We have names for many days that come before big holidays — Devil’s Night, Christmas Eve, July 3 — but the Friday before Thanksgiving rarely gets a label. Whatever you call it, it’s the start of a long weekend for some, and a perfect chance to dig into a few standout games.
Cast your vote for the 2025 Reader’s Choice awards — it may feel early to decide, but we love seeing what players pick when we’re putting print issues together.
Before the recommendations, here are the top headlines from the week:
- Vampire Crawlers Is The Next Game From The Vampire Survivors Team
- Yuji Horii On Early Days In Game Dev: “I Would Just Do Everything Myself”
- Ghost of Yōtei Patch Adds New Game Plus And More Next Week
- Yuji Horii’s Journey To Making Dragon Quest, As Told By The Man Himself
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Review — Good Luck, Have Fun
- Marvel’s Deadpool VR Review — Mileage May Vary
The Games to Try This Weekend
Lumines Arise
Lumines Arise revitalizes the signature music-driven block puzzle formula with dazzling presentation and fresh mechanics that recall the sensory polish of games like Tetris Effect. It preserves the intuitive, flow-inducing core gameplay while adding modern community features, layered difficulties, and tutorial challenges that ease you into mastery. A tremendous audio-visual experience — best enjoyed with headphones.
Read Game Informer’s Lumines Arise review for a deeper look.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7
This installment pushes into surreal, hallucinatory territory, delivering a campaign that experiments with perception and violence through a distorted lens. Beyond the campaign, Black Ops 7 refreshes multiplayer and Zombies with new systems and movement that favor fast, agile encounters. It doesn’t overturn the series, but Treyarch and Raven inject enough novel choices to make the package feel lively and distinct.
Kirby Air Riders
Kirby Air Riders is an unexpectedly delightful arrival that channels Masahiro Sakurai’s trademark flair — bright visuals, playful menus, and an abundance of unlockables. Even if you weren’t anticipating it, the game’s presentation and momentum make it an easy recommendation for a weekend pick-me-up; it’s a cheerful, fast-moving experience that nails the Kirby vibe.
Morsels
Morsels is a twin-stick roguelike that leans into classic design principles: each run you gather small creatures with unique abilities, and losing one is meaningful because your roster is limited. With relatively little meta-progression early on, advancement comes from learning through repeated runs — a design that rewards skill, discovery, and adaptation. The result is tense, satisfying, and occasionally unforgiving in the best way.
Silent Hill 2
Bloober Team’s remake of Konami’s classic psychological horror returns and is now available on Xbox Series X/S. If you missed the PlayStation 5 and PC releases, this port is a welcome chance to experience the remake’s unsettling atmosphere and thoughtful reimagining. If the mood leaves you wanting more, Bloober’s 2025 title Cronos: The New Dawn captures a similar tone and is worth checking out.
Read our Silent Hill 2 review for a full assessment.
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