Steam now offers the chance to play Age of Wonders 4 for free all weekend to experience the wonders in Triumph Studios' strategy sequel. This post covers the news, and outlines the various discounts in effect for players wondering how to keep playing going forward. Read on for more:

Rule a fantasy realm of your own design in Age of Wonders 4! Explore new magical realms in Age of Wonders’ signature blend of 4X strategy and turn-based tactical combat. Control a faction that grows and changes as you expand your empire with each turn.

Triumph Studios’ award-winning strategy series has emerged into a new age, evolving the game’s iconic empire building, role-playing, and warfare to the next level. A new storytelling event system and hugely customizable empires provide an endlessly replayable experience, where each game adds a new chapter to your ever-growing saga.

A free weekend is underway on Steam for ICARUS, a Windows survival game from RocketWerkz with support for up to eight player co-op gameplay. This gives a couple of days to sample the game, and a 50% discount if you want to carry on after the free weekend. There's also a double XP event for the duration of the trial. This post has the details, including word on a new flamethrower item to get players fired up. Here's word on the game, though it omits the obvious warning against flying too close to the sun:

Endure a savage wilderness on Icarus, an Earth-like terraformed planet now considered humanity’s greatest mistake. From their orbital station, prospectors drop to the planet surface to explore, harvest, craft and hunt while seeking their fortune.

From toxic atmosphere to savage wildlife, apex predators to destructive storms and forest fires, Icarus is a planet with a temper. Preparation and planning are everything, whether it’s to find a source of oxygen, stalk your next meal or stockpile supplies for a long journey into the wilderness.

Rounding out a trifecta of such promotions, Age of Water is also free to try this weekend on Steam, offering the chance to stem the tide of our apocalyptic future in this Kevin Costner-free online adventure. This gives a couple of days to get your feet wet and a 50% discount if you decide the waterlogged life is for you. There's more in this post and a description game follows:

Become a sea captain on a post-apocalyptic Earth completely covered in water and go on an adventure in a huge open world. Sail through storms, fight and trade, capture other people's boats or build your own, extract resources from the bottom of the ocean, reveal the secrets of the Age of Water world.

The ocean destroyed a once great civilization, but people survived and adapted. They built settlements on the roofs of tall buildings and the tops of other man-made structures. People travel across the ocean in tiny boats and huge combat vessels. The ocean provides everything they need, including extractable resources on the seabed. And yet, the dream of real land is still alive.

• -50% Hello Neighbor 2 on GOG.com (Windows).* "As Quentin, an investigative journalist, you sneak into crime scenes and people’s houses to find clues and evidence. It’s up to you to piece this puzzle together. Building upon the formula of Hello Neighbor 1, you play in a larger open world with multiple houses inhabited by suspicious characters." 2022 release now DRM free on a new store.

*Blue's News may receive a commission on sales of this item.

• Warren Spector found working on his cancelled Half-Life episode 'a little frustrating', but he'll be 'forever grateful' to Valve for keeping his studio alive - PC Gamer.

• Star Wars Franchise Sale - save up to 80% on Steam.
• Save 38% on Ship Graveyard Simulator 2 on Steam.
• Save 25% on Coffee Caravan on Steam.

Official patches.

• World of Warcraft Hotfixes- November 8, 2024.

Official trailers.

• Flocking Hell - Announcement Trailer.

• This year’s Grammy nominees for best video game soundtrack have been announced - VGC.
• PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS -- PUBG GLOBAL SERIES 6.

Thanks Console General.

• PS5 Pro price has not had a -negative impact- on sales, says Sony boss - Eurogamer.net.
• Xbox Delta Ring (2411.241104-2000) Update Preview Release Notes - Xbox Support.
• Xbox Alpha Ring (2411.241106-2200) Update Preview Release Notes - Xbox Support.
• Xbox Alpha Skip-Ahead Ring (2411.241106-2200) Update Preview Release Notes - Xbox Support.

• The top AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D overclock just hit 7.24 GHz on HWBOT, but also a stable 6.9 GHz that delivers literally thousands of in-game fps - PC Gamer.
• The first release candidate for GIMP 3.0 is here - BetaNews. Thanks Ant.

• I Went Birding With the World’s First AI-Powered Binoculars - WIRED (may require registration or subscription).

• I gave my DNA to tracking company - then it vanished - BBC. Never give up. Time to find some other randos to mail your genome to.

• Auto-Rebooting iPhones Are Causing Chaos for Cops - WIRED (may require registration or subscription).
• Nintendo suing gamer for streaming Zelda- Echoes of Wisdom and other games early - Polygon.
• South Korean engineer smuggled out shopping bags full of secret SK hynix docs to give to Huawei - Tom's Hardware.

Thanks Neutronbeam.

• CPU/GPU/AIO/SSD Cooler: ID-Cooling FX360 INF AIO Review - TechPowerUp.
• Laptop: Battle of the titans- The ultimate 16-inch gaming laptop showdown for 2024 - NotebookCheck.net Reviews.
• Microphone: ENDORFY Solum Voice S USB Microphone Review - Budget-Friendly, Great Sound - TweakTown.
• Monitor/Projector: Lenovo Legion R25f-30 280 Hz gaming monitor review- Premium speed and response at a low price - Tom's Hardware.
• Motherboard: ASUS STRIX Z890-F Gaming WIFI motherboard - Guru3D.
• SSD: Crucial T500 4TB SSD review- More of a good thing - Tom's Hardware.
• SSD: Raspberry Pi SSD Review- Speedy, yet safe - Tom's Hardware.

My jury duty experience yesterday was simultaneously quite interesting and quite boring. It did clarify we were called in because they would be empanelling a jury, otherwise we would have stayed at home. They hit us up front with some discussion of the process and a couple of videos about the values of the system. I had already decided my civic duty was to not try and worm out of this, and the presentations only reinforced my conviction that I would be happy to serve if called. It would be a pretty painful disruption for updating things here, but it felt right, not to mention it was to be a three-day civil trial. But my name was not among the 19 picked randomly for voir dire, which was about a 50/50 chance since there were 41 of us (out of 80 notices). The lawyers spent the rest of the morning and about an hour after lunch with that group, and it started to become clear they were able to successfully assemble a jury from those candidates. Sure enough, the rest of us were eventually thanked for our service and dismissed. If you want to chalk it up to karma, my willingness to participate probably helped.

And speaking of willingness to participate, there's a twist about that here. Having served, even in the minimal fashion I did, comes with a six-year reprieve from having to serve again. In researching my duties, I read that there's also a waiver you can sign that makes you eligible to serve again starting in three years. This made me wonder who could love this process so much to do that? Then I learned that the six year dealie only applies to state and local court, and local service only provides four years of grace from jury duty in a Federal Court. And despite being a couple of hours away from Manhattan these days, we are still part of the famed Southern District of New York. Attending a trial in New York City every day would be an enormous difficulty for me just getting back and forth, much less trying to keep up with things here. Also, those trials can go on for months and end up with jurors being sequestered. So the answer to the question of who would file a waiver to reenter the potential jury pool early is me. Now that I know how this works, I will submit that paperwork and keep my fingers crossed that I hear from the state again before the feds get to me.

Obituary: Tony Todd Dead: 'Candyman' & 'The Crow' Actor With Hundreds Of Credits Was 69 - Deadline.

Completed Round-up
Thanks Ant, Neutronbeam, and Max.

Brunch Link

• Dog People and Cat People - by W. Keith Campbell.

Science

• Researchers Discover Enormous Ancient Cities Hidden in Uzbekistan’s Mountains - SciTechDaily.
• On ancient Mars, carbon dioxide ice kept the water running. Here's how - Space.

Media

• Why You Can't Travel Between Hawaii's Islands by Boat - RealLifeLore. Thanks RedEye9.

Auction

• George Clooney's Omega Watch, More Star-Studded Items on Auction for Veterans - TMZ. Would prefer it in stainless, so I guess I'll pass.