I don’t know about you, readers, but this past week’s gone by in a bit of a blur. Did I volunteer to take WAWAPs for today, or was I forced at Ziff Davis canteen sporkpoint? I can’t even remember, but perhaps relaxing with some PC games – and/or reading about what you’re all playing – will help lift the brainfog.

Ollie:
This weekend I’m going to be playing that rare and hated game known as “shopping for shoes suitable for a wedding”. I’ve also got to fit in as much Mouse: PI For Hire as possible this weekend for guides. Very relieved to have found that I like it at least 300% more than the notoriously bloated Red Pudding I had to scarf down last month.

Julian:
I’m on a bit of a nostalgic strategy game kick at the moment, with Heroes of Might & Magic: Olden Era and the very Bullfrog-ish Sintopia both making me feel like I’m sneaking another few hours on my dad’s Acorn computer in the vestry. I just need a reboot of Dune II to complete the set.

So I’ll be continuing that kick this weekend and maybe searching out a sweet shop that still sells paper bags of pick ‘n’ mix psycho rats to fully immerse myself in memories of a time when I wore short trousers.

Edwin:
I’ve finally bought The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky, after hand-wringing about the time commitment in multiple articles, and it’s a delightful, sleepy thing. I’m playing the enhanced PC edition of the original PSP RPG, not the recent remake, and I love the toytown visuals. I also love that there are minimal plot stakes, at the moment. It’s just me and my brother cutting our teeth as “Bracers”, aka heroes for hire. We’ve just helped a local farm deal with an influx of catbunnies, and are now retrieving a gemstone from a mine. Later I plan to go looking for a herb some cleric needs for a recipe. True, our dad is away on a secret mission that will probably plunge us into some grander intrigue, but right now it’s all herbs and catbunnies and, well, OK, maybe a few cave-ins. Ahhh. This has done more to lower my blood pressure than any amount of cholesterol cutting.

Jeremy:
I’ll be playing more Pragmata this weekend for guides work (Take a peek at our in-progress walkthrough if you need some assistance and want to read my pithy prose!). I’m generally impressed with Pragmata, as it feels very reminiscent of late ’90s-early 2000s Capcom when they would take the Resident Evil formula and make something like Dino Crisis, or perhaps get a burst of energy and bless us with a Mega Man Legends. I will say that the hacking does get a little exhausting at times though, making it a game I have some trouble playing for long periods of time. (Folks in our Slack have compared the hacking to the combat of The World Ends With You, which I’m inclined to agree with. If you dug that game, you’ll probably dig Pragmata.)

James:
I too am in a Pragmata mood, though I also have a new controller I’d like to try out, so will be firing up the gamepad usuals: Silksong, Forza Horizon 5, Elden Ring, Hades II. Basically, anything that doesn’t require me to aim at something in a three dimensional space, an ability that abandons me completely the moment I take my hand off a mouse.

Mark:
I’ve got a three day weekend due to having plans to spend the entirety of Sunday sitting in a field next to an airport as cars go past. So, no games on that day, but probably a fair bit of Tokyo Xtreme Racer around that, and some fun with this newly released Automobilista 2 livery mod.

Dion:
Has no concept of linear time and, ergo, weekends

Callum:
I don’t know how much video gaming I’ll be up to, considering it’s Wrestlemania weekend, which has fast turned into an annual two-day watch party amongst my friends. That’s despite the fact that we all hardly watch wrestling anymore, have no idea what the storylines are, and just play drinking games. My favourite last year revolved around how many beers a haggard Stone Cold Steve Austin would down and then how many innocent bystanders he’d almost crash his ATV into while exiting the arena. However, when I’m not staying up until 5 AM to watch burly men do panto, I’ll probably try out Pragmata.

And you, reader dear, what are you playing this weekend?…