Games don’t necessarily have to be unexpected and mind blowing 100 percent of the time. Granted, that’s where many of us find our favorite moments in games, but sometimes you just want to kick back, relax, and play something that feels comfortable, maybe even a little repetitive. Grinding is often used as a negative term, but sometimes it’s just what you need when you want to let your mind wander. Here are the most satisfying games to grind on the Nintendo Switch!...

In anime, blood often appears for shock value or to induce a sense of body horror. It helps to depict the intensity of violence on screen, and it can also darken the overall atmosphere and tone of the plot. But blood isn’t always used for injuries and scene splatter. Indeed, there are blood-based abilities and special powers that allow characters to manipulate blood—even when it isn’t visible. The extent of these powers can vary widely....

GameMaker, which used to be called GameMaker Studio before it was simplified in April 2022, has long been seen as a game engine for people who can’t handle a “real” engine like Unity or Unreal. For many years, GameMaker was primarily used by hobbyists who just wanted to play around with game creation and had no intentions of making it big in the world of indie game development. Spelunky came out in 2008 and was one of the first GameMaker games to achieve success, showing that GameMaker had potential to create more complex games with features like procedural level generation....

Some movies are clearly made to make a profit first, with everything else coming second. But then there are movies that are motivated by something more philosophical, more artistic, more human. These movies might set out to explore ideas about society, morality, or even conspiracies, but they all have something bigger stirring underneath the surface. Metaphors and grandiose themes are used to convey hidden messages. Well, mostly hidden. Sometimes the messages are obvious—perhaps even on-the-nose—but they’re still fun to think about!...

I’ve been stuck at home a lot lately, but I haven’t been alone. Whenever friends or family come over, we always break out the Nintendo Switch for several hours of party game fun. And wouldn’t you know it: the Switch has lots of great party games. And I don’t just mean party games for hardcore gamer types. With the Nintendo Switch’s focus as an approachable and accessible gaming console for all people, there are so many great games you’ll be able to play even with friends and family who don’t normally game....

Poetry is one of the longest-standing art forms in the world, transcending technology and preceding science—and so, of course, there have been plenty of movies made about the subject. For as long as language has been around, artists have naturally translated thoughts and emotions into rhymes and stories that express the deepest aspects of humanity: love, hate, fear, gratitude, anger, faith. Back in the day, a poet only needed one thing—their voice—to bring these all to life....

I don’t tend to rewatch movies. If a film’s ending really demands a rewatch, or if a film was especially good, I might do it. But most of the time, even an excellent movie only gets one watch from me. Examples include The Prestige , Inception , The Usual Suspects , Shutter Island , and The Matrix . While I wouldn’t mind watching them again, I have no desire to put them on, if I’m being honest....

The Final Fantasy franchise has featured dozens of memorable characters, each with their own compelling backstories and elaborate visual designs. Launched in 1987, no other JRPG series has the same legacy that Final Fantasy has. But even in a video game franchise with as many awesome characters as this one, several characters stand out as exceptionally remarkable thanks to their personalities, influence, and lasting impact. Who are the best Final Fantasy characters of all time?...

From sunny Australia to sunny California, the jump may not seem very big. But even for actors, moving from your place of origin to work in a competitive industry in a distant country is never easy. Over the last century, Australia has established itself as both a great filming location and an intelligent cinema culture. With the likes of George Miller and Peter Weir, we’ve seen plenty of talented directors rear their heads from Down Under....

You can’t expect everyone to get along all the time on film sets. Whether between actors, directors, film crew, or even studio executives, conflict and tension can flare up for any number of reasons. But then there are film productions where the entire cast gets along and has a blast together, wrapping up with great adoration for one another. These are the kinds of movie sets that most movie directors dream of....

With the triumph of Frozen and the ever-popular “Let It Go” that we still hear to this day, Disney proved that they were back to form and ready to pump out some real gems. The Disney Renaissance ended with the release of Tarzan in 1999, which is when Disney fell into a slump that’d last a solid decade. During that time, Disney struggled to captivate audiences with their animated movies to lackluster results....

Love is a dangerous game to play, which is why romance is such a common source of conflict in movies. Almost everyone can relate to love troubles, and those plotlines can tap into deep emotions. The different types of love come together as a feeling that’s universal to humanity, and when it’s depicted well, it can heighten drama, create more suspense, and raise the stakes even further. And the best way to show one’s love for another is to prove it through actions and words....

The frustration, shock, and insane theories that follow after a cliffhanger ending aren’t always equal. Maybe they’ll cause raucous debate amongst cinephiles for decades over deeper meanings. Or maybe they’ll leave audiences confused and disappointed by lazy writing. Some cliffhangers live forever in the minds of watchers who still wonder about what they think took place after the credits left them hanging. But most cliffhangers can feel unearned and manipulative, as though hinting at a narrative complexity that doesn’t really exist....

Ever since Dr. No arrived in theaters in 1962, James Bond has been a fundamental thread in the blanket of cinema. The character runs through the ages, updated and recast every so often that a new actor may take the reins of Agent 007. The adventures Bond has undertaken have seen him go all around the globe—sneaking into renegade states like North Korea and old powers such as China—all in service of the British government....

Hype is a nasty virus with no cure. You just have to wait it out and hope it fades away. But as soon as it subsides, there’s always another bout of hype waiting around the corner. We’ve all fallen victim to it. An announcement comes out, or a trailer drops, or something leaks on social media. We get caught up in the anticipation, the buzz—it’s hard not to when so much of modern marketing is designed to do just that....

We’ve all heard horror stories of hellish film productions that went wrong . But what about actual horror stories on movie sets? We’re not talking spiked punch bowls and overblown budgets, but truly inexplicable events that resulted in injuries, fires, and even deaths. The kind of tragic happenings that make you wonder. Here are several movies where cast members, crew members, and even audience members experienced horrific and dreadful events, so much so that people claimed the films were “cursed....

Spend a day browsing any online board gaming community and you’ll have furrowed brows at all the board game terms. What’s a CCG or LCG and how’s it different from a TCG? Why is there such a divide between Ameritrash and Eurogame gamers? The heck is a meeple, anyway? Here’s a crash course on the most common board game terms you should know if you’re getting into hobby and intend to hang out with more board gamers....

Here’s the funny thing about Hollywood and movie sequels: sequels are either very easy to greenlight—usually when the sequel has no business being made in the first place—or they’re extraordinarily difficult to get made even when they clearly deserve to be made. The main factor is usually the same in both cases: cold, hard cash. If a film earns a gigantic sum of money at the box office, you can pretty much expect a sequel to be rubber-stamped these days....

Sometimes when you’re at work, the last thing you actually want to do is work. We get it—we’re not here to judge. In fact, we’re going to help you procrastinate with some awesome nerdy desk toys that’ll have you fidgeting the day away without getting anything done. If you’re looking for some gadgets that’ll not only help distract you when things get boring, but that’ll actually look cool on your desk, these nerdy desk toys are just what you need....

There have been three actors who have played Spider-Man in the modern era, and all of them have brought something new and different to the role. With each incarnation, the styles changed. The times changed. The comic book influences changed. Tobey Maguire was the first to take up the challenge in 2002 when Sam Raimi brought the web-slinging superhero to big-screen cinemas with Spider-Man . His reign ended with Spider-Man 3 in 2007....