TC Sottek

I really love this piece from my colleague Makena Kelly on the rise of “cozy games”, which both describes a sprawling genre and a cultural movement in gaming. I cut my teeth on a lot of intense FPS and action games growing up, but in recent years I have found a very happy place in games that allow you to have more of a relaxing experience — like wearing a warm sweater during the holidays. I’m happy to see this part of the industry be increasingly rewarded by consumers.

I saw a vague trailer for Knock at The Cabin in theaters a couple months ago and it was scary enough, but the latest trailer adds enough context from the story to amplify the horror substantially. Honestly, though, I’m posting this because we spent a while in Verge chat today talking about how much we stan Dave Bautista.

She’s an Austrian streamer who is currently digging deep in Dwarf Fortress, which loyal readers will know is my recent obsession. I love watching talented people figure out games in ways I can only aspire to.

Inside this Wall Street Journal report on some of the back-and-forth at Netflix around password sharing and product, this little detail really stands out:

I don’t know if it actually ever got off the ground or if I just know a bunch of millennials who wanted to briefly re-live the glory days of AIM away messages, but my Instagram friends have pretty much all stopped posting notes within a week of launch. I don’t know about you, but I just can’t stand having to go to the DMs section to see them.

And there he goes.

Our Apple Watch Ultra video review just went up and it’s a must-see. This was a true team effort that put Apple’s titanium beast through the paces — across land, snow, and sea. It’s the biggest video review we’ve ever done, so be sure to let us know what you think.

Okay I don’t know if I want to do a full diary on my Dwarf Fortress shenanigans, though Verge Entertainment Editor Andrew Webster would surely commission it. Anyway, I finally built a stable colony of dwarves... which has quickly been overrun by human adventurers looking to slay monsters. You just can’t have any fun without humans meddling in affairs.

We’re all for relentless optimism around here, but this soaring 2,000-word essay from Andrew Bosworth (Meta’s head of Reality Labs) — investment! innovation! America!!! — feels a little untethered from the heavy reality of a $1,499 computer on your face. It’s certainly brave to double down on a truly massive investment in the metaverse — but maybe not as brave as being an early adopter: