The weekend is upon us! And for many people, that means it’s time to kick back, crack open a cold can of Monster Energy Superdry and get into some video games.
If you’re like me and the decision to sit down and play something comes easy but the idea actually deciding what to play is completely paralysing, I have good news! We’ve taken the time put together a real quick look at just a few of the games you could potentially fire up this weekend, hopefully narrowing down the choices at least a little bit for you.
(If you like this and would like to see these more often, let us know!)
How About A Visual Novel? Or A Musical Visual Novel??
Fans of rich narratives presented through static, or mostly-static art and a bit of weekend reading have a heap of great options this week with Steam’s Visual Novel Fest sale bringing discounts on some classics plus demos of new and upcoming VNs to sink your eyes into.
You could practice your best “Objection!” and make your way through The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles at half price, or take a more relaxed approach and sip some hot bean juice in Coffee Talk for just $11.37. If you’re excited for Devolver and Deconstructeam’s upcoming The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood (and you should be) there’s also a playable demo of that to check out ahead of its August 17th release date.
Or, might I recommend you check out Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Music, the just-released gem from Melbourne’s own Summerfall Studios that breaks new ground by offering a choice-driven narrative adventure in the form of a whole-arse musical. It’s gorgeous, the characters are fresh and wonderfully-realised takes on Greek gods and there’s an obscene amount of work poured into its branching musical concept. Stray Gods is out now on basically every platform.
What’s On Xbox Game Pass?
If you’ve got an Xbox console, a PC, or just a device capable of accessing the enormous Game Pass library via cloud streaming, there’s a world of possibility for your weekend gaming sessions.
This weekend, you could jump into the enhanced port of Quake II, which just dropped as a surprise release for QuakeCon. It’s got visual improvements, heaps of content including a brand-new expansion and even comes with Quake II 64. You can find it on Game Pass right here.
If you want something much more chill, A Short Hike is an indie classic that just landed on Game Pass earlier this month across PC, console and cloud. It has you hike, climb and soar through a peaceful mountain landscape, making your way to its summit as you meet folks, find hidden secrets and just enjoy the world around you. Find it here.
I’m cheating a little bit with this last recommendation because it’s actually not on Game Pass, but did just arrive on Xbox after being a PlayStation and PC exclusive for a bit, and that’s Stray. It’s an unmissable third-person narrative adventure starring an adorable cat in a cybercity populated entirely by robots. Find it here with a launch discount.
Something For The Pokémon Tragics
In case you missed this week’s Pokémon Presents showcase, and you’d be forgiven for having skipped it, Nintendo just dropped two Pokémon classics on Nintendo Switch.
Nintendo Switch Online members can now play the Game Boy Colour’s timeless digital take of the Pokémon Trading Card Game, including support for playing your friends online!
For those with the higher-tier Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack membership, you can also play Pokémon Stadium 2 for the N64. Battle your friends on the same console or online with all of the Pokémon from the first two generations in this 2001 classic.
Or, You Know, Baldur’s Gate 3
I almost wasn’t going to add this one in as a suggestion because it seems like every person and their dog is playing this game already, and if so they already know exactly where their weekend is heading. If somehow you haven’t joined the hundreds of thousands of people already playing Baldur’s Gate 3 and you have a PC capable of running it, get around it here!
