“Let’s do things differently this time,” says Gwen Stacy at the beginning of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. The words kick off a three-minute monologue in which she recaps the previous film’s events and anticipates some of the twists and turns of the sequel, all the while playing an increasingly loud...
How does Wicked rank against every other modern movie based on a Broadway musical?
In the 2002 movie Chicago, Catherine Zeta-Jones steps into the spotlight to belt out “All That Jazz” with a defiant kind of joy that takes on new meaning once it becomes clear that her character, Velma Kelly, has just murdered her husband. Zeta-Jones’ rendition of the song was irresistible: On...
Peak went from a canceled game that couldn’t get funding to selling millions on Steam
The folks at Aggro Crab were feeling the fatigue.Their previous game, the underwater Souls-like Another Crab’s Treasure, was their biggest undertaking since the studio was started back in 2019. While the creative action game had been received well by reviewers and players alike, it also took three years to make....
While Fortnite flourished, one team member spent nights building his dream miniatures game
Best Hobby founder Daniel Block has, well… been around the block a few times. At 51, he’s already had an incredible career in tabletop gaming, first in the 1990s working on card games like Rage, Legend of the Five Rings, and Dune: Collectible Card Game. He then pivoted to video...
Mecha Break’s futuristic details extend deep into the bathroom
This might seem like a tiny, insignificant detail, and in the grand scheme of gameplay, it is. But I have concerns about the lack of a functional sink, mainly because my pilot’s bedroom does have a functional toilet.Let me explain. When not actively playing a match in Mecha Break, you...
These fans claimed Silent Hill as a cozy retreat
Christian Zeva acknowledges how strange it sounds to call Silent Hill games “cozy,” especially to people who haven’t played one before. His introduction to the horror series, however, wasn’t in front of a TV. During a rainy train ride one day, he heard the ethereal sound of “The Day of...
How Dimension 20 gets ready for a live show
On Jan. 24, the hit D&D actual play series Dimension 20 made its sold-out Madison Square Garden debut. How did they prepare for “The Gauntlet in the Garden,” where cast members brought back their characters from the Unsleeping City arc of the show in front of 20,000 screaming fans? The...
Squid Game games miss the point — but viewers want them, says Netflix
Having watched and been profoundly unsettled by Squid Game, I felt some surprise upon seeing the reveal of Squid Game: Unleashed earlier this month. The new video game adaptation from Boss Fight at Netflix Games repurposes the show’s brutal games into madcap multiplayer experiences. There’s still gore, but it’s cartoonish....
The 12 best routes in Pokémon history
If someone asked you about your favorite place in a Pokémon game, you likely wouldn’t tell them the name of a route. After all, what is a route but a tiring link between cooler stuff? However, for Polygon’s Retreat Week, I decided to take the time to focus on an...
I built a starship to play video games in
Around the middle part of 2024, just as a dire political season kicked off in earnest, I realized I needed to change my diet. Not the kind of food I ate, but the kind of news media I consumed and, most importantly, how frequently I consumed it. I badly needed...