What Are We All Playing This Weekend?

Adam: I fly to Cologne for Gamescom early next week so this weekend I will mostly be playing with a spreadsheet that contains all of my appointments. To win the game, I have to plot my way through the gargantuan halls, moving from one meeting to the next, with pitstops for food, drink and cigarette breaks built into the route. I lose the game if I miss an appointment or die.

If I have time, I'll also be playing Endless Space because I'm talking to Amplitude about the sequel over in Germany and I'd like a refresher beforehand. I've played so much Endless Legend that I've forgotten what I did and didn't like about Space. More than anything, I remember being impressed by the writing and disappointed by the combat, even though I liked the latter more than most people seem to. When I'm done with that, I'll watch the Dropsy trailer on repeat until I fall to sleep.

Alec: After a period of nervousness about it (football is my Achille's heel, and cars are my other one) I finally threw myself into Rocket League. You probably don't need me to tell you that it's brilliant, but bloody hell, it's brilliant. Yeah, it's cars and balls, but it's also essentially a superhero game, and one in which every micro-second of a match is breathlessly exciting. I'm also finally playing King of Dragon Pass now its rejiggered version is out on PC. Its slow-burn dynastic dilemmas are about as opposite to Rocket League as you get, but it's no less brilliant.

Alice: I've been run-down all week following a truly foolish hangover, so I've been putting off games I really wanted to play. Now I'm recovered, I'm so very keen to launch into Life Is Strange Episode 4 then, of course, strap on my rocketcar for Rocket League. I'd like to play more Magic Duels too, to see if its free-to-play feels... not awful?

I'd also like to catch up on some of the early rounds of Dota 2's The International tournament ahead of everything really kicking off on Monday. As I watch, I shall send reactions to Pip rolling around her hotel bed trying to recover from jetlag - poor dear's flown out to that there US of A to see it all live and surely needs a GOOD FRIEND like me to offer sympathy.

Graham: Look, there's about 20 unplayed games installed on my computer, but I'm not going to play any of them. Rocket League is too immediate, too fun, too exciting not to spend all my available game time playing that. I've almost unlocked most of what there is to unlock, which means I'm getting to the stage where I need to start trying to get better at the game if I want to maintain a feeling of progress.

John: I'm really hoping to take a look at Kyn, but I've a sneaking suspicion I'll return to my quest to collect all the stars in Talos Principle. It needs to be done, obviously, or there will be all these stars lying around that people might trip over.

I also imagine I'll be playing a lot of peekaboo, and a fair amount of Let's Not Drink The Whole Bath, Eh? Both are free to play, and yet I seem to keep paying and paying and paying.

Philippa: What is a computer game?