3 Video Games You May Have Missed in January
Dice rolls are put center stage in Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector, about a cyberpunk future where mercenaries, scavengers and outcasts eke out a hardscrabble living. Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist is an inventive Metroidvania where you battle a cigarette-puffing human-rhinoceros hybrid and a purple-robed robotic sorcerer.
And if you are pining for Grand Theft Auto VI, check out the documentary 'Grand Theft Hamlet,' about two out-of-work actors staging Shakespeare during a pandemic lockdown.
Here are three other games you may have missed this month:
The Roottrees Are Dead
The joy of playing The Roottrees Are Dead, the remaster of a 2023 browser game about identifying the numerous members of the fictional Roottree family, goes beyond its delicious twists and shocking reveals.
The more I play the game, the more I scour internet articles and newspaper clippings, the more I flip through water-damaged photographs and magazine cover stories, the more I come to realize that The Roottrees Are Dead isn't invested solely in the salacious.
Its drama is intimate, and it appears in the little leaps of knowledge you make as you carefully examine the corkboard-pinned family tree, identifying wayward aunts and uncles and having your educated guesses satisfyingly confirmed. It's a game about knowing, about being allowed to know — not just a family's secrets and shame, but its truth.
It's no mistake that the game is set in 1998, during the early heyday of the World Wide Web. Part of the compelling fantasy is simply being able to look something up online and get a reliable answer back.
Just as Guitar Hero makes me feel like a rock star, and Forza a champion racer, The Roottrees Are Dead makes me feel like a competent sleuth. It does this by taking the complexity out of its online investigation while leaving enough to justify copious notes and the rechecking of evidence. It successfully crafts a self-contained, graspable universe, one that rewards my close attention with a charming and richly layered narrative.
Skate City: New York
When New York City becomes a video game character, it makes a resident's experience far more enchanting. So when the Toronto studio Snowman told me Skate City: New York was the result of copious on-the-ground research into the glorious parks and monuments here, I was intrigued.
The mobile game begins with a realistic video of the Statue of Liberty. But when I passed Lorenzo Pace's 'Triumph of the Human Spirit' in Lower Manhattan, it wasn't identified. Oddly, boroughs are named only after unlocking modes for free skating. There, you can change the camera angle from a flat landscape view to just behind you.
From this perspective, closely passing skaters and tourists is a much more personal way to enjoy the mildly difficult feats of trickery and balance. The controls — quadrants on your iPhone screen — felt startlingly easy to use, so I pulled off kick flips, nollies and pop shove-its, tricks forgotten since I enjoyed the Tony Hawk series.
Chill music played appealingly during a level in Central Park where I tried to evade a security guard. When I failed to jump over a barrier near the lake, both of us fell in, legs and arms akimbo. The security guard grunted. I laughed with punky exuberance.
Other challenges in Skate City: New York include crafty wallrides and shooing away white pigeons. Classic 'I ♥ NY' and graffiti-style Brooklyn decks completed the Big Apple vibe.
Heroes of Hammerwatch II
Heroes of Hammerwatch II is easy to pick up but impossible to put down, taking the popular rogue-lite structure — every time you die, you must start from the beginning but with upgrades to your character — and injecting it into the model of a classic action role-playing game. For more than 17 hours, I have been crawling through a dungeon, fighting bosses, grabbing loot and trying to save the world.
Because progressing in each class provides a bonus to all your other characters (e.g. the paladin increases armor levels), you're encouraged to experiment. The seven classes are well-balanced, but, since I prefer offense-is-defense strategies, I like the warrior best.
The gameplay, item and skill systems are uncomplicated, but it seems like something new is revealed after almost every good run. A sparse story is characteristic of many rogue-lites and not necessarily a demerit; the retro art and soundtrack have a lot of that late-'90s panache people get nostalgic for.
Heroes of Hammerwatch II is elevated by a smooth and approachable co-op experience for up to four players. It feels easier to make progress with friends. If someone dies, resurrect the character and forge further into the dungeon.
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New York Post
2 days ago
- New York Post
Hundreds of NYC theater lovers line up for hours to snag coveted ‘Shakespeare in the Park' tix
As usual, Shakespeare said it best. 'I am to wait, though waiting so be hell.' Hundreds of some of the Bard's biggest fans have been suffering through crazy lines, sweltering heat and exhaustion every day this summer for the slim chance of snatching a coveted ticket for the return of 'Shakespeare in the Park.' More than 400 people swarmed outside the Delacorte Theater in Central Park alone Friday, many beating the sunrise and even the park opening to secure spots for an 8 p.m. performance of 'Twelfth Night' starring Peter Dinklage and Sandra Oh. Advertisement 7 Around 400 people line up outside the Delacorte Theater on Friday to get their hands on 'Shakespeare in the Park' tickets. Robert Miller 'It's worth it,' said Alex Courtney, 38, a welder from Philadelphia, who took the day off work to sink 12 hours in line to grab a pair of tickets for himself and his wife. Courtney secured the very first spot in line by arriving outside Central Park at midnight — a full six hours before the iconic green space even opened to the public. Advertisement A civil line formed behind him until it was allowed to move toward the ticket window at 6 a.m. Courtney's cousin joined him at the front around 2:30 a.m. 'It's a lot of fun, really — waiting out is a part of the experience,' Courtney said. 7 There are three distinct lines for tickets: a general line, a senior line and a disabled persons line. Christopher Sadowski This gigantic line is one of the magic of the actual thing. Peter Dinklage and 'Twelfth Night' is going to be great to see, but waiting out here, there's buskers and people playing music and trying to sell things, which is all a part of the experience. Advertisement 'This is a little group that you kind of create, just the people you meet and talk to,' he said. 'It's a really good way to build a community and to keep Shakespeare alive.' The hundreds of people camped outside the Delacorte have become a common sight this summer — and they mark the return of The Public Theater's iconic Shakespeare in the Park after a two-year hiatus. The section of Central Park where the famous program is held has transformed into the likes of a music festival, with temporary bathrooms erected in the greenspace-turned-waiting area and theater lovers decorating the area with chairs, blankets and even blow-up loungers. The massive crowd was tame Friday, with the campers keeping themselves busy by chatting, reading, eating snacks, playing board games or cards, napping and working remotely. Advertisement 7 Theater lovers have decorated the area with chairs, blankets and even blow-up loungers. Robert Miller Strangers became friends by holding one another's places in line as they used the bathrooms and went on snack excursions — although there is a 20-minute absence limit that is strictly enforced. Only one unruly person tried to jump the line by sneaking into the park before it opened at 6 a.m., but staff quickly sent the rogue to the back of the line. 'Everyone's is very honorable,' said Arthur Night of Brooklyn, who arrived at 5 a.m. for what is his third attempt at grabbing tickets for the 'Twelfth Night' show. 'They're honoring the line rules, no one's cutting, no one's taking anyone's place. 'It's really actually nice. I've waited on the lines before, and you had to fight. 7 Alex Courtney (left) and cousin Peter Shaughnessy are first in line Friday after arriving at midnight for the tickets. Robert Miller 7 Campers keep busy by playing cards, reading, chatting and napping. Robert Miller 7 'The line is part of the experience,' said Arthur Night. Robert Miller Advertisement The event's three separate lines — two of which are dedicated to seniors and disabled patrons — typically stretch so far back that they typically reach a large rock, dubbed the 'rock of lost hope' by would-be theater-goers, several hundred feet from the theater. Around 9 a.m. Friday, theater staff approached the rock and let people know they likely wouldn't get a ticket — but the warning did little to deter the determined campers. 'I'm vibing, I'm waiting, and I hope to get tickets, but I don't expect to get tickets. Not today,' said Eliza Yarbrough-Saxon, 25, a choreographer who recently moved to Manhattan. 7 Shakespeare in the Park is back with a vengeance after taking a two-year hiatus. Robert Miller Advertisement She and her girlfriend, Nikki Deson, 22, hopped in line at 7 a.m., which regular theater-goers warn is much too late to secure a spot. They quickly learned their lesson, saying they would try again Saturday, though they would arrive much earlier. 'I don't have a job yet, so I have nothing going on,' Yarbrough-Saxon said. Bianca Pasternack, 36, brought her pup Pepper along for the wait. She and pal Andrew Vita, 39, hopped in line before 5 a.m. Advertisement 'I don't feel tired, though. I feel excited,' said Vita, who has lined up for Broadway tickets in the past. 'I promised myself I would never do it again, but, you know, I thought with the cast and the reopening of the Delacorte, I was like, this is a good time to line up and get a ticket.' Pasternack added: 'I think it's a fun New York classic activity.'
Forbes
6 days ago
- Forbes
No Script, No Problem. The Improvised Shakespeare Company Turns 20
Founded in Chicago in 2005, The Improvised Shakespeare Company regularly appears at The Largo at the Coronet in Los Angeles and around the world. From left, troupe members Ross Bryant, Brendan Dowling, creator Blaine Swen, Randall Harr and Joey Bland. Jill Petracek At The Ford, in fair L.A., one recent night, Six players wrought a show to wild delight. In Elizabethan couplet, sharp and true, They spun a play from one small, shouted cue. Such is the magic, rare for all to see, Of The Improvised Shakespeare Company. Founded in aught-five, they roam far and near, Oft gracing Largo's stage to crowd's loud cheer. (Sir Patrick Stewart once did join their game; I saw it, aye, and can attest the same.) Jason Alexander, center, joined the Improvised Shakespeare Company on stage at The Ford in Los Angeles on Saturday, August 9, 2025. The company has a rotating cast that includes improv veteran Thomas Middleditch and celebrity guest stars, including Sir Patrick Stewart. Andrew Levy Yet Ford, that jewel-box Bowl of leafy frame, Did lift their craft to heights of nobler fame. With twelve hundred seats—moon, trees and uplights green, As though wood-nymphs designed the sylvan scene, It stands among the finest spots in town— My first time there, and worthy of renown. Blaine Swen, troupe founder, the Duke of Verona played; A wit with Ph.D., in verses well-arrayed. Alongside him, Ross Bryant's rhymes took flight, Turning 'Shark Tank' to scenes in Shakespeare's light. Joey Bland, Randall Harr, Brendan Dowling, too, Did craft a world from that single audience cue. The Company, with Jason Alexander, at The Ford this past weekend in Los Angeles. Swen, at center standing, opens each show with the only scripted lines of the night: assuring audiences that everything they are about to see is made up on the spot. 'If you were wondering where the story is going,' he says, 'so are we.' Andrew Levy That cue? 'Red stockings,' called out too fast— A peril for some, yet they made it last. From such slight cloth they cut a comic feast: Sour-milk-drinking Paduans, automatons released, Lusty asides, courtesan jests that zing, And 'Pewter Peter,' a most mechanical thing. Lo-Jason Alexander, guest star ever-spry, Appeared as 'Truncle Dimple,' to steal the eye. The Improvised Shakespeare Company may pretend to invent each performance line by line, but the shows come out of rigorous rehearsals in which troupe members are quizzed on Shakespearean words and witticisms. Jill Petracek It all seems impossible—these wits, so bright— Yet certain tropes they wield to shape the night: From courtship to bloodshed, bawdy joy between, A song-and-dance to crown the comic scene. They binge the Bard, scan word lists odd and old, Till nimble tongues spew iambs of gold. Though never penned, the structure swiftly grew: A wedding, fights and callbacks — Peter, too. Mistakes embraced, names mangled mid-debate, Yet every jest recalled, however late. Two hours fled like minutes—how nights do fly When minds so quick let no fair moment die. In this bot age, their art stands human-pure: They weave, recall and spin with skill secure. So if they grace your town, make haste to see, The marvels of this mirthful Company.
New York Times
6 days ago
- New York Times
For Lupita and Junior Nyong'o, ‘Twelfth Night' Is Child's Play, Revisited
About a year ago, Junior Nyong'o took a call from the director Saheem Ali. Nyong'o had recently graduated from drama school and Ali, an associate artistic director of the Public Theater and a family friend, had phoned to offer him a job. Would he like to play Sebastian in a production of Shakespeare's 'Twelfth Night,' which would reopen the renovated Delacorte Theater in Central Park? Nyong'o accepted immediately. But he had one question. Sebastian is an identical twin. Who, Nyong'o asked, did Ali have in mind to play Viola, his sister? 'Meeeeeee!' said a woman who was suddenly on the line. He knew that voice — it belonged to his sister Lupita Nyong'o. 'I kind of freaked out,' Junior Nyong'o recalled. He was speaking, calmly now, on an afternoon late last month, before a rehearsal for 'Twelfth Night,' which is in previews and opens on Aug. 21. Brother and sister were seated on a sofa in a downstairs lobby at the Public's rehearsal space, in matching haircuts — shaved on the sides and lightened at the tips. She wore a small star as a pendant. He wore a large one. The two weren't often in rehearsal together. The structure of 'Twelfth Night' keeps the twins apart until an emotional reunion at the play's end. A few days earlier, I had watched them rehearse that scene. With Ali standing by, they worked out the blocking. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
