The Video Games And More You Should Play This Weekend – October 2, 2026

Bandai’s Aces team returns to the skies this weekend with Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve, the latest entry in its arcade-oriented action-shooter series. Riding high on a tailwind of success from 7: Skies Unknown, Ace Combat 8 is a little bit more of everything: bigger battles, more intense dogfights, and a story that puts you right in the boots of a little-known pilot, thrust into a folk hero title as the new “Wings of Theve” after the current Wings is shot down. In the effort to take back your country from invading forces, you fly varied and dangerous missions alongside a charismatic crew. It’s the drama that’s really stuck with me, though. The Aces team is digging deep into ideas around the horrors of war, the losses inflicted and sacrifices made, and the intense aerial ballets you have with rival Shadow squadrons. This new Ace Combat is shaping up to be one of the better ones in the series, and anyone eager for some open air and azure skies should consider giving this entry a try.

End of Abyss is built by former Little Nightmare developers, and the lineage shows. The game has a mood that I would favorably compare to Little Nightmares (obviously), but also Playdead’s Inside. Mechanically, however, the game is much closer to Metroid with a large alien (at least I think it’s alien – it is intentionally unclear) map to explore and ability unlocks that let you get to new areas. You can check out some gameplay below.

I also spoke extensively with the developers back in May, which you can read here if you’re a subscriber. Charles Harte’s review should be online soon if it is not already, but I have been enjoying the game so far. The bosses have been more challenging than I expected and I have hit a few troublesome bugs, but it has been my go-to game to play in my leisure time, which is a big compliment considering how full my hard drive is with good games so far this year.

The original Minecraft Dungeons felt a bit like a family-friendly Diablo that blessedly featured local couch co-op – a rarity in the modern gaming age. The sequel keeps the train on the tracks offering more of what worked in that first game with iterative improvements. In their review, freelancer Tomas Franzese writes, “Minecraft Dungeons II proves this spin-off franchise can stand on its own and improve with subsequent entries at a time when Xbox is refocusing on its biggest IP. There’s plenty of room to expand, improve, and let me reach that endgame feeling of satisfaction much sooner, though. Right now, Minecraft Dungeons II is simply a straightforward, entry-level action-RPG.” You can read Game Informer‘s full Minecraft Dungeons II review at the link.

Toem’s laid-back but stimulating blend of puzzle-solving and photography charmed me in 2021, so I’ve been low-key excited for the sequel ever since. I’m a couple of chapters in, and while I’m not a great photographer in real life, I love a good puzzle game, and Toem 2 is hitting the right notes. Solving scavenger hunt-style tasks like finding missing lawn gnomes or spotting peculiar cloud shapes by snapping pics is easy and enjoyable. New camera tools allow more unconventional interactions, such as cutting objects by lining them up in a shot. Cutting down fruit from a tree to make jars of jam for a hungry bear or slicing pieces of fabric as a seamstress frantically tosses them mid-air is good, silly fun. I’m excited to see what other tools I unlock. As my list of tasks expands with every chat with the quirky characters, I get more excited to capture every photo op, find every secret and hidden path, and fill my book with more stamps indicating a job well done. After playing so many tonally mature, violent games recently, Toem 2 is the palate cleanser I desperately need and shouldn’t be overlooked if you like cozier puzzle experiences.

This lovely new Metroidvania from CMD Studios is likely to surprise you with its breadth and size. It’s a massive adventure characterized by a beautiful, vibrant visual style and an heroic story that is refreshingly free of pretension. While the game draws primarily on the classics of gear- and ability-gated advancement in the style of Metroid or Castlevania, its other chief inspiration is classic JRPGs. As such, the storytelling has an innocent, almost fairy-tale-like vibe, and you spend a lot of time recruiting new “Fated Bonds” that manifest as new party members that can step in during the action to lend a helping hand. Fallen Tear features gorgeous music and a surprisingly robust voiced script that carries the narrative forward. If these sorts of exploration games are your jam, you’d be remiss to not investigate if this one might be your next deep dive.

Blades and Battles wears its inspirations on its sleeve. This is a pretty clear love letter to the medieval and fantasy hack ‘n’ slash brawlers of the late 80s and early 90s, like Golden Axe and Knights of the Round. Players choose to play as Arthur or Lancelot as they sword-slash their way through armies of enemy soldiers and monsters in local cooperative battles. The visuals are stylized and retro, and reminiscent of those early days of the genre. In line with its source material, the action is (likely intentionally) a bit stiff and unforgiving, but it’s great fun to line up big combo juggles that send your foes bouncing around the screen.

This is the kind of game I especially like to surface in a weekend recommendation like this, as it’s the perfect fit for a satisfying evening with a buddy, when you can’t decide what else you’re going to do with your game time. It may not have a ton of surprises, but it’s a fun and satisfying time that nails precisely what it’s aiming to do.

Heartworm released on Steam in July of last year to “very positive” reviews and this week it arrives on consoles. It’s a Resident Evil-inspired survival horror throwback with 32-bit visuals and fixed camera angles. I have been playing it on PlayStation 5 and despite having just played Silent Hill: Townfall and being in the middle of End of Abyss (see above), I am enjoying it. Today is the second day of October, after all, so it is spooky season.

One standout mechanic I like is instead of the typical video game flashlight to light up dark areas, protagonist Sam uses the flash from her camera, which leaves a lingering brightness for a few seconds. The mechanic lends to the scariness well and also just feels different from typical survival horror games. If you’re looking for something scary and nostalgic, take a look at Heartworm.

Ghost of Yōtei is one of 2025’s best games and yesterday saw the release of the game’s Complete Edition, which adds a single-player Echoes of Sekigahara DLC campaign and the new rogue comabt mode called Most Wanted (which features Ghost of Tsushima’s Jin as a playable character). You can buy Complete Edition for $69.99 and it features the full original game and the Echoes of Sekigahara and Most Wanted expansions. If you already own the game, you can add the Echoes of Sekigahara and Most Wanted expansion for $14.99.

I have not had a chance to dive into these new modes yet, but am particularly eager to check out Echoes of Sekigahara. I am protagonist Atsu’s biggest fan and very invested in her story so I will take more of that please. You can read Game Informer‘s Ghost of Yōtei review at the link.

If you need more RPG hours than can fit into this weekend—literally—then Octopath will have enough for that, and many more weekends after. Both games are a love-letter to classic pixel-art, turn-based RPGs, where you hop between the stories of eight different travelers on their eight paths. Broadly, the HD-2D art is already a draw for the series, with absolutely gorgeous boss fights and locales throughout both journeys. The turn-based battles are tense, and building up your Travelers path over path is enjoyable. If you have to only pick one, play Octopath Traveler 2; the first game is good, but the second is easily one of my favorite RPGs Square Enix has produced in the last decade. Brilliant writing, an incredible score, and a very memorable cast of characters ensures you’ll always have something to go back to when the weekend comes around.

The “cozy” phenomenon we’ve all seen in the video game world is certainly not isolated to that corner of gaming. If anything, the concept might even have a longer pedigree in the tabletop world, and we continue to see more success stories that tap into a low-stakes, relaxing, non-violent play loops. One of the best board game releases of 2026 so far fits squarely into this camp: Cozy Stickerville tasks you with growing a small town by placing stickers out onto the board. Players work together cooperatively over the course of multiple sessions to add new elements to the village. Alongside adding in farms, shops, and other important features, you’re also managing events that form the story of the town as it plays out over years of in-game time.

You can’t really lose Cozy Stickerville; it’s more about seeing the story of your hamlet play out over time, resulting in one of several unique endings. But it’s a lovely way to enjoy crafting an interactive story together with friends or family; the whole thing is low-stakes, easy to pick up and learn, and great fun to enjoy together.