Technologies
Verum Messenger expands the self-destruct messages feature

Previously, a user could manually make a message self-destruct before sending it by setting a timer of 15 seconds, 60 seconds, 1 hour, or 12 hours. Now Verum has decided to go even further and in the latest version, the time allotted for self-destruction of messages has expanded to 10 time periods from 15 seconds to one week.
A new switch allows you to make all subsequent messages self-destruct by default with a single click, depending on the selected time. That is, after enabling this function, all new messages in the selected chat will self-destruct after reading in 15 or 30 seconds, in one, 15 or 30 minutes, in one, three or 12 hours, in a day or seven days.
We remind you that Verum Messenger warns the interlocutor about taking screenshots, copying, forwarding messages and files in chats, as well as saving files to the device.
Also, with one click in Verum, you can delete your choice of “all chats and calls” or “all chats, calls and contacts”. This is an unprecedented privacy measure that allows you to clear your messenger in a second.
Verum Messenger is designed for maximum security and anonymity. Even if the phone falls into the hands of third parties, they will not be able to enter the application — on Verum you can set a passcode for each entrance, as well as protect Touch ID or Face ID data. Verum uses end-to-end encryption for all chats without exception, does not store correspondence and files in the cloud, and does not collect user data.
Technologies
CNET’s Daily Price Tracker: The Products I’m Watching That You Should Get Now on Sale
Several of the products I’m watching for CNET’s daily tariff price tracker are on sale right now, making it a great time to get them before price hikes take hold.
For CNET’s tariff price tracker, I’ve been keeping an eye on several products that have a high chance of being affected by President Donald Trump’s tariff agenda. While these tariffs are highly likely to cause prices to spike, for the most part the products I’ve been tracking have remained steady, aside from notable increases for the Xbox Series X and a budget-friendly 4K TV. There are also a number of products — like batteries, a budget-friendly soundbar and the most popular earbuds on the market — that are currently cheaper than usual, making it a great time to buy.
With all that said, the broader impact of these import taxes is still on the horizon, especially as Trump now claims that tariff rates against China are going back up to 55% soon. The Trump administration has also been working to undo a trade court ruling, which found that Trump has no authority to set tariffs as he has been — a move now being argued before an appeals court. We’ll see how that ultimately plays out, but for now, the possibility that the president’s tariff policies will lead to price hikes remains likely. That’s why I’m continuing to monitor several key products you might want or need to buy soon, to keep track of the potential tariff impacts.
CNET Tariff Tracker Index
Above, you can check out a chart with the average price of the 11 products included in this piece over the course of 2025. This will help give you a sense of the overall price changes and fluctuations going on. Further down, you’ll be able to check out charts for each individual product being tracked.
For now, the average price for all of the products we’re covering is down noticeably compared to May, though this might be a result of the various sales going around to kick off the summer. You can probably expect that trend to continue into next month when Amazon holds its Prime Day sale, which I anticipate will be a good time to make a lot of purchases before tariff impacts really start to take hold.
We’ll be updating this article regularly as prices change. It’s all in the name of helping you make sense of things, so be sure to check back every so often. For more, check out CNET’s guide to whether you should wait to make big purchases or buy them now and get expert tips about how to prepare for a recession.
Methodology
We’re checking prices daily and will update the article and the relevant charts right away to reflect any changes. The following charts show a single bullet point for each month, with the most recent one labeled «Now» and showing the current price. For the past months, we’ve gone with what was the most common price for each item in the given month.
In most cases, the price stats used in these graphs were pulled from Amazon using the historical price-tracker tool Keepa. For the iPhones, the prices come from Apple’s official materials and are based on the 128-gigabyte base model of the latest offering for each year: the iPhone 14, iPhone 15 and iPhone 16. For the Xbox Series X, the prices were sourced from Best Buy using the tool PriceTracker. If any of these products happen to be on sale at a given time, we’ll be sure to let you know and explain how those price drops differ from longer-term pricing trends that tariffs can cause.
The 11 products we’re tracking
Mostly what we’re tracking in this article are electronic devices and digital items that CNET covers in depth, like iPhones and affordable 4K TVs — along with a typical bag of coffee, a more humble product that isn’t produced in the US to any significant degree.
The products featured were chosen for a few reasons: Some of them are popular and/or affordable representatives for major consumer tech categories, like smartphones, TVs and game consoles. Others are meant to represent things that consumers might buy more frequently, like printer ink or coffee beans. Some products were chosen over others because they are likely more susceptible to tariffs. Some of these products have been reviewed by CNET or have been featured in some of our best lists.
- iPhone 16, 128GB
- Duracell AA batteries, 24-pack
- Samsung DU7200 65-inch TV
- Xbox Series X
- Apple AirPods Pro 2 with USB-C case
- HP 962 CMY Printer Ink
- Anker 10,000-mAh, 30-watt power bank
- Bose TV speaker
- Oral-B Pro 1000 electric toothbrush
- Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook, 256GB
- Starbucks 28-ounce ground dark roast coffee
Below, we’ll get into more about each individual product, and stick around till the end for a rundown of some other products worth noting.
iPhone 16
The iPhone is the most popular smartphone brand in the US, so this was a clear priority for price tracking. The iPhone has also emerged as a major focal point for conversations about tariffs, given its popularity and its susceptibility to import taxes because of its overseas production, largely in China. Trump has reportedly been fixated on the idea that the iPhone can and should be manufactured in the US, an idea that experts have dismissed as a fantasy. Estimates have also suggested that a US-made iPhone would cost as much as $3,500.
Something to note about this graph: The price listed is the one you’ll see if you buy your phone through a major carrier. If you, say, buy direct from Apple or Best Buy without a carrier involved, you’ll be charged an extra $30, so in some places, you might see the list price of the standard iPhone 16 listed as $830.
Apple’s been taking a few steps to protect its prices in the face of these tariffs, flying in bulk shipments of product before they took effect and planning to move production for the US market from China to India. A new Reuters report found that a staggering 97% of iPhones imported from the latter country, March through May, were bound for the US. This latter move drew the anger of Trump again, threatening the company with a 25% tariff if they didn’t move production to the US, an idea CEO Tim Cook has repeatedly shot down in the past. This came after Trump gave a tariff exemption to electronic devices including smartphones, so the future of that move seems in doubt now.
Apple’s flagship device is still the top-selling smartphone globally, as of Q1 of this year, although new research from the firm Counterpoint suggests that tariff uncertainty will cause the brand’s growth to stall a bit throughout the rest of 2025.
Duracell AA batteries
A lot of the tech products in your home might boast a rechargeable energy source but individual batteries are still an everyday essential and I can tell you from experience that as soon as you forget about them, you’ll be needing to restock. The Duracell AAs we’re tracking are some of the bestselling batteries on Amazon.
This particular pack hasn’t seen much shift in pricing in the last few months, but it’s currently around $3 off on Amazon, so it’s a good time to pick up some batteries if you need them.
Samsung DU7200 TV
Alongside smartphones, televisions are some of the most popular tech products out there, even if they’re an infrequent purchase. This particular product is a popular entry-level 4K TV and was CNET’s pick for best overall budget TV for 2025. Unlike a lot of tech products that have key supply lines in China, Samsung is a South Korean company so it might have some measure of tariff resistance. This model is currently about $29 more expensive than usual on Amazon, but we’ll have to wait and see if this is a temporary change or a more permanent shift in pricing.
Xbox Series X
Video game software and hardware are a market segment expected to be hit hard by the Trump tariffs. Microsoft’s Xbox is the first console brand to see price hikes — the company cited «market conditions» along with the rising cost of development. Most notably, this included an increase in the price of the flagship Xbox Series X, up from $500 to $600. Numerous Xbox accessories also were affected and the company also said that «certain» games will eventually see a price hike from $70 to $80.
Initially, we were tracking the price of the much more popular Nintendo Switch as a representative of the gaming market. Nintendo has not yet hiked the price of its handheld-console hybrid and stressed that the $450 price tag of the upcoming Switch 2 has not yet been inflated because of tariffs. Sony, meanwhile, has so far only increased prices on its PlayStation hardware in markets outside the US.
AirPods Pro 2
The latest iteration of Apple’s wildly popular true-wireless earbuds are here to represent the headphone market. Much to the chagrin of the audiophiles out there, a quick look at sales charts on Amazon shows you just how much the brand dominates all headphone sales. Earlier in the year, they tended to hover around $199 on the site, a notable discount from its $249 list price, but the price is currently the much more enticing $169, so move fast if you want an affordable pair. (Or maybe just wait for the rumored AirPods Pro 3.)
HP 962 CMY printer ink
This HP printer ink includes cyan, magenta and yellow all in one product and recently saw its price jump from around $72 — where it stayed for most of 2025 — to $80, which is around its highest price over the last five years. We will be keeping tabs to see if this is a long-term change or a brief uptick.
This product replaced Overture PLA Filament for 3D printers in this piece, but we’re still tracking that item.
Anker 10,000-mAh, 30-watt power bank
Anker’s accessories are perennially popular in the tech space and the company has already announced that some of its products will get more expensive as a direct result of tariffs. This specific product has also been featured in some of CNET’s lists of the best portable chargers. This particular model is showing as out-of-stock on Amazon for the time being, but was most recently back up to $26 after a brief sale.
Bose TV speaker
Soundbars have become important purchases, given the often iffy quality of the speakers built into TVs. While not the biggest or the best offering in the space, the Bose TV Speaker is one of the more affordable soundbar options out there, especially hailing from a brand as popular as Bose. This product has been one of the steadiest on this list in terms of price throughout the year, but it’s currently on sale for $199, potentially as part of Amazon’s Memorial Day sale. So, if you’re looking for an affordable, tariff-free TV speaker, now might be the time.
Oral-B Pro 1000 electric toothbrush
They might be a lot more expensive than their traditional counterparts but electric toothbrushes remain a popular choice for consumers because of how well they get the job done. I know my dentist won’t let up on how much I need one. This particular Oral-B offering was CNET’s overall choice for the best electric toothbrush for 2025.
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook
Lenovo is notable among the big laptop manufacturers for being a Chinese company making its products especially susceptible to Trump’s tariffs.
Starbucks Ground Coffee (28-ounce bag)
Coffee is included in this tracker because of its ubiquity —I’m certainly drinking too much of it these days —and because it’s uniquely susceptible to Trump’s tariff agenda. Famously, coffee beans can only be grown within a certain distance from Earth’s equator, a tropical span largely outside the US and known as the «Coffee Belt.»
Hawaii is the only part of the US that can produce coffee beans, with data from USAFacts showing that 11.5 million pounds were harvested there in the 2022-23 season — little more than a drop in the mug, as the US consumed 282 times that amount of coffee during that period. Making matters worse, Hawaiian coffee production has declined in the past few years.
All that to say: Americans get almost all of their coffee from overseas, making it one of the most likely products to see price hikes from tariffs.
Other products
As mentioned before, we occasionally swap out products with different ones that undergo notable price shifts. Here are some things no longer featured above, but that we’re still keeping an eye on:
- Nintendo Switch: The baseline handheld-console hybrid has held steady around $299 most places — including Amazon — since it released in 2017. Whether or not that price will be impacted by tariffs or the impending release of the Switch 2 remains to be seen. This product was replaced above with the Xbox Series X.
- Overture PLA 3D printer filament: This is a popular choice on Amazon for the material needed to run 3D printers. It has held steady around $15 on Amazon all year. This product was replaced above by the HP 962 printer ink.
Here are some products we also wanted to single out that haven’t been featured with a graph yet:
- Razer Blade 18 (2025), 5070 Ti edition: The latest revision of Razer’s largest gaming laptop saw a $300 price bump recently, with the base model featured an RTX 5070 Ti graphics card now priced at $3,500 ahead of launch, compared to the $3,200 price announced in February. While Razer has stayed mum about the reasoning, it did previously suspend direct sales to the US as Trump’s tariff plans were ramping up in April.
- Asus ROG Ally X: The premium version of Asus’s Steam Deck competitor handheld gaming PC recently saw a price hike from $799 to $899, coinciding with the announcement of the company’s upcoming Xbox-branded Ally handhelds.
Technologies
AT&T’s Cheaper Mobile Plan Creates a New Deal for Seniors. (Yes, That’s Anyone 55 or Older)
A more affordable AT&T cellphone plan is now available across the US.

Senior mobile customers have another quality choice for discount cellphone service, as AT&T’s new 55 Plus plan is now available to almost anyone in the US who’s older than 55. The new plan focuses on the essentials — unlimited voice calls, texting and data in the US, Canada and Mexico — while dropping more advanced features, but it’s also cheaper.
Carriers typically offer several plans to satisfy a range of customers, from the frugal to those that are willing to pay for every perk and bundled streaming service they can get. But plans targeting older Americans are often more bare-bones offerings, offered at lower prices to appeal to customers on fixed and limited incomes. AT&T’s new AT&T 55 Plus plan is the most affordable it’s offered in years.
In exchange, the AT&T 55 Plus plan is pretty basic. For $40 per month for a single line (or $35 per month per line with two lines), you’ll get unlimited voice calls, texting and data. Though AT&T’s senior plan page indicates it has «5G access included,» there’s no clarity on which circumstances will enable high-speed data downloads and uploads on the senior plan.
The plan also has 10GB of hotspot data per line per month, which is more generous than some other carrier offerings on our best senior plans list, along with a maximum 720p (SD) streaming speed for video. The plan also provides access to AT&T’s free ActiveArmor app that blocks spam calls.
Previously, AT&T offered a slightly discounted senior phone plan at $62 per month that was only available to customers living in Florida. Verizon retains a similar Florida-only senior plan. T-Mobile has several plans for seniors, from an older and basic Essentials Choice 55 plan starting at $45 per month up to Experience Beyond w/ 55 Plus starting at $85 per month and offering all the perks and extras of T-Mobile’s other plans, including a five-year plan price guarantee, streaming services and satellite service beyond T-Mobile’s network.
Here’s a breakdown of the best senior plans carriers offer 55-years-old and up customers:
Best Senior Plans: T-Mobile, AT&T, Mint Mobile and Verizon
Plan | Cost 1 line (AutoPay) | Cost 4 lines (AutoPay) | High-speed data | Hotspot data limit | Price guarantee | Max number of lines | Streaming resolution | |
T-Mobile | Essentials Choice 55 | $45 | N/A | 50GB | Unlimited 3G | N/A | 2 | 480p (SD) |
T-Mobile | Go5G 55 Plus | $75 | N/A | Unlimited 5G | 50GB | N/A | 2 | Up to 4K |
T-Mobile | Experience Beyond w/ 55+ | $85 | N/A | Unlimited 5G | 250GB | 5 years | 2 | Up to 4K |
AT&T | AT&T 55+ | $40 | $140 | Unlimited | 10GB | N/A | 10 | 480p (SD) |
Mint Mobile | Mint 55 | $15 | N/A | 5GB | Shared 5GB main data budget | N/A | 5 | 480p (SD) |
Verizon | Verizon 55 Plus | $62 | N/A | Unlimited 4G LTE | Unlimited 3G | N/A | 2 | 480p (SD) |
It’s worth noting that every carrier plan’s listed lowest price requires customers to sign up for autopay — otherwise, the plans are more expensive every month. Customers must also prove their age by submitting an identification document to their carrier.
Later this summer, AT&T will also offer a bundle combining two lines of AT&T 55+ with the customer’s choice of either AT&T Fiber or AT&T Internet Air fixed wireless access internet, according to the carrier’s blog post.
Technologies
The 10 Best Steam Next Fest Games You Need to Wishlist
Steam Next Fest lets you get a hands-on first peek at the best upcoming new games. Here are the best demos from this Next Fest.

It’s nearly time for the Steam summer sale, which is one of the biggest retail events for patient PC gamers.
It’s also the perfect time to find new and innovative indie games to add to your wishlist: Before each big Steam sale, Valve runs a Next Fest event to let developers show off their projects, get feedback and build hype before their big release.
Summer 2025’s Next Fest has been chock full of Hades-likes, co-op hack-and-slash adventures and other reliably entertaining games but some of the best stuff in this event is what the algorithm doesn’t show you.
I’ve played dozens of demos, ranging from games that are featured on the front page of the store to hidden gems that take some digging to find. Here are the best PC games from this Next Fest showcase that you absolutely need to have wishlisted.
Dead as Disco
A groovy beat ’em up to the beat
Brain Jar Games’ Dead as Disco combines Hi-Fi Rush’s rhythmic combat with Sifu’s brutal beatdowns. It’s up to you to pilot Charlie Disco as he braves neon-soaked city streets to take out his ex-bandmates in an ’80s-themed revenge quest.
As you punch, kick, parry and dodge through throngs of thugs, fights transform into carefully choreographed dances, with every blow landing to the beat of the music. Did I mention that the demo’s featured song is a cover of Michael Sembello’s Maniac? Dead as Disco embraces the cheesiness of the movies it’s obviously inspired by but the game is built on the solid foundations of a kinetic and satisfying combat system.
Dead as Disco doesn’t have a release date yet but this is one Next Fest demo that has converted me into a day-one customer.
Platforms: PC
Voidbreaker
A breakneck FPS with a focus on environmental destruction
I’m a sucker for first-person shooters and developer Stubby Games’ Voidbreaker (styled as Void/Breaker) is scratching my itch for a fast-paced, destruction-heavy shooter romp. You’re trapped in a combat simulation to fulfill the every whim of a rogue AI, as it tests and perfects killer robots using your training data. But a mysterious voice in the system tells you there’s a chance to escape — if you play your cards right.
Voidbreaker is a project created by the same solo dev behind The Entropy Centre, and the once-sterile-now-dilapidated sci-fi visuals make a comeback here. Instead of navigating this urban decay, you’ll turn it against your foes. In addition to classic movement shooter gameplay, players will force grip and toss environmental objects and blow building supports to smithereens with well-placed grenades. Fully simulated physics objects rain down on enemies, allowing you to weaponize the world around you.
Players can upgrade their grip, grenade or gun with mods found around the map, granting them better odds of successfully completing a run and getting one step closer to escaping the simulation. My favorite find was a legendary mod that turned my pistol rounds into a short-range field of electric sparks but there are dozens of loadout-altering abilities to play around with.
You’ll get your shot at breaking out of the simulation soon. Voidbreaker will be released on Aug. 20.
Platforms: PC
Morsels
The Binding of Isaac featuring grungy little Pokemon
When you see Annapurna’s publisher seal in a game trailer, odds are good that the demo won’t disappoint. And if you enjoy twin-stick shooter roguelikes akin to Binding of Isaac, you certainly can’t go wrong with developer Furcula’s Morsels.
This game takes place in a world where magical cards fell from space, allowing certain creatures to take on powerful monster forms (it’s like a grotesque twist on magical girls). Unfortunately, a gang of hardened criminals rules the world with their superior cards, leaving weaklings — that’s you — to scurry away from danger and try to scrape by in the muck.
When you discover your own card powers, you realize it’s time to take the fight to the baddies. A competent twin-stick shooter in its own right, Morsels’ big twist is the ability to find additional monster cards that let you diversify your abilities. Certain Morsels fire streams of low damage bullets, others fire shotgun blasts and rarer Morsels have special abilities that can create powerful damage-dealing synergies as a team.
If you’re looking for a dash of on-the-fly strategizing in your action roguelikes, Morsels is right up your alley. The game’s cute-but-grungy aesthetic and retro graininess are a neat artistic bonus. Morsels will be released in 2025.
Platforms: PC, Mac, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch
Dragon March
A sixth generation console’s arcade adventure
GameCube aesthetics are so back. Developer Ambystoman’s Dragon March is what you’d get if the classic arcade game Snake was built for sixth-generation consoles. Players guide Cereal the mecha-dragon through twisting and turning levels to find and reboot his friends, with a retro vibe reminiscent of Dreamcast’s ChuChu Rocket.
Unfortunately, the cyberspace world is dangerous and there are enemies who’d want to see the adorable polygonal metal lizards shut back down. You’ll be able to speed up or slow down the cadence of Cereal’s march to avoid slithering centipedes, fireball projectiles and more. Just be careful not to loop around into one of the friendly dragons following your lead. Just like in the original iteration of Snake, it’s a surefire way to get a game over.
Dragon March doesn’t have a release date yet but it’s coming along brilliantly with cutscenes and graphics that remind me of classic Digimon.
Platforms: PC
House of Necrosis
Classic survival horror with a turn-based twist
I didn’t realize that I needed a Frankensteined combination of classic Resident Evil and Pokemon Mystery Dungeon in my life and I’m sure you didn’t realize you needed this either. But developer Warkus is an absolute visionary so the turn-based RPG House of Necrosis is shambling into our lives nonetheless.
In House of Necrosis, you’re stepping into the role of a legally distinct female special agent investigating zombies in a legally distinct ever-shifting mansion but instead of fumbling with tank controls, the entire game takes place on a grid.
You’ll have to carefully plan every step to descend deeper into the mansion while staying healthy, conserving bullets and still earning enough experience to level up and get stronger. Each run is a brutal test of your wits and it’s easy to get cornered by shamblers, zombified dogs and other nasty monsters. If you’re truly unlucky, you might find yourself stalked by a giant zombie with a blade arm — his presence inspires fear not unlike Nemesis from Resident Evil 3.
House of Necrosis doesn’t have a release date yet but the demo is a very polished look at what’s to come.
Platforms: PC, Linux
DuneCrawl
Desert freedom fighting in four player co-op
Developer Alientrap’s DuneCrawl is a great hack-and-slash adventure that supports up to four-player co-op — I played solo but this game is definitely built to be enjoyed with your friends. In DuneCrawl, terracotta warriors attack your peaceful village with the eponymous Dune Crawler (a massive crustacean converted into a weapons platform).
It’s up to you and your friends to defeat the invaders, take back the sentient ship and pilot it around a massive map to wipe out any other ne’er-do-wells that roam the sandy seas. DuneCrawl’s gameplay is split between on-foot combat where players can use swords, bows, bombs and primitive guns to get the upper hand and Dune Crawler spelunking, where your team will explore the world and use cannons to fight massive opponents.
This game has an incredible capacity for co-op chaos but a team of people who often play together will surely move like a well-oiled machine. DuneCrawl will be released in 2025.
Platforms: PC
Hell Clock
Diablo-esque dark fantasy ARPG rooted in real Brazilian history
Developer Rogue Snail’s Hell Clock is a dark fantasy reimagining of Brazil’s War of Canudos — introducing many gamers (myself included) to a bloody historical period.
Pajeu is battling the Republic’s military forces when the dead rise once again. Now he’s forced to fight a war on two fronts to save his friends and comrades from mortal peril and change the course of history.
Hell Clock is an extremely competent Diablo-like action RPG — it’s also a speedrunning game in its own right, because you have a timer ticking down to beat the levels in your run. New buffs automatically apply to your build, keeping you in the action. Once you fail a run, you get sent back to the hub area, where you can unlock new permanent gear and other meta-progression buffs from a massive skill tree.
There’s a lot to see and do in Hell Clock and your power will cascade as you unlock more powerful abilities and augments. Even casual action RPG fans will find a game they can spend a lot of time with here. Hell Clock will be released on July 22.
Platforms: PC
1000 Deaths
Psychedelic 3D spelunking through headspace
Developer Pariah Interactive’s 1000 Deaths is a surrealist platformer (think Psychonauts on even more psychedelic substances) focused on the big «what if» moments everyone experiences throughout life.
As you get dragged into the headspaces of four separate characters, you’ll alter their life’s history by completing puzzling platforming challenges. Players will have to fiddle with gravity as they walk around curved levels, with gameplay reminiscent of some of Super Mario Galaxy’s best moments.
The decisions you make will alter the narrative and the platforming mechanics of future levels: I sent the rat-like creature, Vayu, to Hollywood with their friend rather than having them stay in their hometown, which opened a diverging branch of levels to explore. I think 1000 Deaths will have a lot of replay value, as most gamers will want to find hidden secrets and explore every branching path.
1000 Deaths will be released on Aug. 7.
Platforms: PC
Passant: A Chess Roguelike
What if Balatro was chess?
Developer Marc Makes Games’ Passant is to chess what Balatro is to poker and that’s no exaggeration. The big difference is that Passant requires you to put in a bit of work — you need to have a solid understanding of the tabletop game before you start fiddling with all the bells and whistles this game adds.
As you defeat enemy setups in Passant, you gain cash that you can spend on new pieces, temporary power-ups and badges that fundamentally change the rules of the game. The benefits you gain from a badge can be as simple as adding more turn undos for each game you play or as wacky as letting you promote units like bishops and rooks if you can successfully move them to the other side of the board.
I really suck at chess but I was able to roll through a couple games on the normal difficulty once I put a good setup into play. I’m fond of the dragon bishops, a special unit that can take enemies diagonally or in any adjacent square. Every third round you play, you’ll go up against a boss board with buffing badges of their own. I’ve been able to conquer the first boss a handful of times but that second boss has proven to be a bit of a doozy.
Elon Musk infamously said he doesn’t like chess because it doesn’t have tech trees. That’s pretty on-brand for the Tesla CEO, but at least Passant exists so he can take another crack at one of the most pedigreed board games in history. Passant: A Chess Roguelike will be released on Aug. 11.
Platforms: PC
Under The Island
One teenager’s tropical island-spanning Zelda adventure
Developer Slime King Games’ Under The Island combines 2D RPG hack-and-slash action with a heaping helping of teen angst, daring to ask: What if a moody teenager was thrust into Link’s Awakening?
Nia’s parents are moving to Seashell Island to research the local ruins, which means she’ll be sequestered on an island with no friends and nothing to do for a whole year. That might seem like a crummy deal, except for the fact that she immediately falls into an undiscovered cave and meets an ancient bird person while her family is unpacking the car. Nia discovers Seashell Island is on the verge of sinking beneath the waves so she has to go on a classical ’90s-themed quest for the MacGuffins.
Players will need to brave the deceptively gorgeous pixel art island and its nasty critters, find upgrades and solve puzzles to unearth the mysteries of Nia’s new home. This game is classic Zelda through-and-through, and anyone who enjoys Link’s original adventures will appreciate this contemporary take on the genre.
Under The Island’s release date has yet to be revealed — but just like with the other entries on this list, the best way to stay updated on a cool-looking game is to add it to your Steam wishlist.
Platforms: PC
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