The Handbook

Yoshi and the Mysterious Book might be the loveliest surprise of the year so far. It certainly is for me. Going in, I don't think I was expecting too much. There's the slightly forgettable title, for one thing, and then I'd picked up the idea that, since this wasn't a Zelda or a mainline Mario, I could probably give it a miss. Read more

The most charming video game bubble wrap you’ll ever pop, and not much more.

Here is a game that feels like an adventure. And it feels like it was an adventure to make, too. Mina the Hollower took six years to design and build, six years that took it from what sounds like a kind of coding doodle to a panoramic journey across a richly imagined island, taking in platforming and combat, puzzle-solving, and sheer immersion in the world building. It's Zelda and it's Bloodborne. It's smacking bosses and reading the in-game newspaper. All of which is to say that those six years of design work are apparent throughout, in the complexity of the landscapes you travel, in the dens

Mina can offer whatever challenge you're up for.

A big game in a small package, and an absolute masterpiece of an adventure.