and enhancements – each revealing deeper layers of the game’s enigmatic, cosmic narrative. JETRUNNER
The game lives in the spiritual landscape of the original Adventure, brimming with its core elements of exploration, curiosity, and hidden secrets. Not a remake or sequel, Adventure of Samsara instead asks players to search for subtle references to the very first adventure game as they journey through a remarkably deep world. I’m not a hardcore metroidvania fan, but it still felt really fun and challenging. The first boss gave me a similar feeling as facing Margit in Elden Ring for the first time, since it really forces you to learn the core mechanics like parrying, dodging, and timing your attacks properly.
Features and System Requirements:
Metroidvania Exploration: Explore 10 unique biomes, from frozen wastes to industrial labs, each filled with distinct enemies, hazards and hidden upgrades.
Classic Gameplay Feel: With classic gameplay and twisted 2D pixel art, Adventure of Samsara evokes a timeless feel while offering something entirely new.
Original Worldbuilding: Immerse yourself in an expansive, interdimensional fantasy world with a deep, spiritual lore.
Easter Eggs: Discover nods to the original Adventure, with familiar structures, enemies, and references that reward both new and returning players.
Screenshots
System Requirements
Recommended
Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
OS: Windows 10
Processor: Intel Core i5
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: GeForce GTX 560
DirectX: Version 11
Support the game developers by purchasing the game on Steam
Installation Guide
Turn Off Your Antivirus Before Installing Any Game
1 :: Download Game 2 :: Extract Game 3 :: Launch The Game 4 :: Have Fun 🙂
Hollow Knight: Silksong is the GTA6 of the indie games world. It’s the megaton game that every other game wants to dodge. But sometimes publishers just can’t change their release dates. We put together a list of some of the other games releasing today to check out if Silksong isn’t your jam (or you just like being contrarian), as well as a few of the anticipated games that scooted out of the way of Hornet and her deadly needle.
Games Releasing September 4, 2025
Adventure of Samsara – Notably, Adventure of Samsara is a search-action (colloquially known as a Metroidvania) game, just like Hollow Knight, and you’re also a little guy with a sword. This game features some great-looking pixel art.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle “The Order of the Giants” DLC – This expansion delves deeper into the “Order of Giants” hinted at in the base game.
Hell is Us – In a place ravaged by war and a mysterious calamity, you search for answers about your own past. This game is a third-person action game with souls-like elements.
NBA 2K26 – If there’s anyone that isn’t worried about Silksong affecting their sales, its probably 2K Games and their latest NBA game. There just isn’t as much overlap with basketball as there is with a game like The Adventures of Samsara or a souls-inspired game like Hell is Us.
Jetrunner – A stylish first-person parkour game with flashy, cel-shaded visuals.
Meanwhile, a bunch of other games made a run for it once Silksong claimed that September 4 date. The sci-fi roguelite FPS Moros Protocol jumped to September 18, as did the PlayStation 1-aesthetic roguelike survival game Megabonk. Baby Steps, the follow-up to Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy, awkwardly planted one foot in front of the other toward a September 23 release date. Demonschool was set to release September 23, and developer Ysbird said of the delay, “We have to remind ourselves that gaining visibility for Demonschool is our main goal. Thus, the Ysbryd team strongly believes we would not be doing our game any favors by wading into waters we can clearly see are blood red.”
Meanwhile, Hollow Knight: Silksong has landed with extremely positive word of mouth. It also almost immediately started crashing the servers for Steam and the Nintendo eShop, and affecting service on Game Pass. Hollow Knight: Silksong peaked on Steam with 535,000 players, putting it in the top three for concurrent players alongside Counter-Strike 2 and Dota 2.
It’s been over a decade since the last numbered Ninja Gaiden game. While the precision-based hack-and-slash series was sleeping, most action games went one of two ways. They either morphed into sprawling RPG adventures full of bloat or tried to ape the obsession with Soulslikes, incorporating methodical hitbox dodging and disciplined stamina management. But one of the kings of 3D arcade action is awake again and ready to dispense with all of the popular trend chasing. Ninja Gaiden 4 is mostly a game about killing tons of guys by executing the most lethal combos and flashiest executions you can master, and it seems to be completely content with that. I am too.
I had a chance to play a recent build of the game at Microsoft’s campus (Xbox is publishing the game) during PAX West 2025 ahead of Ninja Gaiden 4‘s release on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on October 21. The joint venture between Koei Tecmo’s Team Ninja and Bayonetta makers Platinum Games appears to be going great. Rather than a disjointed sequel divided between two game design philosophies struggling with each other and the series’ infamous legacy, what I played of Ninja Gaiden 4 felt smooth, focused, and fun. Most importantly it exuded confidence about what it is: a high-skill action game that rewards diligent fans with satisfyingly gory thrills.
The story revolves around returning frontman Ryu Hayabusa and a new hero, the Raven Clan’s Yakumo, as they scale a cyberpunk-infused Sky City Tokyo infested with new daemon horrors and futuristic ninja soldiers. Each character has access to different weapons and skill sets, and which you play depends on the chapter your in. The option to replay any chapter as either one unlocks after you finish, and for demo purposes I opted to go with Ryu for old times’ sake.
Within seconds I was chopping off heads and staggering enemies with throwing stars. A perfect dodge gives you a small window to press the attack with a counter-strike that breaks through enemy defenses. There’s also a perfect parry that consists of attacking an enemy right as they’re about to attack you, but it’s an awkward window to exploit and doesn’t feel nearly as satisfying when you’re in the heat of combat (and for those who want a less crunchy experience, there’s an option in the settings menu to turn hitstop completely off).
Ninja Gaiden 4 thrives when you’re constantly moving and trying to combo light, heavy, and projectile attacks into a conveyor belt of carnage. Doing so builds up meter to unleash special attacks or enter a time-limited transformation that alters your moveset an also makes it more lethal, culminating in stylish new insta-kill animations that swap the screen to black, white, and red. The old obliterations are there too, letting you unleash geysers of blood as you quickly execute foes already suffering from severed limbs. The pulled-out third-person camera also performed well during the demo, rarely tripping me up with off-screen attacks amid the controlled chaos.
I only had time to experience the first layer or two of combat, and can see how two characters, a handful of weapons each, and all of the other secondary moves can add up into a combat system with enough depth to keep things interesting while never losing sight of the moment-to-moment satisfaction that propels a game like this forward and keeps you from rage-quitting once you hit a difficulty spike or two (there are three difficulty modes in Ninja Gaiden 4 that you can swap between at any time).
What I’ll be most curious to see from the finished game is whether its level design will feel equally refined or just like a means to an end. The early couple of sections I experienced included some wall running, wall jumping, and grappling hook swinging, both for platforming and combat. Ninja Gaiden 4 has collectibles and I encountered the occasional fork in the road to explore, while statues dotting the level offer checkpoints at which to buy items from and upgrade skills.
But most of the action was confined to flat arenas without many interesting features outside of some split elevations and grappling hook points. If Team Ninja and Platinum Games are able to imbue the later stages with as much drama in-between the big battles as during them, Ninja Gaiden 4 could be the return to demanding hack-and-slash action fans have been waiting for, perfecting the essentials and carving away the rest.
Happy Hollow Knight: Silksong launch day to all who celebrate! I’ve only played three hours so far and I’m already overwhelmed in the best possible way. It took no time at all for me to get completely lost in the world of this hotly anticipated sequel, one that shortens the intimidating lead-in area its predecessor had in order to more quickly give you branching paths to pick from and the tools to explore them more confidently. It’s too early to get a real sense of where things will go, how all the changes it makes to stuff like upgrades and abilities will play out, or how big this beautiful new land truly is, but my impression so far is that Silksong is already managing to meet the sky-high expectations that have been set for it.
One of the most immediate differences Hollow Knight fans will notice is that our new hero, Hornet, isn’t the silent type like her pint-sized companion from the original. She has personality and charm, chatting with the bugs you meet across the world of Pharloom. I was initially worried that this might change the quiet tone in an unappealing way, but Hornet is still a fairly stoic character overall – confident and cautiously friendly, happy to speak her mind when she feels she should, but still reclusive in a way that allows others to do most of the talking. So it’s a shift, especially when she explains something a little more directly than Hollow Knight’s vague dialogue ever would, but one I am enjoying for the moment.
It also helps that the writing is top notch once again. It’s often poetic and illusive in a way that never feels overly pompous, leaving plenty of room for serious characters and silly gags alike. An early favorite of mine is a pilgrim singing to a door in an attempt to open it, only for them to claim the credit when you find the lever that actually does so. All the attention to quality and detail that made Hollow Knight a true standout is still alive and well here, with areas I can’t wait to learn more about, characters I am excited to get to know, and stellar music I can already tell I am going to be listening to for a long time to come.
Another aspect I am excited to see evolve are the options for customization. Ability-granting charms are color-coded this time around, meaning you have to pick your priorities if certain items overlap – for example, a lot of the early options I’ve found go into the yellow slot, making me choose if I want enemies to drop more currency or if I want to have it automatically be picked up for me when they do. That choice extends into a secondary attack (the only one I’ve found so far is a quick throwing dagger), and even Crests that more drastically change your attack in a way that feels like you are swapping weapons.
Honestly, I just can’t wait to stop typing this so I can dive back in.
It seems like a huge amount of flexibility, and I’m excited to see if the options I will unlock let me truly start crafting coherent builds in the way I am hoping. This system runs the risk of offering a lot of false choices or leading you down certain paths that are just obviously better than others, but if Team Cherry has figured out the proper tuning, it could also open the door to supporting massively different playstyles based entirely on your own tastes.
I imagine we’ll need to take advantage of those options, too, because Silksong isn’t messing around. It’s not afraid to punish you, such as the way you drop all of a currency called Rosaries when you die and have to do a corpse run to the location you were killed to retrieve them, and enemies can be tough enough to force you to take that walk if you push the limits of your exploration too far. That said, Silksong has a lot of ways to mitigate that punishment, such as letting you pay to stash your extra Rosaries in the form of a consumable item, giving you an early option to lose less of them on death, and not tying every unlockable to that single resource in case the worst does occur. It’s still early, but I think this will result in less frustration overall relative to Hollow Knight.
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Similarly, one of the most common reasons people would bounce off the original was the initially sparse map system – the early areas branch in a way that meant you could miss the map for a long while, and then you had to return to town to buy upgrades before it updated or even showed you on it. You still need those upgrades, but the place you get them is now located right on your path before things start to open up, and that happens much earlier, so that’s another rough edge smartly smoothed down. It’s still a dangerous thrill when you are exploring an uncharted area for the first time, trying to push your luck in search of that next resting spot, but that’s no longer a feeling you are forced into before you’ve even found your footing.
I could keep digging into more early observations, but honestly I just can’t wait to stop typing this so I can dive back in. I haven’t even wrapped my head around how big this thing is going to be – and if its achievement for speedrunning 100% completion is any indication it could be quite large, as you now have to do that in under 30 hours compared to Hollow Knight’s 20. But so far Silksong is exactly what I want from a sequel like this: it’s not completely reinventing the wheel or messing with all the things that made the first game so incredible, but it’s also not resting on its laurels. No part of it feels untouched, and as far as I can tell right now, it somehow feels even better for it.
Want to keep testing your knowledge of gaming trivia? We’ve got loads more PC Gamer quizzes, on everything from healthbars to weird currencies to absurd patch notes.
It’s been a while since I abandoned my last Baldur’s Gate 3 character somewhere in the Shadow-Cursed Lands, so naturally I’m going to have to start yet another new character for my next playthrough. The fourth one, I think, or maybe it’s the fifth?
I still haven’t completed a full playthrough of Baldur’s Gate, but I sure do have Act 1 down. It’s more or less a checklist to me at this point, and I’m far from the only one who’s displaced a few childhood memories to build a mental map of the Emerald Grove, Goblin Camp, Underdark, and the rest of BG3’s opening chapter.
How much of BG3’s first act has been burned into your long-term memory? Try the 15 question quiz below to see how hopeless your RPG restarting habit is.
Too easy? Too hard? Let us know in the comments how you scored. (If you get them all, you have to promise to see your current character through to the end. Enough is enough!)
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“Horror” and “automation” are concepts I’m used to seeing together in fiery/weepy essays about late capitalism. I’m less used to seeing them together in videogame marketing blurbs. Horror, in an automation-based game? Why, games with automation are supposed to deliver the finest and most methodical of chemical highs. They are supposed to feel like building yourself a better brain out of candy-coloured conveyor belts and smelters. They are not supposed to make you afraid.
Published: Sep 5, 2025 07:02 am