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Playdate Okay, I know by the time this goes live week two games are available for Playdate Season 2 – and maybe even week three games. But if, like me, you’re just getting into Season 2, I don’t want to spoil anything, so I’m going to stick to talking about Fulcrum Defender, Dig Dig Dino!, and Blippo Plus. I can’t believe the PlayDate is already three years old, but here we are. It’s about time we got a Season 2! And there’s been a lot of stuff that happened since I last checked in on the PlayDate. For one, the dock was canceled, so that’s a bit of a bummer. But there’s also been a whole bunch of cool games that have been released on the PlayDate catalog that I’ve been checking out. And while I want to talk about that more at another time, we’re here to take a look at PlayDate Season 2. Dig Dig Dino. Via Playdate The first game I’m going to talk about is Dig Dig Dino. It’s a cute little game all about digging. You and a team of anthropomorphized paleontologists are working to uncover the world’s underground secrets. At first, you’re limited by your tools and how much energy you have, but as you collect more underground treasures, you’ll get more money, which you can exchange for upgrades to your various tools. Your shovel digs through dirt, while your drill takes out rocks and crystals. There are a few other tools, like radar to let you know if there’s stuff under the dirt, and even a dog that helps you find bones. You’re not timed, but you’re limited in how much you can dig by how much energy you have. Once all of that is expended, you collect anything left sitting around and tally up your total. You then use that money to buy upgrades, dig, and repeat.  Not only is there a satisfying game loop for Dig Dig Dino, there’s also a mystery beneath its surface. You’ll uncover more as you literally piece together clues from artifacts and bones you collect. It’s a fun, casual, no pressure game that is satisfying to play. Fulcrum Defender. Via Playdate Fulcrum Defender , on the other hand, is high pressure from moment one. Made by the developers behind FTL: Faster Than Light and Into the Breach, Fulcrum has a fantastic pedigree, even if it doesn’t match elements from those other games. Instead, Fulcrum Defender is a type of 360 degree defensive shooter. I don’t really want to call it tower defense, since you’re in control of the only tower, and the enemies can come from all directions.  You use the crank to aim and the D-Pad up to fire. Bullets have a travel time, and you only have so many shots before you overheat, so you have to time your shots wisely. As you play, you’re given the ability to choose between different power-ups. Some of these upgrade your main gun, while others give you new weapons. If you are lucky and combine the right weapons, you can create a pretty unstoppable synergy. I actually found Fulcrum Defender to be easier than I expected. On medium difficulty I never actually failed a run before the “You Win” screen. Of course, after you “win” the game doesn’t stop. It continues on to see how high a score you can achieve.I think that’s where the real difficulty lies, and there is some potential for some great high score moments. Bummer, though, that I’ve had a few PlayDate crashes in these later levels, especially when my weapons and abilities add a bunch of chaos to the increasingly busy screen. And when the PlayDate doesn’t crash, it sometimes chugs under the strain of Fulcrum Defender’s drain on its resources.  Fulcrum Defender is a great “one more round” type game, and I lost hours trying to beat my high scores. Blippo+. Via Playdate And finally there’s Blippo+ . Inspired by broadcast television and all of the non sequiturs and just plain weirdness that come with channel surfing. I have to say: Blippo + hits me in the nostalgia feels pretty damn hard. I’ve even watched TV on my Game Gear back in the day with the TV tuner add-on, so I have hard nostalgia for handheld console tv viewing–as weirdly specific as that might be.  And despite it being “broadcast” as “1-bit” television, it’s surprisingly watchable and even looks pretty good on the PlayDate screen. It’s unfortunately hard to translate to larger screens. Blippo+ has an entire 11 week broadcast schedule, so you can expect some fresh programming for the next few weeks. I don’t know what’s going to happen with Blippo+ after they run through their broadcast schedule, but it would be great to see it stick around in some form or another. Even if the content is extremely strange. It all feels very public access, and I think that’s the feel that Panic was going for, and they’re obviously pulling it off.  In fact, it was just announced at the PC Gaming Show that Blippo+ will be going color and coming to PC and Nintendo Switch!  Each week during Playdate Season 2 you will get two more games until you get them all. And there are definitely some games coming up that i”m excited for, like Shadowgate PD and Taria & Como .

Very minor spoilers follow Screenshot: The Alters The Alters is a narrative heavy game, so I want to let you know that I’ve kept this review as spoiler free as possible.  Hard sci-fi is something that video games tend to fumble in a lot of ways. Even games like Elite Dangerous with its 1:1 scale universe has you interact with most of its world by shooting at it. The Alters , however, manages to use its hard sci-fi premise well. It doesn’t just explore space and weird anomalies, but it asks questions about who we are and what makes a person a person.  Screenshot: The Alters In The Alters, you play as Jan Dolski. An accident leaves you the lone survivor of an expedition. You can’t survive on your own, so you’re forced to make clones of yourself to fill in the crew roles. Luckily, you have access to a quantum computer that can literally analyze alternate timelines and use them to construct an alternate Jan Dolski–one who made different life decisions, leading to a different career specialization.  I’m going to get this out of the way right away: The Alters requires a whole truck load of contrivances to make sense. Sci-fi usually requires a bit of suspension of disbelief and acceptance of some silliness, and The Alters is really no exception. But the point of The Alters is to tell a character driven story of survival against the odds on an alien world full of strange phenomena. And it asks the question: why are we who we are? The Alters is part survival game, part base building game, and part character-driven narrative adventure game. Each of these parts is interconnected, but distinct–all tied together with a gameplay loop that has Jan exploring, gathering resources, crafting items, assigning tasks, solving crises, and managing the emotional state of his alternate selves. There are lots of choices to make in The Alters, and each of the choices you make is important. Lots of games like to say that, but The Alters can have an early decision snowball in unexpected ways later.  Screenshot: The Alters In The Alters, gameplay is divided up into days. If you don’t like time pressure in your video games, I have bad news: there is always a clock ticking in The Alters . There is always some crisis that needs your attention while you have to worry about gathering enough supplies and feeding all of the hungry mustachioed faces. That means it’s not possible to see everything in your first playthrough of The Alters , and the game even has a system in place for when you replay it that shows you what dialogue choices you made previously.  Just like it’s not possible to do everything, it’s also not possible to keep all of your alters happy. Each alter will have his own motivations and desires. They can get frustrated and lash out, or even rebel. You can choose to keep your alters in line with punishments, or use kindness. This also means potentially taking time and precious resources away from anything that might be critical to your group’s survival. Sometimes you just need to sit back and have a movie night before everyone suffers from burnout. The emotional state of your alters is important, and monitored throughout the playthrough. You generally want to keep the alternate Jan Dolskis happy. But The Alters does a lot of things video games are notorious for: they just tell you how a character is feeling. Worse: the character just says "I feel this way.” Even if that character has compelling reasons, sometimes the alters’ feelings are incongruous with the reality of the situation. Then again, I can’t really tell you how I’d react if I found out I was a clone made for a specific task, so maybe I’m over thinking it. Screenshot: The Alters Basebuilding is an important part of The Alters. Your base is Jan and his alters’ home, and their vehicle that brings them to new locales. It is completely modular, expandable, and transportable. In fact, the entire base is circumferenced by a wheel that serves as the bases’ mode of conveyance. Each base module is a block, and can be moved around on a grid. This grid is confined within the wheel–which isn’t the best configuration for something like a grid that prefers square shapes. Add in a giant tank nearly in the middle of the thing, and base building becomes like a puzzle game. As the base gets bigger, this is less of an issue, but you really have to work to cram in everything you want in the early game. As your living and working space gets bigger, and/or you need more hands to help with tasks, you’ll inevitably start making more alters. Making copies of yourself to fill in gaps in your crew is as easy as spending a few resources. But you’re creating a whole new life, and narratively, it’s not a casual thing. There are consequences for each alter you create, not to mention the fact that the alter has to cope with the fact that it's a copy made for a specific purpose. There are definitely moral and social implications at play beyond needing more food and extra beds to house all of these freshly minted copies.  Screenshot: The Alters Alters can be helpful, though. As you’re out exploring you can have them working in the workshop, making food, repairing the base, and doing any other mundane tasks. There’s a certain fun to be had juggling each of your alters between tasks. And they’re fairly helpful at filling in when a task needs to be completed and no one is working on it, often asking if they can jump in whenever they finish whatever job they were working on.  The exploration sections of The Alters can be tense, rewarding, and frustrating. It’s fun planning for excursions and having all of the right equipment for the job. Early on it feels like there is a real risk/reward situation as you go out further and run into stranger and more dangerous things. Later on, when you’re more established, most of that feeling of danger goes away. Once you have alters back at base replenishing consumable items while you’re out exploring, it doesn’t feel as dangerous, since these items show up in your inventory instantly no matter where you are.   Exploration is essential, too, as it uncovers important story elements, new secrets, and valuable resource deposits where you can set up mining nodes. These nodes also work as lifelines as you can recharge your suit and fast travel to base and back. Screenshot: The Alters Despite its compelling narrative, The Alters is definitely a little rough around the edges in parts. I’ve encountered a fair amount of bugs, like freakish facial animations and characters conversing when they’re not even in the same room.  I also had a really hard time getting into The Alters at first. It’s slow to start, and felt like a lot of concepts dumped into my lap all at once. But once I was able to sort everything out and figure out the best way to play The Alters , I went from having to force myself to start playing to having to force myself to stop. The Alters isn’t a perfect game, but its the first game since Soma that had me thinking about what makes a person a person. But instead of driving me into an existential crisis like Soma did, The Alters made me look at myself and wonder if there was somewhere I could have taken a different path. But The Alters is also about using people and the morality behind that–even if those people you are using are happy with it. It’s a lot to take in, but in the end, The Alters manages to succeed at what I think it set out to accomplish.

Screenshot: To a T. Via Steam. A game about someone trapped in a T-pose could easily have gone the way of Goat Simulator. And, really, there’s nothing wrong with that. I had a great time flinging goats this way and that and observing their unique physics.  In this case though it’s so much more. To a T is a game about disability, bullying, the nature of perfection and even the nature of art.  This isn’t altogether unexpected. To a T has been birthed into this world by Keita Takahashi, a legend in the game world who’s something of an auteur, with a distinctive library of titles that have become defining moments in game history, published by none other than Annapurna Interactive, known for bringing indie voices to the forefront in gaming, helping things like Kentucky Route Zero, Journey, Gone Home and Outer Wilds find the spotlight. Takahashi is most known for Katamari Damacy, the one where the crazy ass King of All Cosmos goes on a bender, destroys all the stars in the universe, then makes his son fix it, all the while telling him he’s not doing a good enough job of it?  When you say it that way it doesn’t sound as fun as it is though. Because awful boomeresque parenting choices aside, Katamari Damacy made an everlasting mark on video games. Its surreal style, odd side stories, earwormy soundtrack and addictive gameplay made it a cult classic.  It’s not hard, but it’s fun. It’s not deep, necessarily either, though not without meaning. It just is. Rolling around the Earth trying to collect enough crabs to build Cancer is more ridiculous than it is difficult, though I also still hear the Katamari timer music in my most anxious of nightmares – but this simple, somewhat sandbox gameplay is just that - simple.  Screenshot: To a T. Via Steam. After parting ways with Bandai Namco due to creative differences (among them his wishes to not repeat works, despite his later involvement on We <3 Katamari, the Katamari sequel) he went on to design other incredibly colorful, creative and unusual games,including Wattam, an off the wall game where you make friends with antropomorphized poops, fruits and other random objects and a crank based time travelling game for the also crank based Playdate handheld. To a T is markedly different than its predecessors though, because though it shares the same DNA, it is a lot more straightforward, and a lot less fantastical, at least at first.  Despite the T-pose’s origins being glitch-based, your character’s problem feels a lot more real world. It’s hard to imagine linking a “funny internet meme” to the reality of life as a disabled tween, but that’s where a little bit of genius really helps. Each part of the game is told in episodes, and, as such, they all start the same. With a jazzy theme song by Prep that’s actually pretty poignant. “I want to change PJ/I want to dry my face/I want to use the restroom by myself/The little things, the little things are hard for me… As catchy as the tune is, it’s pretty melancholy. And pretty true. The little things are a lot harder when you’re the shape of a T. Your character can’t get dressed normally, needs adaptive utensils to eat normally, and just takes up a lot of space where other people don’t. Most of the beginning episodes of To a T are just you trying to figure out how to work with the body you have, and in tandem with your service dog, who does things like help you get dressed, put toothpaste on your toothbrush and accompany you to school. Screenshot: To a T. Via Steam. Don’t expect total normalcy though. Right away the absolute oddity of a Takahashi game becomes apparent, with strange characters that inhabit the world of your cereal box reacting to changes in your world, giant pigeons who are NOT DJs, and the absolute shadiness of your family situation. Your mom’s nice and all,but she’s definitely got secrets.  School is a nightmare. Literally and figuratively. And as you’d expect in an imperfect world, at that, a middle school, you being the shape of a T is really really cringe. Not only do you bump into people, you’re just weird, and weird things (especially supernatural things) just seem to happen around you. And the bullies really let you know it, quite literally hiding in bushes and lurking in corners just to get their chance to snicker at you. What else isn’t helping your illustrious middle school career is that you seem to have developed some…powers. You can…spin? Fly? Most of the time it knocks you out, but when it doesn’t, it causes outsized catastrophes and a lot of embarassment.  Most of the gameplay in To a T consists of cozy game elements and coordinated action puzzles. Brushing your teeth requires you to hold your extra long toothbrush to your mouth while moving your head up and down. Pouring milk and cereal is a herculean task, and every time you try to go through a doorway, you’re gonna have to slide through it sideways. You can’t even ride a bicycle like a normal kid. Instead, you’ve got a talking unicycle your mom rebuilt for you that you can call from anywhere. Not that that’s weird or anything. One of my favorite things about To a T and Takahashi’s work in general is how incredibly abnormal the worlds are while simultaneously feeling mundane. No one bats an eye at the man sized pigeon, or the giraffe who went to culinary school and also possesses one of those time turner things so she can simultaneously man every type of food stand a cute little city needs, but as soon as the dog starts walking on its back legs and talking, everyone’s waiting to be abducted. Screenshot: To a T. Via Steam. And while fourth wall breaking and freaky throwaway lines that imply even freakier lore in the world didn’t surprise me, the sweetness and linear nature of To a T did a little bit. At the heart of it, you’re every 13 year old who’s ever felt different, and who’s going through changes they don’t understand. It’s just that your mom may or may not have slept with an alien, your hairdresser is a crab, and occasionally a full chorus comes around and sings about your life.  It’s just you, your mom and your dog in the beginning, with some friendly familial faces like the giraffe helping make even your darkest days a little brighter with sandwiches and songs, but as you travel through the world and progress the story, you’ll befriend your bullies, learn the truth about your family, and even find a secret ninja club. Before you know it, the somewhat tedious nature of “getting ready” in your t-pose form becomes welcome and familiar as you start the day.  To a T has a way of sneaking into your psyche, and while initially I admit to a little boredom with the toothbrushing and mini-games, I soon fell in love with my T-posey self and got captured by the mystery of where my powers came from and why strange things were happening in my small seaside town.  Some of the tedium comes from a little bit too little signposting, if you ask me. While I don’t want to be railroaded as a player and a lot of the joy of Takahashi’s games comes out of exploration and silliness, it would also be okay if there were things like fast travel, an objectives menu or a world map that’s persistent. Some of the mini games were explained better than others, too, and that could lead to frustration while you were figuring out what to do. I even got softlocked a few times, where I either got stuck on terrain and had to reset to the beginning of the chapter, or somehow made it impossible for myself to progress while in the middle of a mini game or quest. Screenshot: To a T. Via Steam. I also can’t say I didn’t see where the story was going, though how it gets there is a true testament to the bizarre mind of its creator. Still, I found myself with that warming feeling in my chest when my bullies became my friends and we watched the sunset from the lighthouse, the same way I wiped a tear or two away when that same old theme song was punctuated by the message that perfection is in itself an imperfect goal, and we’re already all the perfect shape.  My time with to a T wasn’t without frustration, and the whole thing felt like a fever dream of sorts, in the familiar fun way that all Takahashi’s games do, but overall, I can say that To a T is surprisingly endearing, heartfelt and funny. While perhaps predictable in its somewhat expected happy ending, it was unexpectedly thought provoking about disability, inclusion, and the flawed pursuit of perfection in art, and it’s a game (and a soundtrack) I won’t soon forget.

This past weekend in Chicago, we attended the Anime Central Convention, or ACen as it’s known to the fandom. It’s one of the biggest anime cons in the Midwest, and features the most cosplay we've seen at a single convention. But it's also noted as one of the friendliest cons out there, and its community has continued to grow. ACen consistently sells out as fans from all over the Midwest and the country show up in droves, and it's this sense of community that shines brightest to me the more I get to know ACen through attending each year. Last year I wrote an article about bringing my mother to ACen , which would seem ill-advised to some, as it does tend to trend on the racier side, but it provided the perfect atmosphere for an outsider to be welcomed into the weird world of anime. My mother and I explored the con with reckless abandon, asking newbie questions and engaging with all that comes with the convention. Artwork, cosplayers, furries, home made craft goods: everything. My mother took the time to jump into learning and interacting with all of it, if anything just to ask questions, and everyone took time to include her and answer them. This year, I saw even more of that same community spirit throughout the weekend that really made me stand back and admire how much this group of fans really cares for one another. I stumbled into a group of cosplayers calling themselves the Cosplay Medics. It was a couple who were dressed as old timey World War I medics, with a giant flag raised high in the sky so they were easier to locate. I managed to flag them down and stopped to ask them their story. “Last year, we were cosplaying and our costumes kept coming apart, and of course there’s a booth that will help you repair your costumes -- but we had to keep traveling all the way back, so we decided to set up a kit and go around the con fixing people’s cosplay on the go. I have heavy duty gear, cordless glue gun, duct tape, etc., and my partner has lighter gear like sewing kits, buttons, super glue, and other things. So we just now enjoy the con, and when people come up to us, we help repair their cosplays. We paid for all of this, but just want to help out!” But it doesn't end there. At Saturday night's Synergy dance party, a couple had set up a station for dancers who needed a reprieve from the action, so they were providing mellow music, free bottles of water, sandwiches and chips to anyone who needed it. They were there out of the goodness of their own hearts, using their own money to help those a little too partied out, to catch their breaths and recover a little.  These kinds of stories are really what make fandoms come together as communities. The con itself was one of the best, with sold out days filled with Beyblade tournaments, KPOP dance tutorials and fight choreography, but the spirit of togetherness is what brings everyone here. One of my friends personally lost their phone on the show floor, and in no less than 20 minutes had the phone been turned in to customer service by a friendly patron. This is a con where you are surrounded by like-minded individuals who are more than willing to share what they have, whether it be a drink or a space to talk. Come to ACen for the sights but stay for the breadsticks. A lot like Olive Garden, when you’re here you’re family. Check out our cosplay gallery from the convention here.

The Anime Central Convention is one of the biggest conventions for cosplay in the midwest. Whether you’re into anime or not, this is where you go to show off your hard work in the cosplay space. With people coming from all over the Midwest, there were dozens of entries into the ACen Masquerade Cosplay Contest, as well as on full display walking the show floor. It’s also one of the biggest gatherings of photographers and videographers, ready and willing to do a photoshoot of you decked out in your best heroic outfits. Three days of costumes, glamour, blood, sweat, tears, and everything else you can craft from foam and hot glue.  Here are some of the best we saw walking the show floor at ACen 2025!

Screenshot: Roadcraft/Saber Interactive The Mudrunner series always fascinated me. They’re the only prominent games in a very niche genre. While most car games rely on speed to give you a thrilling challenge, the Mudrunner series can give you that same white-knuckle feeling while driving through some mud at five miles per hour. Roadcraft continues this tradition, but shakes the formula up enough to make it the most unique offering in this series yet. Roadcraft might not have the Mudrunner name attached to it, but it’s definitely a Mudrunner game, complete with those great mud and terrain physics that made the series that started with Spintires gain a cult-like following. That means you are very much man versus nature–or in this case, vehicles vs nature. But this time around, you have more ability to reshape the world around you as you put things right again. Screenshot: Roadcraft/Saber Interactive The premise behind Roadcraft is simple: some sort of natural disaster has ravaged an area, and your job is to go in and get it running again. That includes tasks like clearing debris, cutting down trees, building roads, reconnecting electricity, delivering equipment and more. You’ll be doing all of this in a range of different vehicles, and of course: there will be lots of mud and difficult terrain to maneuver through.  Roadcraft isn’t centered around a single vehicle or task. The goal is to use a small fleet of vehicles to conduct many different tasks, depending on the scenario. If you’re not playing co-op, you’re completely alone, and must do everything yourself–except for a few automated tasks. And there is a lot to do. Spread over eight maps, Roadcraft is a whole lot of game if you’re tackling it completely solo. Screenshot: Roadcraft/Saber Interactive There is a missed opportunity here with regards to your logistics business. The focus is on the tasks themselves, but there is little at stake besides lost time. If you roll over a vehicle, you have to recover that vehicle at a garage or a mobile base. There is no financial penalty. It would have been interesting to play a game that requires you to not only possess a fleet of capable vehicles, but also require you to maintain those vehicles so they’re up and running efficiently for future tasks. After you play Roadcraft you might think “calm down Satan, just getting these objectives completed can be tricky enough.” And that’s fair. But beyond vehicle recovery, there is little penalty for making a mistake. No popped tires, no crushed panels, no destroyed equipment. Roadcraft strikes a strange balance between realism and sandbox fun.  Roadcraft will require you to pick up every single piece of cargo you want to put in the back of your truck, but will allow you to fill your dump truck with sand as long as you’re within the huge sand quarry radius. Screenshot: Roadcraft/Saber Interactive There is no damage system in Roadcraft , and your vehicles don’t run out of fuel. That means using all wheel drive and differential lock give you no penalties like extra fuel consumption as they did in other games.  Cooperative mode looks like it could be a blast–invite three friends to help with the recovery efforts. It could turn a  few of the tasks that are tedious solo, into fun cooperative adventures. For instance, if you want to fix up a road one person can bring in the sand while the other follows behind and smooths it down. There is also plenty of opportunity for shenanigans.  Screenshot: Roadcraft/Saber Interactive As I mentioned before, there is a whole lot of Roadcraft . There are eight maps that ship with the base game. Each map has their own set of objectives as well as different types of terrain, environments, and the challenges that come with that. Each map represents a different recovery scenario, too–you’ll be dealing with areas that have been through floods, hurricanes, and more. That means lots of washed out roads and fallen trees, which can make getting from point A to point B a challenge on its own, let alone having to figure out how to get building materials through. You’re not just behind the wheel in Roadcraft , there is also a top-down logistical mode. This mode allows you to see parts of the region that have been uncovered, as well as get a glance at overlays that display information on the electrical grid, pipe runs, and more. You will also be tasked with setting routes for convoys by placing waypoints. You really need to baby those convoys, too. A route that worked before can fail once vehicles start to wear ruts into the path. Then you have to go back out, lay down some sand and smooth it out. Put down asphalt and roll it into a paved road for extra durability. Or your convoy can fail completely inexplicably, because that happens too.  Screenshot: Roadcraft/Saber Interactive Roadcraft has two currencies: money and fuel. Though fuel isn’t used to make your vehicles run in Roadcraft , you instead use it to instantly transfer vehicles via a specialized vehicle that acts as a mobile base of operations. Money allows you to unlock new vehicles, as well as purchase permanent replacements to the starter versions of each vehicle type. Some vehicles are locked behind certain objectives or behind account level. Unfortunately, experience gain feels very slow in Roadcraft –at least as a solo player. Screenshot: Roadcraft/Saber Interactive As expected, the physics in Roadcraft  are great. The terrain simulation is the backbone of this game, and Roadcraft has managed to impress me. I was in awe every time I would watch the water realistically fill in tracks I would make driving overloaded trucks. And despite my efforts at being careful, I tipped over more times than  I want to admit.  For the most part, things work the way you expect them to. Want to load a slow vehicle onto a truck for transport? Yep, that works. And if it doesn’t work, the worst that happens is you fall over and have to respawn. This made it less risky for me to experiment, and before I knew it I was having fun. Even if that means accepting that sometimes sand just falls from the sky. The attention to detail goes beyond the game world. Each vehicle in Roadcraft  is gorgeous, including incredibly detailed cockpits. While I’m usually someone who plays vehicle games from the cockpit as much as possible, Roadcraft had me in third person most of the time. That’s mostly because I wanted the extra situational awareness, not because the cabins weren’t top notch. But if you’re a heavy machinery enthusiast (I know y’all are out there) this game has all sorts of eye candy for you. Screenshot: Roadcraft/Saber Interactive Roadcraft feels like the culmination of every Mudrunner game before it. It does have a strange relationship with fun versus realism. I think developer Saber Interactive managed to strike a decent balance. But, while I could lose myself for hours playing Roadcraft , sometimes I’d just hit a point where I’d have to put it down and wouldn’t want to come back to it that day. Roadcraft is brilliant, addictive, and completely engrossing. I can’t wait to get my friends involved.

ACen or Anime Central is happening this weekend (May 16th through the 18th) at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, and we're psyched! Sandwiched between C2E2 and Nightmare Weekend, but ACen is its own special beast. Known throughout the Midwest as a cosplay mecha, it's not unreasonable to expect more than half the attendees to show up in full cosplay. People watching is one of our favorite activities here, admiring the artistry and detail people put into their work. To go along with this, ACen is host to dozens of themed cosplay meet up groups and one of the biggest cosplay contests in the region.  If cosplay isn’t your thing, there’s still lots to enjoy though-- from anime creator panels, to autograph signings. You can enjoy some video game tournaments, take lessons in Dungeons and Dragons , or even do some arts and crafts: it’s all here for you. Did I mention the two giant dance parties that occur after hours in the hotel across the street? ACen tends to go late into the evenings with these raves as well as old style 80’s anime watch parties in the side rooms. There’s always something going on during ACen weekend, so let’s dive into some of the events you’ll have access to if you are attending ACen 2025! Friday, May 16th Opening Ceremonies start at 10AM and can help you to get sneak previews of what’s to come. Start by the front entrance to see an art piece created by Pepper Ink that will continue to be worked on throughout the weekend. At 11AM check out a spotlight on AMV creators to see what’s new in the fan space regarding some of the best anime of 2023 at the Hyatt. If you are less into that, you could take some lessons with the How To Run Tabletop RPG’s 101 class or go to the community stage for the Super KPOP Random Dance Play . There are also live demos and lessons regarding many of the popular trading card games like Lorcana , Gundam , Dragon Ball Fusion World , Magic the Gathering and Digimon . All at 11AM.  If you are looking to get active , there are formal dance lessons at noon and a virtual reality gaming zone opening at the same time . You can watch a live drawing event with famed anime creator Akio Watanabe at 1PM , and there’s an exciting panel of Hiroyasu Kobayashi and Dan Kanemitsu from Studio Khara who are currently working on Shin Godzilla , Gundam GQuuuuuuX , R ebuild of Evangelion and more at 3:30PM! Then later there’s Sparks and Spirits with Satomi Arai , who has voiced some of anime's most beloved characters. She will be doing a panel discussing her time on Loveless , Digimon Frontier , Trinity Blood , Hell Gir l, and even the video game Octopath Traveler II .  The hot ticket though for Friday is Thunderbolt Fantasy The Final Chapter Movie US Premiere presented by Studio Pili . If you haven’t checked out Thunderbolt Fantasy, it’s a full show created using traditional Taiwanese puppets. It went for a full 4 seasons with the movie being premiered on Friday at 7PM. Also don’t forget the Friday SoapBubble event which is a full on foam party with 7 DJs lined up, so dance the night away! Saturday, May 17th Saturday starts strong with Talking Games with Keith Silverstein , a voice artist providing a history of Voice Over in Video Games panel at 10AM . Then a Sailor Moon panel with famed drag queen Oriana Peron, as she takes time to roast everyone’s favorite anime at 11AM. At noon we’re checking in with The Work of Hiroyasu Kobayashi , a CGI art director who helped build the world of Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX . If you want something a little different, check the Health + Medicine in Anime to see how anime has represented our health systems in society at 3PM.   One of my personal favorite events is 4:30 Pm's Oriana Peron’s Drag Cosplay Show . Watch these queens slay in the nerdiest drag show this weekend! Then check out Stage Combat Basics with Kamen Casey at 5PM if you want to get some tips from a hollywood specialist who’s been in the likes of Black Adam and Landman . Then, the biggest cosplay contest in the midwest: The ACen Masquerade at 6PM. This year promises to be one of the best! Also at 7PM is All About Dandadan ! With the cast of Dandadan Abby Trott, AJ Beckles, Anairis Quinones, Ben Diskin, Kari Wahlgren and Kirk Thornton. If you’ve seen any of the anime you know this promises to be a wild ride.  You can close out Saturday with musical Dungeons and Dragons improv, 18 and older Oregon Trail play alongs and finally Synergy, the Saturday night dance party in the main Hyatt ballroom. I’m tellin’ you! These parties go late.  Sunday May 18th After two days of partying, maybe you want to wind down with an Influential Women in Japanese History Panel at 10AM , or take in a rousing Taiko drum performance at 11 . Keith Silverstein is hosting a panel at Noon about The Art of Being Evil , speaking on his time voicing villains in such animes like Hunter X Hunter , Bleach , Naruto , Persona 5 and My Hero Academia . There’s also a Mobile Suit Gundam 46 year retrospective panel at 2:30PM. Throughout the entire weekend there will be gaming tournaments both tabletop and video games, cosplay photo meet ups and children’s read along events every single day. There’s so much to do, so many vendors to check out and a massive artist alley. ACen really is an all around convention that appeals to families and partiers alike. Don’t believe me? Check last years coverage where I wrote about attending ACen 2024 with my mother!

Screenshot: Doom: The Dark Ages. Via Steam. Doom is an iconic franchise. Though there is little resemblance between my childhood Doom and what is being published by Bethesda, I really can’t complain. The Doom franchise popularized first person shooters to the point where the entire shooter genre was known as “ Doom clones” for years before it took on its current moniker. It’s no surprise, then, that there has been some change up to the formula over the years.  Screenshot: Doom: The Dark Ages. Via Steam. While I know Doom: Eternal has a loyal fanbase, I’m someone who much preferred Doom (2016). Doom: The Dark Ages doesn’t exactly return to the 2016 formula, but it gives back the freedom to use whatever weapon you prefer in any given situation. It also takes away the ability to double jump, instead planting the Doom Slayer firmly on the ground. To make up for his lack of mobility, he’s given a shield/chainsaw hybrid known as the Shield Saw and the ability to parry attacks.  The combat in The Dark Ages is definitely a return to form, in my opinion. The ability to choose the weapons I want in the situations I want to use them in is my preferred way to play any shooter. If I want to lean on the super shotgun and use that for most of my run, no problem. Or if I find a new pet weapon–like the Chainshot–I can experiment and find what its strengths and weaknesses are. Screenshot: Doom: The Dark Ages. Via Steam. The biggest change to the Doom formula, and perhaps this game’s ‘gimmick’ is the Shield Saw. It changes Doom from a movement based shooter to a movement based shooter with the ability to parry certain attacks. It’s great. It also benefits from an upgrade system where you can choose between four runes that change the shield’s behavior when parrying.  Because your chainsaw-imbued shield takes up the secondary fire button, that removes the secondary fire function from the game. But that is made up for by a fun upgrade system that takes weapons you already love and turns them into better versions of themselves. Screenshot: Doom: The Dark Ages. Via Steam. The Dark Ages doesn’t shy away from its medieval theme, especially when it comes to the weaponry. I think that’s why The Dark Ages keeps getting compared to games like Heretic, Hexen, and Quake . The original Doom is where the traditional first person weapon toolset originated, so to see the series take on a more fantasy approach to its weaponry is definitely a departure. All of the weapons feel fun to use–even if all of them don’t always sound as chunky or impactful as they should. I’d love to say that I used every weapon all the time, but I leaned on my four favorites and didn’t even touch the others once I got their replacement. One of the best changes to the modern Doom trilogy is how many enemies are thrown at you at once now. I really appreciate the scale of the fights in The Dark Ages . We’re far removed from fighting four or five demons at a time. Expect to encounter entire fields of demonic forces to rip and tear through. Some of these encounters gave me classic Serious Sam vibes, and that’s never a bad thing.  Screenshot: Doom: The Dark Ages. Via Steam. Maps in The Dark Ages  can feel a bit large. There are huge open arenas to accommodate the large fights you’ll find yourself in. Each level has a few secrets scattered about, some of which require a fair bit of backtracking.This is an element that ends up feeling old school in a way. But I was never a fan of collect-a-thons, and while The Dark Ages manages a few amusing puzzles, adding weapon upgrade materials to the list of collectibles makes searching these large maps mandatory if you want to unlock the full potential of your weaponry. I don’t hate the environments in The Dark Ages , but it made me miss fighting through cramped sci-fi corridors with flickering lights. While Doom (2016) seemed to thumb its nose at the proclivity for developers to add too much exposition to their action games, Eternal ignored that, pulling back the curtain a tad too far in the process. The Dark Ages has a similar love for expository cutscenes, and they’re not great. The human character models look strange, and much of the time these cutscenes feature lingering shots on serious, silent faces and the occasional grunt.  The soundtrack tries to do its part, but it's The Dark Age’s weakest component. Nowhere near the greatness that was Mick Gordon’s run at the Doom soundtrack, the backing tracks for The Dark Ages  come and go with hardly a standout. The soundtracks were such a huge part of modern Doom , The Dark Age’s substandard offering stands out–or rather doesn’t stand out.  Screenshot: Doom: The Dark Ages. Via Steam. The biggest blemish on The Dark Ages are the tedious mech and dragon sequences. While seeing the dragon spread its lazer wings the first time is cool, the gameplay does not match up. Dodging projectiles in flight is fine, I guess, but it feels like a chore more than an engaging part of gameplay. The mech sections are even worse, and I found myself wishing for a level skip. I know without these sections The Dark Ages would be hours shorter, but I think removing them would have made the whole experience better. But then Bethesda would have a harder time justifying its AAA price tag. If you would have gone back and told kid me that Doom would turn into a series where you’re flying dragons with lazer wings while battling interdimensional demons on alien worlds, I would have thought it sounded awesome. And it is. But Doom: The Dark Ages is a great eight to ten hour game trapped in a fifteen hour package. Take away the excessive mech fights and flying sequences and you have a much better game. It’s a damned if you do, damned if you don’t type situation for id Software and Bethesda.  Doom: The Dark Ages is available now on Steam .

Photo: Alex Orona Nightmare Weekend Chicago, presented by GalaxyCon, is a small scale celebration of all things horror for us here in the Midwest. A bit smaller than the C2E2’s and Fan Expos of the world, it had no shortage of star power, events and sights to see throughout its aisles.  Let’s dig into what made Nightmare Weekend at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center a must see con for horror fans.  Starting off with the big ticket items: celebrities. Of course, being a horror con, you’d expect to see classic icons such as Cassandra Peterson (Elvira), but adding in Kayvan Novak and Harvey Guillen from What We Do In The Shadows gives some real star power.  Photo: Marielle Bokor Also amongst the notable celebs was director Sean Cunningham, who appeared with Ari Levine for a Friday the 13th panel, where he teased a brand new video game and upcoming TV series, and Eli Roth alongside the cast of his slasher horror movie Thanksgiving. James Marsters of Buffy fame was also onsite, not just for a panel but for an evening concert, and you could also get autographs or spend panel time with, Matt Ryan, Chris Kattan, Barry Bostwick, Clint Howard, and Dermot Mulroney. These names are massive for what you’d expect at a con like this and it really impressed us how accessible the panels were.  Photo: Marielle Bokor Most celebrity panels were on the show floor with an open floor set up which makes for no limitation on seating capacity. That’s always a plus in my book, when some of the bigger names at other cons tend to fill up instantly, leaving fans with no way to see them without waiting in long lines for hours.  For those of you looking to spend some money, there was so much fantastic horror and fantasy themed art, jewelry and other home made goods available. Everything from candles to plushes, and even hot sauces.  These cons are rough on our wallets personally as we take time to search for some of the best they have to offer, and this con had a lot. Who doesn’t need a custom ouija board or Fallout bobblehead. There’s something here for everybody.  Another thing that stood out about Nightmare Weekend compared to other cons is that this one tends to skew towards the late night, with events occurring all the way until 2am. Cosplay Burlesque, horror comedy shows and late night dance parties were all on the docket here and they were bumpin’. There was even a cosplay wrestling event with a full cast of horror icons duking it out in a giant ring set up on the main show floor! All in all, we had a great time feeling our spookiest, and welcome the return of Nightmare Weekend next year.

Screenshot: Drop Duchy. Via Steam. An ancient video game proverb says that you shouldn’t mix too many genres together, lest you water them both down and end up producing some hodgepodge creation that ends up not being very fun. That hasn’t been true for a long time now, but sometimes it pops back up in my mind when I play a game that fails to blend genres in a satisfying way. And I couldn’t get that out of my head the entire time I was playing Drop Duchy . Drop Duchy is a puzzle game that mixes tetrimino puzzling and a bit of real time strategy. I mean, kind of. It’s not really fair to call it real time strategy, but it’s not quite a colony builder, either. On Drop Duchy ’s store page on Steam, it describes it a “rogue-lite hybrid,” which is another ingredient in this slurry: roguelite deckbuilding.  Screenshot: Drop Duchy. Via Steam. All of these things are things I like. I admit I haven’t been playing a lot of real-time strategy games and colony builders lately, but I’m a sucker for Tetris , puzzlers, and I’m always up for some roguelike deckbuilding, especially Monster Train and Slay the Spire .  Drop Duchy plays out in essentially two phase: the puzzle phase, where you place your blocks and your enemy’s blocks in a pseudo game of Tetris . Like Tetris , all of the regular tetriminoes are there, but there are a couple of extra shapes. The Tetris portion of Drop Duchy is a head scratcher to me. The challenge behind the original Tetris is the time pressure as the blocks descend. Drop Duchy has no such time pressure. This makes sense, as you would have to strategize where to put your pieces while also figuring out what those pieces do. Each completed line in Drop Duchy gives you the resources based on what was on that line: gold, wheat, or wood.  The challenge of the Tetris portion isn’t just whether you can make the pieces fit together (which is mostly simple with no time pressure) but also to make them fit where they optimally contribute. Some pieces benefit from being next to certain terrain types (wood vs plains) or in line with other units, etc. Some of these bonuses can give you extra resources, but often these bonuses go towards the amount of soldiers you will accumulate for the combat phase, if there is a combat phase. One huge complaint I have is the fact that while pieces don’t drop like in Tetris , there is a bit of a time pressure as the pieces will automatically place if you hold it in position for too long. And there isn’t an “undo” button to get rid of any misplacements.  Screenshot: Drop Duchy. Via Steam. Combat in Drop Duchy is not great. It uses a rock, paper, scissors type system where one unit type can dominate one other unit type, but is weak to the other one. Except here, the units you gather in gameplay don’t matter as much, as you can use any unit type to reinforce any other unit type.  Just like most other roguelike deck builders since Slay the Spire there is a map between encounters that allows you to choose which of two paths to take. These paths can lead to extra resources, a puzzle scenario, or a combat scenario–along with a few others. Between matches you have the ability to add to the pieces you have by choosing a card to add to your deck. In most roguelike deck builders a lot of the fun comes from the synergies you can get through clever (or lucky) deck building. Drop Duchy doesn’t have that same thrill. Screenshot: Drop Duchy. Via Steam. I hate to condemn Drop Duchy , but it’s a game I couldn’t get into at all. I tried. On paper, it sounds amazing. It has even picked up some decent reviews from players on Steam, where it’s sitting at a 89% user score. Some players seemed to love it so much I even went back in to see what I was missing, purely based on their enthusiasm. But Drop Duchy ’s mixture of mechanics and genres never fell into place for me.  Drop Duchy is available now on Steam.

With con season well under way, it’s time for some of the area’s more specific flavors of convention to shine. Something wicked this way comes this weekend with the kickoff of Nightmare Weekend Chicago in Rosemont at the Donald E. Stephens Convention center, and we’ll have all the freaky, spooky, silly fun on tap all weekend long here at Culture Combine. This is a party that doesn’t stop once it starts, with Friday and Saturday’s schedule stacked from morning til, well, morning again, since some events go straight until 2 am, to say nothing of area after parties.  If you’re the sort of person who starts the countdown to Halloween the day after, has dark decor out all year long, and who loves a great fright, get out your pencils or at least bookmark this post so you won’t miss anything creepy and crucial to your enjoyment of this horror fan fest. I mean, Elvira’s gonna be there!  Friday:  While we do highlight all the celebrity panels, a lot of what makes a convention great comes in the smaller events, where you can meet more people who love the same things you do and hang out while doing fun things.  This is why you should look out for Nightmare Weekend’s Video Game Open Plays, Magic: The Gathering games, and Dungeons and Dragons campaigns , which will be running throughout the convention and are open to everyone from beginners to experts. Kicking off the celebrity panels on Friday is horror icon Clint Howard , whose 5:30 Q&A on the Main Stage in Hall G will get things started right. And yes, his brother is director Ron Howard. If your favorite franchise is Halloween though, you may want to head to Sandy Johnson’s panel instead, which will be at 5:30 on the Fright Stage (Rm 52-53) If you’d rather debate about evil dolls , we suggest Panel Room 2’s Top Ten Evil Dolls and Puppets in Film panel beginning at 5:45 Gamers who love the horror genre might want to step into the G aming Spotlight in the Video Game Area of Hall G for a spotlight on Zombie Shooters which will begin at 6 and run through 8:15. Play your cards right and you might be able to get some zombie shooting in and then have Dana Snyder Waste an Hour of Your Time on the Fright Stage from 6:30 to 7:30 . We’re not sure what to expect, but it will probably be weird and hilarious. If Constantine is a staple film in your world, don’t miss Matt Ryan’s Q&A at 6:45 - 7:30 on the Main Stage. If you’re a little tired of panels and walking the floor , we recommend hitting up Bad Horror Movie and Color in Rm 41, 7:30 -9 pm . It’s bound to be relaxing and gives you a little time to refresh before all the late night stuff, to include… Friday’s VIP party (which you do need a VIP badge for) which kicks off at 9pm back on the Fright Stage , and the Nightmare Weekend Chicago After Dark Cosplay Contest (18+) which runs from 9:15pm - 10:15 on the Main Stage. The free-for-all party starts at 10pm with Rave to the Grave ft. DJ Awesomus Prime , but if you really want to get saucy, GalaxyCon After Dark will be presenting nerdlesque in video format at its 10:45pm show on the Main Stage (18+) only.  Saturday:  Saturday begins bright and early but it also runs straight through to 2 am, so pick your battles. You COULD play Floor is Lava with your kids in the Family Zone any time from 10 am to 8 pm , so don’t think you’ll miss all the fun if you take some time to sleep in. Another fun family move would be to head to Marty Grabstein’s Q&A at 11 am on the Fright Stage where he’ll talk Courage the Cowardly Dog. Meanwhile, Jack Dylan Grazer will take the Main Stage to talk It and probably lots of other things, including his role in the DCU, beginning at 11:30.   If you’re at all into effects, you know who Robert Kurtzman is, and you’re going to want to make sure you make it to his panel, which is also on the Main Stage and begins at noon . We’re sure he’ll have plenty of amazing things to show and tell. Gamers who want to play some favorites with a twist may want to check out Betrayal at Baldur’s Gate - a run of Betrayal with a Baldur’s Gate spin, over in Hall G from 12-1:30 pm. Local “ghosties” if we can call you that, you’re going to want to find out more about The Haunting History of Lincoln Park: Spirits of the Old City Cemetery from 12:15- 1:15 pm in Panel Roo m 1, and then plan your next trip! Trekkies and horror fans alike will have a great time sitting down with William Shatner , whose featured panel is at 12:30 - 1:15 pm on the Main Stage. Expect space talks and whatever else he feels is important to come up. The real horror royalty takes the stage at 1:30 pm though, since Cassandra Peterson, who’s also known as Elvira herself , will be in attendance and ready to tackle fan questions. She’s on the Main Stage , obvi, and is one of the panels we think you’ll want to bookmark to make sure you get to on time or early. Get some practical knowledge and find out more about SFX at the SFX Makeup Panel  in Rm 2 from 12:45 - 1:45 pm.  And, at 2:30, if you’re a Walking Dead fan, you should be shambling towards your seat in the Main Stage for the Walking Dead Q&A, which will feature Chandler Riggs, Denise Crosby, Ross Marquand, Michael Cudlitz & Greg Nicotero Meanwhile, Chicago local and Cloverfield star Michael Stahl - David will have his Q&A  on the Fright Stage in Rm 52, 53  at 4:15 -5:00 pm. Unless you’re totally terrified of clown s, Joey D’Auriam, who played Bozo the Clown, shouldn’t scare you too much, but if he’s a big part of your childhood like he was ours, you’ll want to head to his Q&A from 5:15 to 6 pm on the Fright Stage.  Friday the 13th is a big franchise for so many, and if you’re one of those many, make time to see the Friday the 13th Q&A featuring Ari Lehman and Sean Cunningham from 5:30 - 6:15 on the Main Stage.  There’s no shortage of Trekkies wandering around a horror convention, and no shortage of Trek folks who have amazing horror resumes, so if you’re one of us and want to get a little Trek in your con experience, trek over to Panel Room 2 at 5:45 to discuss Star Trek’s Scariest Shows!  Buffy fans should really check out James Marsters in Concert , a paid event that will nonetheless absolutely slay. This begins with a Sound Check at the Fright Stage at 7:30 followed by the concert at 8. If you’re super hyped for all things What We Do in the Shadows , then you’d best be headed for Fangs for the Memories: A What We Do in the Shadows Fan Panel in Panel Room 1 (Rm 48) at 8 to get all the hype for the cast appearances coming on Sunday. If you can’t get enough cosplay, head to the Nightmare Weekend Chicago Costume Competition on the Main Stage at 8:30 - 9:30 pm. This one’s not an after dark, so all ages can attend. One of our other strong recommendations is that you do the time warp again. Midnight Madness: Rocky Horror Shadow Cast ft. Barry Bostwick, showing from 10 pm to 12:15 am features Barry Bostwick himself , has a full shadow cast, and will likely be some of the most fun you’ll have at a convention.  Want more? Vampires should block off 11 - 1 am for Main Stage Nightmare Weekend After Dark's Club Vampyre But if you’re a little more low key after a long day , you should think about hitting up Panel Room 2 from 11:15- 1am for the  B Movie Screening of Swamp Ape which might not be a good movie, but it’ll certainly be a good time. Sunday:  Sundays are usually good days to bring your kiddos along at a convention , as they’re a little less crowded and there’s a little less rushing around to do. (But also, sales! Most vendors tend to have some pretty kick-ass booth specials as they’re tearing down, if you stick around that long) In the Family Zone, kick it off with Spooky Cartoons and Coloring or fort building. Hit up the Walking Dead Cosplay Meetup for some run-ins with other zombies and survivors in the Cosplay Lounge at 11 , and then wind up for the day’s first celebrity panel, which is… Butch Patrick, aka Eddie Munster, will be available for his Q&A beginning at 11 am on the Fright Stage. Usually, your kids can’t get in on the fun of a fresh tattoo, but everyone can enjoy the Temporary Tattoo Shop which’ll pop up in the Family Zone from 11:15 to 12.   Find something spooky or cool and get it on your skin before you head over to the Hocus Pocus Q&A, featuring Omri Katz and Vinessa Shaw, who will grace us with their presence at 11:30 am in Hall G on the Main Stage Wrestling fans at the horror con should check out Mick Foley and Gangrel’s appearance on the Fright Stage at 12, while the rest of you may want to head over to the Saw retrospective at 12:15 in Room 42. If you’re a Buffy fan, you know what you’ve been waiting for, and it’s Spoike…er, James Marsters. He’ll be doing the Q&A song and dance at 12:30 on the Main Stage , and we can’t wait. He’s frequently been one of our favorite panelists to appear at any con - Intelligent, musical, funny and thoughtful.  Meanwhile, if you’ve been like “Hey, why are all the ghosts haunting Chicago, and not Schaumburg?”, then find out more about your Libertyville spookies and Gurnee ghosties with the Voices from the Grave: Haunted Legends from the Chicago Suburbs in Panel Room 1, Rm 48, from 12:30 - 1:30 pm. Rocky Horror fans, don’t miss Barry Bostwick on the Fright Stage at 1pm.  Finally, if you lived through Scream times, it’s Scream times again on the Main Stage at 1:30 pm and you’ll have Dermot Mulroney and Liana Liberato to bounce questions off of. Scary little children should line up early for the Nightmare Weekend Kids Costume Contest which will kick off at 2 on the Fright Stage, and parents might want to stay put right after, as the What We Do in the Shadows Q&A with Harvey Guillen and Kayvan Novak is right after at 2:30. Ancient Aliens folks? Your ship has finally come in (again, for some of you, we’re sure) as Ancient Aliens’ star Giorgio A Tsoukalos has his Q&A moment on the Fright Stage from 3:15-  4. If you’re stuffing your schedule full of good horror things, then think about Thanksgiving as a way to round out your time at Nightmare Weekend. This Q&A -  with Alex Armbruster, Eli Roth, Gabriel Davenport, Jeff Teravainen, Joe Delfin, Karen Cliche, and Nell Verlaque will have you feeling full of thanks.  Or, kick back with some healthy debate before you go and discuss the Best Horror TV Shows -  in Panel Rm 1 from 4:45 - 5:45. Friends will be made, voices will be raised…and maybe you can get a nice dinner afterwards with your brand new con friends. Any way you slice it, this is a weekend to embrace the spook, shop for your next ritu…Halloween party or get some horror memorabilia you couldn’t find elsewhere. But also: shake the hands of the ones who scared you, and dive deeper into all things horror. That’s what these things are about. We’ll see you on site all weekend!

Our only hope as of 3 am ET 4/24. Not lookin' too good. It's no secret we here at Culture Combine are (usually) buying what Nintendo's selling. Most of us are lifelong fans of all things Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Kirby, Yoshi, Toad and, well, everything. Some of us even pre-ordered Alarmo. So it's no surprise that at this time there's at least 2/3 of our staff looking to snag a release day Switch 2. And...at least based on our research here in Chicago, we're in line with pretty much everyone else, several hours past the midnight ET pre-order window opening. Wal-Mart and Best Buy are our frontrunners but at nearly 3 AM ET, we're pretty sure the Switch 2 is going to be in another castle. We'll wait and see what develops though, as Nintendo promised we wouldn't see the scarcity we saw with the original Switch.