Latest news with #Balatro
Gizmodo
a day ago
- Business
- Gizmodo
This HP Touchscreen Laptop for 73% Off Comes With Microsoft Office Plus a Ton of Accessories
That 10-year-old laptop of yours is on its last legs. Replace it with something faster and newer that you'll get more expanded use out of. The HP 2025 touchscreen laptop is a super versatile option that can fulfill a lot of the needs of pretty much anyone, be it you're a student, small business owner, or just someone who wants to go online with something other than their phone. HP has its 15.6-inch touchscreen laptop with Windows 11 Pro installed on sale for 73% off, bringing it down from its listed price of $2,400 to just $650. Additionally, it comes with a lifetime license to Microsoft Office Professional Plus, a USB hub, 128GB USB stick, mouse, and mobile phone magnet holder. See at Amazon Immersive Touchscreen Experience The HP 2025 touchscreen laptop is equipped with an Intel 13th generation core i3 processor which delivers powerful performance perfect for both work and play at speeds of up to 4.5GHz. It comes with 32GB of RAM and a full 1TB of storage on its SSD. It's designed for professional use for anyone who needs lightning-fast data access, seamless multitasking, and frequently uses demanding software applications. The laptop has a display size of 15.6 inches, supporting HD with its resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels. The LED backlit screen is anti-glare so it remains comfortable to use in any environment for long hours of either hard work or entertainment. It's also a touchscreen which allows you to use your laptop like it's a tablet. And I'll say this… touchscreen is absolutely the optimal way to play Balatro and everyone should be playing Balatro. The laptop is sleek and lightweight, making it easy to travel with or to take to a local coffee shop to get work done there. The HP 2025 laptop is pre-installed with Windows 11 Pro, which features a redesigned Start menu, OneDrive integration, multiple personalized desktops, new keyboard shortcuts, and more. Universal Search is a new feature now found on the the taskbar across the bottom of your screen. You can literally search for anything. Whether you're looking for specific files or apps on your computer or need recipes or maps on the web, it will look through all systems to find exactly what you need. Contacts, notes from class—you name it. All with one search bar. Right now, you can save a crazy 73% on the Inspiron laptop with Windows 11 Pro from HP. That brings the price down from $2,400 to just $650—a $1,750 savings. Before getting too excited, it's never listed at that full price. However, this is still a reasonable price to pay for the HP 2025 laptop with a 1TB SSD and 32GB of RAM. You also get a lifetime license to the full Microsoft Office suite. See at Amazon
Digital Trends
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Digital Trends
3 new Game Pass games to play this weekend (May 30-June 1)
The month of May isn't ending quietly. Elden Ring: Nightreign is sneaking in right at the buzzer to give souls fans a new way to engage with that hit formula in a co-op setting. Of course, we understand that style of game isn't for everyone and that leaves a bit of an awkward gap before the next upcoming Xbox game. As impressive as the first wave of Game Pass games was, the second is arguably better. Not only are we treated to one of the best games of 2024, but two day one additions. This is the perfect weekend to get a little weird and try out some unique games that might only be possible thanks to Game Pass. Let's kick off the summer on the right foot with my personal recommendations for what you should be playing this weekend. Metaphor: ReFantazio 2024 was an incredibly competitive year for awards. Astro Bot and Balatro took home tons of well-earned trophies, but it would be a crime to ignore just how good Metaphor: Refantazio is. It is clear as day this is coming from the Persona team just based on the core combat system, music, and incredible UI work, but evolves the formula in some meaningful ways. There's a light bit of real-time combat you can use here, but the flexibility in the Archetype system begs you to break the entire thing wide open. If you enjoyed crafting overpowered builds in Clair Obscur, this game will scratch that same itch. Wrap the entire thing up in an incredibly relevant and heartfelt story and this is easily one of the best JRPGs to come out in the last decade. Recommended Videos Metaphor: Refantazio is available now on PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. To a T If you like the oddball style of the Katamari games, To a T is the next project from Keita Takahashi. This time the game is a narrative adventure centering around a young boy who is stuck in a T-pose; a term used in 3D modeling for a character's default stance is standing straight up with both arms outstretched in a T stance. Described as a coming-of-age story, you will go through daily tasks to experience the difficulty of doing simple things like brushing your teeth when locked in that pose. Your dog will be your main companion and help you as you go through life in a small town. It sounds absurd, and likely is to a degree, but it has a lot of heart and a great message about living with a disability. To a T is available now on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. Spray Paint Simulator Look, we get it, it feels like there's a simulation game for everything at this point. We can't say all of them are winners, but Spray Paint Simulator has captured my attention as a great melding of the zen-like qualities of Powerwash Simulator but with more creative freedom. Again, the premise is in the title here; you're entering levels to spray paint them to restore various locations and objects. The range of missions is great, from normal things like homes to giant robots. You will unlock more tools as you go and build up your business, but can also just jump into the Free Spray mode if you just feel like letting your creativity fly without any restraints. Spray Paint Simulator is available now on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, and PC.
Metro
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Monster Train 2 review – off the rails Slay The Spire
One of the few deck-building roguelites to challenge Slay The Spire gets an impressive sequel that may be the most fun you can have on a locomotive. Roguelike deck builders are having a moment. A search for them on Steam will net you an astounding 861 results, making it a category that's quite a bit more populous than you might imagine. Despite the high number of matches though, it's a genre that's been made famous primarily by just two games: Slay The Spire and Balatro. The latter is regularly cited as one of the best games of 2024 but it's the former whose content and style is closest to Monster Train, which was originally released in 2020. It was a game about defending the frozen wastes of Hell against the invading forces of Heaven. In its sequel, Heaven and Hell are forced to unite to face the Titans, a new threat that could lead to the destruction of both realms. None of that's especially relevant to the gameplay, which once again takes place onboard a quadruple-decker train. The turn-based battles are waged across the bottom three floors, with the train's penthouse reserved for the pyre, the burning heart of your train, which in a mechanic borrowed from tower defence games is effectively the train's power bar. Your job is to stop invaders reaching the pyre, because if they do and its health gets down to zero, it's game over. In the original that often meant stacking your third floor with the strongest troops you had available. The sequel prefers you to mount a defence across all three floors and to encourage that, there are now room-level upgrades available, that for example will increase valour – the stat that equates to armour – to all troops, or reduce the cost of magic, making different floors more suitable for certain troop types. This adds a fresh layer of tactics and feeds into the meta game of deck building. There are now a total of 10 different clans to choose from, with each run featuring a main and support clan, both of whose cards you'll have available as you play. Completing runs earns experience for the clans you're using and as each one levels up, you'll slowly gain access to more of their cards. Naturally, the game tends to gate the more powerful ones behind those higher experience levels. All of this reinforces the fact that Monster Train 2 is very much a roguelite, your power growing as you unlock new cards and spells, as well as adding permanent upgrades that make each subsequent run easier. It also adds a pleasing sense of progress, which persists even after a run that otherwise went badly. Plus, you'll still earn experience and potentially extra cards or magic items to assist in future escapades. As with all roguelites, there's a powerful sense of repetition, with the entirety of the game's action taking place in the relatively claustrophobic confines of your train's four storeys. It's fair to say though, that the random elements in runs tend to make each one feel quite different from the last, especially as you start to unlock more clans and the extra cards they offer. To add further variation, there are challenges, which you play on a grid, with the next one opening up once you've beaten its nearest neighbour. Challenge levels constrain you to the use of specific clans and each comes with 'mutators' that add extra conditions, like reducing the cost of spells or giving certain card types extra health or attack strength. You can also change your pyre heart. Each heart has different attack and defence stats, which come into play when the top floor of your train is invaded by Titans, and each comes with a special ability. These can be anything from reduced prices at the shops you encounter after each level, to more esoteric benefits, like the power to heal the front unit on each floor of the train once per battle. This adds to the interconnected network of effects that stack to create some truly formidable stat increases, even if it's not easy remembering what's active and how each of those different buffs interacts with the others. Obviously, the game automatically calculates all the bonuses on each attack and defensive play you make, but it can be tricky keeping all those layered effects in mind when you're placing cards or activating spells. More Trending It's also important to know which bosses you'll be dealing with and to plan accordingly. There's only so much you can do when you're always partly dependent on the luck of which cards you draw, but you can still make sure you have troops available that act to counter bosses' special abilities, hopefully containing them before they can overwhelm your defences. There's notably more focus on character and story in this sequel, the plot playing out in a series of text-only encounters triggered when you return to the game's hub between runs. Clearly inspired by Hades, it doesn't quite equal that game's wit and personality, but it's nice to see additional elements fleshing out the game beyond its core, quick fire turn-based combat. If you loved the original Monster Train, this goes further than simply delivering more of the same. There's fresh new strategic options and combinations of troops and spells to experiment with, as well as cards from the game's new clans to unlock and slot into your deck. There are many games that try to copy Slay The Spire and yet very few that come close to its quality, but Monster Train 2 is certainly on track in that regard. In Short: An effective expansion of the original's deck-building roguelite structure, that adds lots of enjoyable new features and becomes one of the few games to rival Slay The Spire. Pros: Pacy and easy to understand, with complexity layered in as you progress. Lots of fresh systems and mechanics to try out, and as immaculately well balanced as ever. Cons: Eventually gets repetitive. Using a controller isn't as intuitive as a mouse or touchscreen. Some runs can be severely compromised by random factors beyond your control. Score: 8/10 Formats: PlayStation 5 (reviewed), Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S, and PCPrice: £19.99Publisher: Good Shepherd EntertainmentDeveloper: Shiny ShoeRelease Date: 21st May 2025 Age Rating: 7 Email gamecentral@ leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter, and sign-up to our newsletter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader's Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. MORE: Games Inbox: Are video games too expensive on console and PC? MORE: Assassin's Creed Shadows co-op mode coming in 2026 after DLC claims report MORE: Nintendo Switch 2 UK pre-orders are back in stock – here's where to buy it
Gizmodo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Gizmodo
Dell's 16-Inch Touchscreen Laptop Drops From $3,400 to $1,000, That's 71% Off With Microsoft Office Included
When was the last time you upgraded your laptop? If you're still working off of a piece of ten year old tech, it may be time to start looking for a replacement. The Dell Inspiron 16 laptop is a super versatile option that can fulfill a lot of the needs of pretty much anyone, be it you're a student, small business owner, or just someone who wants to go online with something other than their phone. Dell has its Inspiron 16 touchscreen laptop with Windows 11 Pro installed on sale for 71% off, bringing it down from its listed price of $3,400 to just $1,000. Additionally, it comes with a lifetime license to Microsoft Office. See at Amazon Immersive Touchscreen Experience The Dell Inspiron 16 is equipped with a AMD Ryzen 7 8840U processor which delivers powerful performance perfect for both work and play. It comes with 32GB of RAM and a full 1TB of storage on its SSD. It's designed for professional use for anyone who needs lightning-fast data access, seamless multitasking, and frequently uses demanding software applications. The laptop has a display size of 16 inches, supporting Full HD with its resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. The LED backlit screen is anti-glare so it remains comfortable to use in any environment for long hours of either hard work or entertainment. It's also a touchscreen which allows you to use your laptop like it's a tablet. And I'll say this… touchscreen is absolutely the optimal way to play Balatro and everyone should be playing Balatro. The laptop is sleek and lightweight, making it easy to travel with or to take to a local coffee shop to get work done there. The Dell Inspiron 16 laptop is pre-installed with Windows 11 Pro, which features a redesigned Start menu, OneDrive integration, multiple personalized desktops, new keyboard shortcuts, and more. Universal Search is a new feature now found on the the taskbar across the bottom of your screen. You can literally search for anything. Whether you're looking for specific files or apps on your computer or need recipes or maps on the web, it will look through all systems to find exactly what you need. Contacts, notes from class—you name it. All with one search bar. Right now, you can save a crazy 71% on the Inspiron laptop with Windows 11 Pro from Dell. That brings the price down from $3,400 to just $1,000—a $2,400 savings. Before getting too excited, it's never listed at that full price. However, this is still a reasonable price to pay for the Dell Inspiron 16 with a 1TB SSD and 32GB of RAM. You also get a lifetime license to the full Microsoft Office suite. See at Amazon
Engadget
10-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Engadget
Spreadsheet puzzles, metatextual platformers and other new indie games worth checking out
Welcome to our first weekly roundup of indie game releases, news and trailers. It's impossible to cover the indie scene completely comprehensively — dozens of games hit Steam alone every single day. There are so many indies we'd love to highlight, but we don't have the time to cover each individually. Our goal is to shine a spotlight on the games that grab our attention each week, one way or another. (Feel free to email me about your projects too!) This time around, we've got a spreadsheet-based puzzler, a pirate hack-and-slash title that was first announced 22 years ago, two solo-developed games and more. Comedy puzzle game SpreadCheat has an early '90s/Windows 3.11 vibe and a Clippy-style assistant that definitely won't get annoying. Along with trying to Excel (I'm so sorry) at bending the rules of spreadsheets to solve brainteasers, you can venture into side quests like cleaning up viruses. I'm not sure I'll try this one myself, as math has no place in my video games (except for you, Balatro , you're cool), but the concept is intriguing. SpreadCheat is out now on Steam. 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. From solo developer Andrea Cavuoto, Spear sounds a little like the movie Free Guy in that it's up to a non-player character to save the day. After a critical error deletes the hero of his game and threatens the existence of his reality, an NPC named Default has to step up. Default uses a makeshift spear to solve puzzles, battle foes and traverse the environment in this action-platformer. Spear is out now on Steam. 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. Captain Blood is very much a throwback. It's a hack-and-slash game that looks straight out of the PS2 era (albeit with more refined visuals). Perhaps that shouldn't be a surprise, since the game was first announced in 2003. In fact, the original pitch was to make an old-school God of War, but with pirates. After several reboots, the game was canceled when the original publisher went bust. Legal issues prevented the developers from releasing the game themselves. SNEG later secured the rights to Captain Blood and over two decades since it was revealed, the game has formally been released. It's had mixed reviews, but I'd like to check it out all the same. That title is pretty great too. Captain Blood is out now on Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Windows PC and macOS. We covered this one a few weeks ago, but here's a quick reminder that Geoguessr is now on Steam in early access. The Steam version was supposed to arrive in April, but it landed on May 8 instead. Nevertheless, it should now be easier for you to play the geography guessing game on Steam Deck. Elsewhere, Among Us 3D is out, while the super-charming Little Kitty, Big City has made its way to PS4 and PS5. 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. Another game from a solo developer, Zefyr: A Thief's Melody looks like a blend of The Legend of Zelda: Windwaker , '90s Final Fantasy and one of my favorite games of the last few years, Tchia . Mathias Fontmarty says it took 12 years to make this stealth adventure. Who wouldn't want to explore a world on the back of a giant turtle? Zefyr will hit Steam on June 2. 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. It's always worth keeping an eye on whatever Devolver Digital is up to and this past week, the publisher revealed Botsu . It feels like another spin on Fall Guys , albeit with voxel-based robots. Botsu , which is from developer Peculiar Pixels, is slated to arrive between July and September. A Steam demo is available now. 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. However you slice it, virtual reality is still a relatively niche market, so it's always welcome to see games make the transition from VR to 2D formats (still side-eyeing you, Half-Life: Alyx ) and perhaps find a wider audience. Survios is (Xeno)morphing Alien: Rogue Incursion into a PS5 and PC game. The studio says the flattened version, Alien: Rogue Incursion Evolved Edition, will have full HD, 60 fps gameplay. It's set to arrive on September 30.
