The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship Board Game

$80

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A new Lord of the Rings board game is available now at Amazon. Revealed earlier this year, The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship certainly isn't the first game based on J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy novel, but it is the only one that uses one of the best modern board games as its foundation. Fate of the Fellowship is based on Pandemic, the wildly popular cooperative strategy game that debuted in 2008. Pandemic creator Matt Leacock spent three years designing The Lord of the Rings version. Fate of the Fellowship is up for grabs for $80 at Amazon.

The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship Board Game $80

As the name suggests, Fate of the Fellowship is based on the plot of Tolkien's novel. Each round takes anywhere from 60 to 150 minutes, but no need to worry about getting multiple people to play a board game with you for two-plus hours:

Designed by Pandemic creator Matt Leacock, Fate of the Fellowship emphasizes that Fate of the Fellowship is fully playable solo--it's explicitly called out on the back of the box.

The Fellowship's job is to protect Frodo on his quest to Mount Doom to destroy the One Ring. Each player picks two characters to control from a pool of 13. You'll have to contend with Shadow Troops and the spectral beings known as Nazgul--represented as miniature figures--while being mindful of the searching Eye. Just like in the books and movies, Sauron's Eye is perched atop Barad-dur. The constructible tower is 11 inches tall and serves as a thematically appropriate dice roller.

Designed as a replayable experience that introduces a few wrinkles to the Pandemic System loop, Fate of the Fellowship has 24 core objectives and 14 unique event cards. Each playable character has distinct abilities, too. Here's a list of everything included in the box:

• 1 Game Board
• 1 Barad-dur Dice Tower
• 13 Character Figures
• 9 Nazgul Miniatures
• 48 Shadow Troops
• 35 Friendly Troops
• 48 Region Cards
• 14 Event Cards
• 12 Skies Darken Cards
• 24 Objective Cards
• 10 Reference Cards
• 13 Character Cards
• 50 Shadow Cards
• 3 Battle Dice
• 7 Search Dice
• 6 Haven Tokens
• 6 Stronghold Tokens
• 1 Eye of Sauron Token
• 1 Solo Token
• 1 Hope Marker
• 36 Symbol Tokens
• 1 Threat Rate Marker

Interestingly, Leacock has said his initial ideas for Pandemic were inspired by playing the The Lord of the Rings board game released in 2000 by prolific game designer Reiner Knizia.

See at Amazon The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship (Z-Man Games, Middle-earth Enterprises)Gallery

Z-Man Games has collaborated with multiple other big media franchises on Pandemic System games, including World of Warcraft and Star Wars. There's also a popular variant based on H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos. Fate of the Fellowship is pricier than those games, but it's also the most elaborate from a design perspective. The other Pandemic System titles more closely resemble Pandemic's $50 base game, all the way down to box size.

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Roblox has become a hub for crossovers and a growing metaverse of IP, and its next collaboration will see one of the most popular anime series of all time, My Hero Academia, land on its shores starting September 6. My Hero Academia: Ultimate launches that day and is billed as a PvP-focused MMORPG that will allow players to go on quests to unlock new abilities, level up their characters to get stronger, and use their powerful "Quirks" to climb up the in-game leaderboards.

Set in the world of My Hero Academia, the main goal is to become a Pro Hero while attending the superhero academy known as UA. The game looks fairly accurate to the My Hero Academia manga and anime source material, and the trailer briefly showed off characters like Izuku "Deku" Midoriya, Katsuki "Dynamight" Bakugo, Ochaco "Uravity" Uraraka, and the strongest hero of his generation, All Might.

According to anime streaming platform Crunchyroll, players can expect to battle in the PvP arena of UA Stadium, socialize in the All Might lobby, and visit other locations like the Musutafu Suburbs, Takoba Municipal Beach Park, and more. Exploration will allow you to unlock abilities and level up your characters when you take on various enemies. This tie-in comes just in time for the final season of the anime series, which kicks off on October 4, 2025, on Crunchyroll.

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One of the most-anticipated upcoming features for the soccer game Rematch, cross-play support, has been delayed. Developer Sloclap announced today that the update has been pushed to an unspecified point in the future after the team discovered an issue. The patch was set to be released this week, so the last-minute delay is frustrating some fans.

In a statement, Sloclap said its "final tests" found a "major matchmaking issue" related to cross-play, and that's why it's delaying the update.

"Since cross-play is the heart of Patch 3, we've decided to delay the release while we fix it. We know this is disappointing and we're truly sorry for the repeated delays. Thank you for your patience and support. We'll share a new update as soon as we have more news," the developer said.

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You'll come across a variety of NPCs throughout Hollow Knight: Silksong, and some of them will make requests--known as Wishes--that you can complete to earn rewards. The one you're likely to complete first is given to you by the Druid of Mosshome, who you'll encounter in--you guessed it--the Mosshome region. This Wish is called Berry Picking, and it tasks you with finding three Mossberries and returning them to this NPC. Here's what you need to know.

How to complete the Berry Picking Wish in Hollow Knight: Silksong - all Mossberries and locations

To start the Berry Picking Wish, you can find the Druid of Mosshome in the upper regions of Mosshome. He's inside a small cave right past a bench.

Druid of Mosshome location

After you've accepted the Berry Picking Wish quest, you can begin your search for the three Mossberries. You may have already discovered at least one or two of them during your journey through Moss Grotto, but one of these glowing green berries is fairly well hidden in Mosshome. Here's where to get all three.

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As a game that's constantly evolving, Helldivers 2 is no stranger to hotfixes and patches. In fact, a new update has just gone live, and it is designed to quickly address several issues that have cropped up in the game since the start of the Into the Unjust event in the game. This new patch focuses primarily on game-breaking issues causing hard crashes, as well as buffs to the new gear introduced in the Dust Devils warbond.

For general fixes, players can expect several problems to be addressed. Developer Arrowhead says that the crashes related to there being too many particle effects, Automaton missions, and a bug with a seeking missile have been resolved with this patch. Other tweaks include the extraction shuttle landing more safely for players, hive world tunnels should no longer be darker than intended if you're using lower graphics settings, and the excessive light emitted by the Hellpad has also been toned down.

When it comes to weapons and stratagems, there have also been a few issues here. The LIFT-182 Warp Pack tended to make players get stuck midair, and there were also instances of the game crashing when a player aborted a mission while wielding a turret or driving a vehicle. These should all be fixed here, and it should also be safe to equip the Halo ODST MA5C assault rifle when you're on the bridge of your flagship.

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Players can finally get their hands on the long-awaited Hollow Knight: Silksong, and with its launch also comes the release of the game's soundtrack.

Composer Christopher Larkin shared the link to the soundtrack, which is available to purchase on Bandcamp for $11.99. The Silksong soundtrack is also for sale on Steam at the same price, but users can buy both the game (normally $20) and the soundtrack at a discounted $25.58.

The Silksong soundtrack contains 53 tracks, compared to the original Hollow Knight soundtrack, which included 26 tracks. Another music release titled "Hollow Knight: Gods & Nightmares" had 15 tracks from the original game's DLC. That's all to say that Silksong has a larger soundtrack than both the original game and its DLC combined.

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Amazon has revealed the PC games that'll be coming to Prime Gaming in September, and this month, you can grab one of the best strategy games ever made, a story-driven dungeon-crawler, and a cute puzzle-platformer.

This is a small month overall, but if there's one game that can easily consume dozens of hours, it's Into the Breach. Best described as Pacific Rim meets chess--and also one of the rare games to get a 10/10 score on GameSpot--the turn-based tactics adventure sees you command several mechs in battle against massive monsters. You'll have to carefully measure every action you take as you aim to prevent the extinction of humanity, while also being forced to make hard choices along the way. There's a time-travel element as well, so if things get too tough, you can always rewind time and start from the beginning in a new timeline.

For a grander tactical experience, Sid Meier's Civilization 4 will scratch your itch for 4X strategy as you take your chosen nation from rags to riches, Afterimage is a hand-drawn 2D action adventure that emphasizes fast-paced combat, and Residual will see you explore a procedurally generated alien world.

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Hansel and Gretel by Stephen King and Maurice Sendak

$21.53 (was $27) | Available Now

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If you're looking for new bedtime stories to read to your kids, you may want to check out Stephen King's latest book. Yes, normally that would be a pretty terrible recommendation, but the horror novelist's new book is for children--and anyone who loves classic fairy tales. On Tuesday, HarperCollins published reimagined version of the classic Brothers Grimm fairy tale Hansel and Gretel. It's available in hardcover for $21.53 (was $27) at Walmart and Amazon. Alternatively, you can have Stephen King read this bedtime story, as he narrated the audiobook edition.

Previously unpublished illustrations by the late Maurice Sendak accompany King's words. Sendak, who died in 2012, wrote and illustrated many bestselling children's books throughout his lengthy career. He's best known for creating Where the Wild Things Are, which is widely considered one of the best picture books of all time. The new version of Hansel and Gretel was created in partnership with The Maurice Sendak Foundation.

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Netflix's animated Tomb Raider TV series, The Legend of Lara Croft, is coming to an end. That's according to a report from Variety, which said the show's upcoming second season will be its last.

The show premiered in October 2024, scoring a Season 2 renewal shortly thereafter. Season 2 premieres on December 11.

Hayley Atwell (Mission: Impossible, Agent Carter) voices Lara Croft in the show, which also features Karen Fukuhara (The Boys) as the voice of Croft's friend, Sam. Like the game series, The Legend of Lara Croft follows Croft on a globe-trotting adventure where she seeks out mysteries relics.

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There might not be a new EA Sports college basketball game after all. A new report states that the company is notifying universities and conferences that it won't be moving forward with plans for the sports title, as apparently some schools have accepted offers for a 2K Sports College Hoops proposal.

Extra Points reports that EA Sports vice president of commercial partnerships and licensing Sean O'Brien has sent out a letter stating that the company "is disappointed that we all couldn't find an acceptable path forward." In June, EA announced the return of NCAA Basketball, 16 years after the previous entry in the series. O'Brien noted 2K Sports as a reason why the revival isn't happening.

"Given there are some schools choosing to accept the 2K Sports proposal for inclusion in NBA 2K, the offer to be included in a college basketball video game will unfortunately have to be rescinded," O'Brien wrote. The Athletic reported that EA's offer required exclusive rights and was recommended by the Collegiate Licensing Company because it encompassed 730 teams (for men and women).

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Hollow Knight: Silksong is finally out, and with the entire internet talking about Team Cherry's long-in-development metroidvania, you might be feeling some FOMO about it. The good news is that the game is relatively cheap to purchase, and if you're looking to save a few extra bucks, you can score a discount on the Steam version and some free games if you happen to be a Humble Choice subscriber. Right now, you can get the game at a 15% discount, dropping the price of Silksong from $20 to $17. Humble has temporarily sold out of keys at the moment, but a restock is on the way.

Sign up for Humble Choice

This deal is one of the perks that Humble Choice subscribers get with their monthly membership, which costs $15 a month. Alongside new PC games that are refreshed every month, you also get access to the Humble Vault--an additional rotating library of games. The best thing about the membership is that the PC games you claim are yours to keep forever, even if you decide to cancel your membership. This month is also pretty good, as you can pick up WWE 2K25, Destiny 2: Legacy Collection, The Plucky Squire, Return to Monkey Island, and more.

If you bought Silksong and didn't get your Steam key before it sold out, Humble is offering DRM-free keys as an alternative. Speaking of DRM-free keys, you can get Silksong at its regular price of $20 through GOG. The benefit here is that you're getting a DRM-free version of the game, which means the license for it will never be revoked and it can play without needing to start through a launcher. You can also easily load it onto a mobile gaming PC like an Asus ROG Ally and keep on playing, even when you're in an internet dead zone.

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Ahead of its launch in October, Square Enix has revealed more details on Dragon Quest 1+2 HD-2D Remake, focusing on how combat has been enhanced and new items that players can take advantage of. Just like the original JRPGs, players will once again encounter monsters as they explore an overworld and several dungeons, with combat revolving around turn-based battles.

All the staples of the classic Dragon Quest gameplay are here--like spells and skills--but if you're having a tough time, the game will suggest the optimal actions you can take to exploit the weaknesses of monsters. This is an optional setting found in the game menu, and once enabled, it will show text above the enemy that indicates which of your moves will be effective against it.

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Hollow Knight: Silksong is finally available, and it's putting up huge numbers on Steam. The game blasted off today with 5,000 concurrent players in the first five minutes, growing to 50,000 within 30 minutes and 100,000 after the first 45 minutes of availability. It's now exceeded 478,000 concurrent players.

Silksong is currently the No. 3 most-played game on Steam right now. The game is putting up these massive figures despite numerous and serious issues on Steam that are preventing people from accessing the store, let alone buying and playing the game.

The 2017 original Hollow Knight, meanwhile, capped out at a peak concurrent-player record of 72,916--a record that was, in fact, achieved just recently on September 3. The game's player numbers no doubt spiked due to interest in the sequel.

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Hollow Knight: Silksong is finally here. After what feels like an eternity, Team Cherry's follow-up to the hugely successful 2017 original has been released, and with it comes a Twitch Drops campaign for a global badge.

Unlike emotes, Twitch badges can be customized to appear next to your username when talking in streamers' Twitch chats. The last Twitch badge to be made available in direct conjunction with a game's release was Elden Ring Nightreign's Wylder, which was unlocked by clipping moments from streamers playing the game.

This time around, you can earn the Hollow Knight: Silksong Hornet badge, which depicts the sequel's protagonist, by subscribing to a participating channel. The campaign is live now and will run until September 13. After that time, it won't be possible to earn the badge via any other method, so if you're a fan of the series and want a fun way to show it on Twitch, you've only got a short while.

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Hitman developer IO Interactive is a master at level design, and for 007: First Light, the studio says the game will feature some of its "largest" levels to date. This week's dedicated State of Play showed off some of that interactive level design, as viewers watched IO's Bond work his way through a Slovakian hotel that was reminiscent of Hitman's 2016 Parisian fashion show level with its multiple opportunities for espionage and infiltration.

"When you arrive, we dive into much more familiar territory from an IO perspective and from an audience perspective, where we have this chateau laid out before you, which then has in it everything from social gameplay up to the larger areas where you are free to roam around and utilize the width of the gameplay that we have to offer," franchise art director Rasmus Poulsen said to GamesRadar about the Chateu mission. "I would say some of the missions in the game are the largest we've done in our history in terms of measurements."

If that statement is true, then Bond fans can likely look forward to environments that they can explore for hours, given IO's talent for creating intricate levels. The Hitman: World of Assassination trilogy had no shortage of stages to explore, with some of its largest being the superb Sapienza level, a massive section of an opulent Dubai skyscraper, and the Club 27 warehouse in Berlin. The State of Play showed just how players can adopt a 007 mindset during each mission, as Bond can use his gadgets, fists, and wits to access new areas.

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Preorders for PlayStation's Ghost of Yotei Limited Edition PS5 Collection are available now. The lineup includes a pair of PS5 Slim bundles with black or gold designs inspired by traditional Japanese art forms. Both models retail for $600 and are bundled with a Ghost of Yotei-themed DualSense Controller and a voucher for the standard edition of the game. Both DualSense Controllers are also sold separately for $85 each, and the gold Console Cover is available for PS5 Slim and PS5 Pro for $65. The Ghost of Yotei Limited Edition PS5 Collection releases October 2 alongside the highly anticipated PS5 exclusive.

See full collection at PS Direct

The black version of the console bundle and the controller are exclusive to PlayStation Direct. The gold bundle and controller are up for preorder at PlayStation Direct and select major retailers. Like all official PS5 Console Covers, you can only buy the Ghost of Yotei Gold Console Covers directly from PlayStation. All purchases at PlayStation Direct include free shipping and returns; in our experience, preorders often arrive on release day or shortly after.

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The Coalition recently released a new gnasher-based update for Gears of War: Reloaded. Though the iconic weapon had already received a bit of tuning (thanks to feedback from the beta), the Gears community still felt that there was room for improvement. This is especially true when it came to how much damage the gnasher inflicted on unsuspecting players--dying by this shotgun-like weapon outside of its immediate range of fire always felt a little unfair.

One of the gnasher's main issues has always been its (seemingly) inconsistent damage. A lot of the attributing factors beyond player skill--like server issues, proper bullet spread during hip firing, etc.--have already been addressed. This latest patch, however, seeks to adjust some finer points to bring the gnasher more inline with expectations. For instance, its mid-range damage has been reduced by 15%. The bullet spread when aiming down sights has also been adjusted; while it’s still tighter than the beta version, the spread isn’t as tight as it was at launch.

Thankfully, The Coalition didn't stop at fine tuning the gnasher. This latest patch fixed several game crashing/stability-based bugs and added new visual options like VRR support on Xbox Series X|S in campaign mode. One outstanding issue, which has contributed to "mixed" user reviews on Steam, is the lack of local split-screen co-op support on PC. It's unknown if that will be added in the future.

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At long last, Hollow Knight: Silksong is releasing today, September 4, but the rollout hasn't gone entirely smoothly right out of the gate. People are reporting issues on Steam, with players saying they cannot launch the game or even add it to their cart. Issues have also been reported on the eShop, PSN, and Xbox, including Game Pass. Despite those issues, the game has blasted off to more than 100,000 concurrent players in the first 45 minutes availability on Steam alone.

For context, that's more concurrent players than the original Hollow Knight's all-time record of around 72,000.

The game's store page on Steam even totally vanished from the Steam home page. Players also reported that they cannot access the Steam store at all--this can happen sometimes at the launch of a new Steam sale. However, there aren't too many instances we can recall of this happening for a game launch.

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Nintendo once shut down a Super Smash Bros. Melee tournament with a cease and desist order. Now, a Super Smash Bros. Melee modder is turning the tables on Nintendo by turning its cease & desist letter into a playable character.

I put my Cease & Desist Letter from Nintendo into Melee!
See how much court fines you can stack up against your opponents with this new skin over [COPYRIGHTED CHARACTER]!
Get it at your nearest courthouse, linked below!
Lawsuit compatible. pic.twitter.com/QHXyo516z2

— Moosh (@Mooshies_) August 31, 2025

Cease & Desist was created by a modder who goes by Mooshies, and the skin replaces Kirby's usual appearance. Mooshies apparently has a very fun sense of humor, because a closer look at Cease & Desist reveals lines that would never appear in an actual legal document from Nintendo: "Low key that mod do be sick though," and "Your mod too tough. Your Game & Watch too different."

Mooshies was also behind the recent Jimbo the clown from Balatro mod, which put that character's skin over Mr. Game & Watch. That mod was initially paywalled behind Mooshies' Patreon account, before it was subsequently released for free. It's unclear if Mooshies actually received any legal notification from Nintendo before releasing the new Cease & Desist mod. Mooshies jokes that the Cease & Desist skin is available for "10 morbillion dollars"--a direct yet humorous retaliation to the backlash the modder faced for locking the Jimbo the Clown from Balatro skin behind a paywall. He has since clarified that "all mods will be free" but Patreon backers will receive early access to them.

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The latest No Man's Sky update, entitled Voyagers, added one of the best-liked features in the nine years since the game's release as well as its highest player count since launch: custom Corvette ships. No Man's Sky has been all about extreme customization since first adding base building, and the Voyagers update is no different. Players are already building absolutely off-the-wall corvettes, and each one is better than the last.

For starters, there's a billboard-sized pixelated portrait of Hello Games' co-founder and No Man's Sky lead Sean Murray.

Squint your eyes to see our lord and saviour Sean Murray @NoMansSky @hellogames #NoMansSky pic.twitter.com/h4LGl27cUx

— professor cynical (@professorcynic1) September 2, 2025

Another user wants to taunt the Sentinels of No Man's Sky by making a giant sized Sentinel Walker.

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