Here's a fun little question for you. Go through your Steam library and see what games you have every achievement for. Do you have one for every letter of the alphabet?
Here's a fun project I worked on to give that answer a bit of flair. In my library, I have the following:
As any Steam user does, this also comes with a shitload of games in my backlog, and maybe I'll be able to clear (almost) all of the letters this way.
Next week is going to be insane. This whole last part of the year is just so packed with so much stuff. 2026 is a wild year in gaming and I just wish I had infinite time to enjoy playing games.
This is so beautiful! I love the little references inside the set as well. LEGO has been going so hard lately in the gaming space and I wish I had the space to dedicate to having a whole wall of their art.
Normally, Id just not bother commenting on these but theres just no way to describe this other than an unforced shot to the foot. Then again, blizz nowadays seem to favour own goals so much its perhaps unsurprising.
Because lets ask the question: Who the fuck even asked for this balance patch? After enduring a mess of shamans, hunters and rogues playing the same shit over and over, we finally came to a state of hearthstone thats at least more diverse than it has been since the start of the expansion, and here comes team5 to gut it, answering the eternal question of why we cant ever have nice things.
Well, quest mage would likely still exist but stay farther in the periphery, while quest hunter basically just got murdered because the only payoff to the quest itself got removed, and in its place comes two cards no one ever plays. Again, you got to question what the whole point of this is for? Is it so we move on to the class minisets thats predictably doing fuck all? Why not design your cards better next time.
At least spiderling got a tiny nerf that likely doenst gut the deck, and I pray it doesnt because attack druid is currently the only deck I care to play any amount of time with, and if that goes away I might as well just wait until the coming of the next expansion.
The fact that it took this long for a Gran Turismo game to have Sportsland Sugo in it is really weird. It's a pretty iconic track of Japanese motorsports (maybe not as much as Suzuka, Fuji, or Tsukuba, but I'd say moreso than Autopolis), and being a Japanese company, they've always leaned into Japanese motorsports quite hard.
There was a teaser for the patch yesterday. Normally, we'd make an article for those, but our program for making thumbnails has been acting strangely on my end (though I've seen many people say the same thing, so I know it's not just me), so we couldn't get it up on time.
August was not filled with a lot of gaming for myself, though not mad about that!
I finished Path of Exile 2, or at least, what I wanted to do with POE2. I'm looking forward to the 0.5.5 drop this week which is adding in some great changes and I can climb right back up. I never did finish my mega essay on 0.5.0, I should really push to get it out before Friday.
I logged into World of Warcraft and then logged out of World of Warcraft. I'm very curious whats going to go down at BlizzCon for it with it having 2 what's next panels on day 1; It's definitely Classic+ (Camelot) and I'm kinda so down for that.
I redownloaded GTA5 and started a fresh run through the campaign. The GTA6 trailer got me so hyped for November I had to jump in to GTA5 again. It's amazing how good that game still is to this day and the improvements in the enhanced edition are nice.
Played some Runescape Dragonwilds and I am looking forward to the Sept 15th 1.0 drop for it.
--
Now, my actual plans for September? Too many.
Path of Exile 2 on September 4 is where my heart is.
Valheim 1.0 is dropping September 9... I'd love to play but I don't think I'll have a chance.
Dragonwilds on September 15 is hopefully going to be played this month. My duo has been quite busy though so I have no idea if he'll have time immediately. He said he was going to crossplay with me so he could sit on his couch with game pass. We'll see how that one goes lol.
I'd like to continue my GTA5 campaign.
I know Blizzard is going to get me to login to WoW for some reason after BlizzCon or during BlizzCon. So that's probably on the list too.
Minecraft Dungeons II at the end of the month is a maybe. The first one was a ton of fun!
I also want to dive into Mario Kart 8 with the new update to go and get some online play in. It's been a while. I haven't really had a solid play session since a break-up so not sure if I want to hit that yet.
This month is going to be absolutely mental though and I don't expect to play half the games on this list. I'll be lucky to complete the Path of Exile 2 campaign and run some maps. There is just way too much going on and while I love being busy, sometimes you just want to be a potato and play some games.
I just have a tab open while I'm doing other stuff, and I pop over to gather every 10 minutes or so. It's probably adding up to an unhealthy amount of screen time, but hey, this settlement ain't gonna build itself!
The nicest part of this is the 1-coin speed boost as a baseline. Not only is this going to ruin every world record set but it is going to throw off everyone for a moment which is just hilarious. MK8 is very much a muscle memory game for myself and I know many others so small changes in how the game plays can have large effects.
Quick to adapt, of course, but patches like this are so welcome!
I am curious about the shortened load times though. I'm sure we've already got some great data showing what the increases are, but absolutely anything would be welcome. That's one thing MK World has going for it: the load times are fantastic. More karting less loading is A+.
This puzzle is unsolvable! I found all 14 words (one of which was repeated) and it says 13/14 found.
What Are You Playing? - Stellar September 2026
Here's a fun little question for you. Go through your Steam library and see what games you have every achievement for. Do you have one for every letter of the alphabet?
Here's a fun project I worked on to give that answer a bit of flair. In my library, I have the following:
As any Steam user does, this also comes with a shitload of games in my backlog, and maybe I'll be able to clear (almost) all of the letters this way.
Two Nintendo Directs Confirmed for Next Week - Zelda 40 Gets Its Own
LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Next week is going to be insane. This whole last part of the year is just so packed with so much stuff. 2026 is a wild year in gaming and I just wish I had infinite time to enjoy playing games.
Xbox Is Adding Monthly Cloud Gaming Hour Limits to Game Pass in November
First time I read this, I thought it wasn't bad. Yeah, sucks for Essential, but Ultimate subscribers aren't gonna play 15 hours per day most days.
Then I realised it's per month. What the hell is Xbox smoking?! For context, GeForce Now is offering 100 hours per month.
Damn, I thought my time was pretty good, but y'all do this at lightning speed.
PlayStation Collaborates With LEGO On New PlayStation 1 Set - Available October 4
This is so beautiful! I love the little references inside the set as well. LEGO has been going so hard lately in the gaming space and I wish I had the space to dedicate to having a whole wall of their art.
Hearthstone Patch 36.4.2 Rolls Out Today - Balance Changes to Standard and Battlegrounds, Arena Update
Normally, Id just not bother commenting on these but theres just no way to describe this other than an unforced shot to the foot. Then again, blizz nowadays seem to favour own goals so much its perhaps unsurprising.
Because lets ask the question: Who the fuck even asked for this balance patch? After enduring a mess of shamans, hunters and rogues playing the same shit over and over, we finally came to a state of hearthstone thats at least more diverse than it has been since the start of the expansion, and here comes team5 to gut it, answering the eternal question of why we cant ever have nice things.
Well, quest mage would likely still exist but stay farther in the periphery, while quest hunter basically just got murdered because the only payoff to the quest itself got removed, and in its place comes two cards no one ever plays. Again, you got to question what the whole point of this is for? Is it so we move on to the class minisets thats predictably doing fuck all? Why not design your cards better next time.
At least spiderling got a tiny nerf that likely doenst gut the deck, and I pray it doesnt because attack druid is currently the only deck I care to play any amount of time with, and if that goes away I might as well just wait until the coming of the next expansion.
Gran Turismo 7 Spec IV Update Announced - Two New Circuits, Twelve New Cars, More Features to be Announced in October
The fact that it took this long for a Gran Turismo game to have Sportsland Sugo in it is really weird. It's a pretty iconic track of Japanese motorsports (maybe not as much as Suzuka, Fuji, or Tsukuba, but I'd say moreso than Autopolis), and being a Japanese company, they've always leaned into Japanese motorsports quite hard.
Hearthstone Patch 36.4.2 Rolls Out Today - Balance Changes to Standard and Battlegrounds, Arena Update
There was a teaser for the patch yesterday. Normally, we'd make an article for those, but our program for making thumbnails has been acting strangely on my end (though I've seen many people say the same thing, so I know it's not just me), so we couldn't get it up on time.
Our apologies.
Breaking Ground
My dopamine levels must be through the roof!
Maneater 2 is coming to a waterpark near you in 2027
Only 2 just now? I know I saw the first game a while back and kinda assumed they already mad few more installments :)
What Are You Playing? - Stellar September 2026
August was not filled with a lot of gaming for myself, though not mad about that!
I finished Path of Exile 2, or at least, what I wanted to do with POE2. I'm looking forward to the 0.5.5 drop this week which is adding in some great changes and I can climb right back up. I never did finish my mega essay on 0.5.0, I should really push to get it out before Friday.
I logged into World of Warcraft and then logged out of World of Warcraft. I'm very curious whats going to go down at BlizzCon for it with it having 2 what's next panels on day 1; It's definitely Classic+ (Camelot) and I'm kinda so down for that.
I redownloaded GTA5 and started a fresh run through the campaign. The GTA6 trailer got me so hyped for November I had to jump in to GTA5 again. It's amazing how good that game still is to this day and the improvements in the enhanced edition are nice.
Played some Runescape Dragonwilds and I am looking forward to the Sept 15th 1.0 drop for it.
--
Now, my actual plans for September? Too many.
Path of Exile 2 on September 4 is where my heart is.
Valheim 1.0 is dropping September 9... I'd love to play but I don't think I'll have a chance.
Dragonwilds on September 15 is hopefully going to be played this month. My duo has been quite busy though so I have no idea if he'll have time immediately. He said he was going to crossplay with me so he could sit on his couch with game pass. We'll see how that one goes lol.
I'd like to continue my GTA5 campaign.
I know Blizzard is going to get me to login to WoW for some reason after BlizzCon or during BlizzCon. So that's probably on the list too.
Minecraft Dungeons II at the end of the month is a maybe. The first one was a ton of fun!
I also want to dive into Mario Kart 8 with the new update to go and get some online play in. It's been a while. I haven't really had a solid play session since a break-up so not sure if I want to hit that yet.
This month is going to be absolutely mental though and I don't expect to play half the games on this list. I'll be lucky to complete the Path of Exile 2 campaign and run some maps. There is just way too much going on and while I love being busy, sometimes you just want to be a potato and play some games.
Breaking Ground
I'd do the same, except I completely forget to check back, sometimes for hours at a time.
Breaking Ground
Brain likes to see the number go up, I guess :))
Breaking Ground
I just have a tab open while I'm doing other stuff, and I pop over to gather every 10 minutes or so. It's probably adding up to an unhealthy amount of screen time, but hey, this settlement ain't gonna build itself!
Breaking Ground
Holy crap, you've leveled up quickly.
Nintendo Adds 8-Player Split-Screen to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on the Switch 2
The nicest part of this is the 1-coin speed boost as a baseline. Not only is this going to ruin every world record set but it is going to throw off everyone for a moment which is just hilarious. MK8 is very much a muscle memory game for myself and I know many others so small changes in how the game plays can have large effects.
Quick to adapt, of course, but patches like this are so welcome!
I am curious about the shortened load times though. I'm sure we've already got some great data showing what the increases are, but absolutely anything would be welcome. That's one thing MK World has going for it: the load times are fantastic. More karting less loading is A+.
Breaking Ground
Thanks. I don't know why this is so damn fun!
What Are You Playing? - Stellar September 2026
The video isn't showing up for some reason. Maybe this will fix it?
EDIT: No it did not.
EDIT 2: Bug fixed!
Breaking Ground
Fixed.
Breaking Ground
Yeah, same here. Will let Flux know.
Breaking Ground
When I try to donate goods, it says "the wagon lost a wheel - try again." What am I missing?
What Are You Playing? - Ambitious August 2026
That Clickbait Tycoon game seems pretty fun.
Steam PvE Survival Crafting Fest Has Started - Save Huge on PvE Survival Crafting Games Until September 7
I've actually had Terraria on my wishlist for quite a while now, and I finally bought it because of this Fest.
Slowly but surely, I'm making my way through obtaining it all... even though it's definitely going to bloat in size.
A Leak of Data from Valve Games Between 2003-2013 Reveals New Development Information
Yeah, and The Cutting Room Floor is going to have an absolute field day with this one.