Garden Archives

AppWizard

June 17, 2025

What’s the best Crisis Kit to pick in FBC: Firebreak?

The game FBC: Firebreak allows players to choose from three Crisis Kits at the start, which can be switched in the loadout menu for strategic flexibility. Players engage in tasks within the Federal Bureau of Control, using the unique abilities of each kit: the Fix Kit for repairs, the Jump Kit for energizing devices, and the Splash Kit for extinguishing fires. The Fix Kit is identified as the most versatile, particularly effective during the Hot Fix job, featuring a wrench that expedites tasks, a Swivel Cannon for damage, and an ultimate upgrade that creates a whirlwind effect. The Splash Kit provides healing and fire extinguishing capabilities but is limited in job scenarios. The Jump Kit is considered less effective, with abilities that often fail to perform as intended, despite having a powerful ultimate augment.

AppWizard

June 16, 2025

Is This Minecraft’s Best-Looking Update Yet?

Mojang Studios will release the Vibrant Visuals update for Minecraft Bedrock Edition on June 17, 2025. Key features of the update include richer lighting, dynamic shadows, biome-specific fog, and immersive atmospheres. It introduces Physically Based Rendering (PBR) to enhance textures, allowing them to exhibit properties like metalness and glow. Various biomes will receive aesthetic transformations, such as deserts glowing in golden hues and icy regions appearing cooler and bluer. The water engine has been overhauled to include realistic caustics and reflections. The update will be enabled by default on all supported Bedrock Edition devices. Development for the Java Edition is ongoing, with early test builds showcasing features like atmospheric fog and infinite clouds.

AppWizard

June 12, 2025

Minecraft Pride Month Build Features Rainbow Ship; Check Details

A player known as u/WulfyTime constructed a wooden ship in Minecraft adorned with rainbow sails and pride flags to celebrate Pride Month. The ship serves as a symbol of inclusion and creativity within the game. WulfyTime shared their creation in the r/Minecraft Builds community, receiving positive feedback from other users who admired the attention to detail and the immersive experience of the build. The ship exemplifies the diverse and imaginative projects that players undertake in Minecraft, highlighting the game's role as a platform for creative expression.

AppWizard

June 11, 2025

I’ve played my share of cozy games, and Tales of the Shire is definitely one for the maximalist decorators

The author enjoys a cluttered and eclectic decorating style, inspired by the hobbit design ethos introduced in "Tales of the Shire" in 2024. During a demo at the Summer Game Fest, they focused on rearranging furniture and creating decorative piles in their hobbit home, finding joy in the creative freedom of decoration. The gameplay allowed for a whimsical approach to cooking and decorating, although the cooking mechanics felt somewhat lackluster. The author appreciated the minimal restrictions on moving items and transforming their space, envisioning a chaotic garden that would defy real-world norms. Despite enjoying the decorating aspects, they found the interactions with villagers to be generic and lacking depth compared to other games like Animal Crossing.

AppWizard

June 8, 2025

Leaf blowing simulation game Leaf Blower Co. announced for PC

Publisher Forklift Interactive and developer LifT Games are set to launch Leaf Blower Co., a leaf-blowing simulation game, on PC via Steam in 2025. A demo of the game is currently available. Players will engage in clearing leaves, building their business, acquiring tools, and unlocking upgrades. The game features a complete story mode, various seasonal challenges, optional bonus objectives, and a Free Play mode that allows customization of location, weather, and time of day.

AppWizard

June 7, 2025

Psychological time loop life simulation game Fractured Blooms announced for PC

Serenity Forge has announced its new project, Fractured Blooms, a psychological time loop life simulation game featuring artwork by Satchely and a fully voiced narrative by Nichole Goodnight. The game will be available on PC via Steam, but no specific release date has been provided. It invites players to restore a neglected house through various activities, including growing crops, cooking meals, and managing resources while navigating a time loop. The narrative is inspired by real stories from the founder's family, aiming to foster empathy and reflection. Key features include gardening, cooking, home decoration, resource management, and discovering surprises each day. An announcement trailer and screenshots are available for viewing.

AppWizard

June 5, 2025

MVRDV’s ‘Out of the Box’ Project Looks Like a Building Pulled Straight from Minecraft

A new residential tower named Out of the Box, designed by Dutch architecture firm MVRDV, is being built in Taipei’s Tianmu neighborhood. The 25-story structure reaches a height of 250 feet and features a dynamic facade with box-like protrusions that create additional living spaces such as balconies and terraces. MVRDV utilized digital scripting to navigate Taiwan’s building regulations, allowing for a balance of sunlight and privacy. The design includes a small number of repeating apartment types with variations due to the protruding boxes. The tower aims to foster community by providing private outdoor spaces in a humid subtropical climate. It is clad in marble, enhancing its sophisticated appearance while integrating with planned greenery to create a vertical garden.

AppWizard

May 30, 2025

‘According to Steam, I have around 10,000 hours logged,’ says the modder who’s spent a decade turning GTA 5 into a photo realistic wonderland

The first trailer for GTA 6 was released in late December 2023, revealing characters, settings, and mission structures, but the release date was postponed to May 26, 2026, for consoles, with the PC version still pending. Meanwhile, the NaturalVision modding project has significantly enhanced GTA 5's visuals, improving lighting, shadows, and textures. Razed, the creator of NaturalVision, emphasizes the importance of subtle details in creating a realistic atmosphere and expresses enthusiasm for advancements in lighting technology. The modding community has been supported by custom tools that streamline development, and there is optimism that modding will flourish with the release of GTA 6, potentially including official modding tools from Rockstar. Razed envisions innovative projects, such as reimagining Vice City, within the modding community.

AppWizard

May 26, 2025

Co-op first-person roguelite adventure game UnderMire announced for PC

Table Knight Games is developing a cooperative first-person roguelite adventure game titled UnderMire, set to launch on PC via Steam in 2026. The game supports one to four players and features a crafting system, proximity voice chat, and a narrative involving four teenagers trapped in a magical bunker. Players will explore an ever-changing environment, utilize improvised gameplay, and manage a fear gauge to avoid negative consequences. The game includes unique mechanics such as a smush gel for crafting bombs and potions, magical tools for combat, and quests from a spirit cat named McClane. First screenshots of the game are available.

AppWizard

May 26, 2025

A Roblox farming game made by a teenager ‘in like three days’ had 8.9 million players online at the same time—Steam peaked at 11.5 million across all games on the same day

In 2025, the Roblox game "Grow a Garden" experienced a peak of nearly 9 million concurrent players, surpassing the previous record held by Player Unknown's Battlegrounds on Steam by almost threefold. The game reached a peak of 5 million concurrent users just a weekend prior to this achievement. It was developed by a teenage creator in three days and has gained significant popularity, with a player count that surpassed the population of New York City. Despite initial skepticism about player counts, investigations confirmed the game's genuine popularity, driven by strong user retention and community engagement. A Roblox spokesperson noted that the growth is attributed to an authentic community rather than artificial inflation.