PlayStation fans delighted at the addition of 'great' new PS Plus game
PlayStation Plus subscribers are in for a treat with the latest offering of free games, as you'll be able to download a 'great' title that's easily among the best to have released last year.
You're often treated to a number of gems throughout the year as a PlayStation Plus subscriber, making the annual price tag more than worth it if you're looking for something new to play.
A mix of the best new releases and underrated gems that you might have missed fill out the catalog, and you might even have an extra few days added on to your subscription thanks to a bit of generosity from Sony.
May's PS Plus output is certainly not an exception to the rule either, as it brings with it a highly acclaimed indie hit that you've likely heard a lot about - and if you've not yet picked it up then you're in for a treat.Your PlayStation Plus Monthly Games for May are:🦖 Ark: Survival Ascended🃏 Balatro🪐 Warhammer 40,000: BoltgunAll playable May 6. Full details https://t.co/8kvenXSo4t pic.twitter.com/okTbcoNMwN
— PlayStation (@PlayStation) April 30, 2025Alongside Ark: Survival Ascended and Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun, PS Plus subscribers will be able to downloaded and keep indie poker roguelike sensation Balatro, which you'll have definitely seen if you've not already played it.
The game has been all over live streams, PC screens, and even mobile phones in the past year, as its highly enjoyable gameplay loop has a knack of making hours feel like minutes.
Existing roughly in the world and rules of poker, Balatro challenges players with using specific hands to beat a level's high score, and there are countless different multipliers and modifiers in the form of jokers along the way.
"I've been wanting to play Balatro so that's great," writes one comment on Reddit in response to the announcement, with another adding that "Balatro makes this month great."
Others outline that "Balatro [is] genuinely one of the best games ever, don't sleep on it," and if you needed any more convincing you only have to look at all the reviews and accolades the game has picked up.
It currently sits at a 90 on Metacritic with the 'Universal Acclaim' label attached, and it was nominated for Game of the Year at last year's Game Awards, alongside winning a number of other categories including Best Independent Game.
Additionally, it seems like the other games have proved popular choices for a number of other subscribers too, with the headlining Ark: Survival Ascended emerging as another desirable option.
"For me personally, if even one game of the 3 I want for sure is there, it's a win month," illustrated one user on X. "I've been wanting to buy Ark Survival Ascended, so I'm happy it's on there.
Another proclaimed that they were "so close to buying Ark: SA like 5 times. Thanks for bailing me out Sony! Now I won't have to!"
If there's one thing that really makes PS Plus feel like a worthwhile investment is seeing games added that you would have otherwise forked out the cash for, as that's only going to make you and your wallet feel good.
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Buzz Feed
34 minutes ago
- Buzz Feed
Teachers Share What Screams "Unlimited Screen Time"
Recently, Reddit user u/itwasobviouslyburke turned to the Ask Teachers subreddit to ask, "What screams 'I have unlimited screen time' in students?" Their post continues: "I'm especially interested in the elementary/middle school teachers' [opinions] on what behaviors you notice in kids these days that make it glaringly obvious they have constant screen access. Do you feel [the constant screen access] exacerbates executive dysfunction?" While screens aren't exactly new — I mean, almost everyone's grown up watching television — they're not quite the same as they used to be, either. In the words of Reddit user u/Working_Early, "30 years ago you didn't have a TV in your pocket that you could play video games on, and have an ever-present social square." Back view of two kids sitting on floor watching TV showing horror movie about zombies in cozy retro living room with plants and posters on wall, and old-fashioned gaming console below TV screen Putting on a TV show can be a huge help for parents who just need a break, but too much screen time has a significant effect on kids' cognitive ability as they grow older. Teachers answering u/itwasobviouslyburke's question had a lot of insight on the matter, so here are their most interesting responses: "It's funny; I was just talking about the Chromebooks with my co-teacher. This year, if we had a little extra time at the end of the lessons, I'd give the kids a bit of free time. I realized the kids were always going on the Chromebooks with headphones." "Free time [in my classroom] is always without screens. Kids have imagination still, they should use it. Honestly, it enhances the quality of one's life to have a playful imagination, be able to imagine with friends, and play out little kid drama." "Sleeping all the time because they were up all night gaming or scrolling." "I teach Pre-k, and the number of parents [who] are shocked by [bad] behaviors because 'They never do this at home!' Well, at home they never have to interact with anyone because they're always staring at a screen, sooooo..." "My [middle schoolers] are gonna cry today: NO CHROMEBOOKS WHILE WE WATCH A MOVIE THE REST OF THE WEEK. (It's testing week.) I removed screens for the rest of the week due to a student calling me a literal slur over it. Hard R." "Yesterday we had a water day at my school in the afternoon. They had these huge inflatables, but they were all wet rides like a bouncy house with water, a giant water slide, etc. They also had lots of water-related games. If I was a kid, I would have played without stopping. Several of our students were simply not able to play." "High school teacher here: [students assume] that they know so much more about technology and computers than adults, [but] really they just know more about crappy social media apps and some about web use. They have no clue how to save a file to a specific location or use a simple spreadsheet." "[Saying] 'My hand hurts' [while] trying to write one paragraph or cut a square with scissors... These are second graders." "Parroting video phrases (especially ones that are above their maturity level) and telling me they are bored within seconds of downtime. The kids don't know what to do with themselves without an iPad." "Watch how they act when their access to computers/phones/iPads is cut off. We had a major internet outage: no signal and no Wi-Fi. The kids with decent parents groaned, pouted for a minute, and found something else to do. The kids with unlimited screen time had a complete meltdown for hours." "To me, it screams apathy. The ones [who] don't have a screen in their face are the kids [who] are capable of critical thinking and engaging in learning. The others can't focus for more than five minutes without finding some kind of dopamine hit from a Chromebook game or their phones." "The ones [who] talk constantly. They watch these streamers [and] reaction videos in which the narrator never stops talking." "Inability to separate from a device without melting down. Inability to socialize appropriately with adults or other children. Lower academic performance. Sleepy. Unable to regulate emotions. Developmentally behind in general." "The ones who are bored every recess and won't touch any of the playground equipment [or] gear — just complain the whole time that they're bored. Also, the ones who super struggle to engage in quiet, independent activity that does not involve a screen." "It's bad enough with adults but everything is so much more intense when you're a kid. I'm addicted for sure. Can't imagine how strong the addiction is for them." "I teach middle school. Significantly reduced attention span is a big indicator, and so is total desensitization to racism, sexism, violence, and sex." From a parent: "I'm trying so hard to keep my toddler son's life as screen-free as possible and the number one obstacle to that is my own mindless reach for my phone any time I sit down." "Those [who] can't make it 10-15 minutes into a movie. Movie day at the end of the year was such a reward when I was in school (and I actually remember a lot from watching those films in a critical way). I have so many kids who genuinely cannot sit still or stay off their phone/laptop for more than 15 minutes. These are seniors by the way." "Not thinking to read written instructions." "Middle school: some are so addicted to staring at a screen they look at you like you did horrible violence to them when you flip the laptop closed. You've told them to close it nicely and they just CANNOT detach from the screen, so you walk over and close it and they lose it!" "Screaming and punching tables every time they're asked to do work pencil-and-paper instead of on a computer or even merely to just put a computer away. Yes, I have a student who's really like this. And yes, they are too old for tantrums. They're 11." And finally: "I remember in 2011 going to my friend's school where they gave everyone a MacBook and unfettered access to the internet. I was blown away at how little they did. I went to every class with him and they were so wild compared to my high school where you couldn't have your phone out." If you're a teacher or a parent with an observation about children and screen time — whether they're your student, your kid, or your kid's friend — feel free to comment about it down below. I'm interested to hear the conversation!

Engadget
2 hours ago
- Engadget
Video Games Weekly: I still don't miss E3
Welcome to Video Games Weekly on Engadget. Expect a new story every Monday, broken into two parts. The first is a space for short essays and ramblings about video game trends and related topics from me, a reporter who's covered the industry for more than 13 years. The second contains the video game stories from the past week that you need to know about, including some headlines from outside of Engadget. Please enjoy — and I'll see you next week. It's the week of Summer Game Fest, so I'm mentally wrapped up in a complex web of embargoes, meetings, schedules and cryptic invites, and I can already smell the plasticky, sanitized air that accompanies video game conventions of all sizes. Mmm, smells like pixels. This will be my third SGF and I'm looking forward to it, as usual. I appreciate the event's focus on independent projects, diverse creators and smaller-scale publishers, particularly with shows like Day of the Devs, Wholesome Direct, Women-Led Games, and the Latin American and Southeast Asian games showcases. I deeply believe that innovation in the industry stems from these untethered, experimental spaces, and SGF has consistently provided room for these types of experiences to shine. I appreciate SGF even more after spending seven years wandering the cavernous halls of the Los Angeles Convention Center, covering the Electronic Entertainment Expo. E3 was exciting in its own right and I feel privileged to have attended it so many times, but it was also a soulless kind of show. E3 was unwelcoming to independent creators and packed with corporate swag, and by the time Sony decided to stop attending in 2019, it felt like an expensive, out-of-touch misrepresentation of the video game industry as a whole. The best parts of E3 in its final years were the unaffiliated events hosted by Devolver Digital, which took place in a nearby parking lot packed with Airstream trailers, food trucks and fabulous, up-and-coming indie games. It felt a lot like SGF, in fact. I wrote about this phenomenon in 2018, in a story that questioned whether the video game industry needed E3 at all. Perhaps because I'm a witch but mostly due to the pandemic, E3 shut down in 2020 and it never re-emerged as an in-person show. The Entertainment Software Association hosted one virtual session in 2021, but nothing afterward, and E3 was officially declared dead in December 2023. Meanwhile, the video game market has continued to grow, driven by a maturing indie segment, mobile play and harsh crunch-layoff cycles at the AAA level. Now, the ESA is back with a new video game showcase called iicon, the Interactive Innovation Conference, heading to Las Vegas in April 2026. The industry's biggest names are involved, including Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, Epic Games, Electronic Arts, Disney, Amazon and Take-Two Interactive, and the show is poised to be 'a space for visionaries across industries to come together,' according to ESA president Stanley Pierre-Louis. E3 2.0 has arrived, and it seems to be as AAA-focused as ever. For what it's worth, Summer Game Fest has its own version of a AAA thought-leader summit this year with The Game Business Live. Meanwhile, the ESA has remained silent — even when directly asked — as some of the industry's most influential companies roll back their diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, at a time when women, POC and LGBT+ employees are enduring active existential threats. And during Pride Month , no less. All of this is to say, I'm stoked for Summer Game Fest this year. It all kicks off with a live show on Friday, June 6, and we have a rundown of the full schedule right here. We'll be publishing hands-on previews, developer interviews and news directly from SGF over the weekend and beyond, so stay tuned to Engadget's Gaming hub. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here and view the "Content and social-media partners" setting to do so. Playtonic, the studio behind Yooka-Laylee , has laid off an undisclosed number of employees across multiple departments, including production, art, game design, narrative design and UI/UX. In a message shared on X, the studio's leaders said, 'This isn't simply a difficult moment, it's a period of profound change in how games are created and financed. The landscape is shifting, and with it, so must we.' Playtonic's latest game, Yooka-Replaylee , is due to come out this year. Though Playtonic is a small, privately owned company (with a minority investment from Tencent), the timing of the layoffs fits the established playbook of many AAA studios, which operate with periods of crunch and bulk layoffs baked into their business plans. Electronic Arts revealed its plans to make a single-player, third-person Black Panther game back in 2023 as part of a broader Marvel push at the studio, but apparently, things have changed. EA canceled its Black Panther project and closed the studio that was building it, Cliffhanger Games. EA Motive, the team behind the stellar Dead Space remake, is still working on an Iron Man game, as far as we know. Any time I can gas up Rollerdrome or OlliOlli World , I'm going to do it. After being delisted from Steam more than a year ago, Rollerdrome and OlliOlli World have returned to the storefront to fulfill all of your flow-state needs. Both games come from Roll7, a London-based studio that Take-Two purchased in November 2021 and shut down in May 2024, removing Rollerdrome and Olli Olli World from Steam in the process. Have we convinced you to get a Playdate yet? Whatever your answer, Playdate Season 2 is live right now, adding two new games to the crank-powered system each week until July 3. Engadget's resident Playdate expert Cheyenne Macdonald has a review of the initial batch, which includes Fulcrum Defender from Subset Games, Dig! Dig! Dino! from Dom2D and Fáyer, and Blippo+ , a fever dream masquerading as a video game. And while you're in this headspace, check out Igor Bonifacic's enlightening interview with Subset Games co-founder Jay Ma. Three former Ubisoft executives appeared in French court on June 2, accused by multiple employees at the studio of sexual harassment, bullying and, in one defendant's case, attempted sexual assault. The lawsuit alleges Serge Hascoët, Tommy François and Guillaume Patrux regularly engaged in misconduct and fostered a toxic culture at Ubisoft, and it follows a public reckoning at the studio in 2020, plus arrests in 2023. Nintendo's Switch 2 officially comes out this week, on June 5. We'll have a review of the new console as soon as we can, but in the meantime you can find all of the information you need regarding pre-orders in our handy guide.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
She's not a mom—but Nani from Lilo & Stitch shows what real motherhood looks like
As the live-action remake stirs nostalgia, it's time we talk about the invisible labor, heartbreak, and devotion behind Nani Pelekai's unsung heroism. When we think of iconic Disney 'moms,' the list is painfully short. Most are either missing, sidelined, or reduced to backstory. But in the heart of Lilo & Stitch lives one of Disney's most powerful portrayals of motherhood—and she's not even a mom. She's Nani Pelekai, Lilo's big sister. With Disney's live-action remake generating fresh buzz, many are revisiting the 2002 animated classic. And for a new generation of parents watching alongside their kids, Nani's role hits differently now. Because while Stitch may be the marketing star, Nani is the emotional anchor—the quiet, overworked, fiercely loving caregiver doing everything she can to hold her family together. After the sudden loss of both parents, Nani, barely out of her teens, becomes Lilo's legal guardian. She's juggling rent, grief, job loss, and a looming threat of separation—all while raising a spirited child who's grieving in her own way. This isn't just sibling caretaking. It's what psychologists call parentification—when a child or teen is forced to assume the responsibilities of a parent due to trauma or instability. Research in the Journal of Child and Family Studies confirms that this role reversal, while often invisible to others, can have long-term emotional impacts. And yet, Nani carries it all with fierce love, protective instinct, and a quiet resilience that's hard to look away from. When I watched the live-action Lilo & Stitch with my 7-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter, I expected giggles and nostalgia. I didn't expect to tear up when Lilo looked Nani in the eye and said, 'I like you better as a sister than a mother.' Nani just mutters, 'Ouch.' That moment gutted me. I've felt that same sting as a mom—when your love gets misinterpreted as control, when you're doing your best and it's still misunderstood. I saw myself in Nani. And I saw my daughter in Lilo—her fierce independence, her big feelings, her inability (for now) to see the full picture. And later, when Tūtū and Lilo encourage Nani to go back to school—to build a future for herself as well as for her family—I was reminded: being part of a family doesn't mean losing yourself. Sometimes, love means nudging each other forward, not just holding each other together. Related: This is the 'invisibility of motherhood'—and it starts long before actually having kids ''Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten.' It's one of Disney's most quoted lines—but Nani doesn't just say it. She lives it. Reddit user @Bionic_Ferir described Hawaiian ohana beautifully: 'Family in Hawaii isn't just blood. Any elder is your auntie or uncle. Anyone your age is a cousin… If they stop by to say hi or bring you mangos from their yard, you feed them a full meal. You take care of your elders and help with all the keiki (kids). Ohana is everyone you care about and love.' That's the kind of love Nani extends not only to Lilo, but to Stitch—a misunderstood outsider who turns their world upside down. And she never stops making room—for mess, for growth, for healing. Related: The way this 9-year-old carries his baby brother? We weren't ready If you were the one packing school lunches, walking siblings to the bus stop, or shouldering responsibilities too early—you might recognize yourself in Nani. If you're raising a daughter with a tender heart and fierce loyalty, the kind of girl who notices what others need before they ask—you're raising a Nani, too. Her love story isn't romantic. It's raw, maternal, and deeply human. And it deserves to be recognized. 'She's not failing. She's fighting—for her sister, her family, and her right to still have a future of her own.' As more viewers rediscover Lilo & Stitch, we have a chance to shift the spotlight—toward the sisters, aunties, grandmothers, and chosen-family caregivers who quietly held everything together. Let's name them. Let's thank them. Let's raise our kids to recognize them as heroes, too. Because not all heroes wear crowns. Some wear flip-flops, chase alien dogs, and fight for a little girl's future with everything they've got. More from Motherly: Invisible labor: What it is—and how to make it visible in your relationship How to support an older sibling after family loss Raising strong girls: How to nurture leadership in daughters Sources: Hooper, L. M., Doehler, K., Wallace, S. A., & Hannah, N. J. (2011). The Parentification Inventory: Development, validation, and cross-validation. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 40(3), 291–306. Earley, L., & Cushway, D. (2002). The parentified child. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 7(2), 163–178. American Psychological Association. (2022). 'The impact of early caregiving roles on mental health outcomes.'