Kara Phillips
Kara is an evergreen writer. Having spent three years as a games journalist guiding, reviewing, or generally waffling about the weird and wonderful, she’s more than happy to tell you all about which obscure indie games she’s managed to sink hours into this week. When she’s not raising a dodo army in Ark: Survival Evolved or taking huge losses in Tekken, you’ll find her helplessly trawling the internet for the next best birdwatching game because who wants to step outside and experience the real thing when you can so easily do it from the comfort of your living room. Right?
Latest articles by Kara Phillips
![Fallout: New Vegas wallpaper](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/mEJqjBDKtFjZVwgzftL95W-320-80.jpg)
Fallout: New Vegas console commands
By Jody Macgregor last updated
cheat sheet Here's a list of all the best console commands, cheats and item codes in Fallout: New Vegas.
![Frogun Encore Renatta using her gun to cross a gap in a sandy level](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/V5S95qLoozr4Gjkc7poocH-320-80.jpg)
This platformer frustrates me like no other, but now I'm addicted to beating my own personal best and can't stop
By Kara Phillips published
Hop to it Frogun Encore has reminded me of what I loved so much about the first game.
![A crow flying over a forest with a horse in Just Crow Things](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/f2ZaC3ENpTBgaf2b4Qq2eV-320-80.jpg)
Finally, another chaotic animal game that has given me the same sadistic satisfaction as Untitled Goose Game
By Kara Phillips published
Feathered Friends You can poop on them too
![Best racing games: Forza Horizon 5](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/yXbBbApvJpxnXXPepbkcHc-320-80.jpg)
The best racing games on PC
By Phil Iwaniuk last updated
green flag The best racing games you can play on PC today, from hardcore sims to arcade racers.
![Counter-Strike 2 header image](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/xz2HxeuCGUzmZKoWCdp8JV-320-80.jpg)
The best free PC games
By Shaun Prescott last updated
Freebies Forever Our frequently updated selection of the best free games right now.
![Reka - a witch in a nighttime woods walks towards a cottage with chicken legs](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/jYCALw8C9E9gxFxVwW52E3-320-80.jpg)
Witchcraft simulator REKA has everything I could ever want as a witch's apprentice, like mushroom foraging, an army of crows, and oh yeah—a customisable chicken-legged cabin
By Kara Phillips published
Wicked Witch Living the dream.
![The Elder Scrolls 6 teaser trailer - the stylized logo "The Elder Scrolls VI" over a sweeping landscape of mountains and arid plains.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/eh4UWhvd6WXwJhXHTCDoE7-320-80.jpg)
The Elder Scrolls 6: everything we know about the next return to Tamriel
By Omri Petitte last updated
scroll locked The Elder Scrolls 6 is still very far away, but we've collected all the news and rumors while we wait.
![The decorated interior of a van in Camper Van: Make it Home](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/t6pD9v2KrDgFcQ3MbLoreJ-320-80.jpg)
This van life-themed unpacking game promised me pure relaxation, but I got so angry about a paella pan it kept me up at night
By Kara Phillips published
No room I'm never having paella again.
![Prickle puzzle with Dadhog and a hoglet](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/zGsqyKMj3ZN9x6h9uavLq7-320-80.jpg)
Grid-based puzzle game Prickle may look simple, but it's an adorable test of endurance
By Kara Phillips published
Prickly pals You'll always find your way back home.
![null](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/z4m4dgvrrZnpgEXjb2sJiV-320-80.jpg)
Let's pour one out for these no-shows we were desperate to see during Summer Game Fest
By Kara Phillips published
Maybe next time Maybe in the next life.
![Minecraft 1.21 - a player stands in a Trial Chamber near some copper panes](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/KJoJXN7ZbgFFQbdChsAYCZ-320-80.jpg)
Minecraft 1.21: everything we know about the next major Minecraft update
By Lauren Morton last updated
Minecraft 1.21 The 1.21 update is all about new combat challenges so far.
![The wetlands you restore covered in frog-themed furniture in Kamaeru: A Frog Refuge](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/GioStuLPPxJGNtbpGTtBU4-320-80.jpg)
I thought I'd never get the same satisfaction from a creature collector as I did with Neko Atsume until I played Kamaeru: A Frog Refuge
By Kara Phillips published
New friends Finally, the itch has been scratched.
![A deer-like creature walking up a hill to a blossom tree in Tales of Seikyu](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/SrAZrZNyKEabDGyayCtc3m-320-80.jpg)
Gone are the days of cows and chickens in farming sims, I'm replacing my farm animals with yokai in Tales of Seikyu
By Kara Phillips published
PCGS This fantasy farming simulator plans to offer a world of weird and wonderful yokai, and I'm all for it.
![Blue bud in farmyard with a tractor in Southfield](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/ASfL9czXSJ4FPsC432gfUM-320-80.jpg)
Silly simulator Southfield is releasing soon, so it's time to put on your overalls and fling yourself into farming
By Kara Phillips published
PCGS From chaotic crops to rolling around like Sonic, Southfield is going to add a lot to the farming sim space.
![Star Birds](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Q7xgUnVXxxB2JNLzL7qHgm-320-80.jpg)
The team behind Dorfromantik has announced Star Birds, a resource management production game about birds… in space
By Kara Phillips published
PCGS Star Birds is set to be another cozy resource management game in the same vein as Dorfromantik, but takes the experience intergalactic.
![Panam Palmer, a romance option from Cyberpunk 2077, smirks haplessly at the camera.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Jz44TUmNKkQ6UkZHTeF5mi-320-80.jpg)
Cyberpunk 2077 romances: Everyone you can pursue in Night City
By Sarah James last updated
Playing Cupid How to romance Judy, Panam, River, Kerry, and all those inbetween.
![A cat and a frog sat around a campfire in Cozy Caravan](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/ycUb9B4MeVW8ifkLGukYSC-320-80.jpg)
Cozy Caravan mixes crafting, cute critters, and simple quests for the ultimate relaxing game
By Kara Phillips published
Settle down Basically, any game that lets me play as a raccoon is an instant win.
![Tyke petting a dog outside of a gate with ranger Maddie in Pine Hearts](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/z2eE4ATAbHg6YyGZjrFXQX-320-80.jpg)
I thought Pine Hearts would be another heartwarming adventure, but it's actually one of the only games to reduce me to tears
By Kara Phillips published
Say goodbye Pine Hearts fits the bill as a wholesome game, but it packs a punch in its story that is bound to tug on your heartstrings.
![Paige walking through a snowy map in Paper Trail](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/exS4iuuR9XReWDpjpiE9V8-320-80.jpg)
Top-down puzzle adventure Paper Trail is the kind of page-turner you can only get in games
By Kara Phillips published
Paper puzzles After playing the Paper Trail demo I feel like a puzzle-solving aficionado and origami pro.
![Venture to the Vile protagonist facing a monstrous enemy](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/FAzZGf9uhHLWudJVVTzJcm-320-80.jpg)
The Venture to the Vile demo feels like the metroidvania equivalent of Pandora's box, and even though I've only cracked the surface I already can't get enough
By Kara Phillips published
Nightmare material This 2.5D metroidvania combines precision platforming with towering bosses, and now I'm terrified of giant millipedes.
![The chocolate factory at the start of the early gamplay for Haunted Chocolatier trailer](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/9UAR4YqaWbJpywVZBiKB4H-320-80.png)
Haunted Chocolatier characters: everyone we know about so far
By Kara Phillips published
Familiar faces We still have a lot to learn about Haunted Chocolatier, but here are a few characters we've met so far.
![Flowers growing out of a dolls head in Tales From Candleforth](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/3yYa3M7t5bDYVnthYiPBC3-320-80.jpg)
Point-and-click horror Tales from Candleforth is the escape room equivalent of your childhood nightmares
By Kara Phillips published
Fright night Tales from Candleforth may begin as an enchanting fairytale but quickly unravels into every nightmare you had as a child.