McDonald’s continues to capitalize on the love of its customers for the company’s goofy history. Recently, Happy Meals included McDonald’s-themed toys — such as drink machines, fryers and trays with food on them — delivered in mini-Happy Meal boxes. And the much-longed-for Snack Wraps finally returned after a viral fan campaign. Now, McDonald’s has introduced the McDonaldland Meal, which goes straight after that market of adults who have a nostalgic feeling for the Golden Arches. And it comes with a shake in colors like you’ve never seen before.

The McDonaldland Meal came out on Tuesday, and I grabbed one at my local McD. It’s not cheap — here in high-cost-of-living Seattle, the medium meal was $16.59 and the large was $18.29. 

You can choose from a Quarter Pounder with cheese or a 10-piece McNugget order. It also comes with the chain’s famous french fries and your choice of drink. But the specialty drink that’s made to go with the meal is called the Mt. McDonaldland shake, and it’s a blazing blue color, topped with hot pink whipped cream.

You know what regular McDonald’s food tastes like, but you’ve perhaps never had this flavor of shake before. McDonald’s teases in its press release that it’s «up to you to discover the surprise flavor.» (You can order the shake without the meal if you just want to try it.)

I braced myself for a super-sugary shake that I’d take one sip of and then dump out. But I was surprised. It was an acceptable flavor that I drank about half of. Sweet, yes, but not mouth-puckeringly so. There was a vague fruit flavor that I couldn’t exactly nail down.

Maybe cotton candy? Maybe blue raspberry? Maybe both of those, mixed? I would not order the Mt. McDonaldland shake again, but it’s a fun, colorful twist for a one-time purchase. If you don’t want to try it, you can choose a regular drink or another flavor of shake with your McDonaldland meal.

I sampled the hot pink whipped cream by itself, and it seemed to have no flavor, so maybe they just took regular whipped cream and dyed it pink.

Instead of a simple toy, the McDonaldland Meal comes with a 5-by-7-inch tin with one of the McDonaldland mascot characters on it. I ended up with Hamburglar, who, after Grimace, would probably have been my choice. 

Tins come embossed with Hamburglar, Grimace, Ronald McDonald, Mayor McCheese, Birdie the Early Bird and the Fry Guys. Honestly, I’m not sure what anyone would do with this tin, but it was definitely a classier included item than most of the Happy Meal toys.

Inside the tin is a card with a code you can scan to explore McDonaldland online, an ID card for your particular character, two postcards and four stickers. One of my stickers said «robble robble,» the Hamburglar’s favorite saying, and one read, «Keep up! Hamburglar and I are mid-heist.» I can’t really imagine anyone putting these on their water bottle or laptop, but to each their own.

Honestly, unless McDonald’s nostalgia is your thing, I’d recommend you just stick to ordering your usual at the Golden Arches and skipping the meal. But if you just don’t get enough blue and pink food in your life — and who does? — try the Mt. McDonaldland shake once, pass it around to let your friends guess the flavor, and then go back to chocolate or another good old standard flavor.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle focuses on a certain film director who’s made some of my favorite movies. The titles are pretty popular, so my guess if you will find them easily and unscramble them without difficulty. If you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story. 

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Hitchcock festival

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Classic cinema

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints, but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

• BOLT, BOLTS, COPE, CHOP, TITLE, LIFE, SOUR, ROUT, ROUTS, BOAT, SIRE, LOOT.

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

• PSYCHO, ROPE, TOPAZ, VERTIGO, LIFEBOAT, NOTORIOUS

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is FILMTITLE. To find it, look for the F, the last letter in the far-right vertical row, wind backwards and then up.

It has been more than a decade since Sony released the PlayStation 4, but the console is just as important as ever. Despite being released in November 2013, the PS4 is still in production today, with well over 100 million units being sold over its lifetime and some new games still arriving on it, including Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii.

When it launched in 2013, Sony’s eighth-gen console arrived with tech upgrades that seem du jour now, but were exciting over a decade ago. For instance, the DualShock 4 controller included special buttons to record and share video as well as a touchpad that could turn haptic feedback into a new source of interactivity. This console generation also introduced the PlayStation Camera, similar to Xbox’s Kinect, and the first iteration of PlayStation VR.

In 2016, Sony released new models of the PS4. The PlayStation 4 Slim was more efficient, with increased thermal management and power efficiency, while the PlayStation 4 Pro greatly improved the performance and loading times of the original model.

There are many games still getting released on the PlayStation 4, and though they don’t run as well as they would on a ninth-generation console (the PS5 and the PS5 Pro), they’re still bolstering the value of a console that just became a teenager. CNET curated this list of the all-time greats released on the PS4, including some of the best exclusives as well as some critically acclaimed multiplatform games.

Best PS4 Games — August 2025

Best PS4 game FAQs

Recent updates to the list

• August 2025: Added Shadow of the Colossus, Grand Theft Auto 5, Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, Journey and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.

How we determined CNET’s best PlayStation 4 games

When creating this list of the best PlayStation 4 games, we factored in how unique and enjoyable these games are for most players — we evaluated criteria including graphical quality, innovative gameplay mechanics and compelling narratives. The picks we made cover a variety of genres from fantasy to racers to shooters to open-world games, and while we favored PlayStation 4-exclusive games you won’t find on Xbox, Nintendo Switch, or PC we also included some can’t-miss games that appear on multiple platforms. If you’re looking for help choosing your next game, CNET’s top PlayStation 4 list is a good place to start narrowing your choices.