Microsoft unveiled its Copilot Fall Release on Thursday, introducing a range of new features, along with a new face for the AI chatbot: Mico (Microsoft Copilot). Despite the buzz of the new «Human-Centered AI» pitch Microsoft is going for, all eyes are on what looks to be the first official Clippy successor — built for the AI-centric world we live in. 

It’s hard not to admit that Microsoft nailed it on the cute factor with Mico, but those who don’t want to see the character don’t have to — it’s completely optional to use. 

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Mico brings a face to Copilot and was designed to be expressive, customizable and warm. This approach is intended to make voice conversations feel more natural — like you’re actually talking to something instead of a disembodied voice. It will respond in ways beyond just a voice reply, such as changing colors and animation.

Here’s Mico doing appendage-less cartwheels and changing colors for 40 seconds:

Another touch point Microsoft brought up was «real talk,» which will challenge assumptions «with care» and adapt to your vibe. This is apparently to help conversations spark growth and connection. 

If you needed any more indication that Micro is the new Clippy, AI and Tech site, Testing Catalog (via Windows Central) spotted an Easter egg on the mobile app: If you tap on Mico enough, it will eventually turn into Clippy temporarily. My attempts to have Mico turn into Clippy failed, though it did turn silver as a direct response to my request for it to «turn into Clippy.»

You can watch the full announcement from Microsoft below, with Mico’s appearance taking center stage at the 42-minute mark. 

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

Today’s Wordle puzzle is pretty tough. Not sure players will think of this word, even if they guess all the letters. If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.

Today’s Wordle hints

Before we show you today’s Wordle answer, we’ll give you some hints. If you don’t want a spoiler, look away now.

Wordle hint No. 1: Repeats

Today’s Wordle answer has no repeated letters.

Wordle hint No. 2: Vowels

Today’s Wordle answer has two vowels.

Wordle hint No. 3: First letter

Today’s Wordle answer begins with T.

Wordle hint No. 4: Last letter

Today’s Wordle answer ends with R.

Wordle hint No. 5: Meaning

Today’s Wordle answer can refer to a group of plants that includes the potato.

TODAY’S WORDLE ANSWER

Today’s Wordle answer is TUBER.

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle answer, Oct. 23, No. 1587 was DRILL.

Recent Wordle answers

Oct. 19, No. 1583: IDEAL
Oct. 20, No. 1584: LIMBO
Oct. 21, No. 1585: DETOX
Oct. 22, No. 1586: STUNT

Video games that feature mechs — pilotable robots meant for battle — have always been rare. Most of them, from 2023’s Armored Core 6 to 2016’s Titanfall 2 to the Mechwarrior games of old, are fast-paced combat simulators. Bounty Star, a new mech game that’s out now on PC and consoles, slows down the action with a story about starting life anew on the frontier. 

Bounty Star, developed by studio Dinogod, still has its share of real-time combat encounters that make up the bulk of the gameplay. But filling the time between all that action are calmer moments, maintaining a desert ranch, from gardening and tending livestock to tuning up a mech. It’s in these more mundane stretches that the game’s setting sings, with the twanging guitar soundtrack echoing around a dusty barn plopped in the middle of anywhere and nowhere under a seemingly endless sky. 

It’s the perfect place for Clementine, a rugged former sheriff looking to escape mistakes in her past. Covered in tattoos and burn scars, she’s an ace pilot of the mechs (called Raptors) that protect the settlements of a world patching itself back together after a couple of apocalypses. Clem is a salty survivor getting back on her feet, fixing up the dilapidated waystation she’s been given by her bounty handler as she cleans up the desert of bandits and dinosaurs gnawing at the edges of civilized life in the frontier.

Cowboys and mechs, what could be better? There’s a lot of heart in Bounty Star, earning its place in boutique publisher Annapurna Games’ release calendar. The cartoony style softens the game’s somber themes of people eking out an existence on the edge of society, but its combat is well-tuned. Clem ventures out on bounty missions in her trusty Raptor, which can be tweaked to fit the mission. Most of the time, you’ll be gunning down or capturing bandits on foot or in mechs of their own. 

Over time, you’ll acquire an arsenal of guns, explosive launchers, swords and hammers to clean out the sands and canyons around your ranch. You’ll have to be careful what you pack into your kit, as weapons can raise or lower the heat of your mech. Swing too widely one way or another, and you’ll force a shutdown, leaving you vulnerable. However, you can switch modular systems in and out, like a chilling coil that keeps your mech at a cooler baseline, which is great for heading out in the hot afternoon but not the cooler evening. Juggling kit pieces and time of day for a mission is part of the balancing act that keeps you switching things up.

I’m about 10 hours into the game and have unlocked some of the elements of the farm: a set of plant beds, a couple of electrolyzing tanks for mech fuel and a hive for a bug friend I can bring on missions. All need tending in the mornings, after which I can cook up a meal for bonus stats for the day’s combat. Then I take on bounties, some of which can only be attempted at certain times — like one in the evening that had me clear out a floodlit baseball field. 

While the days are spent knocking bandit heads amid the desert rock and sand, the night landscapes are lit up by phosphorescent purple trees — potentially the effect of the devastating wars of years gone by, but a lovely environmental effect regardless. Rising above the neon violet flora are the stars, and like anywhere not spoiled by the light pollution of a city, the specks of white blanket the night. 

I’m not far into the game, and haven’t hit too many story beats. But whenever I complete enough bounties to cross a milestone, I’m treated to a scene of Clem sitting atop her Raptor, filling out a journal, talking about the slow progress of gaining trust from the oddballs she’s met and the Syndicate that assigns her bounties meant to bring law to the land.

Few though they are, most other mech games are action-packed bonanzas against the backdrop of global (Armored Core 6) or galactic politics (Battletech). Bounty Star shrinks the scale down to a jaded woman and the land she’s helping bring back to order and productivity, one way or another. Helping others helps bring her peace. As anyone who knows the desert can tell you, look past the barren emptiness long enough and you’ll find wonder in natural beauty and purpose in making a living in the harsh frontier.

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Bounty Star is out now on PC (via Steam

and Epic), Xbox Series X and S, and PlayStation 5, for $22.49.