Technologies

Hands-On With Spellcasters Chronicles: 3 Things I Hope They Change Before the Closed Beta

The game is an interesting spin on the classic push-lanes-with-minions formula, but the action doesn’t yet feel satisfying.

Quantic Dream, the studio known for rich storytelling games like Detroit: Become Human, announced something totally different last month. Spellcasters Chronicles is a competitive three-on-three action-strategy game that promises to have an element of ongoing storytelling. And the develop just announced that it’s entering a closed beta from Dec. 4 to 7.

Spellcasters Chronicles follows the general mold of a multiplayer online battle arena game like League of Legends: Your team battles along three lanes, with player-controlled characters helping waves of computer-controlled minions as they push toward objectives («lifestones») deep in enemy territory. Player characters have different classes and abilities, giving them defined strengths and weaknesses.

I got to play an early build of the game earlier this month to get a sense of the gameplay loop and the general vibe of Spellcasters Chronicles. The usual caveats apply: This is an early build of the game, so things were not optimized, features may change and so on. I should also be clear that one or two matches played is not a lot of material to judge by, so I’ll be focusing on the broad strokes.

Based on a quick match-and-a-half, here are the three things I’m hoping the game changes.

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Put more action in the action-strategy

The match I played, which came down to the last dying seconds, felt like it was primarily decided by the two teams’ strategic decisions more than individual plays. Our opponents summoned an early titan, a massive creature that helped them gain control of most of the map, but my team worked together to stop it before it could damage our lifestone (each team’s most precious structure). We used that momentum to flip one of the lanes and ultimately destroy one of our opponents’ lifestones.

At the end of the game, the other team made another push with a titan while one of our teammates was on a long wait to respawn. But we had stocked up on resources and were able to dump everything into eliminating the titan before it took out one of our lifestones, though we cut it pretty close.

Those big swings felt like they came down to our strategy, rather than relying on landing important shots or abilities, which is what I’d hoped to see in an action-strategy game like this. And deckbuilding elements of selecting ability cards to bring into the match, which were limited in our playtest, further swing the game toward rewarding strategy over moment-to-moment combat skill. That’s certainly not unheard of for MOBA games, but I’d like the balance to shift more toward the action side, or at least somewhere more in the middle to reward great plays.

The existing action elements need some help

To be clear, the game does have action elements, but they probably need a little tweaking if Quantic Dream wants them to stand out. Flying around the map with dash abilities and raining spells down upon enemy summons were fun, and by far the most dynamic parts of the game, but other pieces of action came up a bit short.

The biggest thing for me was that it felt impossible to hit other spellcasters with primary attacks and abilities due to the travel time of projectiles and the small hitbox of the spellcasters. Maybe the struggles were particular to the spellcaster I was playing (the swamp witch), but about halfway through the game, I kind of just gave up on shooting at enemy spellcasters because I felt like a Death Star stormtrooper firing at Luke Skywalker. The swamp witch is listed as a duelist class, so I had hoped to feel more useful in 1v1s against other spellcasters.

Unlike traditional MOBA games, players have to manually summon minions, rather than having them automatically spawn from their base. This gives you some element of control — you can pick which lane to spawn them in, and as you gain map control, you can spawn them further up the lane. But spending time summoning minions felt like a bit of a chore, even if it happens pretty quickly. There were times when I wanted to rotate to another lane, but I felt like I had to hold off in order to summon more minions in the area I was currently in. In fairness, the deck I selected was very heavy on minions rather than spells or other effects, so other builds might have a different experience, but that doesn’t change the fact that the hands-on summoning process really slowed the game down for me.

The art style is engaging and enjoyable, but visually, a bit hard to read

The game has a bright, vivid art style that makes spells and parts of the scenery pop. But sometimes, there was a little too much popping. I’m a veteran of Overwatch and Marvel Rivals, so I’m no stranger to a barrage of particle effects, but there were moments where I got totally lost in Spellcasters. Three casters barraging a titan with spells in front of a glowing lifestone can be pretty visually disorienting.

In the visual style of Spellcasters Chronicles, size is power. Ultimate abilities have enormous areas of effect, and the most powerful summons, titans, are kaiju-sized threats that stomp across the battlefield, demanding your attention. In general, I think that works, but when those large elements all cluster together, it’s challenging to decipher what’s happening.

What’s next for Spellcasters Chronicles?

Spellcasters offers an interesting twist on a popular game type, and it’s already doing some things right. Games run 25 minutes long, which helps dodge the classic MOBA pitfall of feeling trapped in unwinnable games or slowly grinding out a victory for 45 minutes to an hour. (Though 20 minutes might be an even sweeter spot.)

Seeing a titan lumbering toward your lifestone is appropriately thrilling, and summoning one feels nicely cataclysmic. It’s one of the game’s biggest strengths in the current state.

But I hope Quantic Dream spends some time tightening up the action elements and some of the visual clutter. The early state of the game probably wouldn’t be enough to break into my rotation of other competitive games, but if spellcaster-to-spellcaster combat felt more consistent, and if the game depended a little more on landing shots and spellcaster abilities, it would be a more serious contender.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for March 18, #1011

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for March 18 #1011.

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

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle is pretty tricky, but musicians might find the blue group easy. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Time between two things, maybe.

Green group hint: That smarts!

Blue group hint: Rockers know these well.

Purple group hint: You might write one out to pay a bill.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Interval.

Green group: React to a stubbed toe.

Blue group: Guitar effects pedals.

Purple group: ____ check.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is interval. The four answers are patch, period, spell and stretch.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is react to a stubbed toe. The four answers are curse, hop, wince and yell.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is guitar effects pedals. The four answers are delay, reverb, wah and whammy.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is ____ check. The four answers are blank, coat, rain and reality.

Toughest Connections puzzles

We’ve made a note of some of the toughest Connections puzzles so far. Maybe they’ll help you see patterns in future puzzles.

#5: Included «things you can set,» such as mood, record, table and volleyball.

#4: Included «one in a dozen,» such as egg, juror, month and rose.

#3: Included «streets on screen,» such as Elm, Fear, Jump and Sesame.

#2: Included «power ___» such as nap, plant, Ranger and trip.

#1: Included «things that can run,» such as candidate, faucet, mascara and nose.

Technologies

My Kid Wanted Video Games. I Was Against It. This Console Gave Us Both the Win

The movement-based Nex Playground might be the antidote to parental screen time guilt.

When our 8-year-old started asking for video games, I knew we were about to engage in an uphill battle. Anytime we’ve been to friends’ houses with gaming consoles, he goes full zombie mode, then has an epic meltdown once the sensory overload wears off. And since he inevitably ropes his 6-year-old brother in, we’re essentially sealing both their fates.

So when our neighbors started raving about a movement-based gaming console called Nex Playground, my first instinct was to shut it down. The words «gaming console» alone were enough to put me in a mental block. Add in my own memories of Wii tennis sessions where I nearly took out the ceiling fan, and I was firmly in the «no» camp.

But after doing a little more research, I was intrigued enough to try it out.

Screen time isn’t something I take lightly. With three kids ages 2 to 8, my husband and I have always been intentional about how and what they watch. They don’t have their own tablets, and most of their screen time happens on our family TV, which means whatever the oldest is exposed to quickly trickles down to our toddler. So anything we bring into the house has to work for all of them. Tall order, I know, but the Nex Playground gets surprisingly close.

Getting started is easy

The console itself is refreshingly simple. It’s a small cube, slightly larger than a Rubik’s cube, with a circular camera and motion sensor, a light indicator and two ports for power, and an HDMI connection to the TV. There’s no controller beyond a basic remote for navigating menus. For most games, your body is the controller.

Setup is quick. Plug it in, connect it to your TV, and you’re ready to go. It doesn’t store video or upload footage to the cloud, which was an immediate plus. It also comes with a magnetic privacy cover that you can put on the lens when it’s not in use.

At $250, it’s not cheap, but it’s less than some of the popular gaming consoles for this age range, like the Nintendo Switch 2. That gets you a five-game starter pack: Fruit Ninja, Go Keeper (soccer), Starri (think Guitar Hero for your whole body), Party Fowl (an AR emoji frenzy) and Whack-a-Mole. Additional games require a subscription: $89 a year or $49 for three months, which unlocks a library of 50-plus games and counting. New titles dropped even as I was writing this.

The library spans a surprisingly wide range. There are board game adaptations like Connect Four and Candy Land, character-driven games with Peppa Pig, Bluey and the Ninja Turtles, and sports like baseball and, yes, tennis — minus the ceiling fan hazard. There’s even parent-friendly content like Zumba workouts, which I may or may not have fully committed to on a rainy afternoon.

Even my toddler has gotten in on the action, mostly bouncing her way through Hungry Hungry Hippos when her brothers finally concede.

Gameplay is where it wins

The movements range from swinging your arms to keep a ball in motion, hopping or full-body launches that are far more aggressive than what the game actually requires. (I’m not about to tell the kids otherwise.) After a 45-minute session, my kids are tired and sometimes even drenched in sweat. The Nex Playground entertains and burns energy in one fell swoop.

The graphics also seem intentionally simple and arcade-like, which fits the minimalist play experience. There’s no POV storyline to get lost in, no leveling up into a new world at 9 p.m. on a school night. Some games keep score, which awakens my kids’ competitive streak, but the vibe is more collaborative and hasn’t been the catalyst for more fighting like other games. If anything, it’s done the opposite.

I still don’t love defaulting to a screen when my kids are bored, so we try to use it in moderation. In our house, piano practice is the only thing that unlocks weekend play time, and the fact that they’ll sit at the piano for a full hour tells you everything you need to know.

The verdict that matters most

But the real test: Does it hold up to an 8-year-old who was dead set on a Nintendo Switch?

Short answer: yes. At least for now. He’d still pick the Switch if you asked him, but not for the reasons you’d expect.

«The Playground is more tiring,» he told me, which only helped seal the deal for me. His current favorite is Homerun Hitters. «It’s basically a baseball game where you go against ranked global players. Me and my brother are really good at it.»

This from a kid whose primary hobby is annoying his younger brother. The fact that he said «me and my brother» as a collective was an unexpected bonus.

The Switch may still show up on the Christmas list this year. And realistically, I know I’m on borrowed time. As kids get older, «cool» becomes the currency, and a motion-based cube probably won’t hold up against an Xbox or a Switch once playdates turn into side-by-side gaming sessions.

The Nex Playground isn’t a replacement for those. It’s more of a detour; it gives them a taste of gaming without all the usual side effects. Even if I do eventually cave, I can still see it sticking around for the occasional family game night or as a rainy-day sibling diffuser.

In the meantime, I’ll relish this simpler version of gaming while I still can. He’s not exactly rushing me to return this review unit. More importantly, neither am I.

Technologies

Don’t Wait for New Emoji in iOS 26.4, Here’s How to Create Them on Your Own

If your iPhone has Apple Intelligence, you can create your own emoji now.

Apple will likely add new emoji to your iPhone when the company releases iOS 26.4. Those new emoji could include an orca, a distorted smiley face and more. According to Emojipedia, there are 3,953 emoji with more on the way. The current list of emoji include smileys, sports players, weather conditions and flags. But there’s no emoji for a dog wearing pajamas, a plate with burgers and fries and many other things. But if you have Genmoji on your iPhone you can create these emoji and many more.

Apple released iOS 18.2 in 2024 and the company introduced its own emoji generator, called Genmoji, to Apple Intelligence-capable iPhones at that time. The Unicode Standard, a universal character encoding standard, is responsible for creating new emoji, and approved emoji are added to all devices once a year. With Genmoji, you don’t have to wait for new emoji to appear on your iPhone each year. You can just create them as you need them.

Read on to learn how to use Genmoji on iPhone to create your own custom emoji. Just note that only iPhones with Apple Intelligence, like the iPhone 17 lineup, can use Genmoji at this time.

How to make custom emoji

1. Open Messages and go into a chat.
2. Tap the plus (+) button next to your text box.
3. Tap Genmoji.

You can then type a description of an emoji into the text box near the bottom of your screen and tap the check mark on your keyboard to enter that description into Genmoji. You can also tap different suggestions and themes that are right above the text box. And with iOS 26 or later, you can also combine and use emoji to create others rather than describing a new emoji or using suggestions.

Your iPhone will generate a series of new emoji for you to pick from according to your description, and you can swipe through these new emoji. When you find the one you want, tap Add in the top right corner of your screen and the new emoji will be available to use as an emoji, tapback or a sticker. Now you don’t have to wait for the Unicode Standard to propose, create and bring new emoji to devices.

For more iOS news, here’s what to know about iOS 26.3.1 and iOS 26.3. You can also check out our iOS 26 cheat sheet for other tips and tricks.