A bold new kind of multiplayer experience is taking shape. Kiln, the online pottery party brawler from Double Fine Productions, blends hands-on creativity with fast-paced competitive chaos and destruction, delivering a game where experimentation, collaboration, and expression are at the core of every match.

Available across console, PC, and cloud with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, Kiln is set to bring a fresh energy to how players connect, create, and compete.

Creativity and combat collide in a truly original gameplay system.

At the heart of Kiln is its defining mechanic: creation. Players sculpt their own pottery fighters before entering battle, and every shape directly impacts how the character performs, influencing abilities, movement, and playstyle.

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Shrek, Donkey, and Puss in Boots (1,403 pieces)

$130 | Releases June 1

Preorder at Lego Store

Lego Shrek BrickHeadz: Shrek, Donkey, and Gingy (259 pieces)

$25 | Releases June 1

Preorder at Lego Store

Somebody once told us, the Lego world is going to troll us with a disturbing Shrek set. That prophecy has come true, as Lego has unveiled its new Shrek kit, capturing the Ogre and his pals in all their brick-built nightmare fuel glory. Available now to preorder ahead of its release on June 1, you can pick up this trio for $130, as well as a selection of Shrek BrickHeadz figures for $25.

Shrek, Donkey, and Puss in Boots (1,403 pieces)

$130 | Releases June 1

Gallery See at Lego Store

While Shrek looks marginally terrifying with his strangely shaped head, it's Donkey who steals the show. The fast-talking mule has been appropriately recreated in Lego, his face locked in an eternal rictus gaze that reminds you how the character doesn't have an off-switch. Puss in Boots is the cutest of the bunch, taking the form of a Lego minifigure that comes equipped with a stylish hat, sword, and rapier. The rest of the set includes a few nods to Shrek's swamp, including a keep out sign and a tile with a bog fly on it.

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The Epic Games Store continues to give away a free game each week, and this week's offering is another nice find at a price that can't be beat. Every Thursday at 8 AM PT / 11 AM ET, Epic offers at least one free PC game (and sometimes even as many as two or three). All you need to do to claim the free games is create a free Epic account and enable two-factor authentication. You have a week to add the freebies to your library before the new one(s) take their place. At this point, Epic has given away hundreds of free games, and there's no sign that the program will stop any time soon. The company has also extended its freebies to Android devices, and you can claim a free game every week here as well. We keep this article up to date weekly to highlight both the current free games and next week's offerings.

If you're looking for more freebies, you can check out our list of the 25 best free PC games to play right now, or for more options, the 25 best free games to play on multiple platforms.

Current free games at Epic

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Peter Molyneux--creator of Fable and various popular "god" games like Black & White--has released what he says is his final game, the "culmination of [his] life's work," and proof that he's done over-promising and under-delivering: Masters of Albion, a "god game" that launched in early access yesterday. But rather than feeling like an omnipotent god, players say the game makes them feel like they're trapped in a medieval version of Cooking Mama.

"The main gameplay loop seems to center more or less around a Cooking Mama style mini-game," one player wrote on Steam, where the game's user reviews are currently "mixed."

Masters of Albion's Steam page describes it as "A bold reimagining of the god game genre from the creator who defined it," and explains that players can "shape a living world as a god--or step into it and experience it through [its] people." The game includes building, town defense, and other typical life-sim-meets-strategy-game genre staples. But it also includes a whole lot of painstaking Cooking Mama-esque sandwich-making, apparently.

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A new firmware update has begun rolling out for PS5 consoles, and the big surprise is that it doesn't add more system stability. Version 26.03-13.20.00 brings more of your mom's favorite WhatsApp language to the console, as you can now use an expanded selection of emojis as message reactions. On top of that, Sony says it also added improvements to messages on "some" screens.

PS5 Version 26.03-13.20.00 Update Notes

• We've added more emojis that you can use for message reactions
• We've improved the messages and usability on some screens

And that's it--no system stability notes or any other significant updates, just more emojis and better messages. Previous firmware updates introduced more substantial upgrades to PS5 consoles, like an enhanced version of PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution for the PS5 Pro, a new Showcase Mode, and improved system software performance.

Back in January, the Version 26.01-12.60.00 update also introduced the usual round of stability enhancements alongside a few extra improvements to friend widgets, general usability, and messages.

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Microsoft might be dropping new Call of Duty games from Xbox Game Pass, but that reportedly won't stop older entries in the FPS franchise from arriving on the service sooner than later. According to PC Gamer, Activision is looking at bringing legacy Call of Duty games to subscribers sometime this year.

There are tons of options, considering there are only six Call of Duty titles on Game Pass currently. The oldest is 2017's Call of Duty: WWII, while weirdly, 2020's Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War isn't included. In fact, it was only last week that 2019's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare joined the subscription catalog. That leaves a huge chunk of the series to pick and choose from, such as: 2007's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Call of Duty: Black Ops, or even going back to the beginning with the original Call of Duty from 2003.

Microsoft has owned Activision Blizzard for years at this point, so it's a bit odd so many Call of Duty games are MIA on Game Pass. On the flip side, removing new, day-one entries in the franchise isn't too surprising considering it's been speculated that doing so lost the Xbox company hundreds of millions of dollars. Additionally, Black Ops 7 landed with a thud last year when stacked up against past Call of Duty games.

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Orbitals, an endeavor several years in the making for developer Shapefarm and publisher Kepler Interactive, bills itself as an anime you can play. Set 15 years after a storm shut off their settlement from the world, the co-op only adventure follows Maki and Omura--who have been best friends since childhood--as they set off into space on a journey to save their people.

When game director Jakob Lundgren first joined forces with creative director Marcos Ramos on Orbitals, their team consisted of just six people. Now, that number has grown to about 50, and the game looks much different from how it originally began.

"It was top-down, and it had these little robots running around doing menial tasks around the ship," Ramos explains. "Then, at some point, I said, 'This is cool, but what if anime?' And that little robot became Maki." Everyone on the team connected with her right away, which showed they were heading in the right direction.

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This title is a role-playing game originally included in "Disc Station Spring Issue," released by Compile in 1989. Players take on the role of Lander, a young knight of Gameland, and set off on an adventure to save the Kingdom of Mamorus from the clutches of the demon Nestyurba. The game features an intuitive system where players traverse 2D maps and engage in battles via random encounters. Your adventure will unfold across three towns, three caves, and a castle.

'83 is a Cold-War-Gone-Hot, combined arms, first-person military shooter for high player counts (80+) currently in development at Antimatter Games. The game pits two large platoons of players against each other in massive maps, fighting over a number of objectives that have a tangible impact on the battle as a whole when held by the victorious faction. Players will have access to a selection of real-world infantry weapons and equipment, as well as a selection of powerful land and air vehicles which can decisively turn the tide of a battle. Defend your future.

When genocidal Reptilians invade from out of time, only the greatest heroes in history can stop them! Assemble a team of humanity's best from Cleopatra to Einstein and stop the Reptilian Rising in this totally tubular turn-based strategy, time-traveling battle for humanity's survival (no pressure). If you can turn the tide without causing a temporal paradox, you can replay missions to tackle bonus objectives, hop between time periods to uncover secrets, and more. Once you've sent The Ouroboros back to chewing on their own tails, challenge your fellow commanders in online PvP.

ACE Strategy: Mecha Nova is a mecha Card Game where you can pilot various mechas, build your strategies and decks, and engage in battles with pilots across the universe. Each mecha is designed with an exclusive form and thematic style. Believe in your mecha, and your mecha will respond to you. Make use of your cards and mecha abilities, build your strategy, and fight for your victory!