Roly Poly Roundup

Earlier this week, UK studio Kinetic Games (of Phasmophobia fame) showcased the first batch of titles to be released under their new indie publishing arm, Kinetic Publishing. From a whimsical wizarding life-sim to a metroidvania that takes place on the back of a giant snail (!), here’s a breakdown of what was revealed.Contact ProtocolChoices, paperwork, torpedoes and teabags – that’s how the dev team behind Contact Protocol describe their game, but this sci-fi workplace sim has a lot more going on beneath the surface.You play as the security officer aboard PALE HORSE, a vessel owned by Galileo

Games are for dads. Thanks to video games, dads can play golf, build birdhouses, mow the lawn, and go fishing... all without leaving the home office. But what do games like Powerwash Simulator, Train Sim World 2, and The Golf Club have to offer the childless urban-dwelling millennial? Pat Gill reviews a selection of powerful dad games to glean life lessons and fatherly insight into the world of dads ... and his own psyche.

IGN snootily turned down an offer to review the Nex Playground around its 2023 release. And why not? It’s a casual games console from a company with no cachet in the space – a colorful little cube whose primary input method is your own body, via an ultra-wide camera lens on the front of the system. And yet, like the Wii before it, this underestimated machine (scoffed by elite gaming media types everywhere!) managed to outsell Microsoft’s Xbox consoles over the 2025 holidays. Were we, the gaming media, wrong? So now, here I am as one of IGN’s child-having freelance writers, with a review of the