While there is no shortage of mobile game controller options to choose from out there, it’s my duty to keep bringing interesting ones to your attention so you can find the best possible model for your needs.

Today’s specimen is the G8 Galileo by GameSir, an extendable gamepad grip for the entire iPhone 15 series and most Android 8.0+ smartphones with a USB-C port.

Its anti-drift joysticks and precision-tuned analog triggers are all outfitted with smooth and responsive Hall Effect sensors for console-level pinpoint control that gives you a competitive edge in any style of game.

Meanwhile, the actual USB-C jack on the controller swivels up and down to allow for easier phone connection/removal, and in this way helps ensure the longevity of both devices.

The G8 allows for passthrough charging for those longer gaming sessions, and you have the choice of using either wired (3.5mm) or Bluetooth headphones for the best in-game audio feedback.

It comes with three extra thumbsticks (small, tall, and dome) that can be changed out as desired, and swappable magnetic faceplates allow you to customize the look of your controller.

As of August 17th, 2024 you can get the GameSir G8 Galileo on sale for $73 on Amazon (down from $100).

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Tired of spending yet another instance of free time doom scrolling rather than doing anything — however small — to improve your life? Well, Ryan McConnell, Kyle Cole, and Nick Vitellaro, makers of The Hero’s Journal and The Hero’s Planner, happen to make a series of “SideQuest” decks that give you “things to do when you don’t know what to do.”

Each deck is comprised of 52 RPG-flavored cards full of ideas for quick activities, encouraging tasks, and creative prompts that help you be more productive, collect new experiences, get out and explore, take care of yourself, or fuel your inner artist.

There are four decks in all:

1. “Adventure” — Small challenges geared toward getting out and trying new things.
2. “Self Care” — Chill tasks that are designed for you to do more and be kinder to yourself.
3. “Creativity” — Prompts for helping you get out of your head and unlock your imagination.
4. “Variety” — A random selection of worthwhile activities that aren’t tied to any given category.

The idea is, whenever you have some free time and would hate to waste it looking at your phone, pull a card from any of those decks and do the activity on it. Each task is a relatively small one, so there’s as little friction as possible between you and getting started. You don’t even have to muster the energy to decide what to do next — the idea is already handed to you.

As I write this on August 16th, 2024, the SideQuest Decks are all on sale for $20 each (down from $30).

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The world of mobile game emulation has been astir recently, ever since Apple opened the App Store to game emulators a couple months ago. Popular emulation apps like Delta, PPSSPP, RetroArch, and Gamma have made their way onto iOS, making it possible for gamers to play their favorite retro titles on the go — and more are sure to come.

However, long before any of this news broke, there were already a bunch of handheld emulator consoles available on the market, and they are arguably an even better way to enjoy this pastime, given the level of tinkering and modding diehard hobbyists get to enjoy.

For many of those enthusiasts, the RG353V is the king of portable emulator consoles, and it’s easy to see why. It supports both Android 11 and 64-bit Linux, offers connectivity over 5G Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.2, has a touchscreen with support for multi-touch, features all the controls you could possibly need (including analog joysticks), and can be output to a TV or external display via HDMI.

Most importantly though, you can play games from all sorts of older consoles, including PS1, N64, Sega Dreamcast, Sega Saturn, Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo/Super Famicom, NES, Neo Geo, Game Boy Advance, Game Boy Color, and a bunch more. I won’t discuss how to obtain the game ROMs for such things, other than to say you should legally own every title you add to the handheld console.

You can get the RG353V for $140 on Amazon in your choice of solid white, transparent purple, transparent black, and solid grey. (Note: The pair of RG353VS models you’ll see on that page are Linux-only models without touchscreen functionality or wireless screen projection.)

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Crossword puzzles have been a fixture of New York magazine ever since its first issue published in 1968, in which the puzzle was actually created by legendary composer Stephen Sondheim, of all people.

Over the years, quite a few of those puzzles have been concocted by prolific and pun-happy puzzler Cathy Allis, and in 2019 the magazine’s editors assembled fifty of them (plus the original Sondheim one) into a large, spiral-bound book that opens flat for the most addictive and entertaining (not to mention screen-free) puzzle solving experience.

I like this bit from the book description:

Every year, millions of people attempt to complete a crossword puzzle, whether in print or online. Recent studies have even shown that the actual number is growing, owing to a rising public desire for less screen time and more activities that keep brains active. A number of research trials have found that regular crossword activity is among the most effective ways to preserve memory and cognitive function, and a recent trial from the NIH found that these benefits can last as long as ten years.

Treat your brain to a satisfyingly fun daily workout by picking up this crossword book for $17.

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As the title above states, Tumbling Timbers is essentially an oversized version of the classic Jenga block-stacking tower game (and it costs way less than the official “Jumbo” edition).

The premise is exactly the same: Stack the blocks into a tall tower, take turns removing a single block (one-handed) to be placed atop the structure, and try not to be the person who makes it all fall down in the process.

The blocks are hand-cut from sustainably sourced New Zealand pine wood and sanded smooth for comfortable play. They come with a nylon carry bag for easy transport, so it’ll be a hit at every party, cookout, tailgate, and beach/lake hangout you take it to this summer.

You can get Tumbling Timbers in three tower/block sizes:

• Giant (21 inches tall) — $42 for natural, $62 for stained
• Large (24 inches tall) — $49 for natural, $73 for stained
• Large Jr. (30 inches tall) — $80 for natural, $89 for stained

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Glorious Gaming, the same team behind that Mouse Bungee cable management arm I wrote about some months ago, also offer a pair of high-performance gaming mice known together as “Model O 2”, which are successors to the original “Model O” from 2019.

Available in both wired and wireless editions, these mice boast ultralight body designs — weighing in at just 59 grams and 68 grams, respectively — that allow for faster movements and aiming with less wear-and-tear on your wrist and hand. Despite this lightness, their builds are robust and hold up to the rigors of intense gaming sessions.

Both models are equipped with a BAMF 2.0 optical sensor (essentially a rebranded PixArt PAW3395) that offers a tracking speed of 650 IPS, acceleration of 50G, and resolution up to 26,000 DPI. On the aesthetics side, the mice offer customizable RGB lighting that shines throughout their shells and gives them a futuristic look.

While the O 2 mice are marketed as “ambidextrous,” and in form factor alone you could technically say that, the side buttons are placed on only one side (left) so that is a point of functionality to consider if you play left-handed.

Get the O 2 wired for $65 and the O 2 wireless for $80. Both come in your choice of white or black.

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A month ago I discovered via Reddit that the indie game Cassette Beasts would soon be coming to mobile, with no release date announced at the time. There wasn’t much news in the meantime, until a few days ago when the dev team (Bytten Studio) tweeted that the game is coming to the App Store on June 4th!

In case you’re unfamiliar, Cassette Beasts is an open-world monster collector/turn-based battle RPG à la Pokémon, but with a couple of twists on the formula: Rather than capturing and storing a creature in a ball, you record its essence onto special cassette tapes, which you later ‘play back’ to transform into that monster yourself.

You also get to meet and form relationships with partner characters who can join you on your travels and take part in dual battles with you.

But the real fun comes when you start fusing monsters together. Any two monsters (i.e. you and your partner after transforming) can be merged into a unique and fully animated new fusion battler that combines of all the original creatures’ types, states, and movesets.

It’s like a temporary evolution for any given battle rather than a permanent change from leveling, and there are thousands of potential combinations to experiment with.

Watch the original trailer to get a feel for what the retro vibe of the game is like:

You can pre-register to auto-download Cassette Beasts when it releases on June 4th. The download itself is free but the full game unlock will be $7, with another $3 IAP for the ‘Pier of the Unknown’ DLC pack.

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Razer has once again released a new addition to their popular “Kishi” family of mobile gaming controller grips: the Kishi Ultra, which boasts a truly full-sized form factor and more pro-grade console features than its relatively compact predecessors.

This larger size allows the Kishi Ultra to accomodate a wider variety of devices than ever, including small tablets:

• iPhone 15
• iPhone 15 Plus
• iPhone 15 Pro
• iPhone 15 Pro Max
• iPad Mini (6th gen)
• Android phones running Android 12 or higher (and have a USB-C port)
• Android tablets up to 8″ (also with a USB-C port)

Even without a device cradled in it, the Kishi Ultra can be used as a standalone low-latency controller by wiring it to a laptop or iPad via USB-C, in which case you’ll still have support for haptic vibrations and 3.5 mm audio.

Whatever platform you decide to play on, you’ll appreciate the console-sized Hall Effect triggers backed by additional bumpers for greater control, the full-sized pro-grade analog thumb sticks made of medical-grade rubber and with anti-friction rings, programmable L4 and R4 multifunction buttons, and the high amount of customization you have over haptic strength, button remapping, RGB light effects, and more.

Get the Razer Kishi Ultra for $150 on Amazon and enjoy a true console gaming experience on mobile.

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Ready to bring a retro twist to your breakfast table? Never quite grew out of your “playing with food” phase? Then this Tetris waffle maker from UK-based novelty gift company Fizz Creations is just what you need.

I’m sure it needs little explanation, but the basic rundown is that this waffle maker lets you cook up seven iconic tetromino shapes you can play with before you eat.

Use whatever waffle batter you like, and maybe add a little food coloring to get the most authentically geeky Tetris experience. Your kids will love it, and so will your inner childhood gamer.

Get this Tetris waffle maker for $33 on Amazon.

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I’m not sure how it’s escaped my attention until now, but I was recently introduced to the card game Chronology, which was apparently released back in the 1990s and has come in more than one form over that time.

In any case, I’m glad my mother-in-law broke out this game when we visited her the other day. My wife and I love learning about history, so this was right up our alley.

The object of Chronology is to build your own timeline of 10 historical event cards before your opponents can. For you to obtain a card (beyond the first one given to you at the start of the game), another player will draw a card from the stack and read you the event written on it, but they won’t tell you the year. Using that info, you have to guess where it fits on your existing timeline.

Which came first, the invention of mayonnaise or decaf coffee? Was the bikini introduced before or after man landed on the moon? These are the kinds of questions you’ll have to answer.

As the game progresses and you accumulate events, it gets a bit more difficult to guess exactly where something might go. If you guess wrong, the person next to you gets to try, and they’ll have an advantage because you’ve narrowed down the date range for them.

Chronology is simple yet addictive, and you’ll learn quite a few interesting things along the way. Get it for $24 on Amazon, or pick up the Disney edition for $15.

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About a year and a half ago I wrote about the Chocobo & Chill album, which featured fifteen of Nobuo Uematsu’s beloved Final Fantasy tracks flipped and remixed by lo-fi beat-maker Rifti Beats in collaboration with video game record label GameChops. As a lifelong FF fan, you bet it’s something I still listen to often while working.

Yesterday, GameChops and Rifti released the long-awaited sequel, Chocobo & Chill II, which contains sixteen additional lo-fi reinterpretations of Final Fantasy songs from across the entire series. I’m listening even as I write this, and just riding a wave of absolute nostalgia with a lot of the tracks that have come on.

Here’s a bit more description about the album as shared by the label:

Chocobo & Chill II highlights music heard across the series (such as the main theme and victory fanfare), the Super Nintendo’s Final Fantasy IV and VI, Final Fantasy VII–IX for PlayStation, Final Fantasy X and XI for PlayStation 2, the massively popular MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV, and Final Fantasy XV. Prominently featuring the work of Nobuo Uematsu, who Rifti cites as one of the greatest composers of all time, Chocobo & Chill II also includes compositions by Masashi Hamauzu, Masayoshi Soken, and Yoko Shimomura. 

Here’s the full track list, with s to denote my personal favorites:

#	Track name	= standout track
1.	“Ahead on Our Way”
2.	“Besaid Island”
3.	“Cosmo Canyon”
4.	“Holding My Thoughts in My Heart”
5.	“The Place I’ll Return to Someday”
6.	“Someday the Dream Will End”
7.	“Fisherman’s Horizon”
8.	“Sultana Dreaming”
9.	“Theme of Love”
10.	“ViVi’s Theme”
11.	“Ronfaure”
12.	“Gold Saucer”
13.	“The Decisive Battle”
14.	“Victory Fanfare II”
15.	“Somnus”
16.	“Final Fantasy Lofi”

Get the album in these places:

• Apple Music
• Amazon Music
• Spotify
• Tidal

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A few years ago, if you’d told me Netflix would be the best competitor to Apple Arcade and are in fact doing an arguably better job these days of building a library of compelling mobile games, I wouldn’t have believed it. And yet here we are, with a whole bunch of awesome titles available to subscribers, including…

• The classic Grand Theft Auto trilogy (i.e. GTA III, Vice City, and San Andreas)
• OXENFREE II
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge
• Into the Breach
• Before Your Eyes
• Dead Cells
• Laya’s Horizon

And now they’ve landed probably their best exclusive yet: Hades by Supergiant Games!

In case you missed the last time I wrote about the game, Hades is a Greek mythology-inspired action-RPG — technically classified as a ‘roguelike’ — wherein you play as the rebellious and immortal son of Hades who seeks to finally break free of his father’s clutches and escape the Underworld.

But battling out of hell is no easy feat, as you discover in short order. As you send the protagonist into fierce hack-and-slash battle through a series of randomly generated dungeons — each run different from the last — he will die a LOT, each time being returned to his room in Hades’ palace to try again…and again…and again…

With each respawn however, you’ll have the chance to spend your hard-won earnings on new skills and weapons so you can handle threats more easily. You’ll also unravel more of your character’s mysterious history and begin drawing the support of other Olympian gods who, as you develop stronger bonds with them, will grant you various boons to aid you in your escape attempts.

To port the game to mobile, developer Supergiant Games teamed up with Secret 6 to bring along everything you loved about the original game — the lush visuals, pumping soundtrack, wonderful character interactions, and top-notch voice acting — with the addition of all-new, highly customizable touch controls. You can also use a Bluetooth controller if you prefer.

Hades for iOS is free to download for all Netflix subscribers.

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The Backbone One, arguably the world’s best smartphone controller grip in the mobile gaming space, has just introduced their next-generation model for both USB-C and Lightning phones.

With its newly increased bridge extension and the inclusion of swappable magnetic adapter pads, the second-gen Backbone One addresses one of the more common complaints suffered by the original BB1, now supporting a wider range of phones and cases than ever.

Unless the case you use is the chunkiest kind imaginable, you should now be able to pop your phone into the controller grip, game to your heart’s content, and put it back away without ever having to futz around with case removal. It seems a small change but it makes all the difference.

Also new in the 2nd gen is a reshaped D-pad and updated face buttons for enhanced responsiveness and input precision. No matter what genre you play, you’ll feel that much more in control of what’s going on in-game.

Get the Backbone One V2 phone controller grip for $100 on Amazon in your choice of…

• Lightning: Black (Standard ABXY) or White (PlayStation)
• USB-C: Black (Standard ABXY) or White (PlayStation)

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These days, having a way to entertain yourself in quiet moments without a screen in front of your face is a blessing. In a world inundated with digital distractions, finding solace in the pages of a good book offers a refreshing escape.

Stephanie von Reiswitz’s Murder Most Puzzling provides just that — an intriguing murder mystery that not only engages your mind but also encourages you to put your problem-solving skills to the test.

This elegantly illustrated yet darkly humorous book combines traditional whodunit storytelling with logic puzzles, presenting you with a series of twenty different murder mysteries to solve, all set in the early twentieth century.

It’s all very Agatha Christie, except now you’re the one who gets to do the sleuthing!

From the book’s description:

A body in the topiary garden, a death at a clairvoyants’ convention, and the mysterious accident at the boating lake—prepare for a whirlwind adventure, laced with humor and a dash of the macabre!

Murder Most Puzzling is a gorgeous and witty book that invites readers to solve 20 puzzling murder mysteries. Cast as the faithful sidekick to amateur sleuth Medea Thorne, you will meet a cast of colorful characters, from ghost hunter extraordinaire Augustin Artaud to Leonard Fanshawe, a competitor in the Annual Perfect Pickled Foods Festival.

Using deductive tactics and eye-spy searching skills, you will sleuth your way to unveiling whodunit in this witty riff on the classic murder mystery book.

Murder Most Puzzling offers the perfect blend of suspense and intellectual challenge to help you unwind before bed each night. Instead of mindlessly scrolling through your phone, binge-watching TV shows, or even idly listening to true crime podcasts, retreat into a world of intrique by immersing yourself in the intricacies of this cleverly crafted whodunit.

I recommend the hardcover edition for best results, but Kindle and Apple Books editions are also available and both cost very little.

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One of the shared gifts our kids received for Christmas this year was a copy of Sushi Go!, a fun card game our family’s been having a blast playing together. It’s also been making me super hungry for dim sum

The basic gist is, you and the other players pass around hands of sushi-themed cards, each person laying a card face-down and revealing it each turn, with the hopes of assembling the highest-scoring combination of sushi dishes by the end of the round (when all the cards are used up).

Every card type has a unique set of conditions and/or point values. For example…

• Playing a single dumpling earns only 1 point, but as you play them in multiples, the point values grow in larger increments (1 → 3 → 6 → 10 → 15 points).
• Meanwhile, sashimi rolls have no value individually, but if you manage to play a set of three (which is easily blocked by another player who sees what you’re trying to set up), you get 10 points.
• Chopsticks earn no points at all, but can be used to play two cards at once on a later turn, allowing for big plays to swing the game in your favor.
• Alone, wasabi does nothing, but place a nigiri (worth 1, 2, or 3 points) on top of it and you triple its value.
• …and the list goes on.

This guy’s 5-minute video gives a great rundown of the game rules:

The game is very approachable and easy to get into, and the game’s whole design aesthetic is cute so it doesn’t feel intimidating for little ones like our 4yo daughter. It also goes by relatively quickly, so you don’t have to dedicate an entire evening if you don’t want to.

However, because the hands are always being passed around, and because you can predict future plays being set up early by your opponents, there’s this whole other level of strategy you can get into that involves 1) remembering who is holding what, 2) when a particular card might come back to you, and 3) possible chances to block someone else from pulling off a devastating combo (at the risk of stalling your own progress).

This is a great little card drafting game that I highly recommend for any family or friend group. Get it for just $12 on Amazon.

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