What’s everyone playing this weekend?

Background: The October Transition

October has arrived, slipping through bedroom windows as a cold draft on crisp mornings. The month's arrival signals the end of a period stuffed with game releases and, for some, weekends of travelling. It also marks the point where cyclists start considering a base layer under the jersey or three-quarter length bib shorts to keep the hamstrings from cramping.

With autumn's chill fully setting in, the team is spending this weekend trying to catch the last warm wisps of September. Here's what everyone is up to.

Development: The Team's Weekend Plans

James is stuck in review NDA territory, unable to share specifics. One small detail is permitted: the game makes a clanging sound. Quite a lot of clanging sounds, in fact. After an hour in, the estimate is around sixty percent clanging sounds thus far.

Edwin isn't entirely sure what he's playing this weekend, but it may involve ass paddles and torpedo launch sequences—hopefully not at the same time.

Jeremy is recommending the Castlevania: Belmont's Curse demo, which is out now and pretty good. Everyone should give it a go, especially those who liked Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, which it reminds him of a lot. He'll probably be replaying it this weekend and/or purchasing other bundles of Castlevania games in the current Steam sale for Halloween. He's had a real hankering to play through the remake of Haunted Castle included in the Dominus Collection particularly.

Mark must remain shushed for now, but readers will certainly learn what's taking up his time this weekend soon. If he gets any time outside of it, he's keen to try out American Truck Sim's new road trip mode.

Callum will probably continue with Star Wars: Zero Company if he gets time to jump into anything. While it's not quite the ultimate Star Wars XCOM game he always dreamed of, it's growing on him—mostly because he's formed a real power couple in his little Rodian sniper, Reebok, who speaks like a gruff geezer from down the pub, and his bright pink R2 unit, TOBi, who zooms around the battlefield firing combat stims at him. They keep trying to shove the main characters at him like, "Look, you can use a Jedi!" But he doesn't think they understand that Reebok and TOBi could've single-handedly brought down the Galactic Empire if they were as canonically strong as his playstyle has made them.

Ollie will be putting together his PC with a new part or two this weekend, and then—assuming all goes smoothly—trying it out with some Wardogs, and perhaps the new Trackmania campaign.

Julian is home for the first weekend in a while. Besides doing some batch cooking and a lot of clothes washing to make sure they're set up for the week, he's going to be playing some Star Wars: Galactic Racer. Well, that is if he can stop playing Scritchy Scratchy, the latest incremental game to suck him in like Charybdis.

Latest Development: An Open Question

The team's weekend plans range from NDA-bound clanging to Star Wars power couples to incremental games that refuse to let go. The common thread is that October's arrival has not been unwelcome—it just makes the covers more welcome and the walk to the kitchen for coffee that much harder.

And you, reader dear, what are you playing this weekend…?