Category: Gaming

People may experience stress in different ways, such as from work, in their daily lives, from relationships, and other factors. This stress can lead to physical, emotional, and mental distress. Researchers from the National Institute of Health, the Royal Society Open Science, and other institutions have been studying how video games could lead to a more stress-free lifestyle, according to Wired.

These conducted studies looked at how some video games could reduce depression symptoms, can provide positive social experiences, and be used as coping tools after being exposed to a stressful situation. Of course, keep in mind that every person reacts differently when playing a video game, and may experience in-game stress depending on the situation. Check out these following methods on how to relief stress using a video game.

Play Casual Games for Quick Mental Breaks

Casual games with short matches and simple challenges can temporarily distract you from your stressful situation. This method is great when you feel that your stress is building over a situation, as it allows you to decompress your mind and take a short mental break. You can play the game for a few minutes, complete challenges that help bolster your confidence and bring a positive feeling, and then put the game down and continue on with your day.

Use Cooperative Games for Empowerment and Camaraderie

Cooperative games are designed to perform a task or complete a challenge with other players. Sometimes a person who isolates themselves for social interaction can experience stress symptoms, according to the American Psychological Association (APA).

Engaging in cooperative games can help people connect with fellow gamers and friends which can feel comforting. When players help one another to win, they are gaining support and feeling empowered by overcoming these challenges together. This method can relieve stress.

Play Skill-Building Games to Develop Problem-Solving Abilities

A person may experience stress because they are in a situation that they cannot solve. They don’t understand how to fix the issue to move past this movement, which causes the stress to build. Skill-building games are designed to challenge the mind in fun ways so that you can enhance your quick thinking and problem-solving skills. They help you evaluate puzzles in new and engaging ways as this same mindset can be used when facing challenges in the real world.

Focus on Games That You Enjoy

The one thing to always keep in mind is that if you enjoy the game, it can help you relax and find comfort. If the game can help you further understand your stressful feelings and develop ways to cope and overcome the anxiety, then you can find yourself able to use what you learned in real-life situations.

However, not all games can be used as a stress reliever. Try to avoid games that are addictive or seem to contribute to your stress even after you turn the game off. Instead, focus on those that bring a more positive mental and emotional factor to your life.

Forge of Empires strategies can take years to learn, resulting in many missteps along the way. By tapping into the wealth of knowledge online, however, you can skip straight to creating a truly successful cityscape. To help you get started, here are five tips that even experienced players don’t know.

A Top-Tier Guild Makes All the Difference

A top-tier guild is key to getting your hands on all the goodies from the start, such as:

• An income boost from your Town Hall
• Get more late-age goods and blueprints
• Higher rewards from Level 4 Guide Expeditions
• Ability to effectively level your Great Buildings

Active guilds also have many experienced players willing to share their wisdom and lend a hand.

Find a guild by looking in the global list for all the top-ranked, non-GvG guilds. Confirm that they’re active and a good fit for you by reviewing the guild profile. Review their entrance requirements and then apply if you qualify.

Focus on Getting Excellent Great Buildings

Great Buildings can significantly change how you build your city and play the game as a whole. So, it’s worth using your Forge Points to pay for all the goods you need to build these entities.

The most important buildings you’ll want include:

• The Arc increases the contribution rewards earned from supporting Great Buildings owned by other players and generates valuable goods every 24 hours.
• The Innovation Tower increases the population of your city and provides Forge Points that you can collect on a daily basis.
• The Temple of Relics boosts your chance of finding relics during Guild Expeditions, making your Level 3 and 4 sessions even more profitable.

Find the Great Buildings that will support your playing style most by looking at their boosts. If you want to increase your chance of finding blueprints, you need the Rain Forest Project. Prefer a fighting boost? Go with the Statue of Zeus or Castel del Monte.

Aim to Win Special Buildings from Events

Events are the only way to get your hands on special buildings like the Antiques Dealer, Oceanic Terminal, and Friends Tavern. These buildings offer more rewards than regular Great Buildings, making them a must if you want to truly excel at this game.

To participate in the events, you must first unlock Cultivation, a Bronze Age technology. Then, watch for event announcements and clear your schedule to ensure you can complete all the quests needed for each reward.

Only Use Your Diamonds on Expansions

If you end up buying diamonds, don’t use them on Forge Points, premium buildings, or missing goods and blueprints. They’re only really good for expansions, which increase the footprint of your city. All the rest of the items can be acquired by simply letting time go by.

Patience is a Must—Sit Back and Enjoy the Ride

Speaking of time, plan to take your time with this game to get the full gaming experience. Every step of the journey is worth savoring, especially in the early stages when you’re building your foundation.

If you try to rush through, you’ll only get frustrated. Building up enough points and goods takes time to complete, although it will speed up a bit as you put Great Buildings to work for your city.

Use these five tips to get your city going in Forge of Empires. Then, chat with your guildmates to learn even more tips and tricks on how to keep your cityscape growing and thriving through the ages. Before you know it, you’ll be the one sharing tips with the newbies and helping everyone enjoy this fun game to the fullest.

Dungeons and Dragons is the most popular role-playing game in the world and is one of the biggest entertainment franchises out there. Though it was once thought of as a game for “nerds” sitting in dark basements, D&D has become a mainstream success and a long list of celebrities have caught on to the craze. Because of this, there has also been an increased interest in D&D for those that have never played before.

Getting into Dungeons and Dragons can be a bit overwhelming for beginners as there are a lot of custom pieces and there’s no way to “win” or “lose.” Instead, it’s all about creating an adventure at the whim of the Dungeon Master and having fun. If you’re interested in getting into Dungeons and Dragons, here’s a brief intro to help you get your feet wet.

What is Dungeons and Dragons

Dungeons and Dragons is a tabletop role-playing game that was created in the 1970s by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson after they had played several tabletop wargames. Though there are predesigned boards to use for D&D, most of them are customized by fans of the game. 

Whether you’re buying an official campaign from the publisher (Wizards of the Coast) or a custom board from someone on Etsy, there’s no wrong board for a good D&D campaign. Your campaign is run by a dungeon master (DM) who narrates your story and portrays any non-playable characters while also being the “judge” for anything that may need a ruling.

What You Need

After you’ve figured out which board you want to use for your Dungeons and Dragons campaign, there are a couple of other things that you’ll need to get started. The most important things are the character sheet and the dice. The dice control just about everything that you do and determine your success.

The other thing that you’ll need is the official rulebook depending on your role. The Player’s Handbook covers the playable characters, while the dungeon master will have their own handbook and the Monster Manual serves as the source for the creatures of Dungeons and Dragons.

Making Your Character

We mentioned the character sheet, and it will be one of the most important tools that you’ll have at your disposal. The character sheet will have all of your abilities, determining several things such as intelligence, charisma, and strength. Throughout the campaign, you’ll be able to level up these abilities to have a better chance at success.

There are 12 total classes to choose from for your character. These classes are barbarian, bard, cleric, druid, fighter, monk, paladin, ranger, rogue, sorcerer, warlock, and wizard. When using a class such as a fighter, you’ll want to focus more on strength and dexterity whereas a warlock will need more intelligence and wisdom.

Rolling the Dice

There’s a reason why you see so many people with expensive custom dice when playing Dungeons and Dragons, and it’s because they’re the biggest component of the game and perhaps the most customizable and important thing you’ll own. The dice can determine how well you’ll do just about everything in D&D.

You may end up rolling a one when trying to tie your shoes and your character falls and knocks themselves out after sustaining a head injury. On the other hand, you could roll a 20 when fighting a mythical dragon and kill it in one shot. There’s really no telling what can happen with the dice, which is what makes D&D so exciting.

Starting Small

If you’re getting into Dungeons and Dragons for the first time, the best way to do so is likely through a premade official set. There are starter packs available through Wizards of the Coast that will introduce a player to the mechanics of the game, though some may be able to jump right into something more detailed and expansive.

There are plenty of people who have watched streams and videos of Dungeons and Dragons players and were able to pick up on the mechanics almost right away. It truly comes down to what you’re comfortable with as a player, so find that starting comfort zone and don’t be afraid to have some fun with your character as it could end up being one you play for years!

Solitaire has been one of the most popular games in the world for a long while, and that’s not going to change any time soon. There are still well over 30 million each month that play at least one or two hands of solitaire, with several million playing on a daily basis. If you’re new to the game or have been sitting around in the beginner’s mode for years, there are tips that you should know.

Not every hand of solitaire is going to be a winner, but if you want to improve your skills, here are five tips that you need to know that will help you win more games. When you’re playing on expert levels and winning each hand, you’ll be thanking us!

1. Use Your Stock First

One mistake that a lot of solitaire players make from the very beginning is that they start to focus on the cards at the bottom and save the stock once everything is settled below. However, it should be the inverse at the start. Getting the stock cards out of the way is the most important thing you can do as a solitaire player, and there may be some cards you need on the first flip. This includes aces, which can get you started off on the right foot.

2. Get The Aces Out of the Way

If there are any aces available on the table, make sure to put them into the foundations table right away. First, flip the top stock cards, then take care of any aces that are there. Aces don’t have any other purpose in solitaire but to be the base of the foundation piles. If there are any twos, try to get those on the aces pile right away, as well. The threes can wait, but the aces and deuces have to go.

3. Use Your Kings

In almost every game of solitaire, there is going to be a vacant spot where there are no cards to flip over. When this happens, make sure that there’s a king that fills the void as it will be paramount in dumping off the queens and other lower cards. If your king is sitting on a tableau with a lot of cards with it, that can be a huge benefit to the rest of your game to move it on over to the vacant spot. However, if you’re filling two vacant spots, try to make sure that the kings are different colors.

4. Make Big Piles a Priority

The farther to the right a tableau is at the start of a game of solitaire, the higher it should be on your priority list. Trying to get the tableaus evened out from right to left is the easiest way to win quickly, but it’s not always possible. Still, focus on shrinking those piles before you start worrying about the tableaus that have just one or two cards.

5. Cards Don’t Have To Go To Foundations Right Away

One of the more common mistakes that people make right away is getting every card into the foundation as soon as they possibly can. It’s very enticing, of course, as building the foundation stacks means that you’re getting closer to winning the game, but you may need those cards. If you end up burying them, they can’t be brought back into your playing area right away (if at all). Those cards could end up saving you, so keep them in play as long as possible.

Bonus. Learn to Accept Defeat

There are a lot of people that think that every single game of solitaire has a winning path, but that’s not the case. There are some games that are simply impossible to win, and it’s best to not worry about trying to get through your already-established foundations to find the cards you need. We all want to win, but we can’t win them all!

Since it was released in 2006, Roblox has had players making their own minigames within the universe in just about every genre. There have been sports games that emulate what it’s like to play FIFA or Madden, horror games that resemble Five Nights at Freddy’s, and just about everything in between.

One genre that has also gotten a lot of love over the years in Roblox is the rhythm game genre. Hitting buttons in rhythm with music has long been a popular genre and boosted in popularity thanks to the release of games like Parappa the Rapper and Guitar Hero. If you’re looking for some fun rhythm minigames within Roblox, try out these five that are rated as the best.

1. Sound Volblox

Based on Konami’s “Sound Voltex” arcade-style rhythm games, Sound Volblox brings its own twist with stunning visuals and gameplay. Some players have dubbed it the best rhythm game Roblox has to offer. 

It requires a PC and gamepad, or keyboard to play, focusing on accuracy and speed while hitting the proper keys to match the notes on the screen. Sound Volblox offers a challenging, but fun experience that plays as more than just your standard arcade rhythm game. 

2. RoBeats

Created by user RobeatsDev, RoBeats is an MMORPG-style rhythm game popular amongst Roblox players. There are 700+ songs to choose from, with a difficulty scale ranging from 1-38, 1 being the easiest and 38 being the most challenging. 

The game offers a crafting mode while also boasting signature songs from artists like Friday Night Funk, Camelia, Hyper Potions, and more. There are new songs added to RoBeats every day with hundreds of songs already on the list. So far, RoBeats has gotten over 230 million visits.

3. Rhythm Master

Rhythm Master is an anime-style rhythm game created by user Xsitsu. Released in 2015, the game has gained over 130k visits on Roblox. A gamepad or keyboard is required to play this rhythm game that’s heavily influenced by anime, using a total of 20 songs from various anime series. 

More than 3,000 people liked Rhythm Master during its heyday, and while it didn’t get any updates after 2017 (including a sequel that wasn’t released), it has remained a favorite for Roblox fans that are looking to get into a fun rhythm game. Rhythm Master is easy to pick up and master and the limited setlist has people coming back to master all 20 of the songs that they’ve become accustomed to.

4. Bloxy Beats

Bloxy Beats has been called the hardest rhythm game in Roblox and has had over 150,000 visits since its inception in late 2020. Created by HollyJollyAiden, Bloxy Beats can’t be found by console players as it’s exclusive for PC players. The great user interface makes people think of the popular Dance Dance Revolution when playing Bloxy Beats.

The speed settings can be altered in the game, and it’s a great intro for those that are just getting into rhythm games, as well as experts. There are plenty of familiar songs on Bloxy Beats and will give players hours of entertainment. Just make sure your fingers are well stretched out before playing.

5. Rhythm Track 

One of the more simple-looking games on the list, Rhythm Track is essentially a stripped-down version of Guitar Hero that has drawn over 13 million visits since it was created in 2016 by Dummiez. Rhythm Track has several difficulty modes and uses the PC keyboard to play, though the keys that are used can be rebound.

Rhythm Track has plenty of badges and updates, allowing players to continue coming back to improve their scores and aim for a full combo. Though not as intricate as Rock Band, it still gives players a taste of what the full Xbox/PlayStation game is like through the power of Roblox.

League of Legends has been played by millions upon millions of people around the world, but it takes a special kind of talent to play the game on a professional level as those at the top are, for lack of a better term, freakishly good. From winning tournaments worth massive prize pools in the millions to garnering audiences on Twitch, League of Legends has a massive following and requires a lot of skill to be at the top. Let’s take a look at the best of the best, which champions they use, and how much they’ve won during their careers.

5. Perkz

Real Name: Luka Perkovic

Country of Origin: Croatia

Favorite LoL Champion: Ryze

Bio: Perkz is a Mid Laner that joined GSI Gaming shortly before it disbanded, signing with three different teams in 2015. Perkz finally found some stability when he signed with G2 Esports, and remained with the team for five years before heading to Cloud9 and eventually Team Vitality.

Perkz has accomplished a lot in his career, including winning a Mid-Season Invitational, League Championship Series, and a pair of Rift Rivals titles. However, his biggest feat has been winning the LEC eight times, including being named to the All-Pro Team four times.

4. Caps

Real Name: Rasmus Borregaard Winther

Country of Origin: Denmark

Favorite LoL Champion: Syndra

Bio: Caps became a professional League of Legends player in 2016 when he joined the Dark Passage team, and in the same year joined Fnatic. Since 2018, Caps has been a Mid Laner for the G2 Esports Team and a valuable part of the squad.

Caps has won the Rift Rivals championship twice and the TCL Championship and MSI Championship once each. The biggest accomplishment that he’s had thus far, though, is winning the League EMEA Championship an impressive seven times and has been a First-Team All-Pro in each of the events.

3. Uzi

Real Name: Jian Zihao

Country of Origin: China

Favorite LoL Champion: Vayne

Bio: Playing as a Bot Laner, Uzi started in the early days of League of Legends when he became a professional with Royal Club from 2012 to 2014. He would hop around to several teams between 2014 and 2016 before finally signing on with Royal Never Give Up for several years and eventually Bilibili Gaming in 2021.

Uzi would ultimately retire from professional gaming in 2020 due to health issues, but he was able to build quite a resume in League before doing so. Uzi was a two-time LPL Champion while also winning the Rift Rivals title and Mid-Season Invitational in 2018. He’s been the MVP of four major tournaments and a two-time All-Star 1v1 winner.

2. Smeb

Real Name: Smeb

Country of Origin: South Korea

Favorite LoL Champion: Rumble

Bio: Like Uzi, Smeb started playing League professionally back in 2012 and was part of the NAB Team, and has played for Incredible Miracle 1, ROX Tigers, and KT Rolster through his professional career before officially retiring in December 2020 after winning a long list of titles.

Prior to his retirement, Smeb had a long list of accomplishments during his LoL days. He won the KeSPA Cup in back-to-back years (2016 and 2017), while also winning two League Champions Korea titles. Smeb’s accomplishments allowed him to be an Olympic torch relay runner for his native South Korea in 2018.

1. Faker

Real Name: Lee Sang-hyeok

Country of Origin: South Korea

Favorite LoL Champion: Ryze

Bio: Faker is the biggest icon in all of professional League of Legends gaming, and started his career with T1 and has been with the squad ever since 2013, eventually becoming a part owner. Faker is referred to by most as the greatest player in the game’s history, with some referring to him as the Wayne Gretzky of LoL.

Faker is a 10-time winner of the League of Legends Korea championships, including three MVP titles. He’s also won the Mid-Season Invitational hosted by Riot Games twice, and won the world championship in 2013, 2015, and 2016.

Every now and then, there’s an app that everybody goes crazy for and it goes from having a few hundred downloads to having millions of downloads seemingly overnight. Most of the time, the apps that are able to achieve this type of sudden viral success fall in the games category. Some of the games are incredibly simplistic and people of all ages end up becoming devoted to make it as far as they can, while others involve multiplayer and are just plain old fun.

There have been many games that went viral, though many of them were flashes in the pan that ended up becoming an afterthought just as soon as they were on everybody’s phones. Then, there are those that had staying power. Our list has a nice mix of both, as we showcase five mobile games that had the most viral success.

Flappy Bird

Flappy Bird is an arcade-style mobile game that was developed by Dong Nguyen’s company .Gears, also known as dotGears, was released in 2013. It rose in popularity in 2014, becoming an overnight sensation to kids and adults alike. People were obsessed with this fun, but difficult game. Making it the most downloaded mobile game of the year, earning a whopping $50,000 a day in sales and ad revenue. In an act of humanity, the game’s creator took it off the AppStore due to the incredibly addictive nature of the game. 

Candy Crush

Candy Crush is a worldwide mobile game phenomenon, free to play and popular among all ages and walks of life. It was developed by King and originally released for Facebook in 2012. Now the game can be downloaded sans Facebook and enjoyed by anybody on iOS, Android, or PC. The game features a cute and colorful array of candy pieces set up in a tile-matching style of gameplay. You must match three, or more candies in a line, block of four, or L-shaped formation. Each level presents its own challenges and increases in difficulty over the course of the levels. It’s a wonderfully fun and mind-numbing game that surprisingly never gets old. 

Pokémon Go

One of the most viral mobile games of modern times is Pokémon Go. Popular among today’s youth and millennials alike. It brings the adventure and unique nature of Pokémon to the real world. You can explore real-life locations and search for different kinds of Pokémon along your travels. You can find eggs that require the player to walk a specific distance before it hatches. Giving incentives to walk and stay active. As well as creating a fun way to socialize with other players in your community. 

Among Us

Among Us is another hugely successful game that got its start on mobile platforms. The game was developed by Innersloth studios and released in 2018, later being released for consoles and PC. The multiplayer social deduction game was inspired by the sci-fi thriller “The Thing” as well as the game “Mafia” created in the 1980s. Among Us rose in popularity in 2020 when a variety of Twitch streamers with large audiences began playing the game on streams. Some believe the 2020 pandemic made the game take off, due to its socially interactive and fun gameplay. 

Roblox

If you know a kid, you’ve probably heard of Roblox. The ever-so-popular mobile game is one kids go crazy for. It was developed by the Roblox Corporation and released for PC in 2006. Later released for mobile users in 2012 and 2014. The game is free to play but largely reliant on in-game purchases through the use of Robux. It’s estimated that half of all children in America are active users on the platform. It features a large variety of games for different age ranges, like music games, puzzle games, social games, and modified versions of popular games outside of Roblox. 

Not all of us can get out to the motocross track or have room for a bike, but almost all of us do have a gaming console. For this reason, there are a lot of people that love motocross video games, even if they’ve never ridden a bike themselves. Over the years, we’ve been treated to a lot of great motocross video games, but which ones are truly the best? Here are our picks for the five best motocross video games of all time.

5. Excitebike

You can’t talk about motocross video games without mentioning the one that started it all back in 1984. Initially released for the Famicom/Nintendo Entertainment System, “Excitebike” was a side-scrolling 8-bit racer that taught players the importance of finding the right speed for jumps on a motocross track. Sure it was difficult, but NES players had a lot of fun with it.

Not only did “Excitebike” set the tone for other NES side-scrollers, but it also launched a slew of sequels in the franchise including “Excitebike 64” and “Excitebike: World Rally”. People are split on the actual quality of the original “Excitebike”, but there’s no doubting its importance to video games overall and introducing a lot of youngsters to the sport.

4. MX Superfly

There was that special era of video games where you couldn’t yet race online but could purchase downloadable content including new songs and racers. “MX Superfly” was part of that era, and was released on the Xbox, PlayStation 2, and GameCube in the summer of 2002. A sequel to “MX 2002”, “Superfly” improved a lot from the first game and felt like the first true simulation in motocross.

The game hasn’t aged particularly well compared to others on the list, but “MX Superfly” was an amazing game for its time that featured outdoor racing, supercross, and even a stunt challenge. “MX Superfly” received generally positive reviews overall no matter what system it was on and motocross fans still come back to this game every now and then.

3. MX Unleashed

“MX 2002 featuring Ricky Carmichael” was the first of the THQ motocross trilogy, with “Superfly” being the second. The final installment of the series was “MX Unleashed”, which was released in February 2004 on the PlayStation 2 and Xbox, but surprisingly not the GameCube. “MX Unleashed” further tweaked the style that made “MX Superfly” so enjoyable and added some new features to go along with it.

“MX Unleashed” felt like a true “Superfly” sequel, and fans were treated to it many years later when it became available on mobile phones and was included in Xbox’s Games With Gold program. While the graphics are what you expect from a PS2 game, the gameplay definitely withstands the test of time.

2. MX vs. ATV Reflex

Following the success of the MX Trilogy by THQ, the publisher set out to expand their horizons, getting ATVs included and launching the “MX vs. ATV” franchise in 2005 starting with “MX vs. ATV Unleashed”. There have been several games as part of the series since then, with “MX vs. ATV Reflex” being at the top of the list of fan favorites.

To get the full enjoyment out of “Reflex”, though, players would be better suited to use the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 versions that received great reviews as the Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable versions didn’t get the same type of love. It takes some getting used to on the controls after playing the MX Trilogy, but the payoff is worth it.

1. MXGP3

Getting away from THQ for the top spot, Italian video game publisher Milestone has the “official motocross videogame” with their series MXGP, which was first released in 2014 on the PlayStation 3 and 4, as well as the Xbox 360. Since then, there have been several installments, with the top being “MXGP3”.

Where the THQ series of games is more arcade-esque, “MXGP” is a better simulation of what it’s like to be in a race with over a dozen other riders. CPUs racers are incredibly smart, even down to whipping their bikes over a jump. Overall, “MXGP 3” received positive reviews and helped push the series to where it is today.

Dungeons and Dragons is a tabletop game that has been played by tens of millions worldwide, and because of the rise of the internet age, millions more have been added to the player userbase to the point where there are over 13 million active players. While it was considered to be for “nerds” in its early days, people from all walks of life play DnD now.

Those that are new to the game might not know where it came from, though. How did it get from the dank basements of 1970s teens to internet streamers with thousands of viewers? Before we look into the future of Dungeons and Dragons, we have to look into its past. Here is a brief history of DnD.

Starting with the Siege

Before Dungeons and Dragons came along, there was a game named Siege of Bodenburg created by Henry Bodenstedt in 1967 that was published in the Strategy & Tactics magazine. The medieval game was a favorite for Jeff Perren and the rest of the Lake Geneva Tactical Studies Association.

During the late 1960s, Perren wrote his own rules for Siege of Bodenburg, and fellow LGTSA member Gary Gygax added a fantasy element to his rules, creating an all-new game that was originally titled Chainmail and released in 1971. Meanwhile, Dave Wesley and Dave Arneson were working on their own wargame and used many of the rules of Chainmail.

Chaining the Dragon

Dave Arneson had worked with Gary Gygax before, and the two were able to share their ideas of blending the two sets of rules that they created. The new game needed a name, however, and Gygax let his toddler daughter decide on the simplistic Dungeons and Dragons. Gygax and his fellow players thought it was a big hit, and their playing group grew rapidly in the early days of DnD.

After playing for countless hours, Gygax continued to alter the rules so that they would be more player-friendly and accessible while also being fun. Gygax took inspiration from a lot of science fiction and fantasy pieces of media. It was clear that Dungeons and Dragons was going to be a hit, but Gygax was working for Guidon Games at the time, and the business was too small to handle the production that DnD required.

The Big Reveal

With that in mind, Gygax invested some of his money and found a business partner in the form of Don Kaye to found their own publishing company and created hundreds of copies of the original Dungeons and Dragons set. To raise enough to pay for the DnD printing, they tried a quick release of another smaller wargame, but the sales were almost nonexistent and the two ran out of their own money to make DnD widespread.

Instead, the duo turned to Brian Blume, who threw in enough money on the condition that he got 1/3rd of the publishing rights. Gygax and Kaye had no choice but to accept, and Dungeons and Dragons was finally ready to sell, releasing in 1974 as a boxed set with 1,000 total copies in its original run, with every copy selling.

DnD Boom

Throughout the rest of the 1970s, Dungeons and Dragons became a big hit around the world, but Kaye passed away suddenly and left the company’s financial future up in the air. Gygax and Blume were able to get the rest of the business’s shares and had to find a bigger headquarters after the game gained popularity. 

As more people began to play DnD, expansion packs were added and new content was released on a consistent basis to keep people coming back for more. Eventually, Dungeons and Dragons was purchased by Wizards of the Coast, which has owned the game since 1997. Over the years, DnD has picked up a lot of celebrity players and is one of the most popular games played on the streaming website Twitch.

“When I wrote the DnD game in 1972-3, I envisaged an audience of military boardgamers, military miniatures players, and fantasy, (science-fiction) and horror fans only,” Gygax said of the game’s creation. “This was indeed the initial core audience, and it wasn’t until 1976…that I began to realize that the appeal was more universal.”

Rust is one of the most popular video games in the world, and for very good reason. The survival game which was initially released in 2013 had its full version come out five years later and is still a powerhouse on PC and consoles. Rust lets players build bases and join forces to help their chances of survival in a world where pretty much everything wants to take you out.

Because of the success of Rust, there have been many similar games that are based on survival and being part of a team. If you’ve been enjoying Rust for years and want to give some other games a try, these five will certainly whet your whistle while also giving you a teensy break from the world of Rust.

DayZ

DayZ is an online multiplayer game released for the PC in 2018 and for consoles in 2019. It takes place in the fictional town of Chernarus, based in Russia. Where most of the world has been ravaged by a virus that turns them violent and infected, players must use the few essentials they start with to survive while searching for more supplies and are left to kill off the infected. The other players in the game can team up with you, do their own thing, or work against you by killing your player. 

The Forest 

The Forest is a survival game developed by Endnight Games, released in 2018 for PC and PlayStation 4. Your character, Eric LeBlanc, is lost in a densely forested area after the plane he and his son were traveling in crashed. He must search for his son Timmy in the heavily wooded area, where he discovers a tribe of cannibalistic mutants that live beneath the surface and in surrounding caves. Throughout the game, you’ll remain unsure if the tribe is hostile towards you, or not. There are supplies spread throughout the forest that you can gather, along with the ability to craft tools with said items. 

Valheim

Valheim is a survival game developed by Iron Gate Studio, released in 2021 for PC and set to be released for Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S in 2023. In Valheim you play as a Viking in an open-world environment where you must craft, build, forage, mine, and fight enemies to survive. You have a variety of locations to choose from when creating your worlds, such as meadows, mountains, the Black Forest, swamps, oceans, and the Mistlands, to name a few. Valheim also features multiplayer capabilities where you can play with up to ten players. 

ARK: Survival Evolved 

ARK: Survival Evolved is an open-world survival game focused on action and adventure, developed by Studio Wildcard and released in 2017. In the game, you’re challenged to survive the treacherous landscape known as the Ark. The Ark is a world inhabited by nearly 200 creatures like dinosaurs, mythical creatures, robots, and other players as well. It’s your job to train the creatures while focusing on your survival by building a camp, and monitoring their stamina, thirst, hunger, and overall health. There’s also the threat of other players in the game who can decide to be nefarious, or team up with players. The creatures can be ridden and obey your commands after being tamed. 

7 Days to Die 

Developed by The Fun Pimps, 7 Days to Die is an open-world survival horror game available for the PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. You play as a survivor of the nuclear devastation of the Third World War in a small, fictional town in Arizona. While focusing on gathering supplies and surviving, you must fight off infected humans that have turned into zombies. Although a fun game for those who enjoy games like Rust and those on our list, the developers ceased any plans for adding to the game series.