Job sims today encompass so many different professions, from train operator to farmer to power washer and beyond. Sometimes I enjoy those kinds of games, but I expect The Lift to be my favorite of them going forward, because it takes the job sim genre and makes it spooky and weird.

Inspired by the New Weird movement, which defines things like the SCP Foundation and Pacific Drive, The Lift casts you as a handyman who fixes benches, replaces light bulbs, and reroutes electricity in a facility that quite closely resembles the setting of Control. It's for that reason I've already coined its alternate title: The Oldest House Flipper. A playtest for the game is out today on Steam, free for all players. I got to check it out last week in a hands-on demo that showed off about three hours of the game, including its earliest moments and some later stages. What I saw was a game that pulls from many of my favorites but wraps them together in a novel way.

The facility at the heart of The Lift, called The Institute, feels like it's pulled right out of Remedy's New Weird foray, complete with a once-orderly workspace now left mysteriously abandoned and endangered. As the "Keeper" sent in to keep things tidy, you'll need to solve BioShock-like electricity puzzles, clean up mystical black gunk coating much of the place, and explore the world in a manner inspired by immersive sims. Particularly inspirational to the game's designs is one of my favorite games ever made: 2017's Prey. Finding new crafting blueprints, then dumping resources into a giant machine where it spits out new, more valuable parts, is pulled directly out of Prey--even the room that houses this multi-machine process resembles Prey's.

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The next Hollow Knight: Silksong patch is on the way, as developer Team Cherry is now focused on polishing the game up further with post-launch updates. The studio says that while the first patch was focused on dealing with critical issues--and making a few boss fights a little easier--a few bugs still remain. Additionally, Team Cherry is looking to address several issues around specific tools in the game.

There's no release date yet for the patch, but it is being tested in the public-beta branch of Silksong, and overall, you can expect tweaks and fixes across the board. For example, the Savage Beastfly in Far Fields won't be tempting fate by being too close to lava, a softlock issue that occurred with Shaman Binding has been fixed, and an issue with the break-counter not working for certain multi-hitter tools has also been resolved. Players can also visit the Silksong help site to see what the temporary solutions are for critical bugs.

Silksong has been a big hit since it launched earlier this month, and according to GamerDiscoverCo's estimates, the metroidvania has sold 6 million units so far--up from initial estimates of 5 million sales shortly after launch. The firm estimates that 3.2 million sales are on Steam alone, with sales mostly focused in the US and China. If you're looking to jump in and play the challenging game, you can check out the best Silksong PC mods to fine-tune the difficulty and out GameSpot's Hollow Knight: Silksong guides hub for several helpful features.

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Valheim will launch on PlayStation consoles in 2026, developer Iron Gate has announced, five years after it launched in early access on Steam and three years after its arrival on Xbox.

Exactly when in 2026 Valheim will arrive on Sony's consoles remains to be seen and was not announced, but in a press release, Iron Gate co-founder Henrik Törnqvist said the studio is thrilled to bring Valheim to more players.

"Bringing both new and longtime players to a new platform allows even more people to explore the world we've worked so hard to build, and we can't wait to hear their stories as they're able to dive into their Viking adventures," Törnqvist said.

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Mutations are the key to making your fortune in Grow A Garden. Each one makes plants more valuable, while pets gain the ability to convert plants or other animals into the mutated variant. Therefore, if you want to make a lot of money quickly, you’ll need these mutations or ways to manipulate the odds and get these multipliers easily.

Discovering which are the best Grow a Garden mutations is a huge reason why everyone is playing this Roblox game every day. But where do you start? We’ll go over everything you should know in advance about all the mutations available in Grow A Garden. These range from which ones you should focus on getting to start with, to why events are so valuable, and which pets give you the mutation with the highest multiplier.

Table of Contents [hide]

• The best Grow A Garden mutations

Combining mutations turns an otherwise worthless strawberry into a fruit worth hundreds of thousands of Sheckles.The best Grow A Garden mutations

The best Grow a Garden mutations are:

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You may have seen that some users in Grow A Garden give free plants to new players. Some of them are incredibly expensive, and you can sell them for millions of in-game sheckles. Most of the time, these are just generous people who want to give you a head start. However, there are a select few who have access to some behind-the-scenes functionality that most players won’t see.

As one of the best Roblox games around, numerous content creators have hopped on the bandwagon to see if they can promote their channels through otherwise seemingly altruistic endeavors. However, the secret is that certain permissions are given to them by the developers, which enable the code to work. Here are all of the Grow a Garden cheats and console commands available if you have those special permissions.

Table of Contents [hide]

• How to use Grow A Garden console commands

The command for entering codes has changed and now uses the default chat interface.How to use Grow A Garden console commands

Firstly, you need to be a Grow A Garden admin. If you aren’t one, you can still type in the cheats into the console command prompt, but you’ll get an error message that says “You don’t have permission to run this command.” The other condition is that players with access to developer commands will be running Grow A Garden on PC, so if you use a tablet or phone to play, you won’t be able to do so.

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So you or your child wants to play Roblox? That’s great, but where do you begin? In fact, where do you find it in the first place? As the app is available through multiple channels on PC and mobile devices, there’s the potential to find unofficial and potentially dangerous versions of it elsewhere. As such, you may wish to know how to download and update Roblox via the official channels.

Before starting to download files, you’ll want to double-check if Roblox is safe for you or your children to play, as there has been significant discussion about it in recent years. If you’re looking for more tips on how to use this platform, check out our Roblox Beginner’s guide for everything you need to get started and links to relevant articles about its many features. You can also find a list of the best Roblox games from a whole host of genres, from simple party games to challenging Obby platformers.

Table of Contents [hide]

• How to download Roblox on PC

After logging in, load up a game's page and click the Play button circled here to download the official Roblox client.How to download Roblox on PC

To download Roblox via the official website, log in with your username and password and attempt to open any game. You’ll automatically download the official app onto your PC. Once finished, open the install file and follow the steps as shown on screen. After this is complete, open the app and enter your login details. You should then be able to play any game from either the website or via the official app.

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Magic: The Gathering - Marvel's Spider-Man Set

Releases September 26

Preorder at Amazon

Spider-Man swings into the Magic: The Gathering universe next week in the latest crossover set. Most of the MTG Spider-Man products have been sold out since preorders opened back in March, but Amazon has restocked the Marvel's Spider-Man Play Booster Box and is offering a discount. Normally $209.70, the 30-pack Booster Box is available to preorder for $192 ahead of the Spider-Man set's September 26 release.

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Tom and Jerry: The Golden Era Anthology (Blu-ray)

$60 | Releases December 2

Preorder at Amazon

Tom and Jerry, one of the most iconic duos in cartoon history, will continue their 85th anniversary celebration on December 2 with a very exciting box set for fans of classic animated shorts. For the first time ever, a complete collection of the duo's theatrical shorts will be available on Blu-ray. Preorders for Tom and Jerry: The Golden Age Anthology are available now for $60. At the time of writing, the 16-plus hour collection of cartoon hijinks is the No. 1 best-selling Blu-ray on Amazon.

Tom and Jerry: The Golden Era Anthology (Blu-ray) $60 | Releases December 2

Part of the Warner Archive Collection, this six-disc standard Blu-ray set includes 114 shorts in total, presented in chronological order and in 1080p. These originally appeared before the main feature film presentation in cinemas from 1940 through 1958, and three of the shorts--Casanova Cat, Mouse Cleaning, and His Mouse Friday--have been completely remastered for the first time.

Additionally, the collection comes with a 28-page booklet with artwork and essays, 20 audio commentaries, over three hours of bonus features, and two brand-new featurettes--Lady of the House: The Story of Mammy Two Shoes and Animal Hijinks: The Friends and Foes of Tom. The cover also features a nod to the animated shorts, with illustrations of Tom in his Zoot suit from 1944's The Zoot Cat.

Preorder at Amazon Tom and Jerry: The Golden Era Anthology

As mentioned above, the remastered shorts Mouse Cleaning and Casanova Cat are being released on home media for the first time in the US. These are controversial Tom and Jerry episodes due to them being racially insensitive, and while they were scheduled to appear in Tom and Jerry: The Golden Collection Volume Two, that release was ultimately canceled. Older--and extremely dated--content like this has appeared in several other Warner Archive releases over the years, as the company has added disclaimers to these shorts to indicate their historical context, problematic nature, and racially insensitive jokes.

If you don't feel like waiting until December, there are several other Tom and Jerry collections you can grab right now. Tom and Jerry: The Complete Cinemascope Collection bundles all 23 of the pair's CinemaScope widescreen animated adventures together, along with three bonus cartoons. This is classic Tom and Jerry at its highest quality, as each cinematic short featured incredible animation, as well as cruel and unusualy punishment for Tom as he tried to do his job.

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Stranger Things: The Complete Scripts (Paperback)

Seasons 1-2 available now, Seasons 3-4 release December 9

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Stranger Things fans and aspiring screenwriters should check out Amazon's deals on the newly released Stranger Things script books. Published by Random House Worlds on September 1, Stranger Things: The Complete Scripts - Season 1 is on sale for $19.54 (was $30) for a limited time. Season 2's script book was published the same day and is available for $23.26 (was $30).

Script books for Season 3 and Season 4 are up for preorder ahead of their December 9 release, and we imagine Season 5 will eventually get a script book of its own--after fans finally get to watch it, of course. The fifth and final season of Netflix's hit series starts streaming November 26 with Episodes 1-4. The next three episodes will be added to Netflix on December 25, and the series finale is scheduled for December 31.

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After years of anticipation, Team Cherry only gave the video game industry and players two weeks notice that Hollow Knight: Silksong was about to arrive on September 4. While a handful of indie games were moved away from that date, Rogue Factor had already staked out the same release date for Hell is Us six months earlier. Now, Hell is Us' creative director is sharing his belief that Silksong's shadow drop negatively impacted Hell is Us' sales, and he doesn't sound happy about it.

Jonathan Jacques-Belletête acknowledged that Team Cherry had the right to pick any date it wanted to during his appearance on the Friends Per Second podcast (via This Week in Video Games). However, Jacques-Belletête feels that the decision to do so on such short notice was "a little callous."

"When you know you're that big, I think a shadow drop is a bit like--'wow,'" said Jacques-Belletête. "As the 'GTA 6 of indie' ... to shadow drop something like this is a little callous."

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SpongeBob SquarePants: Bundle Physical Edition (Switch)

$35 | Releases October 31

Preorder at Amazon

SpongeBob has gone on plenty of video game adventures, and on October 31, you can grab a physical edition of the SpongeBob SquarePants: Bundle that collects two of SpongeBob's best games--Battle for Bikini Bottom Rehydrated and The Cosmic Shake--into a single physical release. Preorders for the two-game collection are available at Amazon for just $35--that's a 50% price cut compared to the digital version of the bundle that's already available for $70 on the Switch eShop.

SpongeBob SquarePants: Bundle Physical Edition (Switch) $35 | Releases October 31

SpongeBob SquarePants: Bundle includes SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom Rehydrated and SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake on a single Switch game cartridge. The full game data for both titles is included on the cart. While it's only getting a Switch release, it's also playable on Switch 2.

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The Cosmic Shake is the better (and newer) of the two games, and it earned solid marks from critics. Our Cosmic Shake review gave it a 7/10, thanks to its classic SpongeBob humor and enjoyable platforming segments. "Despite a few hiccups and disappointing aspects of The Cosmic Shake design, at its core it achieves its goals," writes GameSpot reviewer James Carr.

The other game in the bundle, Battle for Bikini Bottom Rehydrated, earned similar reviews, giving nostalgic fans a massive version of the underwater town to roam around as SpongeBob, Patrick, and Sandy.

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The 1971 film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory reamins one of the most iconic children's movies of all time, filled with memorable scenes and setpieces that still look great on screen even all these decades later. Starting today, Lego Insiders can recreate a blocky version of the titular Chocolate Factory's chocolate rivers and gumdrop trees with the new Lego Ideas: Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory Set. The 2,025-piece set launches for $220 on September 18 exclusively at Lego's online store, but members of the free Lego Insiders program can preorder early. All other customers can grab the set on September 18. We expect this will be a popular release, so it's worth joining the Lego Insiders program and grabbing the set ahead of time.

Lego Ideas: Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory (2,025 pieces) $220 | Releases September 18

The 2,025-brick set lets you recreate a tiny slice of Willy Wonka's factory. Interactive elements include a moving chocolate waterfall and a secret door in Willy Wonka's office. The set also has nine minifgures including Willy Wonka, Charlie Bucket, Grandpa Joe, Augustus Gloop, Mike Teavee, two Oompa Loompas, Veruca Salt, and Violet Beauregarde.

Preorder at Lego Lego Ideas: Willy Wonka & The Chocolate FactoryGallery

The completed set sprawls over 20 inches wide and 10 inches deep, so make sure you have space reserved for your masterpiece. While this is designed as a Lego set for adults, kids can still have some fun with the completed set, thanks to all the minifigures--allowing them to play out their own unique scenarios.

For those who haven't joined the Lego Insider program yet, it's Lego's free rewards program. Members earn points on all purchases that they can save up and use for additional discounts and other special offers. You get other perks throughout the year, such as free and discounted bonus sets when you order online. For example, Lego Insiders can currently get a free Sega Genesis Controller set when they spend $130 or more on qualifying sets until September 17.

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Adobe Acrobat Classic + Microsoft Office Professional License Bundle

$100 (was $544)

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If you're looking to turn your PC into a dedicated home office, Adobe Acrobat Classic and Microsoft Office Pro are necessities. However, they're typically quite expensive, with the duo costing upwards of $500 for the standalone licenses, or steep recurring prices for the subscription versions. Luckily, you can pick up Adobe Acrobat and Microsoft Office Professional License for just $100 total (normally $543)--that's an 81% discount--via a limited-time bundle deal from Stack Social.

Adobe Acrobat Classic + Microsoft Office Professional License Bundle $100 (was $544)

This bundle includes a 3-year license for Adobe Acrobat Classic PDF Software (also known as Adobe Acrobat Pro 2024), which lets you create and modify PDF files, sign electronic documents, and more. It also includes Microsoft Office Pro 2021, which gets you the full suite of Microsoft Office productivity software, including MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, OneNote, Publisher, and Access.

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For reference, here's a full list of the included software:

Adobe Acrobat + MS Office Bundle

• Adobe Acrobat Pro 2024 (3-Year)
• Microsoft Office Word (Lifetime; single device)
• Microsoft Office Excel (Lifetime; single device)
• Microsoft Office PowerPoint (Lifetime; single device)
• Microsoft Office Outlook (Lifetime; single device)
• Microsoft Office Teams (Free version)
• Microsoft Office OneNote (Lifetime; single device)
• Microsoft Office Publisher (Lifetime; single device)
• Microsoft Office Access (Lifetime; single device)

There are a few caveats to this deal. For one, the Microsoft Office Pro 2021 license is a one-time purchase that can only be used on one PC. It's tied to your actual device--not your Microsoft account--so if you decide to upgrade your laptop or PC, you'll need a new license. As for Acrobat Classic, it's only a three-year license available to US customers, and premium features aren't available through web browsers or mobile devices.

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Destiny: The Taken King is celebrating its 10-year anniversary today, September 15, 2025. Below, we look back at how it came to represent the years of Destiny, and live-service games more broadly, that would follow.

Ten years ago, Bungie performed a miracle. It also, unfortunately, invoked a curse.

In 2014, the studio renowned for the Halo franchise launched Destiny, which promised to blend its penchant for dynamic single-player campaigns and kinetic multiplayer gameplay with the framework and community-oriented features of MMOs. And while the game was released to an excited and impressionable audience, it floundered. Its opening salvo felt limp and incomplete--a sentiment that later reporting would confirm--but it maintained a playerbase through a spate of smaller middling DLC releases leading up to The Taken King, Destiny's first major expansion and saving grace.

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Madden NFL 26 + Steelbook Case (PS5, Xbox)

$50 (was $70) | Only at Walmart

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Madden NFL 26 for Switch 2, PS5, Xbox

$50 (was $70)

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Madden NFL 26 is already on sale for a substantial discount at multiple major retailers. The latest professional football sim from EA Sports launched August 14 on PS5, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC for $70. Console players can get the physical edition for any platform for $50 right now at Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy. PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X owners will get a free steelbook case with the deal at Walmart. You can also get a $20 discount and a free steelbook with College Football 26 at Walmart.

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Between now and the launch of Battlefield 6 next month, Battlefield Studios and its developers will be working to refine the game based on what was learned during the recent beta test. Players have already shared their responses to the beta with some bitingly funny memes, including some about the game's sniper flare. The Battlefield 6 team has seen those pics, and they think they're hilarious.

Posts from the battlefield
community on Reddit

Battlefield 6 technical director Christian Buhl and senior console combat designer Matthew Nickerson recently spoke with IGN about the upcoming release. When asked about the memes, Buhl admitted to laughing at them while also taking their points to heart.

"I saw those ... I thought it was hilarious," said Buhl. "Obviously, we needed to fix some things and tune some things, so it was funny to see players react in a humorous way to those things, but also great to get that feedback and say, 'We need to tune down snipers or we need to change the glints so it's not like…' you know? I saw those memes with the hillside just full of these giant glares."

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Super Mario Bros. Wonder is getting a Switch 2 Edition, and now fans think Nintendo may have accidentally revealed Rosalina will become new playable character.

The trailer for the Switch 2 version of Super Mario Bros. Wonder that premiered during the most recent Nintendo Direct focused on the addition of Bellabel Park, a collection of multiplayer minigames exclusive to the Switch 2 version where players can either team up or compete against each other. One eagle-eyed fan, DynamoSuperX on X (via IGN), spotted a vs minigame icon at around the 2:00 minute mark in the trailer that clearly shows an image of Yoshi next to Rosalina, seemingly confirming her inclusion in the upcoming rerelease of the platformer.

Rosalina isn't in the original version of the game. However, Nintendo did state during the trailer that there would be additional new content coming to the Switch 2 Edition of Super Mario Bros. Wonder, but that it would share more details at a later date. It certainly seems like Rosalina might be one of the surprises Nintendo was looking to keep under wraps until closer to the game's release.

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The new Pope, Pope Leo XIV, has spoken out about the income gap between workers and the wealthiest, specifically citing controversial businessman Elon Musk and his recently announced nearly $1 trillion pay-package. Speaking to Crux Now, Pope Leo said a "very significant" issue today is the "continuously wider gap between the income levels of the working class and the money that the wealthiest receive."

"For example, CEOs that 60 years ago might have been making four to six times more than what the workers are receiving, the last figure I saw, it's 600 times more than what average workers are receiving," he said.

Pope Leo went on to cite Tesla's recent announcement that it would pay Musk up to about $1 trillion, making him the first (publicly known) trillionaire in the world. "What does that mean and what's that about? If that is the only thing that has value anymore, then we're in big trouble," Pope Leo said.

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There have been some off-the-wall year collaborations in the past year, including the Beavis and Butt-Head skins in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. However, developer Team Jade may have the wildest one of the year with the upcoming Delta Force x Saw crossover. In the teaser video, Saw's Jigsaw killer seemingly enters the world of this free-to-play first-person tactical shooter with a life or death ultimatum.

In the Saw films, the original Jigsaw killer, John Kramer, has been dead for almost two decades. And neither he nor his successors wore life-sized costumes based on Billy the Puppet. But the man behind Billy's mask in this clip certainly knows Kramer's modus operandi and his favorite catchphrases. It's only at the end of the video that he reveals himself as operator D-Wolf. This isn't the first time that Saw has crossed over into games, as Billy appeared in Fortnite and Call of Duty.

D-Wolf's Billy the Puppet skin will make its in-game debut on October 23--just in time for Halloween--alongside firearms and other items inspired by the Saw films. In the meantime, a new Delta Force season, War Ablaze, will begin on September 23. On that date, the game will introduce two new modes, Operation Warden and Operation Raven, as well as a new Warfare map called Fault. Additionally, a new operator, Raptor, will be added to the game's roster.

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New data from Sony's 2025 corporate report reveals that digital software and add-on content made up 49% of PlayStation's revenue in 2024. The numbers emphasize the importance of live-service games and digital storefront to the modern video gaming market, though Sony reaffirms its commitment to "advancing position as creative leaders in single-player experience." Additionally, hardware made up 24% of overall income and network services is at 14%.

The report lists physical software revenue at 3% of overall income. However, that does not represent the true proportion of physical PlayStation games sold in 2024. As analyst Daniel Ahmad pointed out on X, Sony listed 3% because it only fully counts first-party game revenue, counting only royalties from third-party games. Ahmad elaborated that physical games made up 24% of overall PlayStation game sales, adding up to 73 million physical games sold.

The % breakdown can be slightly misleading here, even if the overall picture is generally accurate.
For example, physical at 3% is because Sony only recognizes full revenue from first party games, while it recognizes a lower royalty value from third party games.
This is… https://t.co/z550hRtVRj

— Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) September 15, 2025

According to the report, people are spending more and playing games more on the PlayStation platform as compared to recent years. In 2024, PlayStation players spent a total of 51 billion hours playing, a 14% increase from 2022. Life-to-date spend, a number which represents the average amount of money spent per active console over the first five years of its cycle, sits at $846. Compare that to the PS4's average of $669.

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