Awesome Games

These fun RPG dice feature designs inspired by 8-bit video games. The sparkly, polyhedral dice sets are embossed with pixelated digits and sprites and come packed in a box/dice tray that looks like a classic NES cartridge. Each set comes with 11 dice with the option to upgrade with expansion packs and other accessories.

Feeling stressed or anxious? There’s nothing quite so calming as the sound of a rain shower. To help us unwind our minds, UK designer Jez Burrows put together a compilation of soothing rain sounds captured entirely from video games. Since this clip is titled “Part I,” we imagine a follow-up will appear at some point.

Described as a “Slow-life town destruction game,” DEEEER Simulator invites players to frolic about for a leisurely stroll or wreak havoc and destroy the place. After watching the trailer, we still have no idea what’s going on, but we need to play this. Coming to PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch. It’s on Steam Early Access for PC too.

With smartphones, we’re used to gaming on relatively small screens these days. Mr. Volt bought a teensy 0.7″ AMOLED screen that crams in a full 1920×1080 resolution, then hooked it up to a computer to see if he could play games on it. In case you’re wondering, the screen was designed for use in a head-mounted display.

If Super Mario Bros. and Tetris did a crossover, it might look something like this tabletop accent light. The set comes with 16 double-sided and stackable light blocks which you can mix and match to create your own custom 8-bit game level. Makes a great gift for any Nintendo fan.

It’s been a while since we had a new Mike Myers movie, but back in the day, he gave us some of the best characters ever. We’d totally be down for a game of Super Myers, in which Austin Powers battles Dr. Evil, Shrek, Wayne, Fat Bastard, the Love Guru, and that OTHER Michael Myers. A great t-shirt design by Retro Review.

To celebrate 20 years of Xbox, Hyperkin is offering these limited edition “Duke” controllers for today’s Microsoft consoles and Windows PCs. The wired controller has vibration feedback, a headset jack, and a display that plays the original Xbox startup animation inside the Xbox button. Available in black, white, or purple Cortana variants.

Unlike most arcade cabinets, Tanoshibe works with your existing gaming systems. Available in 10″ or 24″ sizes, these tabletop cabinets feature arcade joysticks and buttons and work with Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, PC, and even smartphones. An optional emulator board and base upgrade it to a standalone arcade machine.

We haven’t played an FPS with dinosaurs since Turok. This open-world horror game drops players into a world filled with prehistoric creatures. You can play alone or in co-op mode to explore and complete objectives while defending yourself from the angry beasts. Coming to all major gaming platforms in September 2022.

Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg take on the characters Nathan Drake and Sully Sullivan in this big-screen adaptation of Naughty Dog’s beloved PlayStation game series. Expect globetrotting action, adventure, and wise-cracking as they pursue “the greatest treasure never found.” In theaters 2.18.2021.

One of our favorite arcade games is getting the 1/6th-scale treatment by New Wave Toys. These mini machines play the original Atari ROM and have a working Trak-Ball, lighted volcano buttons, and arcade artwork. The limited-run Field-Test Edition gets a light-up marquee, prototype control panel, and a triple-slot coin door.

This unique sim game asks players to visit homes and offices to perform electrical repairs. Scenarios include fixing broken switches and outlets, installing wiring, and troubleshooting devices. And yes, electrocution is always a risk. First Shock, a free prologue to the full Electrician Simulator is coming to Steam 11.2021.

After being frozen for over 220 years, a secret agent awakens to find himself in a strange new world surrounded by unfamiliar characters. Can he win them over with his swinging 1960s charm, or will the Reapers destroy him? eli_handle_b․wav created this hilarious mashup of two very strange bedfellows.

This slick peripheral combines a DAC and a headphone amp. It connects to PCs or Macs via Micro-USB and has 3.5 mm headphone, microphone, and aux jacks. It supports audio sample rates up to 24-bit / 96 kHz, and drives headphones from 16 to 150 ohms. It also has 7.1 surround sound using EPOS’s Binaural Rendering Engine.

The Rainbow Road levels are some of the most memorable in the Mario Kart games. Mutch Games built a real-world replica of the SNES course with LED lighting and mechanized Thwomps. He combined the track with gameplay footage using the Switch AR game Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit. He’s built several other levels too.

8-bit gaming fans will dig these retro-style Timex watches with pixel artwork and sound effects from the arcade classic Space Invaders. They have an old-school green-gray LCD screen with Indiglo lighting and 24-hour chronograph, alarm, and month/day/date functions. Available in black, silver, or gold finishes.

Realm Crafts spent a full year working on this incredible cross-stitch, packed with all 151 first-generation Pokémon characters. While we would have loved it if the time-lapse had more in-between frames to show us, the artistry of the work more than makes up for it.

Fighting games typically use motion capture or hand-animated movements. There are CGI algorithms out there that can combine multiple moves, but they often have flaws. Two Minute Papers shows off an AI tech that not only can learn to fight but can create its own novel moves. Download the paper here.

Fans of D&D and other role-playing games, upgrade your dice rolls with this handmade dice tower from Smonex. The cylindrical tower is made from laser-cut wood and acrylic, and has a spiral interior with multiple pathways, ensuring truly random rolls. Its circular landing tray includes three interchangeable designs.

This POV footage from the motorcycle racing game Ride 4 running on a PS5 is some of the most photorealistic game footage we’ve ever seen. The reflections, lighting, shadows are so spot on that we can’t believe this was rendered in real-time by a game console. Watch at 4K 60 FPS and HDR if your system can handle it.

After playing Mario Kart on his cardboard arcade machine, artist DanCreator wanted to ride in a real Mario Kart. So he got out his tools and got to building. To replicate the game’s anti-gravity zones, he attached two leaf blowers and some pool floats, so it glides like a hovercraft. We love how Dan recycles bits from other projects.

Developed by TinyCircuits, the Thumby is basically the world’s smallest Game Boy. It measures just 1.2″ x 0.7″ x 0.3″, and packs a Raspberry Pi RP2040 processor and a tiny 72×40 OLED screen. The system comes pre-loaded with five retro games, and players can upload their own custom games. Launches on Kickstarter 9.28.2021 for $19.

Developed by Madnetic Games, this unique sim game sends you on a global hunt as a wildlife photographer. It features photorealistic scenery and animals to shoot (with your lens). As they build their photo skills, players collect camera gear and sell their photos to magazines. Add it to your Steam wishlist.