Latest news with #wizard
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Mandrake – the rural life sim that lets you befriend a river and eavesdrop on the dead
With dulcet Welsh tones, an actor bearing an uncanny aural resemblance to Michael Sheen introduces players to the world of Mandrake. The village of Chandley is 'small' and 'complicated', he says warmly. 'Everyone's got their own story.' The action cuts between cosy, wooden cottages and a moss-covered forest filled with folkloric creatures. We see the protagonist, a horticulturist wizard 'steeped in the green and growing arts', returning home and tending to an abundance of vegetables. Some you'll find in your local supermarket; others are of a decidedly more magical variety. As a rural life simulation, Mandrake is odder and more beguiling than most. It possesses the same undeniable allure as classics such as Harvest Moon and Stardew Valley, inviting players to slip into the seasonal flow of crop cultivation, countryside exploration and conversations with suspiciously cheerful townsfolk. But there's more going on here: lush, painterly visuals to start. And should you tire of tilling the soil, you might wander off the beaten path of this mythical, Brythonic-inspired land, perhaps eavesdropping on the dead or even befriending a river. Weirdness is to be expected in a new release from Failbetter, the boutique UK studio behind acclaimed titles Fallen London and Sunless Sea. Set in a shared fictional universe, that narrative RPG and moody survival experience, respectively, were masterclasses in evocative prose and captivating world-building. London became 'Fallen', submerged in a darkened underworld called the Neath, newly situated on the coast of a vast, black ocean – the so-called Unterzee. These games, horrifying and hilarious in nearly equal measure, were rooted in a deft sense of place. Mandrake foregrounds location in a friendlier, more accessible way. The beauty of the rural life sim, as game director Adam Myers sees it, is that 'you're able to zoom in on one community over time'. Across days, nights and seasons, the player bears witness to a changing place and its people. You go from a sense of total unfamiliarity, says Myers, to having developed a deep knowledge of the environment. But Mandrake aims to eschew the genre's grindier tendencies – cultivating acres of wheat and making multiple daily meals. 'It isn't optimal to grow your crops in large rectangular monocultures,' says Myers. 'And you're not doing the thing where you click 30 times and carry a banquet's worth of ratatouille around in your inventory at all times.' Gift-giving, the typical way players ingratiate themselves with their NPC neighbours in this genre, arrives with a wrinkle. Players cannot just hand out presents randomly ('That's a little awkward,' laughs Myers). Instead, they must declare why they are handing out their offerings. This forms the start of a relationship based on obligation. The aim is to not just replicate the pattern seen in other rural life sims, but 'complicate' it, both through thoughtful mechanics and an unusual set of influences. Myers talks enthusiastically of anthropology, British folklore and esoteric traditions such as Renaissance alchemy. The world is filled with quirky and mysterious lore: it is inhabited by 'quasi-monastic organisations' and despite the Welsh influences in the landscape, there is an eerie absence of sheep. The comforting rituals of the rural life sim seem to function as a Trojan horse for Failbetter's peculiar and offbeat tendencies. 'One of the error patterns we've fallen into in the past is going too weird, too fast, too soon,' admits Myers. 'We need to give players more stable ground to stand on so they can make sense of everything – put the pieces together to properly appreciate what's unusual and strange.' Ominous creatures undoubtedly lurk in these ancient woods; villagers are likely to conceal many portentous secrets. It's reasonable to assume that Myers's and his colleagues' taste for the macabre surfaces in some manner. But there's a crucial difference, a concession, perhaps, to maintaining what he hopes is a welcoming and 'emotionally gentle' tone: unlike some of Failbetter's other games, death doesn't lurk quite so close to your shoulder. Or as Myers puts it, 'you probably won't be able to get yourself eaten in this one'. Mandrake is in development for PC with console support planned. Release date is TBC
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
I'd hit rock bottom after heartache and betrayal, says LIZ JONES. Then I discovered numerology and it transformed everything - here's how you can do it too. Don't scoff until you read this
Over the past few years, I've consulted a witch, given a lock of hair to a wizard, 'met' my guardian angel, manifested like mad, learned to meditate and hug trees, been submerged in a barrel of ice, visited a silent retreat and consulted a psychic, hypnotherapist and relationship counsellor. All in the name of attempting to combat my low self-esteem, crippling anxiety, lovelessness and resulting unhappiness. Not one helped: I was still waking at 4am, negative thoughts spiralling.
The Guardian
01-07-2025
- General
- The Guardian
My petty gripe: yes, hands can make hearts. Now get off Instagram and do something useful
For millennia human beings have had hands. Oh, what things we have done with these hands! We have woven great tapestries. We have deftly saved the lives of our fellow beings. We have written works of such enduring power they have transcended the centuries. The Sistine Chapel? Hands. Open heart surgery? Also hands. Generation after generation, people have been born with hands, used hands casually, without even thinking about it, like they were no big deal. And everything was fine with hands until, what, 10 years ago, some wizard realised you could rest the top third of your opposing fingers together while pressing the pads of yours thumbs together below and make an approximation of the shape of a heart. And that's all dickheads have been doing with hands ever since. Who was that person? Was it an accident, or had they been experimenting with using all their body parts to make the shape of a heart? Had they been thinking: if only there was a trite and annoying way people could signal their affection for each other? We hardly have any of those! And when they stumbled upon this revelation, did they run out into the streets, hands aloft, shouting (weeping, maybe?) to all who could hear: LOOK, HANDS MAKE HEARTS! HANDS MAKE HEARTS! And those who came, did they slowly and in awe bring their own hands together in a heart shape, wondering how they had failed to see this before? And is that when they put it on Instagram? I don't have the answers, dear reader. Could we be living in end times when all human experience is flattened, rendered meaningless and fed into the insatiable algorithms that control our declining culture? I don't know! What I do know is this gesture is stupid. What I do know is this is a grave misuse of hands, which are for tapestries, surgeries and chapel decoration (see above). I also know that in ancient Greece, what we now consider the OK sign – the connecting of the thumb and forefinger – was used to denote love, a mimic of kissing of lips. Imagine how annoying that was, all over the agora, people doing little kissy love fingers! So stupid heart hands will go one day, too. I just have to wait for our civilisation to collapse. (Not long now.)
The Guardian
23-06-2025
- Science
- The Guardian
Did you solve it? Is 'yes' the answer to this question?
Earlier today I set five logic problems. Here they are again with solutions. A questionable planet A certain planet is inhabited by two kinds of alien, Cricks and Goops. Both types of alien – who are physically identical – have a strange way of speaking. They only ask questions. Cricks can only ask questions whose answer is yes, while Goops can only ask questions whose answer is no. 1. Could you meet a person inhabiting this planet who asks you 'Am I a Goop?' Solution No If the answer is 'no', then the person must be a Goop because only Goops ask such questions. But if the answer is 'no', they are stating they are not a Goop. There's a contradiction so this situation is impossible. If the answer is 'yes', they are a Crick. But if the answer is 'yes', they are a Goop! This situation is also impossible. 2. You meet two friends, Katja and Anja. Katja once asked Anja 'Is at least one of us a Goop?' What are Katja and Anja? Solution Katja is a Crick and Anja a Goop. Say the answer is 'no', then Katja is a Goop. But if it is not the case that at least one is a Goop, none are Goops, and there is a contradiction. So this is impossible. So the answer is 'yes', which means Katja is a Crick. And if one of them is a Goop, it must be Katja. 3. You overhear a conversation between two people. One of them asks 'Am I the kind that could ask you whether there is a wizard on this planet?'. What are the chances that there is a wizard on the planet? Solution There is a wizard on the planet If the answer to this question is yes, then the questioner is a Crick and if they can ask whether there is a wizard on the planet, that means there is a wizard on the planet, as Cricks can only ask questions to which the answer is yes. If the answer to this question is no, then the questioner is a Goop. If they couldn't ask you whether there is a wizard on the planet, this means there must be a wizard on the planet, as Goops can ask questions only if their answer would be no. As they can't ask this one, the answer must be yes. Note: the question is of the form 'Am I the kind that can ask you whether X', and X is true whichever alien type asks it. This insight will be used in the next question. 4. You later learn that there is exactly one wizard on this planet of Cricks and Goops. You would like to find out who that is. You meet an alien called Andrew. He asks you 'Am I the kind that could ask whether I am not the wizard?' Do you have enough information to tell for sure who the wizard is by now? Solution No The quertion is of the form 'Am I the kind that can ask you whether X'. So we know X is true, that is, we know that Andrew is not the wizard. But we still dont know who is the wizard. 5. A strange alien asks you 'Am I the kind who could ask you the question I am now asking?' What can be said about her? Solution She is a Crick Suppose the answer is no. This would mean that the strange alien is a Goop. But it also means she can't ask the question she is asking. Not only does this not make sense (as she is asking it...) but also this implies the answer to the question is yes, as she can't ask it and she is a Goop, which is a direct suppose the answer to the question is yes. Therefore she is a Crick and she can ask the question she is asking, so the answer to the question is yes. Everything checks out. Thanks to We Solve Problems who devised these puzzles. WSP runs free maths circles for secondary school students (UK years 7 to 11) in nine cities in the UK. If you want to sign up for the next academic year you can apply here. I've been setting a puzzle here on alternate Mondays since 2015. I'm always on the look-out for great puzzles. If you would like to suggest one, email me.
The Guardian
23-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Can you solve it? Is 'yes' the answer to this question?
For readers who answered 'yes', you are correct. For readers who answered 'no', you are also correct. (I hope no one answered 'maybe'.) A similar logic applies to today's puzzles. Am I the kind of person who would set you such a challenge? Absolutely! A questionable planet A certain planet is inhabited by two kinds of alien, Cricks and Goops. Both types of alien – who are physically identical – have a strange way of speaking. They only ask questions. Cricks can only ask questions whose answer is yes, while Goops can only ask questions whose answer is no. 1. Could you meet a person inhabiting this planet who asks you 'Am I a Goop?' 2. You meet two friends, Katja and Anja. Katja once asked Anja 'Is at least one of us a Goop?' What are Katja and Anja? 3. You overhear a conversation between two people. One of them asks 'Am I the kind that could ask you whether there is a wizard on this planet?'. What are the chances that there is a wizard on the planet? 4. You later learn that there is exactly one wizard on this planet of Cricks and Goops. You would like to find out who that is. You meet an alien called Andrew. He asks you 'Am I the kind that could ask whether I am not the wizard?' Do you have enough information to tell for sure who the wizard is by now? 5. A strange alien asks you 'Am I the kind who could ask you the question I am now asking?' What can be said about her? I'll be back at 5pm UK with the solutions. PLEASE NO SPOILERS. Instead ask questions in the comments that are true whether or not the answers are yes or no. Today's puzzles were devised by We Solve Problems, a fantastic charity that describes itself as a 'social club for maths-loving kids.' WSP runs free maths circles for secondary school students (UK years 7 to 11) in nine cities in the UK. If you want to sign up for the next academic year you can apply here. We Solve Problems also organises 'maths battles', which I wrote about in 2022 I've been setting a puzzle here on alternate Mondays since 2015. I'm always on the look-out for great puzzles. If you would like to suggest one, email me.
