The latest game from Seattle-based developer Harebrained Schemes, and its first since its return to independence in 2023, is a dark sci-fi/horror adventure where the player must constantly change and enhance their body in order to survive.

In GRAFT, players take the role of Tiger, a man with jumbled memories who’s trapped aboard the Arc, a massive, decaying space station. The Arc’s other inhabitants include failed experiments, crazed mutants, bands of human survivors that could be either allies or enemies, and a hostile AI.

To survive, Tiger must salvage new parts from his enemies and graft them into his own body, which gives him new weapons, abilities, and upgrades. However, each new body part comes with its own secondhand memories, which quickly impacts Tiger’s sense of identity.

That leads naturally to a cyberpunk-infused Ship of Theseus situation: how much of yourself can you replace before you’re no longer you?

Harebrained CEO Mike McCain describes GRAFT as a survival horror game, in the spirit of mainstream releases like Resident Evil and Dead Space. In order to succeed, players must ration their available resources, constantly scavenge for supplies, and carefully pick their battles. Sometimes it’s going to be better to simply run away.

GRAFT is being developed in Unreal Engine by a core team of five at Harebrained, plus “key collaborators.” McCain also serves as GRAFT’s project director.

Harebrained Schemes was founded in 2011 by Jordan Weisman and Mitch Gitelman, who’d previously worked together on the Crimson Skies franchise. After releasing two mobile games, Harebrained pivoted to the PC market with a trilogy of crowdfunded strategy RPGs based on the Shadowrun tabletop game.

In 2018, Harebrained released a new BattleTech game for PC and Linux via the Swedish publisher Paradox Interactive (Crusader Kings). Paradox subsequently acquired Harebrained for $7.5 million. Shortly afterward, Weisman stepped down as CEO; he would eventually leave the company to found the no-code game development platform Endless Adventures.

5 years later, Paradox announced that it would “part ways” with Harebrained, shortly after the release of Harebrained’s original strategy RPG The Lamplighters League and the Tower at the End of the World. McCain, who’d previously been the director on BattleTech, rejoined the company in early 2024 as Harebrained’s new CEO, while Gitelman stepped back to an advisory role.

Following the separation, Paradox owns and operates most of Harebrained’s previous catalog, including Shadowrun, BattleTech, Lamplighters League, and Harebrained’s 2016 action-RPG Necropolis. With GRAFT, Harebrained is effectively starting from scratch.

GRAFT does not currently have a release date.

It's 2026, and audiences still love Will Ferrell. The comedian's newest show on Netflix, The Hawk, is currently sitting at No. 1 on the service. On the movie side, a Spanish-language thriller, Desire, is No. 1 on the charts. If you're still searching for more thrillers after these picks, give Desire a shot.

Jimothy, the short-spined Seattle raccoon, has become a global sensation whose likeness has been immortalized in artwork, clothing, songs and tattoos — and now a video game created in the creature’s hometown.

Tech enthusiast and entrepreneur Chris Pirillo launched an 8-bit NES-style video game called “Jimothy” this weekend in which players can control the movements of the critter as he raids trash cans, crosses streets to the park, sneaks past the paparazzi, and climbs to the safety of a big tree.

Pirillo says the missions are pulled straight from Jimothy’s real life. No doubt the animal is busy these days trying to dodge curious onlookers who are hoping to capture the next photo or video that feeds the masses on social media.

The viral Jimothy sensation took off last week when Kiana Hall spotted the raccoon in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood and posted a video on Instagram — viewed by millions since — asking the question heard around the world: “What am I looking at?”

An earlier video of Jimothy, captured by a home security camera and posted on Reddit, ignited further curiosity and adoration, and now Reddit is flooded with sightings, memes, artwork, food, crafts, poetry and more. The Mariners put a Jimothy mascot in the Salmon Run. There’s even a Lego Jimothy.

Pirillo told GeekWire the game idea came to him on Saturday afternoon after seeing so many creatives flood his feeds with their own Jimothy fan art. He started to build a not-so-live tracker and realized it was a not-so-great idea. He hopes internet creativity is enough of a fix for the Jimothy-curious.

“This game is as close as any of us should ever get to him,” the game site states. “If you find yourself in his neighborhood: don’t go looking for him, don’t feed him, don’t try to touch him, and don’t crowd him for a photo.”

The game is easy enough to play, with challenges that are reminiscent of classic 1980s games “Frogger” and “Donkey Kong.”

Pirillo’s “Vibe Arcade” is loaded with other games he’s created. Earlier this year he vibe-coded a Resume Analyzer app and a pre-rejection letter generator called Dear Applicant to channel his frustrations with searching for a job.

Pirillo credits AI with changing the speed and ease with which a moment can go viral and be captured in new and creative ways.

“I remember when every big moment had a video game. But by the time a studio could create a video game around a meme pre-AI, the meme’s energy would have dissipated,” he said. “We are now at a day and age (certainly with AI as a tool) where almost literally anybody of any age or tech experience level can bring full-fledged experiences to life in just a few hours. We can simply talk our solutions into existence. It’s astounding.”

Pirillo built the game as a single HTML page, pitting OpenAI GPT 5.6 against Anthropic’s Claude Fable 5. One of the bigger challenges was getting the look of Jimothy right, as multiple AI models kept returning regular-looking raccoons.

Pirillo said he looks forward to sharing more about it all during a free vibe-coding community workshop in Seattle this Saturday.

His final takeaway for anyone looking to get in on the Jimothy hype — or whatever creature emerges next — is to not wait for the moment to pass.

“While it’s never been easier to make something, it’s also never been more challenging to get attention,” he said.

Game companies might not like physical media much anymore, but gamers sure do. There’s nothing like pawing over your collection to find what to play, and inserting a cartridge with a satisfying click before sitting down to an old-school game like — wait, Cyberpunk 2077? Yeah, that wasn’t released on cartridge, but that didn’t stop [Jibril-sama] over on Reddit. The cartridges are 3D printed — stls on makeworld only, as of this writing — and contain old 2.5″ SSDs that [Jabril] was able to pick up in bulk.

Inside the base unit is a simple USB3-SATA adapter that hooks to [Jabril]’s gaming PC. There are two versions of the base unit: a simple vertical unit, and a horizontal one with some springs to give a satisfying grip.

On each disk is a launch script that is vetted by a program on the PC that autolaunches only the cartridges you’ve told it to trust, which is a level of security we can appreciate. [Jabril-sama] has kindly made that available under the MIT license on GitHub.

We don’t know how much life is left in these cheap drives, but they should last a while if the only write is the odd save file. Hopefully [Jabril-sama] is cycling through his games fairly often, as SSDs are only non-volatile storage if your time horizon is short enough.

Thanks to [iliis] for the tip! Remember, if you use our tips line to share what you find, you’re not doomscrolling, you’re doing a public service.

Back when Google ran a functional search engine, there used to be all kinds of quirky, fun antics hidden in their products. From Easter eggs in certain search results, to a flight simulator hidden in Google Maps, to funny, engaging April Fools jokes, it was a lighter, less corporate time. Now, though, to recreate any of that early Google magic, we have to do it on our own, and [Paul] has come up with an arcade cabinet for the classic Google Chrome dinosaur game that does just that.

Although the Dinosaur Game is still available in modern versions of Google Chrome, it lends itself almost perfectly to an arcade cabinet. Built from 18 mm plywood, the cabinet is standard DIY arcade fare with a built-in shelf to house the electronics and a 4:3 flatscreen monitor for a display. The Raspberry Pi 3B is also just enough to run the game, but the software running on it is unique. The Pi runs an operating system called FullPageOS, which automatically loads a modified version of the Dino jumper in full-screen mode. It’s been changed to look more like an arcade game than a browser Easter egg, with features like a leaderboard and an automatic-play screensaver mode, and the build is rounded out by a cactus-shaped scratching post to accompany the cabinet.

As for gameplay, we couldn’t ask for a simpler user interface. A single button is all that’s needed for this game, and it’s surprisingly engaging. It is a bit large for a single-button game, even with its reduced-width cabinet, so if you’re looking for something smaller, you could always base it on a tabletop arcade system instead.

One of the major strengths of the BASIC programming languages has always been their no-fuss setup and rich set of commands for operations that would take considerably more work in a bare-bones language like C. MoonBASIC continues this legacy with a BASIC variant optimized for both 2D and 3D game development.

Included in the package are Raylib, Box2D, and Jolt, whose functionality is exposed via over 4,200 commands in their respective namespaces. You can also download a whole IDE package based around VS Code, use it on the command line, or add it to an existing VS Code installation.

A quick glance at the ‘getting started‘ guide gives a pretty good idea of what to expect of MoonBASIC, including a range of custom language additions and support for PBR materials, dynamic lighting, and other modern game engine features.

Whether writing a game in BASIC was on your bingo card for this year or not, it might be worth taking a look to see whether it’s your jam. After all, if BASIC was good enough for both AI and game development in the 1980s, surely it can be used for complex games in 2026.

Sometimes you see a project and immediately, before going into the details, your mind throws up the old refrain: “coulda used a 555” — well, [Hulk] actually agrees when it comes to his ESP32-based, 3D printed roulette wheel. The first version did use a 555, but then feature creep kicked in and the final project ended up with an ESP32 instead. We’ve all been there.

The roulette wheel circuit is retained from the 555 version, with the ESP32 providing clock pulses instead of the venerable oscillator chip — it uses a pair of decade counters to create the chase effect of the LED around the wheel. With a handsome printed enclosure, [Hulk] could have stopped there, but then he’d have to keep track of scoring and the like manually like some kind of dark age peasant. It’s the 21st century, we have computers to to that for us!

Now, even though the ESP32 is still driving the LED chase via the decade counters, it can keep track of where the “ball” of light lands, and reports that via WiFi or serial. While it would have been an option to run the whole game on the ESP32. [Hulk] just has those values put into an SQL database on a server, which also runs the game front-end via PHP. The resulting web page lets two players make their bets and track their wins and losses over time. You can see that in action in the video embedded below.

Overkill? Sure, but we suspect [Hulk] already had the equipment and experience to make this the fastest way to get a playable game. There are easy ways to serve web content from an ESP32, but the easiest tool to use is always the one in your back pocket, right?

Modern video games are nothing short of amazing. My son and I were playing through the one of the latest Zeldas, which involve a mix of combat and puzzle-solving that’s pretty much the hallmark of the franchise. But the most recent open-world Zelda is simply massive. Made by around 1,000 people at a development expense of $150,000,000, it takes probably 60-80 hours to play through if you’re not rushing, and more if you’re taking it easy. It has layers of game mechanics, and worlds in the sky, on land, and underground. It’s big in every way.

Contrast the games of my youth, which were a lot smaller. Written by a pair of people or maybe a handful, with playtimes in the single-digit hours, and of course fitting in the limited computing resources of the time. But the low-stakes nature of the early phases of the industry meant that software developers could take risks, and many of the games were consequently kinda idiosyncratic in this more innocent time.

I think there’s something to be said for small games. They don’t require a lifestyle commitment just to get through. They can still be fun, without taking all of your time. And honestly, when you’re done with a game quickly, you have more time for other stuff. Granted, some of this spirit lives on in the small indie games of today, but even so, game developers have the big studios’ products in the backs of their minds when they are working on their smaller oeuvres.

We were talking about preserving old games for posterity around Hackaday and on the podcast, and our conversations reminded me of a couple of educational games that, despite their rudimentary graphics, are still pretty good today. Both were electronics related, and both are still playable today thanks to efforts on emulation and software preservation. To get a feel for the 1980’s, give Rocky’s Boots a try. (I like the TRS-80 Color Computer version the best, but that may just be nostalgia.) Most of you grownups out there will get through it in an hour or so.

And if you want a challenge, try Rocky’s harder sequel: Robot Odyssey. If you already have a background in digital circuits, you’ll find it doable. Younger me hit a wall about two-thirds of the way through.

Both of these games stick with me because they taught me something, but also because they were simply quirky in a way that a game can only be when it’s written by a small team of folks who are just having fun programming it. If you pitched “a puzzle game about a raccoon who builds logic circuits to activate robot boots”, the boardroom would look at you like you’re out of your mind. But it’s just exactly the quirkiness and individuality of some of these early games that I cherish the most.

If you find yourself knee-deep in an endless modern game, take a side-quest off into a more naive time, and you’ll appreciate why people are putting efforts into archiving them.

One of the biggest hits ever produced by Seattle’s independent video game scene is joining the Magic: The Gathering multiverse later this month. Sort of.

Magic, the long-running collectible card game published and developed by Renton, Wash.-based Wizards of the Coast, frequently puts out special crossover editions via its Secret Lair imprint.

The Secret Lair “drops” are limited-run collectibles that typically reimagine older Magic cards with new designs and art, which replaces Magic‘s usual cast of wizards and monsters with, for example, Dwarf Fortress, Garfield, or various Marvel superheroes. A caveat: Secret Lairs are priced to appeal to die-hard collectors, rather than casual players.

On Friday, during the first day of MagicCon Amsterdam, Wizards announced several upcoming “drops” for Secret Lair, three of which are based on the popular indie video game Stardew Valley.

Stardew, made by solo developer Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone, is arguably the single biggest success story to come out of Seattle’s independent game development scene. It’s an open-ended video game about a young person who moves back to their grandfather’s abandoned farm, to raise crops, breed livestock, make friends, fish, adventure through the nearby abandoned mines, and/or romance neighbors. This can all be taken at the player’s own pace, with no particular time limits or directions.

Stardew’s success helped to popularize what’s come to be known as the “cozy” genre of chill-out, low-stress video games, alongside other hits like Nintendo’s Animal Crossing. Stardew celebrated its 10th anniversary earlier this year, has sold nearly 50 million copies across multiple platforms, and has spun out into a successful concert tour, a cookbook, and as of earlier this month, a crochet book.

Now Stardew is coming to Magic via Secret Lair, in a package that Wizards is calling the “Superdrop of the Moonlight Jellies,” named after a jellyfish-themed town festival in Stardew Valley.

Coming on July 27, the drop is split into three specific sets of cards: Welcome to Stardew Valley, Life in Pelican Town, and A Flicker in the Deep. The first set, Welcome, features unique pixel art made by ConcernedApe on each card.

Most of the cards in the Stardew Valley Secret Lair are reprints of existing Magic cards, though some have been renamed in keeping with the theme. For example, Swords to Plowshares is one of the oldest cards in Magic, but it’s getting a new Stardew-themed edition in this Secret Lair.

The lone exception is the actual Stardew Valley card (above), which is a special land that’s designed to be compatible with most styles of competitive Magic play.

Other upcoming Secret Lairs announced at MagicCon Amsterdam include:

• a full playable deck that’s based on the virtual Japanese singer Hatsune Miku;
• a food-themed take on J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit;
• four separate Marvel Comics drops, including one that will feature the universe’s various super-pets;
• three drops built around specific artists, including American cartoonist Gene Luen Yang (American Born Chinese);
• and most oddly, a drop with a theme based upon the French record label Lofi Girl, best known for its 24-7 chillhop YouTube “radio station” featuring its namesake and mascot.

Google Play will open catalog access to third-party US Android app stores on July 22, following a court order tied to Epic Games’ antitrust case.

The post Google’s Android App Store Shake-Up Starts July 22 appeared first on TechRepublic.

Google Play will open catalog access to third-party US Android app stores on July 22, following a court order tied to Epic Games’ antitrust case.

The post Google’s Android App Store Shake-Up Starts July 22 appeared first on TechRepublic.

With Nintendo’s 3DS experiencing a bit of a renaissance lately, prices for functioning systems have shot through the roof. Getting a busted one with a broken screen is a lot cheaper, but then you run into the eye-watering price difference between a replacement top screen for the regular version and the larger XL variant. The latter costs about the same as a whole new used 3DS, while the former goes for peanuts. Here the solution is obvious, with [Skawo] demonstrating how they hacked the cheaper, smaller top screen into a New 3DS XL.

The price difference on AliExpress as shown in the video is on the order of $120, with the smaller screen going for less than $10. Since they both use the same connector pin-out and display technology, you can plug either display into the New 3DS XL mainboard.

Where you’ll run into issues, other than the replacement display being obviously not XL, is the physically shorter flat flex cable for the controls that forces the display to be installed in an offset manner. You need jailbroken firmware like Luma3DS here to adjust for the screen offset. Filling in the missing screen real-estate is the other issue you have to patch over somehow, which was done here in barbaric fashion with some cardboard.

Beyond that it does work, and as a fix to at least get a broken New 3DS XL back into the game it’s worth considering. Do note that there’s a difference between regular 3DS and New 3DS (second generation) screens with neither being compatible, so be careful before you try such a fix.

Perhaps the most ridiculous statement that anyone can make is that a computer system with clearly enough processing power ‘cannot run DOOM‘. This is why we accept the premise that a PDP-11 cannot run this game, but something on the order of a Neo Geo gaming console with its 68000 processor and for the time impressive GPU definitely ought to be able to.

The stated problem here is a lack of RAM for a framebuffer, with the CPU only having 64 kB to play with. This limitation now has seen two different approaches to try and circumvent it, as covered by [Modern Vintage Gamer].

The first project here is Doom64kB, which as the name suggests tries to somehow work with this system RAM limitation. It uses the Doom8088 port for the original IBM PC and similar Intel 8088-based systems. This had to massively reduce the feature list, including the lack of texture mapping for floors and ceiling, no saving or loading, and no music.

The other project is DoomGeo, which doesn’t try to bend the Neo Geo hardware to its will, but accepts the Neo Geo way of doing things: involving sprite strips, pre-baked graphics, fix-layer UI, and a minimum of runtime data. This of course drastically changes how the Doom game engine normally works, with its framebuffer-based rendering.

From this we can thus conclude that it’s not so much the processing power that limits where DOOM can run, but more of how framebuffer-friendly the system architecture is, yet with some ingenuity and a complete rewrite of the game engine even that is no major obstacle.

(Top image: Neo Geo AES console. Credit: Evan-Amos, Wikimedia)