A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Thursday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Thursday, September 24 (game #1201).
Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.
What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.
SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.
NYT Connections today (game #1202) - today's words
(Image credit: New York Times)
Today's NYT Connections words are…
RATHER
BOUGIE
GENIUS
SPRING
BORDER
RATCHET
SWANK
SAVAGE
CLASSY
LEVY
PENDULUM
FANCY
ESCAPEMENT
POSH
FOAMILY
AYKROYD
NYT Connections today (game #1202) - hint #1 - group hints
What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?
YELLOW: Classy stuff
GREEN: Elements of a timepiece
BLUE: Daniels of note
PURPLE: Ranked with added character
Need more clues?
We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…
NYT Connections today (game #1202) - hint #2 - group answers
What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?
YELLOW: LUXE
GREEN: PARTS OF A MECHANICAL CLOCK
BLUE: FAMOUS DANS
PURPLE: TAXONOMIC RANKS PLUS A LETTER
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Connections today (game #1202) - the answers
(Image credit: New York Times)
The answers to today's Connections, game #1202, are…
YELLOW: LUXE: BOUGIE, FANCY, POSH, SWANK
GREEN: PARTS OF A MECHANICAL CLOCK: ESCAPEMENT, PENDULUM, RATCHET, SPRING
BLUE: FAMOUS DANS: AYKROYD, LEVY, RATHER, SAVAGE
PURPLE: TAXONOMIC RANKS PLUS A LETTER: BORDER, CLASSY, FOAMILY, GENIUS
My rating: Hard
My score: Perfect
The tile AYKROYD surely meant that we were looking for FAMOUS DANS, but after linking LEVY and RATHER I hit a blank, so decided this was a group I would come back to.
Ruling out the possibility that SWANK was about famous Hilarys, I took the obvious path and ended up with the yellow group of LUXE in its rightful place as the first thing I put together.
After this, though, I went off script and guessed the purple group of TAXONOMIC RANKS PLUS A LETTER (when you see them you see them) before returning to my collection of Daniels and taking a punt on SAVAGE, whom I now know is a purveyor of “no-nonsense sex and relationship advice”.
Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Thursday, September 24, 2026, game #1201)
YELLOW: PARTS OF A VAMPIRE COSTUME: CAPE, FACE PAINT, FAKE BLOOD, FANGS
GREEN: THINGS WITH SPRING/S: BOBBLEHEAD, POGO STICK, SNAKES IN A CAN, TRAMPOLINE
BLUE: FEATURING POINTING: CREATION OF ADAM, FOAM FINGER, I'M WITH STUPID SHIRT, UNCLE SAM
PURPLE: ANAGRAMS: BEER HAT, BREATHE, HERB TEA, THE BEAR
What is NYT Connections?
NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.
On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.
It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.
It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.
Rainbow Six Tactics game director Martial Potron says the game's fatigue and injury system will encourage players to try other Operators
Operators can go out of commission if they're injured, pushing players to shuffle through the roster
Potron says this also reminds players that Operators are "human"
Rainbow Six Tactics won't let fans repeatedly play the same Operator like in Rainbow Six Siege, but will encourage players to experiment with the entire roster using two new gameplay systems instead.
Rainbow Six Siege fans have a favorite Operator, whether it's Ash, Smoke, Fuze, Hibana, or someone else on the massive roster. But in Rainbow Six Tactics, Ubisoft's turn-based tactics spin-off, the fatigue and injury systems will force players to try other characters across a variety of missions.
"It's a way to push players to use their tools and shuffle their roster," game director Martial Potron told TechRadar Gaming at Gamescom. "So fatigue is one way, injuries is another way."
Potron explained that Operators are human beings, so it makes sense that these special agents will be out of commission for some time if they get injured during a mission; unlike in Siege, where objective-based game rounds will reset a player's health each time.
"I think it's also a good way to remind people that Operators are humans," the director said. "A bullet is a bullet. It's very dangerous. That's why reconning is important. If you don't recon, it may happen that there is someone hidden and he shoots you, and and you get you get injured. You don't have your Operator for two missions."
He added that the fatigue system serves the same purpose and "forces players to readjust their roster" whenever they send Operators on missions; he said this may seem negative, but the game will inform players which Operators will fit certain missions.
For example, a mission that requires players to save targets wouldn't suit Ash, who uses explosives, so a more close-range or precise Operator would be best.
"So depending on who I am facing, I will also readjust my roster because they really are meant to counter other enemies," Portron said. "So there is this negative side of humanity, and there is a positive side of Operators being very good against some part of the challenges."
Ubisoft has lifted the lid on Echoes of Central Park: the latest chunky expansion coming to the online looter-shooter behemoth that is Tom Clancy's The Division 2.
Launching on November 3, this latest expansion takes agents back to New York City and deep into Central Park and the Upper West Side of the metropolis in a campaign, overworld, and endgame that is laced with horror and mystery.
While the dark zones in Tom Clancy's The Division from 2016 bordered Central Park, this is, as Ubisoft says in the presentation, "a part of New York City we've never explored." So, for long-time players of the series such as myself and hopefully some new players, it represents a thrill in and of itself. The bordering area of the Upper West Side is also new.
The setting and story provide the backdrop for something much darker, and even with a genuine horror lean that we've never seen from The Division games, it has really intrigued me.
With rumors and whispers abounding about what happened to and what's in Central Park, agents will discover the history of how the outbreak affected this iconic location via an unreliable and mysterious narrator. You'll be able to do missions in any order, says Ubisoft, and explore the open-world environment to your heart's content.
In terms of tangible action and gameplay-related goodness that the DLC is adding, the map of Central Park and the Upper West Side is an open-world environment that's roughly twice the size of the Battle for Brooklyn DLC. Then there's also going to be a new endgame — which sounds a bit roguelike-y: "each run different, each run deadlier" describes Ubisoft — and six new skill variants inspired by the horrors of the park, to name a couple of other features.
A deluxe edition of Echoes of Central Park will also contain skins and items for agents looking to embrace all that the DLC offers.
All in, this looks like a really intriguing and compelling DLC package and one I can't wait to devour as a long-time player of the game. It's a famous area of New York City, and its horror-infused campaign already has its hooks in me.
But that's not all...
(Image credit: Ubisoft)
In anticipation of Echoes of Central Park, if you're yet to jump into the brilliant looter shooter, then you can play Tom Clancy's The Division 2 for free all this weekend, from September 24 through September 28.
Also, hot on the heels of the Central Park DLC, though with no specific date given yet, Ubisoft has confirmed that full crossplay between platforms is coming to The Division 2.
Rockstar Games has announced the Grand Theft Auto 6: The Goodtime State – Vice City Collection
The exclusive, limited-edition box of merchandise is up for pre-order now at the Rockstar Store
It will set you back £349 / $399 and doesn't include a copy of the game
Rockstar Games has announced the Grand Theft Auto VI: The Goodtime State – Vice City Collection, a premium collector's box featuring exclusive merchandise and no game.
The Vice City Collection features "all the essentials for a good time, inspired by Leonida’s hit TV show, Macca the Gator" and is a limited-edition merch box launching November 19 for £349 / $399 (about AU$660, but no Australian availability has been announced yet).
Fans can pre-order the box exclusively at the Rockstar Store, so you better move fast if you want to secure the pricey collection. The studio also notes that GTA 6 is "sold separately."
Here's a list of everything it includes, from a cute Macca the Gator figure, sunglasses, a crossbody bag, and more goodies.
Macca the Gator Figure
Oakley® Frogskins™ Sunglasses
Leonida Keys Crossbody Bag
New Era® 9FORTY Snapback Hat
Macca the Gator Magnetic Mirror
Chunkee the Manatee Shot Glass
Vice City Collectible Swizzle Spoon
Vice City Razor Blade Keychain
Leonida Keys Enamel Pin Set in Metal Tin
Leonida Keys Sticker Pack in Stash Bag
Double-Sided Souvenir Poster with Map of Leonida
The Grand Theft Auto VI: The Goodtime State – Vice City Collection leaked earlier today, but fans initially believed it to be a new collector's edition, which would include the game.
A GTAForums post, shared by reliable leaker 'videotech' on X, discovered a listing on Rockstar Games' store website for the GTA 6: The Goodtime State - Vice City Collection.
The same leaker also attached a long list of GTA 6 merchandise, but it's now understood that the merch is included in The Goodtime State - Vice City Collection.
Unfortunately, it's not the collector's edition fans were hoping for—for now, you can only pre-order the Standard and Ultimate Editions—and it's unclear if Rockstar will announce another edition, but we're assuming not at this point.
Rainbow Six Tactics game director Martial Potron says making the spin-off a turn-based tactics game felt like "a natural fit"
He explains that the "DNA" of the shooter series is tactical
Potron adds that the team already had experience with turn-based games, but "had to convince Ubisoft and the Rainbow Six team"
Rainbow Six Tactics game director Martial Potron has explained why Ubisoft chose to make the upcoming spin-off a turn-based tactics game instead of keeping in line with the series' first-person style.
Speaking in an interview with TechRadar Gaming, Potron said making the next Rainbow Six Siege game turn-based, in the same vein as XCOM, felt like "a natural fit" for the development team.
"When you look at Rainbow Six, its DNA is tactical," he said. "It's just that it's first-person. The camera is placed in the eyes of the players. It's a real-time game. But if you look at all the DNA, finding the best line of sight, finding the best cover, finding the best targets, taking care of your operators, destruction... In fact, it's very tactical in a sense."
He continued, saying that when designing video games, you always imagine the "what-ifs" of whatever project you're working on, and reiterated that the idea of making a tactical Rainbow Six game "was so natural; the fact that we wanted to do that."
"It happened that in [Ubisoft] Paris we have experience with tactical shooters, but we have experience with tactical turn-based games with Mario + Rabbids, and we love tactical shooters and tactical turn-based games," Potron added.
"So in fact, it became a natural fit for the team and for the genre to try to do that, and we just had to convince Ubisoft and the Rainbow Six team."
Diablo 4 game director Brent Gibson says, "it's about damn time" the game comes to Nintendo Switch 2
He says there were moments when the team thought it "impossible," but they managed to overcome the issues
Gibson admits there are some "concessions," but they're barely noticeable is very happy with the result
Diablo 4 is finally available on the Nintendo Switch 2, and while porting the game to the handheld console came with some hurdles, game director Brent Gibson is quite pleased with it.
"First off, it's about damn time," Gibson said during a press Q&A at BlizzCon that TechRadar Gaming attended. "We've wanted it on the Switch for a very long time. It's a big game. I think we've had moments where [we thought] it's impossible. There's no way we could do it. But the team that took that on? Boy, did they do an amazing job."
Gibson went on to explain how the team optimized the game for handheld, admitting that there were some issues it had to work around, but overall the team delivered, and it was worth the wait.
"The concessions we had to make are barely noticeable. I'm so impressed," he said. "There are some things that we have to do for performance, obviously, but I think the expectation once you're going to handheld, we nailed it; it's locked.
"It's fluid. It's easily readable. I love the Switch's screen, and so it pops very nicely on that screen. It was challenging. But ultimately, I think it was worth the wait for how much work we had to put into getting it in there."
Blizzard just kicked off Diablo 4 - Season of Hell's Legacy, the game's 15th season, which arrived on September 15. Fans can also look forward to Diablo 5, which is slated to launch in 2029.
A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Wednesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Wednesday, September 23 (game #1200).
Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.
What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.
SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.
NYT Connections today (game #1201) - today's words
(Image credit: New York Times)
Today's NYT Connections words are…
THE BEAR
FOAM FINGER
POGO STICK
FACE PAINT
BOBBLEHEAD
BEER HAT
UNCLE SAM
CAPE
CREATION OF
ADAM
TRAMPOLINE
FANGS
BREATHE
FAKE BLOOD
I'M WITH STUPID
SHIRT
SNAKES IN A CAN
HERB TEA
NYT Connections today (game #1201) - hint #1 - group hints
What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?
YELLOW: Dracula disguise
GREEN: Bouncy items
BLUE: It could be you
PURPLE: Letters in common
Need more clues?
We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…
NYT Connections today (game #1201) - hint #2 - group answers
What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?
YELLOW: PARTS OF A VAMPIRE COSTUME
GREEN: THINGS WITH SPRING/S
BLUE: FEATURING POINTING
PURPLE: ANAGRAMS
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Connections today (game #1201) - the answers
(Image credit: New York Times)
The answers to today's Connections, game #1201, are…
YELLOW: PARTS OF A VAMPIRE COSTUME: CAPE, FACE PAINT, FAKE BLOOD, FANGS
GREEN: THINGS WITH SPRING/S: BOBBLEHEAD, POGO STICK, SNAKES IN A CAN, TRAMPOLINE
BLUE: FEATURING POINTING: CREATION OF ADAM, FOAM FINGER, I'M WITH STUPID SHIRT, UNCLE SAM
PURPLE: ANAGRAMS: BEER HAT, BREATHE, HERB TEA, THE BEAR
My rating: Hard
My score: 1 mistake
I got away with only making one mistake today, but it could have easily been more — as I yet again felt utterly baffled by the 16 tiles.
My mistake was linking FOAM FINGER, FACE PAINT, BEER HAT and BOBBLEHEAD, thinking they all had something to do with being a sports fan — not that I actually know what a BOBBLEHEAD is, except that it sounds like tat.
After this, PARTS OF A VAMPIRE COSTUME was the only group I felt confident in. For THINGS WITH SPRING/S I felt TRAMPOLINE and POGO STICK had bouncing in common and took a guess with the other two, while FEATURING POINTING I thought was all about comedy T-shirts.
Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Wednesday, September 23, 2026, game #1200)
YELLOW: THINGS YOU GRAB BEFORE LEAVING THE HOUSE: KEYS, PHONE, SUNGLASSES, WALLET
GREEN: WEBSITE HURDLES: AGE VERIFICATION, CAPTCHA, COOKIE CONSENT, PAYWALL
BLUE: THINGS THAT COME IN CANS: CONDENSED MILK, PAINT, SHAVING CREAM, SPAM
PURPLE: ENDING IN SYNONYMS FOR "TERM": BITCOIN, RECORD LABEL, RUB-A-DUB, SURINAME
What is NYT Connections?
NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.
On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.
It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.
It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.
Alien: Isolation 2 principal environment artist Archie Whitehead says the Xenomorph uses legacy animations that Creative Assembly designed for the first game
He explains that the studio didn't have the technology to implement it at the time
The sequel animations have been improved so the alien is "more responsive"
Alien: Isolation 2 principal environment artist Archie Whitehead has revealed that the game's Xenomorph uses improved legacy animations that Creative Assembly designed for the first game but didn't have the technology to implement 12 years ago.
In an interview with TechRadar Gaming at Gamescom, Whitehead confirmed that working around the alien's intelligence will be a core part of gameplay—even with the added exterior environment—and if players use a flamethrower or repeatedly hide in lockers, their actions will be less effective against the Xenomorph.
But the developer said the fear of hiding from the alien isn't just about its intelligence, but about how players perceive it visually; he explained that its animations and transitions have been improved from the first game, making it scarier.
"Intelligence is about perception," Whitehead said. "It's about what the player sees. If the alien was a cube sliding around, it might still kill you; it might still be scary, but you probably wouldn't perceive it as that intelligent if it was just a rotating cube, right?
"Obviously, the model, the character, the mesh for it; it's much more improved. There's a lot of layers there that I can't talk about the specifics, but it's more responsive, more reactive. It's really, really terrifying."
Whitehead went on to reveal that the Xenomorph uses animations and transitions that were initially designed for the first game, but Creative Assembly "didn't have the technology at the time" to use them. However, they've been polished for the upcoming sequel.
He explained that he chatted with animation director Simon Ridge, who worked on the first game, and saw some legacy animations that appeared to be unused, but were "really scary" and "amazing transitions" where the alien was looking at the player.
"I was studying when the original came out, so I wasn't on the first game," he said. "So, I was coming to this as a big fan, and I was chatting to him, and he was showing me these legacy animations he had, and I was like, 'I played the original a lot of times, I don't recognize these animations.'
"The vision was there, but they didn't have the technology at the time [or] whatever exactly they needed to implement it."
He added that this is a "benefit" for the sequel coming out 12 years later instead of immediately after the first game.
"We're able to use that kind of stuff, and obviously it's still going to be polished up, and it's a new setup and everything," he said, "but it's one of the things that makes it [the Xenomorph] feel smarter is its reactivity; making it feel like it's not just looking at the player, it's not just pointing its head in your direction. You feel like it's looking at you, and that's the kind of stuff that, again, when they show it off within the team, everyone's getting chills, and it's super exciting. We're super excited to show you."
Tom Clancy's The Division and The Division 2 are two of my favorite online and co-op games of all time; I still play The Division 2 most months (at least) and have done so since launch.
The second game still has a committed player base and is a game that keeps on going and keeps on giving for fans who play regularly and those who come back occasionally.
It's established a rich universe full of interesting lore, gripping side stories, and compelling characters, with novels, a mobile game, DLC and expansions, and books, all playing a part in filling out its brilliant world. And with more expansions and content coming all the time — even now in 2026, more than seven years after release — there's loads to get into.
As a result, there's plenty to draw on for my bumper Division quiz, and there's sure to be some stuff in here that'll have even the most experienced players a little, well, quizzical.
Good luck and let me know how you get on!
What did you think of our quiz on all things The Division? Let me know how you got on in the comments, and let me know what else we could do quizzes on!
Epic Games Launcher has been identified as the culprit behind mysterious chimes on users' PCs
Epic has confirmed it's planning to update the launcher to reduce the frequency of its 'party chimes'
Users have requested a feature that turns off the chimes altogether
Multiple PC users have recently noticed mysterious sounds playing at random, and it appears the Epic Games Launcher is the culprit.
As reported by TweakTown, a Fortnite news page on X discovered the Epic Games Launcher randomly playing sounds on their PC, as several audio files matching them were found in the Epic Games 'social chimes' folder.
Each sound represents actions in a game party, such as a party user leaving, push-to-talk activation or deactivation, and message notifications, which sounds bizarre as this occurs even when users aren't in Epic Games parties.
Epic has since confirmed (via a FortniteStatus X page) that the 'party chimes' were playing more frequently than necessary, and it is now updating the Epic Games Launcher to 'narrow which events play a sound while the launcher is in the background'.
These party chimes are sounds I've noticed on my Windows 11 system, playing at very random intervals, and sometimes even when the launcher isn't visibly open. The sounds aren't accompanied by pop-up notifications either, which only added to the confusion for me and many other PC users previously trying to pinpoint the source.
Thanks for providing feedback about this, @FireMonkey!After taking a look, these party chimes are triggering more often than we intended. We're updating the Epic Games Launcher to narrow which events play a sound while the launcher is in the background, so you'll hear fewer of them when you're not actively using it.September 19, 2026
(Image credit: Future)
TweakTown states that Epic plans to introduce an option to toggle the chimes on or off in the future, but, surprisingly, a toggle option isn't a top priority as of now — especially since user replies berate Epic for not including an option to remove the sounds altogether.
For now, at least, a quick workaround is to delete the files from the directory as follows: Program Files (or Program Files x86)\Epic Games\Launcher\Portal\Extras\SocialChimes. It's worth noting that this is only a temporary fix, as Epic Games Launcher updates will likely overwrite this and place the files back into the directory.
Perhaps this entire case serves as yet another reason to use Steam for many users, where bugs are rare occurrences — but at the very least, PC users can rest knowing there isn't some unwanted or unknown application running on their system.
A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Tuesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Tuesday, September 22 (game #1199).
Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.
What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.
SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.
NYT Connections today (game #1200) - today's words
(Image credit: New York Times)
Today's NYT Connections words are…
PAINT
CAPTCHA
BITCOIN
WALLET
SPAM
PHONE
RECORD LABEL
AGE
VERIFICATION
SURINAME
PAYWALL
CONDENSED MILK
RUB-A-DUB
KEYS
SHAVING CREAM
COOKIE CONSENT
SUNGLASSES
NYT Connections today (game #1200) - hint #1 - group hints
What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?
YELLOW: Don’t forget these…
GREEN: Online obstacles
BLUE: All packaged in tins
PURPLE: Final descriptions
Need more clues?
We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…
NYT Connections today (game #1200) - hint #2 - group answers
What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?
YELLOW: THINGS YOU GRAB BEFORE LEAVING THE HOUSE
GREEN: WEBSITE HURDLES
BLUE: THINGS THAT COME IN CANS
PURPLE: ENDING IN SYNONYMS FOR "TERM"
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Connections today (game #1200) - the answers
(Image credit: New York Times)
The answers to today's Connections, game #1200, are…
YELLOW: THINGS YOU GRAB BEFORE LEAVING THE HOUSE: KEYS, PHONE, SUNGLASSES, WALLET
GREEN: WEBSITE HURDLES: AGE VERIFICATION, CAPTCHA, COOKIE CONSENT, PAYWALL
BLUE: THINGS THAT COME IN CANS: CONDENSED MILK, PAINT, SHAVING CREAM, SPAM
PURPLE: ENDING IN SYNONYMS FOR "TERM": BITCOIN, RECORD LABEL, RUB-A-DUB, SURINAME
My rating: Hard
My score: Perfect
Another yellow last! I think it was SUNGLASSES that threw me there — if it had said “bus pass” then I’d be there, but sunglasses are something I wear twice a year at most. Then again, maybe this is a sign that I really should be not forgetting to grab them whenever I leave the house!
Regardless of the order in which I solved today’s groups, luck was definitely on my side as I sailed through without making any mistakes while at the same time never being 100% certain in my connections.
I was also unsure of what the groups could be. I thought WEBSITE HURDLES was about security, THINGS THAT COME IN CANS was stuff that’s mixed, and ENDING IN SYNONYMS FOR "TERM" something about circles.
Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Tuesday, September 22, 2026, game #1199)
BLUE: OPTIONS ON A MULTIPLE CHOICE SURVEY: AGREE, DISAGREE, NEUTRAL, OTHER
PURPLE: BEVERAGES WITH ACUTE ACCENTS REMOVED: CAFE, PATRON, ROSE, THE
What is NYT Connections?
NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.
On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.
It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.
It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.
Creative Assembly says Alien: Isolation 2's protagonist will offer "a new perspective to the franchise"
Blake is a Weyland-Yutani employee, with principal environment artist Archie Whitehead saying the Japanese side hasn't been explored a lot
Principal UI artist Laura Mouther says Blake isn't like any other Alien protagonist and "is such an interesting character to explore"
Alien: Isolation 2 will offer a totally new perspective on the Alien franchise by telling a story from the viewpoint of Yutani employee Blake, and Creative Assembly believes players will love her.
Speaking to TechRadar Gaming at Gamescom, principal environment artist Archie Whitehead and principal UI artist Laura Mouther discussed what they're most excited for players to experience in the upcoming sequel, highlighting the game's protagonist, Blake.
Blake works for Weyland-Yutani Corporation, a mega-conglomerate and the major human-led antagonist throughout the sci-fi series, but is employed specifically on the Yutani side of the company.
It's a viewpoint that hasn't been showcased during the horror franchise before, and something the developers were eager to explore in depth.
"Weyland-Yutani is an English-Japanese-speaking company, and it's something that the Japanese side, I feel like, doesn't really get explored that much," Whitehead said. "It's something we're trying to explore more here because Kurosaki, it's the name of the station [the game's setting] so I'm very interested for players to discover: 'How does that influence the world and the people living in it?'"
Mouther added that Blake is "awesome" and "brings such a new perspective to the franchise in total," and her being an employee of this mega-corp will be a much different experience from the first game, where the character where average people.
"If you think back to the first game or even the first movie, it's truckers in space, right? It's average people doing average things," Mouther said. "They're not powerful. They're expendable. No one cares for them. They have to care for themselves.
"But now we have Blake, who is a very Weyland-Yutani employee, and that means that she has some power, right? But when you hear in the trailer that the Japanese voice is telling her, 'You made a mistake. This is your last chance.' She was sent to Kurosaki against her will, and she wants to do well. She wants to be there to redeem herself."
Talking more about the story, Mouther explained how characters in the prologue will talk to Blake with respect and "you can get a sense of her standing," but all Blake is focusing on is trying to redeem herself. That's why when she heads to the crash site and accidentally unleashes the Xenomorph onto the colony, she's made yet another mistake, which the developers said will make Blake an interesting character to play.
"That dichotomy, she is such an interesting character to explore," Mouther added. "And I think the players will really get to know her and love her in the journey; they will make out their own journey [as well]. We tell a larger story, obviously, but similar to the first game, every player will have their own way of telling the 'in-betweens' between that [main] story, and will be so interesting to see."
The Game Bakers' creative director says he wants people to "remember our games forever"
It means the team may take risky or polarizing decisions, but it's worth it to build a passionate audience
It's paid off with games like Cairn, which has achieved excellent reviews and award recognition, and is about to release its first DLC
It’s a joke, obviously, but given the catalog of titles released by The Game Bakers so far, part of me believes creative director Emeric Thoa when he tells me that “there’s a chance our next game is an MMO match-3 about friendship.”
It’s a testament to the team’s creativity and versatility that I could see something like this sitting alongside the frenetic boss rush Furi, charming co-op RPG Haven, and the captivating climbing adventure Cairn.
“We always make games with the goal of creating a very memorable experience. All our efforts, our ideas, our choices are made so that people will remember our games forever,” explains Thoa.
(Image credit: The Game Bakers)
Cairn definitely stuck in the mind, as you took on a gruelling and demanding ascent up the enormous Mt. Kami with professional climber Aava. It may have mixed in some quiet moments of exploration and an engaging story, but it was almost exclusively about climbing a big mountain.
Thoa appreciates that, as with other The Game Bakers titles, taking this approach to follow and explore a single idea to its fullest in service of creating something impactful can be a big risk.
“This sometimes leads to polarizing design choices, but we’d rather be loved passionately by 10 people than be just appreciated by a hundred,” says Thoa.
(Image credit: The Game Bakers)
It’s paid off with the excellent reception to Cairn, including a four-star review from me. Thoa is also pleased that critics and players responded well to the game, with various high scores and award recognition.
“I should feel extremely happy and grateful, but the truth is that if the response had not been very positive, I would be broken right now. So, I feel not-so-broken, and that’s pretty good. I’m especially proud that people eventually appreciated the innovation and risk-taking in Cairn.”
So with that mindset in place, what is genuinely next for The Game Bakers? Well, there’s the first part of the On the Trail DLC for Cairn coming on October 29, which I went hands-on with at Gamescom. After that, Thoa doesn’t have too much to reveal: “It’s too soon to tell, and I’m not even sure myself.”
Senior game director Joe Shely confirms Diablo's victory won't take place completely off-screen in Diablo 5
He says, "You're going to get to learn more in the game about how these events took place"
Narrative director Jennifer Hepler teases the bond the player has with Diablo and "how that affected his ability to come in and have this victory is something that unfolds over the course of the story"
Blizzard Entertainment has confirmed that Diablo 5 players will get to see how Diablo conquered Sanctuary, despite how the game starts.
"Diablo has conquered Sanctuary, a stepping stone to invading the Heavens. Now from the throne of Westmarch, he wields Sanctuary's people and souls as weapons in the Eternal Conflict," the description reads. "Diablo is no longer a distant threat waiting at the end of the journey. He is present from the moment Diablo V begins, shaping the story, the world, and your path through it."
Players take the role of the Heir of Westmarch, a fugitive with a mysterious connection to Diablo as they build a caravan of allies and travel across the scorched wastes.
TechRadar Gaming caught up with the development team after the game's announcement to ask about the decision to start the game after Diablo has already taken over Sanctuary.
It's probably a question many fans have had since watching the trailer, but according to senior game director Joe Shely, Diablo's victory won't take place completely off-screen.
"I think as we get the opportunity to share more about the game, we'll be able to sort of fill out how that works a lot more," Shely said. "One of the things about a game like Diablo, any RPG, is that you have this power progression from starting off small and becoming this powerful character. And so, in the opening of the game, you know you're on the run. Westmarch has burned. Diablo is sitting on the throne, and then as you travel through the world, you're going to get to learn more in the game about how these events took place, and it's not going to take place entirely off-screen."
Narrative director Jennifer Hepler also teased the campaign, saying, "There will be dramatization of how exactly Diablo came to power, but also there's going to be a lot of story behind his rise that is you finding out is a big part of the narrative of the game."
The developer teased that the story starts when the player finds out they can go into Diablo's terror realm and come out alive, "which nobody else can do," and finding out these answers will be a significant part of the story alongside how he came to power.
"Finding out why you can do that, what other powers you have, what this bond is between you and Diablo, and how that affected his ability to come in and have this victory is something that unfolds over the course of the story, and makes every victory that you achieve over him and his minions very, very personal," Hepler said.
Diablo 5 is in development and is slated to launch in Spring 2029.
Rayman Legends Retold brand producer Loïc Gounon is interested in making more games in the series
Gounon says, "The plan was that we want to restart the franchise," using the latest version of Ubisoft's engine
He suggests that the upcoming remake could be the start of something new "if everything goes according to plan"
Rayman Legends Retold brand producer Loïc Gounon believes the series has a future and said he's interested in making new games using Ubisoft's latest tech.
The upcoming remake of the beloved 2013 hit reinvents the hand-painted 2D adventure as a full 3D side-scrolling platforming experience. It's powered by the studio's proprietary Snowdrop engine, while still utilizing the original game's UbiArt Framework.
It looks like a completely new game, though with the familiar elements that made the original a critical success, and according to Gounon, "The plan was that we want to restart the franchise" using the latest version of this technology.
"Without an engine, you don't make a game," Gounon told TechRadar Gaming. "Without a team, you don't make a game. So the initial point has been: we need to rebuild the team, and we need to adopt a new engine. As we were starting to think about that, we also considered a brand new game, but we've also been humble about what we could achieve."
The developer wasn't shy about sharing his dreams for the series, saying, "We believe that this IP has a future," and that Rayman Legends Retold could be the start of something new "if everything goes according to plan."
He also indicated the move to 3D allowed the team to build its bank of 3D assets, which sounds like something that would come in handy for any future projects.
Rayman Legends Retoldlooks to bring the platforming classic into the modern age, with a smattering of new levels, fully revamped visuals, and expanded cinematics featuring full voice acting for the very first time.
Released back in 2013 to critical acclaim and still beloved by fans, it's certainly an unusual choice for a remake. Where most developers opt to return to titles with obvious issues, or ones that are no longer readily accessible (Rayman Legends is fully playable on PS5, Xbox Series, and Switch 2 via backward compatibility), it's hard to think of many ways this platformer could be improved.
As it turns out, the decision was more about the future ofthe Rayman franchise than looking back at the past.
"The plan was that we want to restart the franchise," explains brand producer Loïc Gounon after a recent hands-on event.
"Without an engine, you don't make a game. Without a team, you don't make a game. So the initial point has been: we need to rebuild the team, and we need to adopt a new engine. As we were starting to think about that, we also considered a brand new game, but we've also been humble about what we could achieve."
In the gaming industry, remakes are often used to help new teams become acquainted with an existing intellectual property and build the skills needed to tackle development of future entries.
Just look at Metroid: Samus Returns, the 3DS Metroid 2 remake that led to series newcomer MercurySteam being given the reins for the Nintendo Switch installment Metroid Dread(and again, with the upcoming Metroid Ravenous for Switch 2).
Gounon adds that while the team behind Retold does still have some of the original Legends devs, they felt that "the balance between remaking a beloved game while bringing innovation to it was the best starting point" for everyone.
New coat of paint
(Image credit: Ubisoft)
One of the starkest differences between the original Legends and Retold is the shift from a hand-painted 2D look to a fully 3D art style – albeit one that largely maintains the side-on perspective. It's a move that Gounon suggests shows where the franchise is headed overall.
"Rayman started on PlayStation with a 2D game at a time when most games were 3D. Then Rayman 2 and Rayman 3 were 3D games in the rendering, but also in the gameplay. Then Origins went back to full 2D: 2D rendering and 2D gameplay," he explains.
"The thing is, when you've got a 2D engine and are in 2D rendering, it's less easy to make a 3D game afterwards. So, as part of thinking about the franchise for the future, two things that came to mind really early were that we want to go back to the adventure DNA of the franchise, and we don't want to [stop ourselves from] going towards a 3D adventure."
If you think of Legends Retold as a jumping-off point for the franchise going forward, the whole project begins to make a lot of sense.
Gounon doesn't shy away from saying that "we believe that this IP has a future" and that this remakeis only the beginning "if everything goes according to plan" and it proves popular. He even indicates that part of the move to 3D was so the team could build a bank of 3D assets, presumably for future use.
(Image credit: Ubisoft)
Although it's clear that Legends Retold is geared towards new players, Gounon says the team has gone to great lengths to maintain the overall feel of the original game so as not to disappoint returning players. This even involves utilizing the original game engine, UbiArt Framework, underneath all the shiny new graphics powered by the latest version of Snowdrop.
"What's a bit particular about this project is that we did not want to mess with the game feeling: all the characters reacting, the physics, etc. We knew that the muscle memory you have with a platformer — we can't mess with it. It's a constraint of Rayman, and so is the level design. There's a quality of level design that's unmatched, on par with the best games in the world, like Mario," he begins. "So we knew we couldn't mess with the quality of the level design or the game's flow and the physics.
"We knew we couldn't mess with the quality of the level design"
Loïc Gounon
"What we decided to do is that everything that's happening — game mechanics and flow — is powered by UbiArt Framework. UbiArt is also doing the 2D animation and 2D drawing, but as we were going 3D, we integrated UbiArt Framework game logic within the game logic of Snowdrop.
"Snowdrop is handling all the animation, the character art, the environment art, and the audio. All that new visual layer on top of the gameplay logic is Snowdrop.
"Basically, we've got the best of both worlds, meaning a great engine to make levels and gameplay, which is UbiArt Framework, and also maintaining the quality of the original game because it's the same thing running under the hood, within an engine that allows for fully-fledged 3D rendering."
A matter of taste
(Image credit: Ubisoft)
As with any big change, the new art direction has had its critics. "Nothing can outdo the beautiful hand-drawn style," reads one of the highest-rated comments on the original reveal trailer, but Gounon is confident that skeptics will be won over once the game is in their hands.
"Some people will always have a personal attachment to something they loved, especially when it's something super special that got 90+ on Metacritic, and it's highly subjective. That's totally okay, and to be fair, when you love something, you don't want it to change," he begins.
"I think it's natural. Then I think we will prove what 3D is bringing. I think once you start playing the game, and more people see the game, hear character voices, [watch] the fully animated 3D cutscenes, I think they will get why we are making it."
He adds that he's excited for players to see more of the game in the build-up to release and promises, "It's not a simple remake; it's more than that."
There will be a bit of a wait, however, with the game recently delayed until December 3, 2026, when it will launch for Nintendo Switch 2, PS5, Xbox Series X and Series S, and PC.
Playing the upcoming Cairn: On the Trail DLC with one of its creators looking over my shoulder was incredibly humbling. It had been months since I’d completed my gruelling ascent of Mt. Kami, and my skills were more than a little rusty. When Aava slipped and plummeted into the sea for the fifth time in less than 20 minutes, I was worried they’d lean over, close the laptop, and walk away shaking their head in disgust.
Luckily, I was allowed to play on, and slowly but surely I (quite literally) found my feet, more confidently and successfully finding the handholds and footholds to make progress on one of the three new challenges found in this first piece of free DLC for the excellent climbing adventure.
The one I was currently dramatically failing at features a piton-shaped rock in the middle of the ocean. You start on a wooden path surrounding this peculiar natural structure, before falling into a familiar pattern where you’re scoping out the potential routes to find a good place to climb it. It’s immediately clear, though, that these DLC environments are even more experimental than what we saw in the main game.
Rising up
“On the Trail is pretty much built on ideas and desires we had but decided not to put on Kami for the sake of consistency,” explains Emeric Thoa, creative director of Cairn.
“Because Kami is a very coherent experience, as you climb a single immense mountain, we wanted the On the Trail DLC to explore more variety in the climbing fantasy.”
(Image credit: The Game Bakers)
That breaks down as follows. This first is the level I’m playing now, with its tough climb up a unique structure. There’s also one set in a climbing gym full of more technically demanding challenges and one on a small island featuring various perilous overhangs over the sea.
You can also now play as Marco, who is less flexible than Aava, but he has a longer reach, stronger arms, and a new climbot model.
Whoever you pick, none of the new stages sound very easy, even for veterans who have successfully reached the top of Kami.
“It’s aimed at people who finished the main game, but it’s not especially difficult,” Thoa assures me. “It’s not like you must have finished in free solo mode with zero falls playing with a Guitar Hero controller. But I would definitely recommend playing the main game before starting On the Trail.”
I would, too, considering I scored it four stars and called it ‘an extremely good and beautifully made climbing game’ in our Cairn review.
And while it was the determination to complete the climb and the satisfaction of achieving it that was a main draw of Cairn, it was also the atmosphere that was one of its strongest points.
As you ascend, you learn more not only about Aava as a character, but also about the civilization that used to live on the mountain and some of its secrets. These neat asides are a wonderful break from the intensity of the rest of the game.
“We definitely tried to keep that exploration and treasure hunt vibe that Kami offers,” confirms Thoa. “It’s a bit different as the climbing spots are smaller. So, for instance, we added an energy mechanic to replace the survival elements.
“Instead of risking your life in a huge ascent over several days, you tackle a one-day challenge, and you have to manage your fatigue and resources in order to climb the spot before getting too tired. But that’s also where exploring becomes useful, as you can find items to get you back on your feet.”
(Image credit: The Game Bakers)
I found I needed them too, as a useful way to restock key resources such as chalk and energy to make these tougher climbs more achievable. It still didn’t prevent me from repeated failures, but I felt that same rush of stubbornness and perseverance that gripped me in the original game coming back. It’s a feeling Thoa wants players to feel when they return to Cairn.
“They should first experience the bittersweet nostalgia of coming back to the unique experience of Cairn, and then they should quite soon after find out that it’s still a game that makes your hands sweat! The thrill should still be there.”
I definitely felt it even in the short demo I had. Truth is, I’ve been keen to return to the game since the DLC was first announced, and even though a delay has meant I’ve had to wait a little longer, The Game Bakers recently confirmed that Cairn: On the Trail - Deep Water will launch on October 29 on PC and PS5.
A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Monday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Monday, September 21 (game #1198).
Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.
What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.
SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.
NYT Connections today (game #1199) - today's words
(Image credit: New York Times)
Today's NYT Connections words are…
THIS
THAT
THE
OTHER
CAFE
PATRON
AGREE
ACCENT
TOUCH
THOSE
ROSE
NEUTRAL
DETAIL
DISAGREE
THESE
FLOURISH
NYT Connections today (game #1199) - hint #1 - group hints
What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?
YELLOW: Determiners
GREEN: Adornment
BLUE: A quiz with choices
PURPLE: Fancy drinks
Need more clues?
We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…
NYT Connections today (game #1199) - hint #2 - group answers
What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?
YELLOW: DEMONSTRATIVES
GREEN: EMBELLISHMENT
BLUE: OPTIONS ON A MULTIPLE CHOICE SURVEY
PURPLE: BEVERAGES WITH ACUTE ACCENTS REMOVED
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Connections today (game #1199) - the answers
(Image credit: New York Times)
The answers to today's Connections, game #1199, are…
BLUE: OPTIONS ON A MULTIPLE CHOICE SURVEY: AGREE, DISAGREE, NEUTRAL, OTHER
PURPLE: BEVERAGES WITH ACUTE ACCENTS REMOVED: CAFE, PATRON, ROSE, THE
My rating: Easy
My score: Perfect
Connections loves to hide a clue to another group on one of the tiles and today it was ACCENT.
This tile featured in the green group for EMBELLISHMENT but may also have tipped some crafty players off to the fact that we were searching for a group featuring accents or, as it happened, BEVERAGES WITH ACUTE ACCENTS REMOVED.
Before linking the fancy drinks I took a bit of a risk with the yellow group, having to choose between THE and THIS. Had I paid attention more at school I may have found this task easier — demonstratively easier, even. Yet somehow I scraped through without a single error.
Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Monday, September 21, 2026, game #1198)
GREEN: WAYS TO ATTRACT FISH: CHUM, FLY, SPINNER, WORM
BLUE: CHESS VERBS: CAPTURE, CASTLE, CHECK, MATE
PURPLE: STARTS OF COMPOSERS' NAMES: BEET, BRAH, CHOP, VIVA
What is NYT Connections?
NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.
On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.
It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.
It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.
We're just a few weeks away from the launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, the explosive next entry in the blockbuster shooter series.
The Call of Duty franchise has been around for more than two decades, with almost constant annual releases, including multiple Modern Warfare games. There's the iconic original trilogy, and a more recent set of reboots that reset the story and brought its characters and themes into the modern age
But how much do you really know about the Modern Warfare games? Can you tell your Captain Price apart from your Gaz and Soap?
I've put together this Modern Warfare quiz to test your knowledge in the build-up to the Modern Warfare 4 launch, with a rigorous selection of questions related to all the Modern Warfare titles, old and new.
How did you score in our Modern Warfare quiz? Was there anything that took you by surprise? Let us know in the comments below, and maybe share your favorite bit of Call of Duty trivia too!
Traditionally set in North America, the Silent Hill series has been known to stray beyond the continent on occasion, most notably with the recent Silent Hill f, which takes place in sixties Japan.
Review info
Platform reviewed: PS5 Available on: PS5, PC Release date: September 24, 2026
With Townfall, we’re headed to nineties Scotland, but that’s not the only change: we also get a new perspective — in more ways than one.
Not only is the game in first-person, rather than third-person, but it's developed by a series newcomer, Screen Burn Interactive, formerly known as No Code. This small Scottish outfit doesn’t exactly have a long resume, but it's already proved itself with its two previous outings. 2017’s Stories Untold was an interesting, modern take on the text adventure, while 2019’s Observation, another first-person horror, won the Bafta for Best British Game in 2020.
Now the team brings its Caledonian spirit to bear on Konami’s flagship horror franchise, but does the new locale and camera angle represent another step in the right direction for a series keen on extending its recent purple patch?
Everybody’s aff to the rapture
(Image credit: Konami)
We open in typical horror story fashion: a man crawls out of the water onto a dock, not knowing where he is or where he came from.
Best bit
(Image credit: Konami)
Sneaking around the streets of St. Amelia. Its layout is ripe for creating your own paths to avoid enemies, and escaping their clutches by running down back alleys and hiding in cupboards is always a thrill. Plus, you get to explore a town that’s been lovingly and realistically rendered, with homes, shops, and features that offer a glimpse back to a simpler time.
This man is Simon Ordell, wearing an outfit almost identical to Travis Grady’s from 2007’s Silent Hill: Origins, and denoting his everyman-ness. As you make your way up from the harbour, a cutscene plays, and a tarp blows away from a sign, revealing the town’s name: St. Amelia
And so the game proper begins, as you make your way through the seemingly abandoned town to find out what’s going on. Along the way, you’ll take control of two additional characters besides Simon — Zoe and Richard — and the plot unfolds gradually to reveal the trio’s connection to one another.
(Image credit: Konami)
The first thing that struck me as I paced through the streets was the fantastic art direction. As expected from a Scottish team, Screen Burn has nailed the feel of a small Scottish town.
St. Amelia is lovingly crafted and perfectly captures its mid-nineties period, containing plenty of features recognizable to those this side of the pond, from period-correct storefronts and pebble-dashed houses to public telephone booths and post boxes.
Virtually every frame looks cinematic (there’s even a letterbox mode enabled by default). The perennial fog is, of course, present and correct here, and looks better and moodier than ever. Hues of white, red, and blue are prominent throughout as well, and look eerily beautiful as they shine through the mist and are backlit by streetlamps. This is a game made for screenshotting, although unfortunately it doesn’t have a native photo mode.
I played through the game in Performance mode, as is often my preference, and I couldn’t discern any visual downgrade from Quality mode. Naturally, though, Performance mode offered a much better frame rate, and I only encountered one section where things got a little choppy, but this was brief and far from ruinous.
(Image credit: Konami)
Complementing the visuals is the score, another feature that’s always stood out in Silent Hill titles. Here, though, regular series composer and sound designer Akira Yamaoka is, for once, not involved. Instead, the honors go to Pilotpriest, who’s done a fantastic job of replicating the off-kilter sounds and melancholic melodies fans have come to know and love, while adding a modern twist.
Pieces are more sparse and muted than before, often with heavy doses of reverb. They match the tone of the gameplay brilliantly, and compositions open up during cutscenes when some emotional weight needs carrying.
Unfortunately, the characters’ facial animations are less capable at this. They’re often stilted, which can work when they seem detached and dejected, but they fail to sell terror or emotional breakdowns when required.
This is doubly a shame since it lets down the largely great performances of the voice actors, of which Kezia Burrows’ Zoe is worthy of highlighting. She has a greater range of traits and emotions to convey than the other two, and she does so with aplomb.
Another disappointing aspect of the game’s design is the monsters — this for a series renowned for its strikingly original creations. Virtually every one is some kind of faceless alabaster humanoid with no details of note, and some are mere rehashes of past favorites, such as the fleshy straight-jacketed figure, although this time it has a plank driven through its head.
Less attention has been paid to their symbolism, too: there are suggestions that they reflect aspects of the inner turmoil of the main characters, à la most Silent Hill monsters, but there's little about their design that shows this in an interesting way.
Monster hunting
(Image credit: Konami)
Looks aside, though, the monsters are more dangerous than ever. There are a handful of basic pawns, such as those that wander around slowly, and the aforementioned straight-jacketed plank heads that move much faster and more erratically and are equally troublesome.
If either catches you, you’ll have a basic button-mashing QTE to avoid them if you have enough health, but if not, it’ll be instant death. In certain sections, a larger monster appears with blobs on its back, which is unkillable as far as I could tell. There's no chance to QTE your way out of its grip if it catches you, either.
Sneaking around enemies, therefore, can be a tense and terrifying experience, accompanied by a huge sense of relief when you succeed. Often, the environmental design expertly facilitates this stealth gameplay. The outside sections in particular are laden with cut-throughs and hiding places, and more impressive is the fact that this design is so firmly planted in the real world.
You’ll be sneaking around abandoned cars and peeking out over low walls, scooting down narrow back alleys and distracting enemies with bottles or radios. There’s a surprising degree of player freedom that makes these sections more satisfying to play through than your typical survival horror fare.
(Image credit: Konami)
What also helps is the excellent player movement. All three move in the same way, which is to say they’re responsive and agile, as well as being reasonably fast when sprinting, although this is no arena shooter — but then again, I wouldn’t want it any other way in a horror game. There’s also an option to use motion controls for aiming, with fast and precise movements, and it is my preferred method.
There’s a peek mechanic, too, which again is very useful. It may be lifted straight from classic first-person horror games, most notably Alien: Isolation, but it gives you a great deal of freedom to not just strafe laterally, but also to peer up over barriers or down over ledges, whether standing or crouched.
To detect threats more easily, Simon picks up a handheld TV (or CRTV) early on that can tune into enemy locations. They’re rendered in silhouette against a red background, serving as the game’s ‘detective mode’. This gives you a real advantage, but its screen is just obscure enough to avoid you using it the whole time.
You also lose focus on your surroundings while equipped, again preventing you from relying on it wholesale. Keeping track of multiple enemies can be hard as well, since you have to toggle between them one at a time, and those long passed or on a different level remain in the CRTV’s memory.
(Image credit: Konami)
Zoe, on the other hand, is saddled with a pager, a far less effective item since it doesn’t directly reveal enemy movements. Instead, bars around the sides fill up to show their approximate direction and proximity. Both gadgets, though, are effective at grounding Townfall in the real world. At certain points, the CRTV can be tuned to show recorded messages that help develop the story or provide hints. The pager, meanwhile, receives mission- and story-related communication.
This grounding is something the game as a whole does well. From the environments and puzzles, right down to the save system, which has always been a quirky thing in Silent Hill games. Usually, it’s something obscure and surreal, such as interacting with a well or a red square on a wall, but here you use landlines (no mobile phones in St. Amelia 1996) and dial 100 — the in-game number for the coastguard.
The map screen is as helpful and skeuomorphic as ever. Scrawls in red marker pen appear to show rooms you’ve entered, locked doors, and story clues. You can also zoom and pan around it with ease.
When the sneaking goes wrong, you aren’t completely defenceless. You don’t exactly have a military arsenal at your disposal, but some humble series staples are here, including wooden planks and metal pipes. They degrade this time, though, so they won’t last long. Firepower comes later, but ammo is scarce, making the game’s intentions for a stealthy play style clear.
(Image credit: Konami)
All this isn’t to say the weapons are useless. On the contrary, they’re very effective, and just the right amount of difficult to use. Melee combat is a basic affair, with one button for attack and one for block, but a lot of enemies can be disposed of quite quickly. The revolver and shotgun are even more effective, as you would imagine, but reload times are slow. All weapons feel impactful and satisfying to use, too, and the controls aren’t awkward.
Healing items are more generously distributed. There’s gauze for minor wounds and first aid kits for major ones. You can also combine alcohol with the former for a larger heal, while empty IV bags can be combined with IV fluids to automatically revive you if you die.
Aside from combat and sneaking, you’ll of course be solving puzzles. These are more ingenious than past efforts, and expertly combine that aforementioned verisimilitude with the series’ penchant for the weird.
One of my favorites had me reading out patient charts as Zoe to an aggressively condescending doctor, chastising her and me if I gave the wrong information. I then needed to find medicines dotted around the medical center, beginning yet another monster-avoidance section, which was as tense and as exciting as those in the streets of St. Amelia.
There are plenty of documents and computer emails to read and collect, providing clues to puzzles. There’s also a handy mechanic where you can hold a button to bring up the relevant clue while interacting with a puzzle, although, bizarrely, this is limited to only a few occasions.
Nothing personal
(Image credit: Konami)
While I certainly had a good time with Townfall, certain sections drag on a little too long. But on the whole, the game does well to vary the environments and puzzles (the enemies less so) throughout to keep you hooked.
I didn’t find normal difficulty too troubling: the puzzles are pitched just right, and those I spent a long time figuring out weren’t frustrating or unfair; in fact, they’re proved more satisfying to solve than the series’ typical offerings.
Sneaking and combat, on the other hand, are more challenging. Enemies can come upon you quickly, and since there can be long stretches before you reach a save point, you can find yourself trudging back through the same section if you perish. But mostly, their presence adds real stakes and rewards you with a sense of achievement once you make it past them.
(Image credit: Future)
It took me just over 20 hours to complete a single playthrough, and that was at a gentle pace. There’s little beyond the main objectives at hand to seek out, aside from some mysterious coded postcards that’ll have fans scrabbling to decipher, as well as hidden phone numbers to find. There are also unlockable outfits and weapons, and five different endings to get.
Townfall isn’t particularly scary. There’s the occasional jump scare, but it doesn’t rely on them for cheap thrills. The game is a slow burn, with plenty of quiet, contemplative moments as you explore your surroundings. As with many Silent Hill games, the horror is more psychological.
But herein lies a problem. While the story is commendable for sustaining the mystery for as long as possible, there’s a lack of character exploration, contrary to many other stories in the franchise.
The characters’ dialogue is mostly cryptic, so you never get much of a grasp on their thoughts and feelings until the end — and even then, there are still plenty of questions left unanswered, as they should be. But the three of them are by turns confused and forlorn throughout.
This mixture works to conjure that strange, uncanny tone the series is known for, but it also means the trio fails to elicit the same level of emotional investment garnered by past protagonists, such as Harry and Heather Mason, James Sunderland, and Mary.
(Image credit: Konami)
Social commentary seems to be Townfall’s primary concern: the main theme is one of corporate negligence and its devastating impact on a community, which is certainly relevant in today’s world. And it’s true that once the three collide and everything comes to a head, it starts to resonate emotionally. But this is a long time coming, and Zoe ultimately feels underserved by the story’s conclusion, a shame given the aforementioned excellence of her actor’s performance.
It’s entirely possible, though, that other endings will give her a larger role than the one I reached, although I have no idea how these are achieved yet.
Ultimately, I found Townfall less impactful than Silent Hill 2 or Shattered Memories. It won't haunt me for as long as those entries, but it’s an intriguing journey nonetheless, with mysteries that remain after completion to keep fans busy with their theories.
No doubt some will also see Townfall as departing too far from the Silent Hill formula, a debate that’s already begun. But to my mind, the new setting and perspective fit the mold perfectly, so despite a few reservations, it still marks another triumphant reimagining of the series.
Should you play Silent Hill: Townfall?
Play it if…
You love sneaking and puzzling Sneaking around enemies is often thrilling, and the memorable puzzles mix realism with the series’ unhinged tropes masterfully.
You want great art direction Screen Burn has managed to haul a small Scottish fishing village into the world of Silent Hill beautifully. It looks and sounds fantastic.
Don't play it if…
You want the best monsters The monsters are certainly less memorable this time round, a shame given the series’ pedigree in this area.
You want more emotion from your characters Mostly, the three protagonists are quite stilted in their tone. The botoxed facial animations don’t help, either.
Accessibility features
Compared to other modern releases, Townfall’s accessibility features are a little lacking. There are no content filters for blood and gore, and visual assists for color and contrast, and the like, are also missing. You can toggle subtitles and closed captions separately, though, and you can adjust the opacity of their backgrounds.
There are three difficulty modes to choose from: Story, which reduces the threat posed by enemies; Normal, which is how the developers intend the game to be played; and Nightmare, which increases enemy power and makes your flashlight detectable by them.
Puzzle difficulty is handled separately, although there are only two modes for this, with the only difference being red highlights of salient text clues.
How I reviewed Silent Hill: Townfall
(Image credit: Konami)
I played Townfall for just over 20 hours, completing the game once through on normal difficulty. I also toggled the puzzle difficulty between Normal and Hinted modes at various points.
I played the game on a standard PS5, largely in Performance mode, although I also tested Quality mode for a time, too. I used a Lenovo Legion R27qe monitor and the Skullcandy Crusher PLYR 720 headset for audio.
I’m a long-time fan of the Silent Hill series and have played many games in the series, including the recent Silent Hill f and the 2024 remake of Silent Hill 2. The original Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill: Shattered Memories rank among the best horror games of all time, in my mind.
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