Use our Wordle help to make sure your Monday starts with a win. There’s a hint for today’s Wordle waiting to give you a pointer if you need it, as well as a selection of general tips that’ll boost every guess on every row, and of course, the answer to the October 14 (1213) puzzle if all else fails. Here’s to the first day of your winning week.
An awkward letter combination early on turned out to be a big help today, greatly limiting the usual word-pool and forcing me to get creative. I’m a little shocked it all turned out so well, and so quickly, if I’m honest. Need to get your Monday off to the same great start, and don’t feel like trusting blind luck? We’ve got a clue for that.
Wordle today: A hint
(Image credit: Josh Wardle)
Wordle today: A hint for Monday, October 14
You’re looking for a word that describes the range or scope of something today, covering everything from colour to emotion. A full run of these would refer to an extensive sweep of options, from one extreme to another.
Is there a double letter in Wordle today?
No, there is not a double letter in today’s puzzle.
Wordle help: 3 tips for beating Wordle every day
If you’ve decided to play Wordle but you’re not sure where to start, I’ll help set you on the path to your first winning streak. Make all your guesses count and become a Wordle winner with these quick tips:
A good opener has a mix of common vowels and consonants.
The answer could contain the same letter, repeated.
Avoid words that include letters you’ve already eliminated.
You’re not racing against the clock so there’s no reason to rush. In fact, it’s not a bad idea to treat the game like a casual newspaper crossword and come back to it later if you’re coming up blank. Sometimes stepping away for a while means you can come back with a fresh perspective.
Today’s Wordle answer
(Image credit: Future)
What is today’s Wordle answer?
Let’s go. The answer to the October 14 (1213) Wordle is GAMUT.
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
Previous Wordle answers
The last 10 Wordle answers
Previous Wordle solutions can help to eliminate guesses for today’s Wordle, as the answer isn’t likely to be repeated. They can also give you some solid ideas for starting words that keep your daily puzzle-solving fresh.
Here are some recent Wordle answers:
October 13: PRONE
October 12: STAIN
October 11: GUSTY
October 10: CARVE
October 9: MOMMY
October 8: JOINT
October 7: FLOUR
October 6: LAGER
October 5: MINER
October 4: TITLE
Learn more about Wordle
(Image credit: Nurphoto via Getty)
There are six rows of five boxes presented to you by Wordle each day, and you’ll need to work out which five-letter word is hiding among them to win the daily puzzle.
Start with a strong word like ALIVE—or any other word with a good mix of common consonants and multiple vowels. You should also avoid starting words with repeating letters, so you don’t waste the chance to confirm or eliminate an extra letter. Once you’ve typed your guess and hit Enter, you’ll see which letters you’ve got right or wrong. If a box turns ⬛️, it means that letter isn’t in the secret word at all. 🟨 means the letter is in the word, but not in that position. 🟩 means you’ve got the right letter in the right spot.
Your second guess should compliment the first, using another “good” word to cover any common letters you might have missed on the first row—just don’t forget to avoid any letter you now know for a fact isn’t present in today’s answer. After that, it’s just a case of using what you’ve learned to narrow your guesses down to the correct word. You have six tries in total and can only use real words and don’t forget letters can repeat too (eg: BOOKS).
If you need any further advice feel free to check out our Wordle tips, and if you’d like to find out which words have already been used you can scroll to the relevant section above.
Originally, Wordle was dreamed up by software engineer Josh Wardle, as a surprise for his partner who loves word games. From there it spread to his family, and finally got released to the public. The word puzzle game has since inspired tons of games like Wordle, refocusing the daily gimmick around music or math or geography. It wasn’t long before Wordle became so popular it was sold to the New York Times for seven figures. Surely it’s only a matter of time before we all solely communicate in tricolor boxes.
Gaming cookbooks have been done, it’s time for a new dawn of hardcover tie-ins. It’s time for videogame children’s books. And I’m not talking about easy money picks like Spyro or Mario, show me some real deal M-rated stuff filtered in such a way that little Billy isn’t scarred for life—he’ll get enough of that on YouTube, Discord, and Roblox.
That’s right, we’re getting The Little Witcher, a children’s book about everybody’s favorite mutated monster hunter and serial sorceress monogamist. The Little Witcher is set to release May 13, 2025, and features illustrations by Giada Carboni with writing by “the creative minds from The Witcher videogames.” I’m curious about the collective credit vs. individual writers from CD Projekt, though it’s possible their names will be attached to individual stories in the book. Even though this is a CDPR joint, I’m reminded of a quote from the series’ original author, Andrzej Sapkowski: “If I got paid, Geralt could appear in a toothpaste commercial for all I care.”
But I don’t think there’s much cause for cynicism here: The Little Witcher looks cute, and it’s hard to imagine those making it aren’t in on the joke. Among other demographics, The Little Witcher is targeted at “Witcher fans raising Little Ciris of their own” and “players looking for a light-hearted twist on their favorite game.” The book’s blurb on Penguin Random House’s website reads:
“With help from Geralt and Ciri’s closest companions—including the motherly magic of Yennefer of Vengerberg and the wisdom of uncle Vesemir—these adorable tales of a non-traditional family will make you laugh, make you sigh, and make you realize that raising a Little Witcher is not that different from raising any other kid. Sure, bedtime stories might include warnings of monsters who fart when surprised, and Geralt might invoke the Witcher Code to get Ciri to brush her teeth or clean her room, but even the formidable White Wolf knows to surrender when it comes to bedtime battles or Afternoon Tea with the toys.“
So it all seems to be good fun, but I was racking my brain trying to think of other M-rated children’s book opportunities. The only one I could muster was “Grand Theft Auto: Nice City.” Is there any juice there?
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
https://gamingarmyunited.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/1728860533_I-can-only-assume-this-upcoming-Witcher-childrens-book-takes.jpg6751200Carlos Pachecohttps://gamingarmyunited.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Website-Logo-300x74.pngCarlos Pacheco2024-10-13 23:09:402024-10-13 23:09:40I can only assume this upcoming Witcher children’s book takes it easy on the folk horror, fantasy racism, and brutal violence I associate with the series
Breeze through today’s Wordle with our help. A quick look over our tips will give your Sunday puzzling a boost, and if you need a little more our hint for the October 13 (1212) game is definitely going to help you out. Need something more to the point? Coming right up. Today’s answer is never more than an easy click away if you need a guaranteed Wordle win.
On the one hand, I can see how the clues I found quickly led me to today’s answer. But on the other, how on earth did I manage to connect the dots like that? The joy of letting Wordle flow through me is pulling a quick win out of thin air. I just wish I knew how I did it.
Wordle today: A hint
(Image credit: Josh Wardle)
Wordle today: A hint for Sunday, October 13
If someone is susceptible to something they might be called this. The same word can also be used to describe someone lying down on a flat surface, face down.
Is there a double letter in Wordle today?
There are no double letters in today’s Wordle.
Wordle help: 3 tips for beating Wordle every day
If you’ve decided to play Wordle but you’re not sure where to start, I’ll help set you on the path to your first winning streak. Make all your guesses count and become a Wordle winner with these quick tips:
A good opener has a mix of common vowels and consonants.
The answer could contain the same letter, repeated.
Avoid words that include letters you’ve already eliminated.
You’re not racing against the clock so there’s no reason to rush. In fact, it’s not a bad idea to treat the game like a casual newspaper crossword and come back to it later if you’re coming up blank. Sometimes stepping away for a while means you can come back with a fresh perspective.
Today’s Wordle answer
(Image credit: Future)
What is today’s Wordle answer?
Enjoy your win. The answer to the October 13 (1212) Wordle is PRONE.
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
Previous Wordle answers
The last 10 Wordle answers
Previous Wordle solutions can help to eliminate guesses for today’s Wordle, as the answer isn’t likely to be repeated. They can also give you some solid ideas for starting words that keep your daily puzzle-solving fresh.
Here are some recent Wordle answers:
October 12: STAIN
October 11: GUSTY
October 10: CARVE
October 9: MOMMY
October 8: JOINT
October 7: FLOUR
October 6: LAGER
October 5: MINER
October 4: TITLE
October 3: WAGON
Learn more about Wordle
(Image credit: Nurphoto via Getty)
There are six rows of five boxes presented to you by Wordle each day, and you’ll need to work out which five-letter word is hiding among them to win the daily puzzle.
Start with a strong word like ALIVE—or any other word with a good mix of common consonants and multiple vowels. You should also avoid starting words with repeating letters, so you don’t waste the chance to confirm or eliminate an extra letter. Once you’ve typed your guess and hit Enter, you’ll see which letters you’ve got right or wrong. If a box turns ⬛️, it means that letter isn’t in the secret word at all. 🟨 means the letter is in the word, but not in that position. 🟩 means you’ve got the right letter in the right spot.
Your second guess should compliment the first, using another “good” word to cover any common letters you might have missed on the first row—just don’t forget to avoid any letter you now know for a fact isn’t present in today’s answer. After that, it’s just a case of using what you’ve learned to narrow your guesses down to the correct word. You have six tries in total and can only use real words and don’t forget letters can repeat too (eg: BOOKS).
If you need any further advice feel free to check out our Wordle tips, and if you’d like to find out which words have already been used you can scroll to the relevant section above.
Originally, Wordle was dreamed up by software engineer Josh Wardle, as a surprise for his partner who loves word games. From there it spread to his family, and finally got released to the public. The word puzzle game has since inspired tons of games like Wordle, refocusing the daily gimmick around music or math or geography. It wasn’t long before Wordle became so popular it was sold to the New York Times for seven figures. Surely it’s only a matter of time before we all solely communicate in tricolor boxes.
While I was waiting to try the demo of 420 Blaze It 2 at PAX Australia, a guy passing mentioned he’d played the original Game of the Year: 420 Blaze It on his school laptop, a sentence designed to make people feel old. “You should absolutely not have been playing it on a school laptop,” one of the devs told him, and he was right.
420 Blaze It was a parody of shooter killcam montages that enjoyed a viral moment in 2014. A free game designed for the 7 Day FPS Jam, it overlaid every hit with more text than a Korean reality show, shouting RESPECKS and DID U SEE IT, presenting gifs of Sanic and that one dancing cartoon dog, and blasting dubstep. A decade later it’s back with an upcoming sequel that has its own Steam page and a demo you can download and try for yourself.
Gameplay Reveal Trailer Game of the Year 420 Blaze It 2 – YouTube
I will do this game the favor of using its full name once and only once: 420BLAZEIT 2: GAME OF THE YEAR -=Dank Dreams and Goated Memes=- [#wow/11 Like and Subscribe] Poggerz Edition. With that out of the way, the game I will just call 420 Blaze It 2 is more of the same only better. There’s a kick activated by pressing F, which it teaches you shortly before putting a door in front of you and saying you can open it by pressing E. I did not press E because I am not a sucker. I kicked that door open instead along with every single one that followed, which I was rewarded for more than once by having a bad guy on the other side of the door be hit by it and sent flying into another guy.
The demo gives you the mission of killing Sherk, an off-model Shrek who lives in a swamp that can be accessed via several corridor shooter corridors full of goons, and which seems to be haunted by a flying blue train called Domas the Dank Engine. As you shoot these goons messages like “rip in kill” and “nice shot m9” badoing around the screen along with Illuminati memes in a way that will make any sufficiently internet-poisoned person cackle like the idiots we are.
Early on I pressed R to reload my gun and expected a joke. Instead, I got a slick and professional Call of Duty-ass reload animation, because some jokes are funnier when they’re painted over a layer of seriousness. Fighting my way through the rooms of 420 Blaze It 2 I switched from the machine gun to the shotgun as I closed distance, threw grenades at enemies in clumps, and timed my reloads to coincide with the moments I was temporarily behind one of the big rocks in Sherk’s swamp. Even with my gun held sideways and the words “2012-rekt” and “losers say wat” accompanying every headshot, 420 Blaze It 2 is an upsettingly competent first-person shooter.
It’s just one that doesn’t expect you to take it seriously, that doesn’t come drenched in tacticool modern warfare nonsense, and that knows it exists because our lizard brains have been subject to digital brain rot for so long that a well-timed “420 noscope” in purple Comic Sans is what it takes to bring us joy.
Put us in the bin already. It’s garbage day, after all. 420 Blaze It 2 will be out on Steam in November.
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
https://gamingarmyunited.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/1728788437_420-Blaze-It-2-may-be-a-joke-but-theres.jpg6751200Carlos Pachecohttps://gamingarmyunited.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Website-Logo-300x74.pngCarlos Pacheco2024-10-13 01:03:302024-10-13 01:03:30420 Blaze It 2 may be a joke, but there’s a solid shooter buried beneath the memes
Take a look at today’s Wordle clue if you want to make sure your weekend puzzle gets off to the best possible start—it’ll give you a great hint, but leave all the fun puzzle solving up to you. And if you’re looking for more, you’ve got it. The October 12 (1211) Wordle answer is here if you need to quickly turn a tough game around.
Wow, I don’t think I could’ve wished for a better start to my Saturday. The first row gave me almost everything I needed, the second offered up the final piece of the puzzle, and the third put it all in place. Done, dusted, and now frustratingly Wordle free for the rest of the day.
Today’s Wordle hint
(Image credit: Josh Wardle)
Wordle today: A hint for Saturday, October 12
Tomato sauce down a clean top. Red wine on a white rug. Oil on jeans. Any mark that won’t easily come out of a surface could be called this.
Is there a double letter in Wordle today?
No, there is no double letter in today’s puzzle.
Wordle help: 3 tips for beating Wordle every day
A good starting word can be the difference between victory and defeat with the daily puzzle, but once you’ve got the basics, it’s much easier to nail down those Wordle wins. And as there’s nothing quite like a small victory to set you up for the rest of the day, here are a few tips to help set you on the right path:
A good opening guess should contain a mix of unique consonants and vowels.
Narrow down the pool of letters quickly with a tactical second guess.
Watch out for letters appearing more than once in the answer.
There’s no racing against the clock with Wordle so you don’t need to rush for the answer. Treating the game like a casual newspaper crossword can be a good tactic; that way, you can come back to it later if you’re coming up blank. Stepping away for a while might mean the difference between a win and a line of grey squares.
Today’s Wordle answer
(Image credit: Future)
What is today’s Wordle answer?
Looking for the right word? The answer to the October 12 (1211) Wordle is STAIN.
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
Previous Wordle answers
The last 10 Wordle answers
Past Wordle answers can give you some excellent ideas for fun starting words that keep your daily puzzle-solving fresh. They are also a good way to eliminate guesses for today’s Wordle, as the answer is unlikely to be repeated.
Here are some recent Wordle answers:
October 11: GUSTY
October 10: CARVE
October 9: MOMMY
October 8: JOINT
October 7: FLOUR
October 6: LAGER
October 5: MINER
October 4: TITLE
October 3: WAGON
October 2: SHELL
Learn more about Wordle
(Image credit: Nurphoto via Getty)
Wordle gives you six rows of five boxes each day, and you’ll need to work out which secret five-letter word is hiding inside them to keep up your winning streak.
You should start with a strong word like ARISE, or any other word that contains a good mix of common consonants and multiple vowels. You’ll also want to avoid starting words with repeating letters, as you’re wasting the chance to potentially eliminate or confirm an extra letter. Once you hit Enter, you’ll see which ones you’ve got right or wrong. If a box turns ⬛️, it means that letter isn’t in the secret word at all. 🟨 means the letter is in the word, but not in that position. 🟩 means you’ve got the right letter in the right spot.
Your second guess should compliment the starting word, using another “good” word to cover any common letters you missed last time while also trying to avoid any letter you now know for a fact isn’t present in today’s answer. With a bit of luck, you should have some coloured squares to work with and set you on the right path.
After that, it’s just a case of using what you’ve learned to narrow your guesses down to the right word. You have six tries in total and can only use real words (so no filling the boxes with EEEEE to see if there’s an E). Don’t forget letters can repeat too (ex: BOOKS).
If you need any further advice feel free to check out our Wordle tips, and if you’d like to find out which words have already been used you can scroll to the relevant section above.
Originally, Wordle was dreamed up by software engineer Josh Wardle, as a surprise for his partner who loves word games. From there it spread to his family, and finally got released to the public. The word puzzle game has since inspired tons of games like Wordle, refocusing the daily gimmick around music or math or geography. It wasn’t long before Wordle became so popular it was sold to the New York Times for seven figures. Surely it’s only a matter of time before we all solely communicate in tricolor boxes.
Unlike in past Atlus games, you’re not actually going to need a guide for a lot of Metaphor: ReFantazio’s side content. Persona fans will probably scoff at the very idea of not consulting a guide every five seconds to squeeze every drop of efficiency out of a 120-hour-long calendar simulator, but I swear it’s true! A lot of the Follower-related stuff in Metaphor feels impossible to mess up, which absolutely wasn’t the case in Personas 3, 4, and 5.
Just because that side of the game is easier doesn’t mean Metaphor’s a cakewalk though: You’re still going to be stressing about getting everything done in time before the final credits roll, which is why I want to offer you some very specific early game tips—the stuff I realized was useful far, far too late into my own playthrough.
I made some silly mistakes during the first 20 or so hours in Metaphor, and I don’t want you to repeat them. I also promise not to spoil a single thing in the process. Scout’s honour.
Find MP merchants ASAP
(Image credit: Sega Atlus)
Dungeons in Metaphor: ReFantazio are best cleared in a single day, so you can dedicate the time you’ve saved to other activities (like increasing Follower ranks). However, you’re always going to run into the same issue when attempting to clear a dungeon in one go: you’re gonna run out of MP. So this tip is a little bit of a two-for-one deal.
1. Don’t use skills that restore your HP out of combat. Just stock up on a bunch of healing items instead.
2. Check in with merchants that sell MP restoring items every time you progress past a deadline. Although MP potions never seem to restock, after enough time some of them actually do. The Entero Water Shop in the Royal Capital is one such example, as the merchant there sells limited Fruit Cordials that restore 30 MP.
Become a master debater
(Image credit: Sega Atlus)
Once you progress the main story in the Royal Capital, you’re going to want to start checking the podiums in whatever new city you’re in every day. Occasionally one of your political rivals will be available to debate. These are ALWAYS worth doing, and they’re missable if you progress the main story too far.
These debates offer you four incentives:
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They give you money
They increase two Royal Virtues at once (Eloquence and Imagination)
They increase your popularity
Doing all of them nets you an achievement
Plus, some of your political opponents are scumbags so it feels good to embarrass them in front of a big crowd.
Do your sidequests BEFORE the main dungeons
(Image credit: Sega Atlus)
I know this might sound like sacrilege to hardcore Persona fans, but hear me out. Almost every main dungeon is much harder than any available sidequest or bounty at that point in time, especially in the early game. Taking on sidequests and bounties beforehand will help you level up, find better weapons, and improve your Archetype skills in preparation to take down a main quest dungeon in a single day. Plus this will help you save MP and ensure that you can tackle a main quest dungeon in one shot, as your max MP increases when you level up.
Become Tolerant
(Image credit: Sega Atlus)
Before you focus on any of your other Royal Virtues, get your Tolerance up to 2.
There’s two reasons this is immediately beneficial. You need a 2 in Tolerance so you can purify items you have at the St. Fermis Church. Purified weapons and armour are some of the best equipment in the game and will definitely help you breeze through early game fights. For instance, purifying the Dragon’s Indignation Greatsword (which you can get from defeating the optional Fire Dragon Mauna boss in the Nord Mines) prior to taking on the Catacomb dungeon makes the first main quest dungeon so much easier.
It’s also important to improve it early so that you can progress what is arguably the most important Follower rank in Metaphor. Speaking of…
Prioritise Maria’s Follower ranks
(Image credit: Sega Atlus)
While it might not seem incredibly beneficial to progress Maria’s ranks at first, her fourth and seventh ranks are extremely important to unlock as quickly as possible. Rank four nets you Speed Cooking, which will allow you to cook without progressing time, and Purpose, which increases the amount of EXP you receive after a battle. Rank seven rewards you with Chef’s Chops and Burning Purpose, which are upgraded versions of Speed Cooking and Purpose. These are essential for anyone looking to min/max their adventure.
Upgrade the healer Archetype ASAP
(Image credit: Sega Atlus)
Upgrading the healer is necessary for completing More’s quest, as he asks you to reach level 15 with the healer Archetype. But separate from that, it’s also just one of the best Archetypes to max out in the early game. Having a skill that can heal all of your party members is essential, especially towards the end of the game. It’s also immediately important however, as the majority of enemies in the first main dungeon are weak to both the healer’s Archetype’s light skills and its basic melee attacks.
And in case you weren’t already convinced that progressing Maria’s Follower rank is important, she’s the one that helps you unlock the healer Archetype!
Shop on Idlesday
(Image credit: Sega Atlus)
Money in Metaphor isn’t hard to come by. You’ll often find you have more than you need at any given time. This might lead you to spend frivolously. In the early game that won’t cause you issues, but later on you’ll start to notice that the best stuff suddenly costs an extortionate amount of money. For this reason, always try to make your big purchases on Idlesday. Almost every single merchant in the game offers a discount on this day of the week.
Even extremely expensive items will be cheaper, and it’s the best time to stock up on loads of stuff like medicinal herbs, which will drop from 50 to 40 gold. You’ll save 1,000 gold if you buy 100 of them on Idlesday vs. any other day of the week. Trust me when I say that you’ll wish you’d been a bit more frugal once gear starts costing five figures in the endgame.
Don’t spend your MAG needlessly
(Image credit: Sega Atlus)
MAG is what you use for all your Archetype-related needs. Unlocking Archetypes and unlocking specific skills that you can then attach to Archetypes via skill inheritance costs MAG. When you start noticing that you’re always earning more MAG than you’re spending, it can be tempting to go hog wild with it—but much like money seeming to flow freely, this is a trap.
As you progress, Archetypes and skills will start to shoot up in price, and running out of MAG is basically a death sentence at certain points in the story. You will always want to keep a healthy reserve for emergencies, as several bosses (especially in the later main story missions) may require you to spend lots of MAG to create specific team compositions just so you can beat them. Use the Archetype-boosting seed items you find sparingly for exactly the same reason, as you never know when you might suddenly have to level up an Archetype you’ve never used before.
Also, just straight up ignore the fellas that offer to convert your MAG into money. Even with the increased rates of exchange on days with bad weather, this is never worth doing until the very, VERY end of the game.
Always focus on new party members’ Follower ranks
(Image credit: Sega Atlus)
If you take a single thing in this guide on board, let it be this: Get every single new party member’s Follower rank up to 4 before travelling. Your party members’ Follower ranks will always hit a roadblock.
This almost exclusively occurs at rank 4. Once this happens, to progress their Follower ranks any further you have to talk to them while you travel from one destination to another. If you don’t know how to do that yet, don’t worry, you’ll unlock the option to do so early in the main story. Optimizing when you get past these Follower roadblocks is important because there will be extended periods of time where travelling is completely unnecessary, so you won’t want to waste time needlessly doing so just to advance your party member’s ranks.
Upgrade your protagonist’s magic stat
(Image credit: Sega Atlus)
This tip is subjective, but it’s a way to make the game easier overall. Your protagonist is the only party member whose stats you can influence freely. For the most part, other members of your party are very much set in their ways. Strohl focuses on his attack stat when he levels up, Hulkenberg focuses on her endurance stat, Heismay focuses on agility, and so on. There are party members who you meet later that are magic stat orientated, but even knowing this ahead of time I’d still recommend you focus on improving your protag’s magic.
Elemental-type damage is incredibly overpowered in Metaphor, especially once you start unlocking almighty-type skills (which ignore all resistances). Plus, mage-related Archetypes eventually learn skills that improve your maximum MP—which is obviously a huge deal for your protagonist, as he’s the only party member you’re always forced to use in combat. More magic, more MP, more power.
https://gamingarmyunited.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Metaphor-ReFantazio-tips-10-things-I-wish-I-knew-before.png6751200Carlos Pachecohttps://gamingarmyunited.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Website-Logo-300x74.pngCarlos Pacheco2024-10-12 00:05:562024-10-12 00:05:56Metaphor: ReFantazio tips: 10 things I wish I knew before starting this 100-hour RPG
Grisly, innovative, and fascinating, The Case of the Golden Idol is one of my favorite mystery games of all time. The individual murders you have to solve are incredibly satisfying as you pore over all the details, search the crime scenes for clues, and even lift items right from the suspects’ pockets, and the overarching story of the mysterious relics that links all these murders together is worthy of its own page-turning novel.
And now a sequel is afoot! The Rise of the Golden Idol transports us into the gritty 1970s for another round of gruesome crimes, and we don’t have much longer to wait to get our hands bloody. Color Gray Games and publisher Playstack have announced a release date, and it’s barely a month away: The Rise of the Golden Idol releases on November 12. Here’s a trailer for a glimpse of the baffling crimes that await you.
The Rise of the Golden Idol – Official Release Date Trailer – YouTube
As a famous detective likes to say… just one more thing. There’s also a new “extended” demo out right now on Steam so you can start solving your first couple of cases. The new demo includes everything from the original demo, plus an additional murder to puzzle over. I know what I’m doing on my lunch break today, how about you?
This is a little awkward after I just said one more thing, but… just another one more thing: the original game has just been updated with a new UI and hint system and Steam Deck support. If you’ve never played The Case of the Golden Idol, this seems like a great time to give it a go.
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
https://gamingarmyunited.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/1728680173_The-sequel-to-one-of-the-best-murder-mystery-games.jpg6751200Carlos Pachecohttps://gamingarmyunited.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Website-Logo-300x74.pngCarlos Pacheco2024-10-11 21:45:162024-10-11 21:45:16The sequel to one of the best murder mystery games ever is only a month away, and there’s a new demo out now
Despite being announced at the same time as AMD’s Ryzen 9000-series desktop processors, motherboards sporting AMD’s new 800-series chipset have taken a good while to arrive. But they’re here now and the first one to arrive in the PC Gamer hardware tower is the MSI MAG X870 Tomahawk Wi-Fi.
Ostensibly, it’s a very similar motherboard to MSI’s X670E Tomahawk but there are a whole host of improvements, though not because of the new X870 chipset. Think of that as being a ‘do-over’ of the X670/X670E, rather than bringing any sweeping changes to the fore.
(Image credit: AMD)
AMD’s Ryzen processors have built-in controllers for USB ports and PCIe lanes, so all the chipset does is basically offer more connections. X870E motherboards sport two expansion chips, just like the current X670E models, whereas X870 ones, such as this MSI board, just have one. But, when one looks at all of the ports available, that’s going to be more than enough for most PC gamers.
The rear IO panel of the MAG X870 Tomahawk is jam-packed with USB ports, including two 40 Gbps USB4 Type-C, which also double as Thunderbolt 4 sockets. There’s another Type-C in there, though only rated to 10 Gbps, but then you’ve got three more of that speed in Type-A form, plus another three at 5 Gbps and four USB 2.0 sockets. And that doesn’t include all the headers on the motherboard for front-mounted USB ports.
MSI MAG X870 Tomahawk WiFi specs
(Image credit: Future)
Socket: AMD AM5 Chipset: AMD X870 CPU compatibility: AMD Ryzen 7000/8000/9000 desktop Form factor: ATX Memory support: DDR5-4800 to DDR5-8400+(OC), up to 256 GB Storage: 4x M.2, 4x SATA USB (rear): 2x USB4 Type-C 40 Gbps, 1x USB 3.1 Type-C 10 Gbps, 1x USB 3.1 Type-A 10 Gbps, 3x USB 3.0 Type-A 5 Gbps, 4x USB 2.0 Type-A Display: 1x HDMI 2.1, 2x USB/Thunderbolt 4 Networking: Intel 2.5G LAN, Wi-Fi 7 Audio: Realtek ALC4080 Price: $299.99 / £279.98 / AU$548.19
Normally, that level of USB-ness is the preserve of top-end, mega-bucks boards so you may be wondering how MSI has managed it on a $300 offering. The answer lies in the fact that despite having lots of PCIe and M.2 slots, as well as a mountain of USB ports, they’re not all full-speed variants.
The three PCIe slots are mechanically x16 in size but only the top is wired like that. It has a PCIe 5.0 connection to the CPU but the other two are slower—a lot slower.
The middle PCIe slot is (electrically) x1 Gen 3 and the bottom slot is x4 Gen 4, though if you use the third M.2 slot, it will drop to x2 Gen 4.
As most PC gamers will just slap a graphics card into the top slot and not use the rest, it’s not a massive issue but if you do need to use them for high-speed expansion devices, just be aware you’re not going to get much performance from them.
The M.2 slots are similarly messy. The top two are directly wired to the CPU and so are electrically x4 Gen 5. However, the second slot shares PCIe lanes with the USB4 Type-C ports in the rear IO panel, so if anything is connected to either socket, you get x2 Gen 5.
(Image credit: Future)
The third and fourth M.2 slots are both Gen 4 but while the latter is x4, the former is only x2. That’s far more complicated than it needs to be but that’s the price one must pay to have all those USB ports.
What isn’t complicated is MSI’s new graphics card retention mechanism for the first PCIe slot. Push a small button on the right-hand side of the board to slice the system away from the card and hold it open; press it again to close and lock it.
I know most people only remove their graphics card once in a while but for anyone who does it frequently, it’s an absolute marvel. How robust it is over years of abuse is another matter but I’m genuinely impressed by it.
(Image credit: Future)
MSI deserves credit for trying to make its new X870 motherboards much easier to use all round—the UEFI/BIOS is now much slicker and user-friendly, headers on the board are all labelled and sensibly placed, and the rigidity of this Tomahawk makes it pleasantly simple to install in a case.
There’s another addition that I’m impressed by and it’s the additional 8-pin PCIe power socket at the very bottom of the motherboard. The traditional 24-pin power system was designed to provide current on the 12 V lines in an era before ultra-high power GPUs and masses of RGB fans became the norm. In short, it just doesn’t provide enough current for the demands of a high-end enthusiast’s setup.
(Image credit: Future)
The latest PCIe specification demands that the PCIe slot for graphics cards should allow for up to 165 W power excursions—power spikes to you and me—and MSI’s new power connector helps meet that requirement, along with ramping up the available current on fan/pump and RGB headers to 11 and 3 A respectively.
If you like to go all-out with your gaming PC accessories, then the extra socket will come in very handy (though if your PSU is top-mounted in the case then you’ll need an extension cable to reach it).
Benchmarks and performance
PC Gamer test rig
CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 9900X Cooler: Asus ROG Strix LC III 360 RAM: 32 GB Lexar Thor OC DDR5-6000 Storage: 2 TB Corsair MP700 PSU: MSI MAG AB50GL 850 W OS: Windows 11 23H2 Chassis: Open platform w/ 2x 140 mm fans Monitor: Acer XB280HK
All of this would be for nought if the motherboard didn’t perform especially well and for the new round of AMD and Intel boards, we’ve updated our benchmark package.
Rather than carry out dozens of tests that all show the same figures, we’ve honed it down to a variety of scenarios (gaming, light and heavy content creation) and used software to record power consumption and thermals for the CPU, VRMs, and chipset.
As the latest motherboards boast a full-speed Gen5 M.2 slot, we now also test how well the integrated heat spreaders cope with PCIe 5.0 SSDs.
As we’ve only just swapped to the new suite, we don’t have a wealth of figures to compare against but at the very least, you can see that a Ryzen 9 9900X, paired with 32 GB of DDR5-6000 CL32 and an RTX 4070, performs just as well in the MSI MAG X870 Tomahawk as it does in an Asus ROG Crosshair X670E Hero.
The same is true for when the workload switches to content creation tasks, and the disparities you see between the boards are mostly down to test variance. The exception is the 7zip test—I repeatedly tested both boards, multiple times, to check these results and the X870 Tomahawk was always faster. Not by much, but it’s better than nothing.
There’s little to separate the two motherboards when it comes to thermals and power consumption, too. The ROG Crosshair X670E Hero runs with a hotter chipset but that’s because there are two chips under its heatsink, whereas the X870 Tomahawk just has one.
Given that this is a 120 W Ryzen CPU, it’ll cope with any other model just fine. MSI added a 170 W option to its BIOS, which I experimented with briefly—the CPU didn’t like it all that much but the board’s VRMs did, only adding 10 to 15 more degrees to the peak temperature, with no significant air flowing on them.
As with the performance results, any differences are down to test variances, especially when it comes to heat because it’s just not possible to maintain a fixed ambient temperature in my office.
Conclusion
With no surprises with all the test figures, there’s only one thing left to cover and that’s whether the MSI MAG X870 Tomahawk is worth buying. At $300/$300/AU$548, it’s certainly not cheap and if you’re looking to save money with a new AM5 build, then you’re better off sticking with a B650E model (or waiting until AMD releases an equivalent in the 800 series).
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(Image credit: Future)
(Image credit: Future)
(Image credit: Future)
(Image credit: Future)
You are getting a very capable motherboard for a lot less money than a high-end X670E, though. The build quality, component layout, and feature set are all top-notch, and there’s a wealth of nice touches—the graphics card release mechanism, the quick-install SSD system, and the BIOS to name but a few—to warrant some of the price tag.
Buy if…
✅ You want lots of USB ports: With support for up to 21 ports, this board is one hell of a peripheral hub.
✅ You want high quality, not high cost: While not cheap at $300, the X870 Tomahawk feels far more luxurious than the price tag suggests.
Don’t buy if…
❌ You need lots of high-speed PCIe slots: Something had to be sacrificed for all those USB ports and it’s the expansion slots.
❌ You want value for money: B650E motherboards don’t have as many ports but they’re a lot cheaper.
The colossal number of USB ports that you can have also goes no small way in justifying the cost and if that aspect of a motherboard is important to you, then it’s hard to ignore what the MAG X870 Tomahawk offers compared to other motherboards.
However, what I can’t ignore are the PCIe and M.2 slots. In the case of the former, you’re only getting one decent one and that’ll be snapped up by the graphics card, leaving a x4 Gen 4 and x1 Gen 3 behind. The last one is rather disappointing to see on a $300 motherboard.
And while you do get four M.2 sockets, there are compromises with two of them that affect one of the PCIe slots and the USB4 ports. In part, that’s a limitation of the chipset and what Ryzen processor one uses with the motherboard, but it’s also because MSI has chosen to load up the X870 Tomahawk with so many USB ports.
So it really comes down to whether storage and PCIe expansion are important factors when making a motherboard choice. If it is, then something like the Gigabyte X670 Aorus Elite AX ($210 on Amazon) is the way to go, with four full-speed M.2 slots (1x Gen 5, 3x Gen 4), though it does have the same PCIe slot arrangement as the X870 Tomahawk.
But if you want as much USB connectivity as possible, all wrapped up in a very classy motherboard, then the MSI MAG X870 Tomahawk should be seriously considered.
Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero released on Steam earlier today and, oh boy, it’s doing numbers. At the time of writing there are 121,330 players according to SteamDB which, with a little bit of context, proves to be an overwhelming number.
Cast your mind back to June 2023 when Street Fighter 6 released on Steam. Many pointed out at the time that its launch-day concurrents were huge for a fighting game, and that was true: it compared favourably to Mortal Kombat 11 and Tekken 7, for example (35,147 and 18,966 respectively). Right now Street Fighter 6 has an all-time peak of 70,573 corresponding with its launch window. Dragon Ball, let me repeat, is currently sitting at 121,330 players.
(I just refreshed the SteamDB page and it’s now up to 122,431. Wow.)
How’s it compare to more mainstream blockbusters, ie, games that aren’t fighting games? To cherry-pick a few recent phenomenons, Elden Ring has a record of 953,426 and Baldur’s Gate 3 has 875,343. PUBG and Palworld hold the highest records, at 2.5m and 2.1m respectively.
So in the wide scheme of things Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero isn’t huge, but this is an emphatic record for a fighting game launch on Steam. It’s also interesting for other reasons: sure, Dragon Ball is a huge series, but Sparking! Zero’s approach to fighting is pretty distinctive and there’s quite a steep learning curve. It’s also interesting because compared to Dragon Ball FighterZ, arguably a much more approachable Dragon Ball offering, it’s a clear winner (FighterZ has a peak of a touch over 44,000).
Our Dragon Ball: Sparking: Zero review was positive: “Sparking! Zero is the best Dragon Ball game we’ve had since the PS2 and a generous love letter to Toriyama’s classic series,” Scott McCrae wrote.
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
https://gamingarmyunited.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/1728608091_Dragon-Ball-Sparking-Zero-is-trouncing-the-fighting-game-competition.png6751200Carlos Pachecohttps://gamingarmyunited.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Website-Logo-300x74.pngCarlos Pacheco2024-10-11 01:45:192024-10-11 01:45:19Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero is trouncing the fighting game competition on Steam, with nearly double Street Fighter 6’s all-time players record
The US Department of Justice’s Office of Public Affairs has announced (via Ars Technica) that two Chinese citizens have been sentenced for participating in “a scheme to defraud Apple Inc. (Apple) out of millions of dollars worth of iPhones.” The really baffling thing, however, is that to a large extent, this scheme worked.
According to the press release, the fraudsters successfully caused “a loss of more than $2.5 million.” Of course, sentencing includes some monetary restitution, this being in the form of $1,072,200 from one of the criminals and $397,800 from the other. Which adds up to $1,470,000, more than a million dollars shy of the full restitution needed to make up Apple’s losses.
A million dollars is pennies to Apple, though, I suppose. What’s more concerning is that this scheme actually worked for a while. It involved sending fake iPhones with spoofed IMEIs in for repair and having Apple send them back legitimate iPhones as replacements.
According to a 2019 affidavit from Stephen Cohen (PDF), a US postal service inspector, “An Apple Brand Integrity Investigator (“Apple Investigator”) advised law enforcement of a general fraud scheme where individuals in various parts of the United States receive suspected counterfeit phones from Hong Kong and then submit those phones to Apple for repair under the ruse that the phones are not functioning properly, all with the goal of getting Apple to provide them with genuine replacement iPhones”
Back in February, the US Attorney’s Office, District of Columbia said, “Trial evidence showed that conspirators submitted more than 5,000 inauthentic phones to Apple during the conspiracy, intending to cause a loss of more than $3 million to Apple.”
So yes, the fraudulent scheme was spotted by Apple and stopped before it ran to completion, but not before $2.5 million worth of losses were already accrued, and it looks like $1 million of that won’t be returned to Apple.
That the scheme worked so well for so long is scary because it shows just how convincing fake iPhones can be. If Apple can’t spot such a large quantity of fake iPhones for such a long time, how can ordinary users be expected to?
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
Above all, this is perhaps a good reminder to be extra careful in the second-hand iPhone market. Personally, I’d avoid it entirely, but if you’re going to go second-hand, at the very least ensure you’re buying from a trusted seller.
In fact, that’s good advice across the board. We in the wonderful world of PC gaming aren’t immune to fraudulent components, either. With tales of GPU-less RTX 4090s being sold and CPUs without actual chips in them, we’d do well to remember the perils of hunting for cheap component prices. A good rule of thumb is that if something seems too good to be true, it probably is.
https://gamingarmyunited.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/1728572008_Fraudsters-sentenced-for-tricking-Apple-out-of-more-than-a.jpg6481200Carlos Pachecohttps://gamingarmyunited.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Website-Logo-300x74.pngCarlos Pacheco2024-10-10 15:44:162024-10-10 15:44:16Fraudsters sentenced for tricking Apple out of more than a whopping $2.5 million by sending in convincing fake iPhones for repair
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