Technologies
Xbox Game Pass Subscribers Can Play Assassin’s Creed Mirage Now
Microsoft also brought on a few more games to Game Pass Standard.

The Assassin’s Creed franchise is one of the biggest series in gaming today. Ubisoft, the publisher of the series, said in 2023 that it has sold more than 155 million copies of Assassin’s Creed games, making it one of the bestselling franchises in history. And Xbox Game Pass subscribers can play one of the most recent entries in the series, Assassin’s Creed: Mirage, right now.
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, a CNET Editors Choice award pick, offers hundreds of games you can play on your Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One and PC or mobile device for $20 a month. A subscription gives you access to a large library of games, with new ones, like Doom: The Dark Ages, added monthly, plus other benefits such as online multiplayer and deals on non-Game Pass titles.
Here are the games Microsoft is bringing to Game Pass in August. You can also check out other games the company added to the service in July, including early access to Grounded 2.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage
Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers can play now.
Travel back in time to 9th century Baghdad in this 2023 installment of the popular Assassin’s Creed franchise. You play as Basim, a cunning street thief who joins an ancient organization known as the Hidden Ones. Through this organization, you’ll become a deadly master assassin and change the course of the world.
Rain World
Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass and Game Pass Standard subscribers can play now.
In this survival platformer, you’re a slugcat — both adorable and dangerous — in a broken ecosystem filled with overgrown plants and industrial waste. You have to survive in this world with nothing but your wits and trusty spear. But there are larger enemies out there who think you look like their next meal, so watch your step.
Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector
New to Game Pass Standard.
Game Pass Standard subscribers can now join the fun of Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector, a few months after Microsoft brought this title to Game Pass Ultimate. This sequel to one of 2022’s most popular RPGs launches on Game Pass on Day 1. You play as a sleeper, an emulated human mind in an artificial body, as you try to outrun the corporation that made you and the gang that wants to control you. You’ll commandeer a ship, recruit a crew and take on contracts as you try to build a better future for yourself in this dice-driven sci-fi game.
Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders
New to Game Pass Standard.
Get ready to fall down over and over again as you learn to master the snowy terrain in Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders. This is the sequel to Lonely Mountains: Downhill, but up to eight players can join cross-platform multiplayer matches, so you and your block-headed friends can enjoy the fresh powder together. That doesn’t sound lonely at all.
MechWarrior 5: Clans
New to Game Pass Standard.
Game Pass Ultimate subscribers could play MechWarrior 5: Clans in November, and Game Pass Standard subscribers can now play it as well. Step into a towering mech and battle your way across the galaxy in this latest installment of the MechWarrior series. Your territory is being invaded in this game, and you lead a squad of five other mech pilots to turn the invasion back. But this is no run-and-gun game. You’ll have to coordinate your moves with other units to create the perfect opportunities to attack.
Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap
New to Game Pass Standard.
The orcs are back in the latest entry in this tower-defense series, but your goal remains the same: Kill every last one of them. Each hero in this game has their own unique play style, so pick the one most fun for you. And team up with others in four-player co-op to obliterate the chaotic cartoonish hordes. Microsoft brought this title to Game Pass Ultimate subscribers in February, and Game Pass Standard subscribers can get in on all the orc-smashing fun now.
Aliens: Fireteam Elite
Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass and Game Pass Standard subscribers can play on Aug. 12.
Microsoft is bringing this game back to Game Pass after removing it from the service in December 2022. In this survival shooter, you join an elite team of hardened marines as they fight through hordes of xenomorphs from the Alien franchise. You can customize your character and gear as you take on the ever-evolving threat and try to stop it from spreading.
9 Kings (game preview)
Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers can play on Aug. 14.
This game takes kingdom builders, deck builders and roguelikes and smashes them together to make something new. You’ll build your kingdom from a humble village to a huge citadel, but you’ll also have to defend your realm from other rulers. So you can use knights, warlocks, sentient mushrooms and more in major battles to fend off others. And you can loot your enemy’s deck to grow your empire and become the King of Kings.
These games are leaving Game Pass on Aug. 15
While Microsoft is adding those games to Game Pass soon, the company is also removing a few others from the service on Aug. 15. So you still have some time to finish any campaigns or sidequests before you have to buy these games separately.
For more on Xbox, discover other games available on Game Pass now, read our hands-on review of the gaming service and learn which Game Pass plan is right for you. You can also check out what to know about upcoming Xbox game price hikes.
Technologies
The Infamous Home Depot Giant Skeleton Has a Voice This Halloween Thanks to a New App
It may be half the size of the traditional giant skelly, but the latest version has animated features and can talk.
Spooky season is here, and we’re only 10 days away from Halloween — so it’s past time to set up your decorations if you haven’t already. And this year, Home Depot’s infamous giant skeleton has returned with an app that gives the new Ultra Skelly a voice and fresh moves to spook trick-or-treaters.
Make no bones about it: Skelly is high-tech this year. The new animatronic version is shorter than the original, at 6.5 feet tall, but you can freak out your whole neighborhood with this skeleton’s rotating upper torso, moving mouth and 18 LCD eye variations (ew).
Skelly, available for sale on the Home Depot website or app for $279, now allows visitors to chat with you through five preset recordings and up to 30 seconds of custom recordings, plus Bluetooth capabilities that enable real-time interaction. And you can modulate your voice to make everything sound extra spooky.
Skelly was launched in 2020, when the pandemic forced people to celebrate Halloween at a distance. Perhaps because of its giant stature — it was easy to spot, even when social distancing — the skeleton became a hit and has been resurrected every year since with upgrades and friends. This year, those friends include dragons, trolls, scarecrows and a Skelly Cat (not to be confused with Smelly Cat).
Technologies
Verum E-SIM: Mobile Internet Without Borders or SIM Cards
Verum E-SIM: Mobile Internet Without Borders or SIM Cards
Today’s travelers are choosing freedom — and eSIM technology delivers exactly that. An eSIM is a virtual SIM card built directly into your device, allowing you to connect to the internet without a physical card or a mobile phone number.
Verum E-SIM is an entire ecosystem of high-tech applications, bringing together solutions like World E-SIM, Euro E-SIM, USA E-SIM, Turkiye E-SIM, London E-SIM, and more. Each of them offers instant access to mobile networks in over 150 countries — no roaming, no overpayments, no paperwork.
The main advantage is simplicity. Download the app, choose your country and plan, activate your eSIM in just a few minutes — and you’re online. No stores, no waiting, no contracts. Just you, the internet, and the freedom to travel your way.
Verum’s eSIMs offer reliability, transparency, and full control of your expenses — all in one app. Whether you’re in Tokyo, New York, Paris, or Nairobi, you’ll always stay connected.
Verum E-SIM Apps:
Verum E-SIM – esim.verum.im
World E-SIM – worldesim.me
USA E-SIM – usa.esim.verum.im
Canada E-SIM – canada.esim.verum.im
Euro E-SIM – euro.esim.verum.im
London E-SIM – london.esim.verum.im
Ukraine E-SIM – ukraine.esim.verum.im
Balkan E-SIM – balkan.esim.verum.im
Africa E-SIM – africa.esim.verum.im
Turkiye E-SIM – turkiyesim.com
Technologies
Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Tuesday, Oct. 21
Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Oct. 21.
Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.
Today’s Mini Crossword features a lot of one certain letter. Need help? Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.
If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.
Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword
Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.
Mini across clues and answers
1A clue: Bone that can be «dropped»
Answer: JAW
4A clue: Late scientist Goodall
Answer: JANE
5A clue: Make critical assumptions about
Answer: JUDGE
6A clue: Best by a little
Answer: ONEUP
7A clue: Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn, etc.
Answer: GODS
Mini down clues and answers
1D clue: Just kind of over it
Answer: JADED
2D clue: Beef cattle breed
Answer: ANGUS
3D clue: Shed tears
Answer: WEEP
4D clue: 2007 comedy-drama starring Elliot Page and Michael Cera
Answer: JUNO
5D clue: Refresh, as one’s memory
Answer: JOG
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