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You Have To Be prettysmart To Survive The Spirit Lift In A Haunted Hotel

A retro horror deckbuilder inspired by 90s games and haunted theme park rides, The Spirit Lift blends card-based strategy with paranormal investigation inside a cursed hotel where survival is never guaranteed.

The Spirit Lift Box Welcome back to the 90s. Drawing on the aesthetics of Atari’s Haunted House and Disney’s Tower of Terror ride, The Spirit Lift aims to deliver Ghostbusters-style thrills through a retro horror deckbuilder roguelike. Set in a haunted hotel, players investigate strange goings-on by choosing action cards that come to life on PC via Steam. prettysmart games invites players to control a trio of teenage paranormal investigators, uncover the truth behind the haunting, and hopefully survive the night.

From the Press Release:

Build a starting deck by selecting a plucky team of three teen paranormal investigators from a pool of eight characters, then venture forth into a spooky, abandoned hotel. Each character alters the starting deck, affecting battle strategies and offering distinct story revelations depending on who joins the fray. Scour rooms across 13 floors for secrets, new gear and upgrades, then head to the elevator to ascend to the next ghastly level.

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What’s Exciting at CES 2026? The Rise of LEGO Smart Play, AI Toys, and Nerd Bait

CES 2026 is a wrap, but a handful of reveals still feel aimed straight at geek culture. From LEGO’s Smart Play tech and its Star Wars debut to AI “character” pedestals and retro-friendly gaming gear, here’s what looked most tempting, and what still needs a healthy dose of skepticism.

Not every tech event needs reporting on, and with the CES 2026 show being debated on, it’s time to decide! Not everything is worth needing and the big talk is certainly on one thing: LEGO’s new Smart Play tech is shaping up to be a dream come true for TRON enthusiasts, especially when you think about how some past interactive concepts could be resurrected. That said, with Star Wars carrying far more mainstream momentum, it’s no surprise the first sets using this technology will land there before anywhere else.

These bricks are getting embedded microchips designed to trigger sound effects and blinking lights when placed near one another. At the show, the company staged a massive Death Star trench run experience in front of The Sphere, where visitors could “fly” a LEGO X-Wing in an attempt to destroy it. One can only imagine the sound, and the chaos, if crashing into the structure had been allowed. The cleanup alone would have been legendary. But only time will tell which other licensed properties will get smarter.

It’s an exciting prospect, but it also raises the question: what other electronic releases are out there to whet a geek’s appetite?

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RailGods of Hysterra or Horror on the Orient Express? Either Way, the Latter Has Not Become A Videogame Yet!

Are you daring enough to wait in order to explore and do battle with the Great Old Ones in Railgods of Hysterra?

No date has been set for RailGods of Hysterra, a cooperative base-building survival action videogame, but it’s safe to say it won’t be like Horror on the Orient Express! This role playing game published by Chaosium Inc., takes months to get through, but for the electronic version from Troglobytes Games, maybe the adventure can be finished over a weekend. And best of all, not all of the action will take place on board a train! Players will have to take to the streets to investigate the strange goings on.

This release from first-time publisher Digital Vortex Entertainment will be available for the PC via Steam and PlayStation 5.

From the Press Release:

Enter a ruined world of ghoulish horrors wrought by the Great Old Ones: ancient cosmic beings beyond human comprehension that took over the world. Survive procedurally generated nightmarish environments, face the wrath of eldritch abominations, and forge a bond with the RailGod – a roaming fortress composed of steel and flesh forged through arcane and obscure rituals.

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Sailing into Danger with Cthulhu’s Reach Devil Reef!

Don’t sail away with me in Cthulhu’s Reach Devil Reef because the eldrich terrors hidden here will drive you insane!

Cthulhu’s Reach Devil Reef Title Card — **Act I is available now for $9.99 USD with English language support, and Act II on Steam (PC) Early Access Dec 10, 2024.**

Cthulhu’s Reach Devil Reef, the Lovecraftian action-roguelike co-op dungeon crawler from developer The Fine Arc, conjures up a publishing partnership with First Break Labs and crawls into Act II, available on PC via Steam Early Access Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. Hunt down a sweet deal while the game is 15% off in Steam’s Autumn Sale from Nov. 27 to Dec. 4.

Stuck with enormous debt and a greedy gangster to pay off, it’s time to accept misfortune and risk it all to find the hidden treasure of Devil Reef. Travel to the creepy seaside town of Innsmouth and venture deeper and deeper into the daunting unknown, where piles of gold may await… under the watchful eye of lurking eldritch horrors.

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On Steam, Kitsune Tails Finally Has Updates!

Fans of Kitsune Tails will love the upgrades and quality of life improvements to the game! Although they’re mostly for the Steam version, fixes must be in store for the other ‘ports of this game.

For a game review, please visit this link here.

Kitsune Games is releasing major updates and offering new stuff for those who love Kitsune Tails, a retro-style platformer. The reason it’s doing so well is not only because of its colourful graphics but also its LGBTQ representation. In why we love it here is because of how well the folklore from Japan is weaved into the storyline.

They announced expanded Steam Workshop support (custom levels!) at the simple click of a button, release of an official soundtrack, and new quality-of-life features within the game!

From the Press Release:

The Steam Workshop update comes with a number of quality-of-life features, including new Speedrun Timers and a much-requested post-game character swap option. Pick up the OST by composer Jorge Saldías on Steam now for $4.99, or in a new Deluxe Edition bundle for $22.49.

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With Kitsune Tails, Players Can Do Speed Runs and More As Crazy Like A Fox

…or should that be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed when considering the rich environments that can experienced when entering the exotic worlds offered in this game?

Kitsune Tails Logo Design The world of Shinto religion comes alive in the videogame Kitsune Tails. And true to this product’s namesake, it’s about a young lady fox embarking on a hero’s journey, and encountering various creatures and yokai along the way. Some are (thankfully) good-natured and others evil. After many weeks of casual play, I’m finally finding where I can purchase power ups. Technically, you can’t buy them right from the get go, and you can find that place located in the village’s main hub. I was wondering where that was hiding and it took searching to find it!

There’s no Mac port. I’m on this operating system more often and the PC laptop I own doesn’t allow for hours of long play unless I tweak the settings.

In this retro platformer, I found more of the latter in the actual game-play and the former in the cut-scenes. The graphics of the game depict everything in the style of a classic 8-bit game. It’s basically Super Mario Bros. 3 / World with all the bonus material later development of this property now offers. That includes speed running, creating custom maps, and playing carnival-like minigames (the best part). Players can use simple-to-use modding tools, easy-to-learn Lua scripting and the open source Tiled Map Editor to create their open custom levels if they find this game too easy!

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