Gaming

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Why the jigsaw puzzle is 2020's greatest stress buster

The right puzzle speaks to me like poetry, an active meditation.

Read on.


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Honk if you feel good: The Spinoff reviews Untitled Goose Game

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Here's why you still remember how to play Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 20 years later

Review: No Straight Roads is more fun to watch than it is to play

The Wellington studio behind this year’s cutest (and most inclusive) dating sim

Review: Ghost of Tsushima is a slick conclusion to the PS4’s lifecycle

Review: Iron Man VR is superhero wish fulfilment, pure and simple

We don't need any more zombie games

The 20-year legacy of the greatest game ever made: Deus Ex

Review: The Last of Us Part II is great for what it means, not for what it is

What a video game about a futuristic Tauranga can tell us about our present

There and back again: The bill targeting workers' right in the screen industry

Turnip for what? Two calming months of Animal Crossing: New Horizons

How did this quaint village-making game become one of the biggest sellers of its generation?


Culture Editor
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Review: Dating sim legend Sakura Wars returns

Sam Brooks reviews dating sim legend Sakura Wars, which returns after 15 years with a soft reboot.


Culture Editor
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Review: The Final Fantasy VII Remake is the definitive version of Final Fantasy VII

Sam Brooks reviews the most anticipated game of the year: the Final Fantasy VII Remake.


Culture Editor
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Ori and the art of the Metroidvania

Lee Henaghan previews Ori and the Will of The Wisps, the latest game to dismantle 'are video games art?' question.


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Gaming Archive

Review: Dreams shows the endless bounds and limits of the gamer’s imagination

Sam Brooks reviews Media Molecule's Dreams, the game that allows you to turn your dreams into (virtual) reality.


Culture Editor
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A lifelong superfan finally gets to play the Final Fantasy VII remake

Lifelong superfan Sam Brooks got to play five hours of the Final Fantasy 7 remake ahead of its release. He reports back on how the game successfully adapts the twenty-year old classic.


Culture Editor
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While Weta gets $41m a year, the game industry gets nothing but empty words

The government is trumpeting news that gaming will be a billion dollar industry, but a leading gaming developer says he needs money, not glowing press releases.


Guest writer
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Twenty years on, The Sims is still the safest space in town

On its 20th anniversary, Sam Brooks looks back on The Sims, the safest space for an entire generation of gamers.


Culture Editor
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The original 151 Pokémon ranked from worst to best

Sam Brooks digs into his childhood to present his magnum opus: a ranking of all 151 OG Pokémon.


Culture Editor
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Confessions of a late-in-life video game obsessive

Summer reissue: A few years ago, deep into middle age, Britta Stabenow found solace in the world of gaming. Now she's part of a passionate community: those who love, and collect, video games.


Guest writer
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Review: Indie game Gris builds glorious beauty out of simple foundations

Sam Brooks reviews Gris, the stunning, newly updated game from Devolver Digital that gamifies and makes beautiful that one universal process: grief.


Culture Editor
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Review: Pokemon Sword and Shield finally reach the next stage of evolution

Sam Brooks reviews the latest generation of the Pokémon games which finally hits the big-ish screen.


Culture Editor
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Kojima unhinged: A response to Death Stranding

Sam Brooks reviews the most anticipated game of 2019: Hideo Kojima's Death Stranding.


Culture Editor
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Review: Trails of Cold Steel is as good as video game storytelling gets

Sam Brooks reviews the latest Trails of Cold Steel entry and finds a rare thing: a game full of love and care.


Culture Editor
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Review: The MediEvil remake is new skin on bad bones

Sam Brooks finds that nostalgia only goes so far in the 2019 remake of MediEvil.


Culture Editor
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Honk if you feel good: The Spinoff reviews Untitled Goose Game

Toby Morris plays the lo-fi avian puzzle game that's taken over the internet.


Creative Director
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