Tag Archives: Arts & Entertainment

The Oscars will exclusively air on YouTube starting in 2029

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The entertainment industry’s most well-known awards show is heading to streaming. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) has announced that the Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, will exclusively air on YouTube starting in 2029. The new deal means the awards show is abandoning its long-time partnership with ABC (owned by frequent Oscars heavyweight, The Walt Disney Company), though the Oscars will continue to air on the network through its 100th anniversary in 2028.

The Academy Awards will be joined by other Academy events and programming on the Oscars YouTube channel, including “the Governors Awards, the Oscars Nominations Announcement, the Oscars Nominees Luncheon, the Student Academy Awards, the Scientific and Technical Awards, Academy member and filmmaker interviews, film education programs, podcasts, and more,” AMPAS says. The Google Arts & Culture initiative will also digitize artifacts in the Academy collection and help provide digital access online as part of the new partnership.

“We are thrilled to enter into a multifaceted global partnership with YouTube to be the future home of the Oscars and our year-round Academy programming,” Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Lynette Howell Taylor said in the announcement of the new YouTube deal. “The Academy is an international organization, and this partnership will allow us to expand access to the work of the Academy to the largest worldwide audience possible — which will be beneficial for our Academy members and the film community.”

Awards shows have struggled to find their footing in the streaming era, particularly because they already served a niche audience even when broadcast TV was the norm. Prior to the Oscars heading to YouTube, Netflix snagged the rights to stream the SAG Awards in 2023, an acting-focused award show that’s often seen as a precursor to the Oscars.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/the-oscars-will-exclusively-air-on-youtube-starting-in-2029-181545531.html?src=rss

Uber and DoorDash challenge NYC law that encourages tipping

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Uber and DoorDash are challenging a forthcoming NYC law that encourages tipping on food-delivery apps, as reported by The New York Times. The two entities have filed a joint federal lawsuit just ahead of the ruling going into effect next month.

Back in 2023, many food delivery apps in the city moved the tip suggestion box to after purchases had been completed. This is sort of how rideshare apps work. It followed NYC mandating a minimum pay rate for food delivery workers, the first in the country. The new law simply switches the tip suggestion box back to checkout, with a suggestion of ten percent. Customers are still free to set it to zero, if that's their thing.

The two companies say this law violates the First Amendment by requiring them to "speak a government-mandated message." They also say the rule would cause customers to use the app less because they were suffering from "tipping fatigue." As a customer of food delivery apps, I am not stricken with tipping fatigue. I have, however, come down with a serious case of "what are all of these mysterious fees on my bill and why is my burrito $45?" fatigue.

NYC food delivery workers have experienced a sharp decline in tips since the apps switched the suggestion field to after a purchase has been completed. It's extremely easy to ignore an app notification while in a food coma on the couch.

"Removing the tipping option is to keep workers in poverty and make them depend on taking more orders," said Ligia Guallpa, co-founder of Workers Justice Project.

Food delivery in the city is still booming. New Yorkers spent more than $265 million on restaurant deliveries in the first half of 2025, which is up from $183 million during the same period in 2022. Current estimates suggest that there are around 80,000 delivery workers in NYC.

This particular law became a small part of the city's recent mayoral campaign. Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani said during the campaign that he supported giving customers the option to tip at checkout. DoorDash donated $1 million to his rival, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/uber-and-doordash-challenge-nyc-law-that-encourages-tipping-163315375.html?src=rss

X was spooked enough by new Twitter to change its terms of service

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Despite changing its name and using decidedly bird-free branding, X is trying to hold on to its original Twitter trademarks, TechCrunch reports. The xAI-owned social media platform has updated its terms of service to include references to Twitter after previously only mentioning X, and seemingly attempted to counter a startup's petition to cancel the company's Twitter trademarks with a petition of its own.

The startup X appears to be responding to is Operation Bluebird, a company cofounded by former Twitter general counsel Stephen Coates that went public last week with plans to capture what remains of Twitter for its own use. The first step in that process was filing a petition with the US Patents and Trademark Office to cancel X's control of Twitter’s trademarks.

"The TWITTER and TWEET brands have been eradicated from X Corp.’s products, services and marketing, effectively abandoning the storied brand, with no intention to resume use of the mark," Operation Bluebird explained in the petition. “Petitioner seeks to use and register the TWITTER and TWEET brands for new products and services, including a social media platform that will be located at the website twitter.new."

In fairness to Operation Bluebird, Elon Musk was very open about his plan to abandon the Twitter name and bird logo after he acquired the company in 2022. "And soon we shall bid adieu to the twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds," Musk posted in July 2022, not long before Twitter was rebranded to X. Even after the platform rebranded, though, at least one remnant of the original Twitter brand has stuck around: Twitter.com still redirects to X.com.

The updated terms of service TechCrunch spotted now say that as of January 16, 2025, "nothing in the Terms gives you a right to use the X name or Twitter name or any of the X or Twitter trademarks, logos, domain names, other distinctive brand features, and other proprietary rights, and you may not do so without our express written consent." The company's counterpetition also reiterates that the Twitter trademarks are X's "exclusive property."

In a statement to Engadget, Coates said that Operation Bluebird’s cancellation petition was “based on well-established trademark law” and that he believes the upstart will prevail. “X legally abandoned the TWITTER mark, publicly declared the Twitter brand ‘dead,’ and spent substantial resources establishing a new brand identity. Our cancellation petition is based on well-established trademark law and we believe we will be successful. They said goodbye. We say hello.”

At the time of writing, Operation Bluebird has convinced over 145,200 people to claim a handle on the company's new social platform. Maybe X sees that early interest as a threat, but it's just as possible Operation Bluebird's public comments were enough to tip the company off so it could try to hold on to trademarks it clearly believes still hold some value.

Update, December 16, 2025, 4:13PM PT: This story was updated to add a statement from Stephen Coates.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/x-was-spooked-enough-by-new-twitter-to-change-its-terms-of-service-231138305.html?src=rss

YouTube is letting creators make playable games with a Gemini 3 tool

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Google's at it again, once more insisting that AI is something people need or want more of in their lives. The latest move comes from YouTube Gaming, which announced an open beta for a project called Playables Builder. This allows select YouTube Creators to use a "prototype web app built using Gemini 3" to make bite-sized games, no coding required. 

YouTube was testing the addition of small-scale games to its desktop and mobile platforms back in 2023, then added multiplayer capability to Playables last year. Since AI is appearing all over Google-owned services, today's news probably shouldn't be a surprise.   

The premise sounds similar to the Disco and GenTabs projects that Google Labs recently announced. They offer an AI layer to web browsing: provide a natural language input, get an interactive widget that does what you asked for. Despite my skeptical attitude toward AI, I can see those tools having some practical applications for search, where the goal is to aggregate whatever data you're looking for into a manageable, easy-to-read interface. 

But a game is not simple. A good game takes what might be a simple idea and, with finesse and iteration and skill, transforms it into a genuinely fun experience. It's a cute parlor trick that AI assistants can help people to make stuff without technical knowledge, but there's a reason professional game devs work hard to amass all their know-how. Playables Builder is a peak example of misunderstanding what artificial intelligence is best at. Just because a chatbot can make a game doesn't mean anyone will enjoy playing it.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/youtube-is-letting-creators-make-playable-games-with-a-gemini-3-tool-195500318.html?src=rss

Fallout Season 2 review: Viva New Vegas

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The follow-up to a successful debut is often harder to make than the first, and that goes double when the inspiration for a show comes from the most beloved installment of the underlying franchise. That's precisely the challenge Fallout season 2 is facing as the TV series shifts its stage to the irradiated lights of New Vegas when the series returns on December 16 at 9PM ET/6PM PT on Prime Video. However, while other video game adaptations like The Last of Us suffered from a bit of a sophomore slump, Fallout continues to get more crass, vulgar and abrasive in the most entertaining ways. 

Editor's note: We were provided the first six of eight episodes of Fallout season 2 for this review, so if the ending of this season misses its landing, blame The Enclave. 

Season two picks up directly after the first as Lucy (played by Ella Purnelle) and The Ghoul (Walton Goggins) make their way across the wasteland in pursuit of Lucy's father. And right away, we're instantly reminded of the magnetic chemistry between our leading lady vault dweller and her endearing naivete and our post-apocalyptic cowboy afflicted with dark pragmatism from having simply lived through too much. This simple combo not only often provides the setup for Lucy's signature catchphrase — which is both quaint and refreshing — it also sets the stage for some interesting plot points. Just hearing The Ghoul say things like "Do more drugs" with Goggin's classic drawl and without a hint of irony is a real treat. 

There's never a dull moment when Lucy and The Ghoul are traveling together.
There's never a dull moment when Lucy and The Ghoul are traveling together.
Prime Video

One of the potential pitfalls of a second season though, is an expanded storyline. That's because unlike the Fallout games where you get to steer the action, we're just here for the ride as we flip between Lucy's search for her father, the existential crises facing multiple vaults and an expanded role for Maximus (Aaron Moten) as he suddenly finds himself near the top of the Brotherhood of Steel's org chart. 

But somehow, the showrunners have managed to make each branching path just as engaging as the others. There were hints of his range in the first season, but Moises Arias shines as Lucy's brother Norm as the leader of a new crew (I'm trying to keep this review as spoiler-free as possible) while Annabel O'Hagan as Overseer Harper does a fantastic job of switching between being out of her depth and completely unhinged at a moment's notice. 

In season two, it feels like Aaron Moten's Maximus is so close to figuring out what kind of soldier he wants to be.
In season two, it feels like Aaron Moten's Maximus is so close to figuring out what kind of soldier he wants to be.
Prime Video

The one path that still feels like it hasn't fully hit its stride is Maximus', due in large part to the fact that the character's actions often feel like they are influenced more by circumstance than personal agency. In some ways, it's the continuation of someone defining their own morality, which rarely feels as convincing or driven as someone with a plan. But there's still intrigue there too.

Meanwhile, for fans of the games, the number of easter eggs and callbacks is downright delightful. The set design and cinematography make the wasteland a character in its own right, even if the last thing I want to see is someone eat flea soup. We're also treated to an ever-growing zoography of nuclear critters such as rad scorpions, all sorts of mutants and more, along with appearances from iconic characters like everyone's favorite cowboy-coded security robot. And I appreciate how the show spends a little extra time to go over the myriad of factions (like The Legion and the NCR), which pays homage to the core series while functioning as an interesting side quest at the same time. 

With Overseer Harper at the helm, there's no telling what will happen to Vault 32.
With Overseer Harper at the helm, there's no telling what will happen to Vault 32.
Prime Video

With this much going on, it would be easy for a series to become overburdened. But the pacing isn't labored, because while the show doesn't actually get to New Vegas until episode four, the journey there was so entertaining that I didn't mind. Perhaps most importantly, even though it would be impossible to completely recreate New Vegas on TV (since you can’t choose your own adventure here like you can in the game), it really feels like Fallout's showrunners have nailed the balance between respecting the source material and tweaking the story to fit a different medium. 

That's a big credit to the franchise, especially coming from a genre that often gets maligned for a lack of depth or nuance. But it's also a tribute to this series, which continues to be a prime example of how to make the jump from pixels to TV screens look gook. And after seeing The Last of Us stumble a bit during its second cour, I might even go so far as to say that Fallout is the best live-action video game crossover to date. 


This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/fallout-season-2-review-viva-new-vegas-140000678.html?src=rss

Avatar Fire and Ash review: Maybe it’s time to sunset Pandora

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No matter what you think of James Cameron's Avatar movies, their technical ambitions are undeniable. Cameron developed his own camera system to shoot the first Avatar in 3D, but since most of the actors were digitally captured, he also had the freedom to construct scenes with a virtual camera after they were physically shot. For Avatar: The Way of Water, which arrived a whopping 13 years after the first film, Cameron also leaned into high frame rate footage and new ways of modeling natural fluid dynamics. 

Even though the third entry, Avatar: Fire and Ash, is coming just a few years after the last sequel, I still expected Cameron to deliver some sort of new feat to wow audiences. He could have found a smoother way to employ high frame rate footage, so the film wasn't jarringly shifting between traditional 24 fps scenes and smoother 48 fps action shots. Maybe we'd see more natural interactions between live actors and virtual characters and environments (it sure is hard to beat Edie Falco suited up in a wicked exoskeleton in the last film, though).

Instead, Avatar: Fire and Ash is just another Avatar film — it doesn't push any boundaries, narratively or technically. And without any technical achievements to lean on, the narrative issues inherent with Avatar become all the more glaring. 

It's still basically a story that places a clueless white dude in the middle of a fight between indigenous and colonialist powers. (Improbably, he's crowned one of the Na'vi's best warriors!). The script from Cameron and his co-writers (Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, continuing their work from The Way of Water) often hits identical beats to a low-rent CW show. And perhaps worst of all, the stakes of the story haven't really changed much. Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and his family are still fighting off the militarized Resource Development Association (RDA), Col. Quaritch still holds a grudge from being killed (twice now!) and from the Sullies raising his Tarzan-like son, Spider (Jack Champion).

There’s an attempt to cast the Na’vi in a new light with the villainous Ash People, who spend their days attacking and stealing from other tribes. While most Na’vi people work cooperatively with other clans and share their reverence for Eywa, the collective consciousness of Pandora, the Ash People resent it for not saving their villages from natural disasters. Despite a deliciously evil performance by Oona Chaplin (Charlie Chaplin's grandaughter!) as Varang, the Ash People don't amount to much more than "evil Na'vi." When they inevitably work together with humans to attack other Na’vi, it doesn’t feel surprising in the least. Honestly, it’s a tad insulting.

Avatar: Fire and Ash
Avatar: Fire and Ash
20th. Century Studios

Perhaps we've been spoiled by Cameron's last few films, but Avatar: Fire and Ash ultimately feels like more of the same. Even its massive final battle feels like a retread, since it’s set in the same ocean environment as The Way of Water and is once again focused on protecting psychic alien whales from humans. Cameron does let his action chops shine throughout the film, but after a certain point, trying to enjoy those sequences is like trying to eat a family-sized carton of ice cream by yourself. You’ll enjoy it for a little while, but eventually you’re  left with a massive headache and sugar hangover.

It’s clear that James Cameron has built the Avatar franchise to explore everything he loves: Stories about protecting the environment, fighting against capitalist excess and kicking tons of ass. Parts of Avatar 4 have already been shot, and that film is expected to arrive in 2029. But I’m hoping the 71-year-old filmmaker eventually finds his way out of Pandora. He’s co-directing the Billie Eilish concert film, Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour, so that’s a start. But I’m eager to see what other new worlds he can dream up.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/avatar-fire-and-ash-review-maybe-its-time-to-sunset-pandora-140000997.html?src=rss

Hollow Knight: Silksong’s upcoming DLC pack will be free for all players

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One of 2025's splashiest games, Hollow Knight: Silksong, is getting its first major DLC expansion, developer Team Cherry announced in a blog post. The nautically-themed Sea of Sorrow update will come to the moody Metroidvania some time in 2026, and better still, it will be free for all players. 

The DLC will include "new areas, bosses, tools and more," the developer wrote. There aren't a lot of clues to the gameplay in the short trailer below, but the four shots definitely relay the vibe. The first shows what looks like fishing tackle, then we see something (or someone) on a tomb-like wooden platform tied under a canvas sheet. Next an orb-like structure crackling with electricity looms and finally the game's protagonist, Hornet, appears. 

In related news, Team Cherry gave updates on its Nintendo Switch 2 version of the original Hollow Knight that will bring it up to visual parity with the the Hollow Knight: Silksong Switch 2 edition. As part of that, the studio also released a beta update to the Steam and GOG PC versions of the original Hollow Knight. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/hollow-knight-silksongs-upcoming-dlc-pack-will-be-free-for-all-players-123055729.html?src=rss

Fallout season 2’s first episode will premiere a little earlier than expected

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In an era where we often have to twiddle our thumbs for three years before a new season of a TV show we enjoy returns to our screens, the second season of Fallout has had a relatively short turnaround. It's set to hit Prime Video 20 months after the first batch of episodes. As it turns out, the season two premiere is going to arrive a little earlier than you may have anticipated as well. 

The first episode will now hit Prime Video at 9PM ET on December 16. That's six hours earlier than expected. So if you've been looking forward to catching back up with Lucy, Maximus and The Ghoul, you won't have to stay up as late on Tuesday night to catch the premiere as soon as it's available. 

However, you won't be able to binge the entire season this week. While Amazon dropped all of Fallout season one at once in April 2024, this time around it will release episodes on a weekly cadence through February 4.

Fallout was also in the news late last week when Prime Video offered up an error-ridden, AI-generated recap of season one. Amazon responded to the backlash (the Fallout fallout, if you will) by nixing AI video recaps from Prime Video entirely.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/fallout-season-2s-first-episode-will-premiere-a-little-earlier-than-expected-205018028.html?src=rss

‘Slop’ is Merriam-Webster’s word of the year

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Merriam-Webster has selected "slop" for the dictionary company's 2025 word of the year. The leading lexicographers define slop as "digital content of low quality that is produced usually in quantity by means of artificial intelligence." We've seen an absolute deluge of AI slop this year, from fake movie trailers on YouTube to AI-generated bands on Spotify. Not even food delivery like Uber Eats could escape the onslaught of AI-generated garbage that no one asked for.

It's gotten to the point that half the videos my well-meaning parents send me on social media are AI-generated videos of dogs. This isn't all that surprising given how very intentionally the social media giants have added slop to all our feeds.

Merriam-Webster rightly points out the somewhat mocking nature of calling it “slop.” "Like slime, sludge and muck, slop has the wet sound of something you don't want to touch. Slop oozes into everything. The original sense of the word, in the 1700s, was 'soft mud.' In the 1800s it came to mean 'food waste' (as in 'pig slop'), and then more generally, 'rubbish' or 'a product of little or no value,'" the dictionary distributors wrote.

As the proliferation of AI slop expanded, some platforms like TikTok and Pinterest got wise and began offering users the choice to tone down the sheer amount of it in their feeds. Even Spotify is at least trying to combat some of this stuff now, though that didn't stop an AI-generated copycat from going unnoticed on the platform for weeks. Elsewhere, companies like Google leaned in, incorporating Veo 3-generated videos into YouTube Shorts. We'll only be able to tell in hindsight if 2025 was the peak of AI slop, but for now it shows no signs of abating.

Merriam-Webster highlighted some other words for the year (some of which the chronically online will be familiar with), including Gerrymander, Touch Grass, Performative, Tariff, Conclave and Six Seven.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/slop-is-merriam-websters-word-of-the-year-181903322.html?src=rss

Swallowing the Moon and other new indie games worth checking out

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Welcome to our latest roundup of what's going on in the indie game space. Between The Game Awards and showcases like Day of the Devs, Wholesome Snack, Latin American Games and Women-Led Games, there’s been a ton of video game news over the last week (I need Control Resonant ASAP, please and thank you, Remedy). And hey, guess what? I've got even more for you to dig into, including info on some new releases that you can play right now.

One of those is a game I’d been looking forward to since about 2022, and it’s always nice when something you’ve remained patient for turns out to be worth the wait. In Sam Eng's Skate Story, you play as a demon who accepts a deal offered by the Devil. If the demon can ride a skateboard to the Moon and swallow it after being transformed into a creature made of “glass and pain,” the Devil will grant them their freedom. 

It’s just as strange as that setup sounds. While you’ll need to execute combos to defeat bosses, this is a skateboarding game that leans more heavily on story than pure gameplay. It’s visually and sonically arresting too, with Blood Cultures and John Fio crafting a killer soundtrack I know I’ll be listening to for a long time to come. 

Skate Story is out now on Nintendo Switch 2, Steam and PS5 for $20. PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium members can play it at no extra cost. 

New releases

Unbeatable is another game I’ve had on my radar for some time, though I haven’t had a chance to jump in yet. This is another stylish game in which you play as Beat, who sings in a band. However, music is outlawed in this world (oh no!). Through rhythm-based minigames and battles with cops, Beat tries to bring back the music. There's a separate arcade mode with a dedicated progression system too.

I'm a sucker for stories about rebellious underdogs, and this rhythm adventure could well hook me in. Unbeatable — from D-Cell Games and publisher Playstack — is available on Steam and PS5 for $28 (there’s a 10 percent discount on Steam until December 23). It's set to hit Xbox Series X/S very soon too.

Speaking of games I've been keeping an eye on, Adrift (from solo developer S.K.9.8 and co-publisher Secret Sauce) was one of the first games I covered when I started doing this weekly roundup earlier this year. It's a driving game in which your aim is to deliver a volatile energy core. Since you're traversing a hot desert, you'll need to be careful to prevent the core from overheating and blowing up. Thankfully, there are safe spots and cooling stations where you can bring down the temperature.

The vaporwave aesthetic of Adrift caught my eye and although I dig the presentation, the game isn't quite clicking for me in the early going. It didn't take long before my vehicle got stuck and I had to reset, and I'm finding the top-down world a little confusing to navigate. I'll stick with it for at least a little longer, though. Adrift is out now on Steam. It usually costs $13 though there's a 25 percent discount until December 23. 

I've very happy that a game like Drywall Eating Simulator can exist. Peripheral Playbox's satirical walking sim sees your character trying to deal with the maddening realities of daily life and the frustration that one may find in dealing with other people. Get mad enough and you'll be able to punch through a wall (something you'll have to do to move through the levels anyway). Then, you can munch on some drywall to calm yourself down.

I had a good time with it and there’s some pointedly funny writing here. “I thought AI sucks but it told me that was wrong and I believed it,” says one person. That's all well and good, but I mainly just want the NPCs to leave me alone so I can eat drywall in peace. Drywall Eating Simulator is out now on Steam. It'll usually run you $10, but there's a 10 percent discount until December 17.

Planet of Lana was one of my favorite games of 2023 and now it's available on iOS and Android for $9. It sees teenage Lana and her cute companion Mui making their way through a world that's been taken over by alien robots as they try to rescue Lana's sister.

This is a puzzle platformer in the vein of Inside and Limbo, and despite the pretty and often bright presentation, it's just as dystopian as those games. It sounds gorgeous too, thanks in large part to a beautiful score from The Last Guardian composer Takeshi Furukawa. I'm very much looking forward to the sequel from Wishfully and publisher Thunderful. That's set to arrive next year.

A Game About Digging A Hole is one of this year's real indie success stories. It’s a game that a developer started making in their spare time that has sold more than 1.2 million copies since February. After landing on PC and mobile, the $5 game from Doublebee and publisher Rokaplay is now on Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S and PS5. It's on Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass Premium and PC Game Pass.

It's a straightforward loop. Start digging a hole in your backyard, sell the stuff you find, upgrade your equipment and keep going. Just, uh, be careful down there. You never quite know what you'll run into.

Upcoming 

Vampire Therapist developer Little Bat Games has revealed its latest project, Better Than Us, which is coming to Steam in 2026. It's a narrative-driven sci-fi narrative game in which you'll infiltrate swanky parties thrown by wealth hoarders in the future to steal spoils back from them. 

Violence isn't the solution here, as you'll need to charm the ultra-rich, who buy elections and have "monopolized AI development to ensure machines serve their interests" (I dunno, this all seems extremely far-fetched). You can spin up a web of lies about things like how your husband died and how much Worldcoin you have. To maintain your ruse, you'll need to keep your story straight by remembering what you said and to which characters. 

Okomotive (Herdling, Far: Changing Tides) just revealed its next game. PinKeep is a roguelike deckbuilder in which you'll place structures on a playing field to fend off enemies. To collect resources, you'll need to play some pinball. By using the flippers (and flicking the ball for more precise movement), you can pick up what you need to fight back against your opponents. You can damage bad guys directly with the balls too. 

As a Ball x Pit enthusiast with a tepid but growing interest in deckbuilders, this speaks to me. A PinKeep demo is coming to Steam in January, with the full game set to arrive late in 2026.

AudioMech is a neat-looking game that popped up for the first time during the pre-show of The Game Awards. This is a rhythm-based action title from Dylan Fitterer, the creator of Audiosurf. It taps into whatever music you have playing on your computer (even something that you're streaming or playing through a microphone) to customize both your weapons and opponents.

A track that's heavy on bass might give you a longer sword, while vocals and lead instruments can power a cannon. There are several ways to play, including a mode in which you don't take damage and a boss rush option. AudioMech is coming to Steam and there's a demo available now. 

Let's wrap things up with something a little more relaxing. Lost and Found Co. is a hidden object game from Bit Egg Inc. and co-publisher Gamirror Games. During the latest Wholesome Snack showcase, it was revealed that the game is coming to Steam on February 11.

It's little wonder that more than 170,000 Steam users have wishlisted this game. It looks absolutely lovely. The developers sought to recapture the "magic" of childhood puzzle books in their hand-drawn world. Here, you'll help Ducky, a duck-turned-human intern at a startup that hunts for items that townspeople have lost. There's a demo available that features the option to decorate a part of the world using items you find.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/swallowing-the-moon-and-other-new-indie-games-worth-checking-out-154937071.html?src=rss