PUBG has unveiled its April Fools’ joke ahead of schedule this year, and it’s a doozy. Fantasy Battle Royale is a third-person squad-based gamemode where you play as classes from D&D-esque fantasy games, like a wizard or a barbarian. However, since you can’t exactly find chainmail on Erandel, these classes are creatively-assembled from what they could find lying around–for example, the paladin’s shield is a trash can lid, and the barbarian’s sword is a repurposed saw.
According to the announcement, these matches will be fast and furious, with the so-called “blue-zone” moving much faster than in regular matches. These classes each have special weapons, too, with the paladin’s Mendingstar healing your allies when you whack them, and the barbarian’s Kick-Ash Longsword increasing your movement speed with every hit. The special Fantasy Battle Royale event will run from April 1 to April 7.
In the announcement, PUBG Corp noted that the deeply-felt impact of the coronavirus crisis caused it to consider whether or not to go ahead with this lighthearted mode. While the team ultimately decided to proceed with it, they did make all of the exclusive items for this mode earnable through play alone, as the mode bestows “gold” that you use to buy this limited-time loot. You can also buy them in the regular shop.
PUBG Corp notes that this mode offers its first implementation of a crafting system, and if the community likes it, the team might add it to the broader game. This new mode also follows in the wake of PUBG’s third anniversary announcement, which comes with a raft of new skins.
While video games can truly immerse you in their expansive worlds with swelling soundtracks and stunning graphics, board games offer a different kind of immersion. Whether you’re playing a cooperative game where your group is working toward a common goal or a competitive game where each player has secret strategies and interests, many board games have a way of sucking you into their worlds with their gorgeous artwork, vivid writing, and role-playing aspects that have you take on the identity of an individual character. In fact, many of the best board games feature campaigns that must be played over a dozen or so sessions, giving the group a real feeling of camaraderie and lasting memory.
Whether you’re taking on a multi-session strategy campaign or a light-hearted family game, there’s nothing quite like gathering around a table with friends or family to break out a new board game. If you’re new to tabletop, you may not realize just how vast the world of board games is, spanning every genre from horror and military strategy to fantasy and even romantic comedy. There’s a great game out there for any occasion, whether you’re playing with people who don’t play board games regularly or meeting up with some tabletop pros.
To help you discover some new board games for your collection, we’ve rounded up some of the best board games that have been played and recommended by our resident tabletop enthusiasts. Whether you’re looking for a fun and easy-to-learn party game, a role-playing game, or a heftier strategy game, you’ll find a board game here you’re sure to love.
Because some of these board games are difficult find in physical form, we’ve also listed any official digital versions that are available. In addition, some games are available as official DLC for the Steam game Tabletop Simulator, which is a fantastic way of playing board games online with friends. We’ve noted any official DLC (not mods) below.
Quick look: The best board games to play in 2020
Gloomhaven
Number of players: 1 to 4
Time to play: 1 to 2 hours
One can’t have a list of the best board games without mentioning Gloomhaven, which multiple GameSpot staffers listed among their personal top three. There’s a reason this 2017 tactical combat game maintains the No. 1 ranking on BoardGameGeek, the go-to board game site for many tabletop fans. Gloomhaven is a massive multi-session campaign where each person plays a wandering adventurer who develops their own skills and reasons for traveling over the course of the game, working together as a group to explore ruins, fight through dungeons, and gather loot. Throughout the game, you’ll make decisions that affect the ever-branching story, and each character has their own secret motives as well. Combat takes place on a grid that changes with each battle and involves drawing cards that determine your available actions.
Gloomhaven can look intimidating–its box weighs 22 pounds–but I’ve personally found it quite easy to pick up the rules and start playing (as someone who finds tabletop RPGs like D&D overwhelming). There’s also a digital adaptation in early access on Steam. Gloomhaven’s campaign is much more focused on tactical combat than roleplaying, but if you’re into turn-based strategy and storylines that are deeply impacted by your actions, you’re in for a real treat with Gloomhaven.
Pandemic Legacy
Number of players: 2 to 4
Time to play: 60 minutes
Pandemic Legacy: Season 1 ranks right behind Gloomhaven on BoardGameGeek’s list of the best board games, and it happens to be one of our favorites as well. This is a legacy-style board game, which means you play through it over multiple sessions, with choices made in one session permanently changing how the story plays out. Legacy games often require physically altering the game–writing on cards, ripping some of them up, and placing stickers on various parts. Because of this, a legacy game is played out in a single campaign that you can only experience once per copy of the game.
Pandemic Legacy is one of the best legacy games you can buy, and it currently has two seasons available. The co-op campaign will be played over the course of 12-24 sessions with two to four players (ideally four), so you’ll need a group that’s in it for the long haul. Your group will play as disease-fighting experts whose mission is to treat disease hotspots and research cures for each of the four plagues before a pandemic occurs, with unique roles such as Medic and Scientist that allow special rules for each player. New mechanics and twists are revealed over the course of the game, and intense cooperation is required as you race against time to find a cure and fight back against the looming pandemic.
Betrayal at House on the Hill
Number of players: 3 to 6
Time to play: 60 minutes
If you’re someone who finds haunted houses thrilling, you’re sure to love Betrayal at House on the Hill. Perfect for fans of horror or story-driven games, Betrayal begins with a group of people exploring a haunted house, drawing tiles as they enter a new room, with various events or items possible within. About halfway through the game, a “haunt” will be triggered, and one of the players will become the traitor, with the remaining players racing against the clock to meet their win condition before the traitor meets theirs. With 50 different scenarios in the base game–and another 50 added with the Widow’s Walk expansion–there are numerous ways Betrayal can play out, but it’s always a blast. Turn on some spooky music, dim the lights, and you’ve got yourself the perfect horror-themed board game night.
Plus, if you fall in love with Betrayal and want to take your game to the next level, there’s a fantastic legacy version available as well.
Root
Number of players: 2 to 4
Time to play: 60 to 90 minutes
Don’t be fooled by the adorable woodland creatures on its cover–Root is an asymmetrical war game that’s fairly complex, and you’ll probably need to play multiple times to fully get the hang of it. In Root, multiple factions are fighting for control of a forest kingdom: Marquise de Cat, who wants to harvest the woodland’s resources; the Eyrie Dynasty, birds who aim to build roosts throughout the forest as quickly as possible; the Woodland Alliance, forest creatures who build hideouts and spread sympathy for their cause; and the solo Vagabond, a warrior who moves through the woodland alone, forming alliances where it suits his own needs. Because each faction has completely different rules and goals, you’ll want to play as each group at least once. But while it takes some time to master, Root is an absolute blast to play as you experiment with different strategies and slowly learn how to play each faction well. With its charming art design, variety of playstyles and great replayability, Root is a fantastic game to pick up if you have a group that’s willing to master it over multiple sessions. It’s also getting an official digital release on Steam, iOS, and Android later this year.
Scythe
Number of players: 1 to 5
Time to play: 90 to 115 minutes
Scythe is designed for one to five players, but it also comes with a built-in single-player mode, if you have trouble getting a group together or live alone. Scythe is set in an alternative history of 1920s Europe, which is recovering from a great war. Players control one of five factions that are competing to claim the stake in the land around a mysterious city-state known as the Factory, which played a major role in the great war with its armored mechs. As an engine-building game, players aim to build structures, upgrade their actions, enlist new recruits, and more to grow their riches and complete certain goals. And if you’re looking to play solo, the Automa mode throws in an AI opponent, using a deck of cards to determine its actions. With stunning artwork and deep world-building, Scythe is one of the best board games we’ve played, and it’s a great option for fans of resource management, territory control, and general empire-building.
King of Tokyo
Number of players: 2 to 6
Time to play: 30 minutes
Designed by Magic: The Gathering creator Richard Garfield, King of Tokyo has you and your friends go head to head as monsters battling for control of Tokyo. From the Kraken and Cyber Bunny to the Meka Dragon and Alienoid, you’ll wield the fierce power of one of six monsters, aiming either to destroy Tokyo by garnering 20 victory points or to be the only monster still standing at the end. You’ll roll dice to determine your actions and potentially gain victory points, and special cards will give your monster a new effect, like a second head that lets you roll an extra die, body armor, and more. King of Tokyo is easy to learn, and each round lasts only about a half-hour, making this a quick and fun tabletop game to teach to a new group.
Blood Rage
Number of players: 2 to 4
Time to play: 60 to 90 minutes
Blood Rage is a board game inspired by Norse mythology, casting you and your fellow players as Vikings during the time of Ragnarok. Your ultimate goal is to go out with a bang, earning glory to secure your place in Valhalla, and there are several strategies you can adopt to achieve this. At the beginning of each round, or “Age” (there are three), you’ll be dealt cards called Gods’ Gifts, giving you various abilities that you can then craft your strategy around. You’ll use the game’s resource, Rage, to perform actions, and winning a battle isn’t always the goal–sometimes, you’ll win glory (points) for being defeated. At the end of each Age, a piece of the board is removed, and anyone on that portion is sent to Valhalla, earning even more glory for the players whose forces were there. With detailed miniatures and fantastic artwork, Blood Rage is an excellent strategy game where the end goal isn’t survival, but earning the most glory before you take your place at Odin’s side in Valhalla.
Mountains of Madness
Number of players: 3 to 5
Time to play: 60 minutes
Inspired by the H.P. Lovecraft novella, Mountains of Madness casts you and your friends as scientific explorers scaling a mysterious mountain in the middle of Antarctica. The problem: The higher you and your party climb, the more the mountain will begin to affect your mental health. To ascend the mountain, you and your team must pass a series of timed challenges that require quick and effective communication to pool a certain number of cards, and this task becomes much harder as your team begins to collect madness cards.
Madness cards are the core mechanic driving the chaos in this game, as they add new rules that make communicating increasingly hard. There are three levels of madness cards, and you may have to “upgrade” to a harder one if you and your team even partially fail a task (and you will…trust me). Madness cards will ask you to do things like shake hands with every player before talking about a task, say numbers as addition problems (“2+3” instead of “5”), or remain quiet unless someone directly addresses you. Needless to say, Mountains of Madness descends into chaos as the madness cards get more ridiculous and the tasks get more difficult. It’s a hard game to win, but that doesn’t make it any less fun.
Catan
Number of players: 3 to 4
Time to play: 60 minutes
Even those who don’t play board games have probably heard of Catan, a resource-gathering and settlement-building game that’s simple to learn and addictingly fun. The gameplay involves creating settlements adjacent to tiles that each have a number and resource on it. Each time that number is rolled, anyone with a settlement adjacent to that tile will get resources, and you can build new roads and settlements using the resources you gather. The goal is to be the first to get 10 points, which you can achieve by building settlements, having the longest road, and more.
If you try out Catan and enjoy the basic gameplay, there are numerous expansions and themed editions available to spice things up. I recently tried out the Game of Thrones edition of Catan, which adds the Wall and a northern area with White Walkers that will try to break through it. This can completely change your strategy and requires you to consider wall defense on top of managing your resources and settlements.
Azul is an easy-to-learn game where you collect tiles based on azulejos, a type of Portuguese tile used as decoration in buildings. The game’s premise is that you’re an artist decorating the walls of the Portuguese king’s palace, but you’re competing against other players to complete a full row of tiles on your player board first. To do this, players take turns drafting tiles from the center of the table, placing them in a repository on the left side of your board. At the end of a round, you’ll move one tile from your repository onto the corresponding row on your wall in a colored space that matches the tile. After someone completes a full row and the game ends, players can earn bonus points for their number of horizontal and vertical lines and for filling all tiles of a certain color, so there are multiple scoring conditions to keep in mind beyond just filling a single row.
Wingspan
Number of players: 1 to 5
Time to play: 40 to 70 minutes
Wingspan is a newer board game released in 2019, and it was an instant hit, although copies were notoriously hard to find at launch. In Wingspan, you play as bird-watchers looking to bring the best birds to your different habitats. To add a bird card to one of your four habitats, you have to pay various costs, but it pays off–the more birds you add to a certain habitat, the more powerful your actions will become. You’ll also get special abilities and perks from the birds you have in play.
At the end of the game, you’ll win if you have the most points–these come from completing end-of-round goals, played bird cards, eggs, secret bonus cards, and more. The art style is absolutely gorgeous, and the cards also include fun facts about each species at the bottom. Wingspan is family-friendly and now comes with the Swift-Start Promo Pack, which offers a quick tutorial to help you learn the game and start playing fast. There’s an official digital release planned for Steam and Nintendo Switch this spring, but the official Wingspan DLC also just released for Tabletop Simulator.
Coup
Number of players: 2 to 6
Time to play: 15 minutes
Coup is a game about bluffing and bribing your way to power, so get ready to put on your poker face. In Coup, you’re the head of a power-hungry family in an Italian city-state, manipulating your way to the top of a corrupt court. Here’s how it works: A 15-card deck in the middle of the table contains multiples of five different characters, each of whom has a unique ability, and each player starts with two face-down character cards. Because no one knows which cards you have, you can bluff and use a character’s unique ability, like stealing from the treasury or attempting an assassination, even if you don’t have that card in your hand. At any time, another player can challenge whether you actually have that card. If you do have the card in your hand and choose to prove it, they’ll have to lose one of their cards. On the other hand, if you’re bluffing or choose not to reveal the card in your hand, you’ll lose one of your own cards, turning it face-up on the table. If both of your characters get turned face-up, you’re out of the game. Coup is easy to learn, and rounds will only take you about 15 minutes to play, making it a great game to whip out at parties.
Patchwork
Number of players: 2
Time to play: 15 minutes
If you love playing Tetris, you’ll probably enjoy Patchwork, a two-player game where you place Tetris-like tiles on a 9×9 board to slowly assemble a quilt. Each player has a stash of buttons, which you use to purchase tiles for your quilt, and you’ll also keep track of your progress on a separate time board, which will net you more buttons and tiles as you progress. By the end of the game, you’ll be scored based on how many buttons you have left, subtracting 2 points for each empty tile still left on your board. Patchwork is a relaxing game to play–there’s something satisfying about fitting tiles together and searching for the perfect piece to fill space on your board. Two-player board games like Patchwork are also nice to have around if you live with just one other person, as you’ll always have a game you can play together.
Ticket to Ride is incredibly simple to learn, making it a fantastic option for when you’re playing with people new to board games, but it also maintains enough tension to keep things interesting. In Ticket to Ride, players collect cards of various train types, which you’ll use to claim railroad routes across America. To claim a single route, you need the required number and type of cards in your hands at once. Once you claim a route, it’s yours for the rest of the game, and you’ll earn points based on how long the route is. From the start of the game, you’ll also have destination cards giving you specific goals (connecting Chicago to Houston, for example), which will give you bonus points at the end of the game; however, you’ll also lose points for not completing your destination ticket. The simple but satisfying gameplay of Ticket to Ride has made it a long-standing favorite in the board game community, and it’s received multiple follow-up versions and expansions.
Despite their similar names, Mansions of Madness has nothing to do with another game on this list, Mountains of Madness, although both are inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft. Instead, the premise of Mansions of Madness is much more similar to Betrayal at House on the Hill–you and your group will enter an eerie mansion, explore its hallways and rooms, find items, and encounter horrors that will test your sanity. In Mansions, however, you can see the full layout of the board from the start, including the location of clues, and the scenario for a playthrough is in effect from the beginning. While the first edition of Mansions required one player to take the antagonistic role of Keeper, who actively works against the other players, the second edition introduced a free companion app that absorbs this role and allows the game to be completely co-op or even single-player.
The second edition’s base game comes with four different scenarios, with more available through paid DLC. With that in mind, Mansions of Madness is a bit pricey at $100–and that’s not including all the available expansions you can purchase as well. However, this is a high-quality board game with detailed miniatures and tiles made to last, and its thrilling scenarios require deep strategy and cooperation that will keep your team fully engaged over the course of a two-to-three-hour playthrough.
Fog of Love
Number of players: 2
Time to play: 60 to 120 minutes
Another two-player board game, Fog of Love is a romantic drama played out in tabletop form. In this game, you and the other player will play as two characters who meet, fall in love, and navigate the ups and downs of a modern relationship. You’ll have awkward encounters, funny moments, and painful situations to work through, and the decisions you each make in these moments will affect your character’s satisfaction and traits, which in turn affect whether you achieve your long-term goals. There’s also a possibility for one or both players to have hidden secrets, which will be revealed at the end and may affect the outcome. Like any relationship, your characters may find true love or end up heartbroken at the end, but the act of playing out this story together makes Fog of Love a truly unique and compelling experience.
Codenames
Number of players: 2 to 8+
Time to play: 15 minutes
Codenames is a ridiculously fun word game that works with a larger group or even just two people (ideally, you’d have at least four). In Codenames, you have two rival spymasters, each of whom knows the identities of 25 secret agents, which are reflected by their codenames on a 5×5 grid. Each spymaster’s teammates are trying to make contact with all of their agents before the other team. To do this, spymasters give one-word clues that could point to any number of codenames on the grid; for example, “animal” could refer to codenames like “Cat,” “Dog,” and “Turkey.” Players have to guess which codenames on the board belong to their team’s spies while also avoiding codenames that could belong to the other team. Some cards on the grid are neutral, belonging to no team, and there’s also an assassin–flip that card, and the game is over.
Codenames is super easy to learn, and the variety of codename combinations available keeps each round interesting. And like many games on this list that have become incredibly popular, Codenames has quite a few sequels that switch up the theme and gameplay, such as Codenames: Duet (a two-player co-op variant), Codenames: Harry Potter (featuring the popular series’ characters) and Codenames: Deep Undercover (a mature version intended for players 18+).
Wasteland 3 has been set for a May 19 release date on PC, PS4, and Xbox One, but the difficulties introduced by remote work caused by the COVID-19 outbreak has pushed the game back to late summer. In a development update posted on Twitter, studio head Brian Fargo said that it will now release on August 28, 2020.
“As with most companies, we moved to a work-from-home environment some weeks ago, and that’s of course introduced new challenges that many of us throughout the world have been learning to manage,” Fargo said. “We’ve been excited to see the Wasteland 3 Beta so well received, but the reality is that with these new logistical challenges our release was going to be impacted.”
He said the extra time will allow the studio to react to beta feedback, and generally optimize and polish the game. In particular, he said the extra time will allow for extra work on the co-op experience. “We’re pouring our hearts into this game, and the last thing we want is to have anything but an amazing launch for a product we truly believe in.”
Epic Games is offering a $1 million reward to the first person who can prove that a commercial smear campaign targeted at Houseparty, a social network Epic owns, has been put together.
Houseparty is a “face-to-face” social network that allows users to group video chat and play games together. Epic Games purchased Houseparty last year. Originally reported by the BBC, Houseparty believes it’s under attack by a “paid commercial smear campaign” meant to harm the company.
Wanting to discover if that’s really the case, the company has offered a $1 million bounty to the first person to provide evidence that such a campaign is taking place.
We are investigating indications that the recent hacking rumors were spread by a paid commercial smear campaign to harm Houseparty. We are offering a $1,000,000 bounty for the first individual to provide proof of such a campaign to [email protected].
This bounty for evidence comes after a a slew of online rumors that allege the Houseparty app exposes vulnerabilities to personal information found on other services like Netflix and Spotify. BBC reported that several Twitter users posted screenshots claiming to show that after downloading the Houseparty app, they were locked out of things like Netflix, Spotify, and personal bank accounts.
The Houseparty app does not request access to personal information on your phone like you’d find after downloading something like Facebook, which requests access to your phone’s microphone and camera. Epic Games has since released a statement on the matter declaring that no evidence has been found.
“We’ve found no evidence to suggest a link between Houseparty and the compromises of other unrelated accounts,” an Epic Games spokesperson told BBC. “As a general rule, we suggest all users choose strong passwords when creating online accounts on any platforms.”
Houseparty’s popularity has risen with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, rising from an average of 130,000 downloads a week in February to two million a week in March, according to BBC.
It’s crazy to think that we’re already a quarter of the way through 2020, and the new month has another batch of video games to feast on. April brings us some sizzling hot remakes: the survival horror outing Resident Evil 3, the sword-slashing tale of Final Fantasy 7 Remake, and the reimagined retro RPG Trials of Mana. Movie fans can also get a taste of nostalgia with Predator: Hunting Grounds, and the Gears of War crowd gets a new strategy-heavy campaign with Gears Tactics.
Resident Evil 3 — April 3
Available on: PS4, Xbox One, PC
Resident Evil 3 is getting the same treatment as 2019’s Resident Evil 2 remake, which is appropriate since the two games overlap. RE 3 sees Jill Valentine exploring a zombie-filled Raccoon City, where she and other S.T.A.R.S. agents are being hunted down by the nasty Nemesis. That’s just the single-player component–this remake also includes Resident Evil Resistance, an asymmetrical multiplayer mode. Four players control survivors, while a fifth mastermind tries to take them out with zombies, Lickers, Tyrants, and all sorts of tricks and traps.
More Coverage:
Final Fantasy VII Remake — April 10
Available on: PS4
Final Fantasy 7’s remake is also coming this month–well, part of it. This particular release only tells Cloud’s story through the Midgar story arc, but Square Enix says the side quests and other content still makes the game size comparable to that of other mainline Final Fantasy titles. Combat in the remake has also been reimagined. It plays out in real time, but when your ATB gauge fills, you can pause the action to select items, cast magic, and pull off special attacks.
More Coverage:
Predator: Hunting Grounds — April 24
Available on: PS4, Xbox One, PC
Resident Evil 3 isn’t the only asymmetrical experience coming this month. Hunting Grounds pits four player-controlled soldiers against a lone Predator player. They can choose to hunt the fireteam as a Scout, Hunter, or Berserker Predator, each with their own abilities and alien weapons. The soldiers also have their own classes and loadouts, which they’ll need if they hope to complete their objectives and survive in the jungle.
More Coverage:
Trials of Mana — April 24
Available on: PS4, PC, Switch
The original Trials of Mana first launched in 1995, but it never came to the West until recently. While the action-RPG has been fully recreated in 3D, you’ll still carry out battles in real time in the field. Trials features six characters, each with their own stories that weave together. You form a party of three at the start, so you’ll have to replay the adventure to see all parts of the story.
More Coverage:
Gears Tactics — April 28
Available on: PC
Gears Tactics turns the Gears of War shooter formula into a tactics game, giving you a squad of customizable COGs who will carry out your orders against the Locust. It’s not just cannon fodder they’ll be facing, though: expect to encounter big Brumaks and Corpsers during the campaign too. Tactics is coming Game Pass for PC on launch day, but the Xbox One version will launch sometime later.
More Coverage:
This episode of New Releases looks at April overall, but next time we’ll take a closer look at some weekly releases. The next episode will dive into some upcoming releases that shouldn’t slip under your radar, like Disaster Report 4: Summer Memories and the console release of Convoy: A Tactical Roguelike.
In a joint statement to Gamesindustry.biz, German industry association game and Gamescom venue Koelnmesse said it’s possible there still could be an in-person event. Gamescom will be held as a digital event from August 25 to 29 at the bare minimum, and the organizers will make a decision in May to determine if it will take place in its normal home of Cologne, Germany. Regardless, they’re preparing to expand digital coverage to reach more viewers.
“If an on-site event is possible, there will also be more information at that stage with regard to which changes need to be made in order to fully ensure the health of all visitors,” the organizers added.
Gamescom is typically the second stage of summer game announcements, with publishers saving a few big games for their press conferences in August instead of E3.
Gamescom sees far more in-person attendees each year than E3, the latter of which was previously planned for June. Though E3 2020 itself was canceled, several publishers such as Ubisoft, Square Enix, and Microsoft are preparing their own digital press-conference-like events to deliver game announcements and news.
E3 2021 is also not expected to be affected by this year’s cancellation, though the list of participants has shrunk recently. Large publishers such as Electronic Arts and Sony were already planning to skip E3 2020 before it was canceled.
Click To Unmute
Size:
Want us to remember this setting for all your devices?
Sports are canceled. It’s a massive bummer for millions of people looking to root for their favorite team or sports player to win the match/game/fight, but there is another way to get your sports fix in this time of sportslessness. ESPN+ has thousands of hours of sports-related content to help scratch that sports-itch (you should get that looked at, by the way).
If you’re having sports-withdrawals, I recommend getting yourself set up with an ESPN+ subscription. There’s just so much there. It’s almost overwhelming. Today I’m going to make a personal recommendation for you to check out some of the classic boxing matches available on-demand.
Boxing has mostly been overshadowed by the rapid rise of mixed martial-arts. In fact, ESPN+ has thousands of UFC matches, as well as exclusive pay-per-view events, so if you’re a UFC fan, you won’t be disappointed. But today I want to recommend checking out the classic boxing available to stream on ESPN+.
Foreman vs. Ali: The Rumble in the Jungle
Image: Wikipedia
Muhammad Ali is the greatest boxer of all time, and his fights are legendary. There’s the Thrilla in Manilla, pitting Ali against Joe Frazier in the Philippines and is largely considered one of the best boxing matches of all time. Then there’s Ali/Liston 2, a controversial fight from 1965 that produced one of the most iconic sports photos of all time. Those should also be watched (basically all the Ali fights are worth checking out), but Rumble in the Jungle hits the sweet spot for length of watch and seeing Ali in peak form.
He employed his legendary “rope a dope” technique, and for much of the fight it looks as though Ali is headed for an embarrassing loss, as he’s literally up against the ropes for much of the match. However, it was a calculated strategy to wear down Foreman, focusing his hits where they would maximize energy loss and minimize points scored. Once Foreman is sufficiently tired, Ali springs into action and it’s amazing to watch.
Tyson vs. Spinks
Image: Wikipedia
Where Foreman vs. Ali was a battle of calculated strategy, Tyson vs. Spinks is a match of pure brutality. At the time of the fight, both Mike Tyson and Michael Spinks were undefeated. Tyson had possession of three belts: World Boxing Council, World Boxing Association, and the International Boxing Federation, but Spinks was considered the lineal boxing champion. At the time, the purse was the largest ever offered for a professional boxing match, with Spinks guaranteed a $14 million prize just for showing up.
What’s most interesting about this fight, to me, isn’t that it lasted a mere 91 seconds before Tyson’s brutal onslaught sent Spinks to the mat, but rather you can see in Spinks’ eyes he’s already lost before Tyson even made it to the ring. As Tyson’s industrial entrance theme rattled the Atlantic City Convention Hall, more noise than song, Spinks looked like a man questioning whether or not $14 million was worth taking a flurry of devastating punches from one of the sport’s fastest, hardest-hitting, and most brutal ringsmen to ever lace up a pair of gloves.
A minute and a half after the bell, Spinks earned his $14 million, and never fought again.
Boxing is just one small part of the overall ESPN+ package, and while there are dozens of famous historic matches to watch from legends like Rocky Marciano and even Jack Dempsey, there’s a ton of modern coverage, too. That’s in addition to the 30 for 30 documentaries, original shows, rebroadcasts of NHL hockey, MLS and other professional leagues, E60 segments and more. If you’re jonesing for sports right now, an ESPN+ subscription is just $4.99 a month, or you can bundle it with Disney+/Hulu for $12.99. It’s a treasure trove of sports content.
One of the best video game movies to date, right behind Detective Pikachu, is now available. Sonic the Hedgehog follows the titular character as he escapes his home planet, comes to Earth, befriends a cop, and spends his time running from Dr. Robotnik while trying to collect his magic rings in San Francisco.
The movie was an exceptional amount of fun with plenty of Easter eggs for fans of the video game series. In GameSpot’s Sonic review, Phil Hornshaw said, “As video game adaptations go, Sonic the Hedgehog is among the stronger ones. It’s smart enough to stand on its own, making use of longstanding aspects of Sega’s supersonic mascot and his franchise, while making sure that what really shines through are its characters. That restraint goes a long way to making Sonic the Hedgehog a light, funny movie, and while it definitely skews young, longtime Sonic fans should have just as much fun finally seeing the Blue Blur on the big screen.”
Will Smith and Martin Lawrence return as police officers Mike and Marcus, respectively, on one last mission as they deal with getting older, working with younger officers, and of course, watching things blow up. It wouldn’t be a Bad Boys movie without a slow motion rotoscope as things blow up.
In GameSpot’s Bad Boys For Life review, Chris E. Hayner said, “Ultimately, Bad Boys for Life is better than practically anyone could expect. While it would have been easy to rely on the nostalgia of seeing the iconic trio of Smith, Lawrence, and explosions on-screen together again, the new film strives to be so much more and manages to pull it off. And what’s more, it also provides a blueprint for what the franchise could become in the future, should audiences want to see more.”
Below, you’ll find everything new coming out on the digital market this week through services like Google Play Movies, Vudu, iTunes, Amazon Prime Video, and more. All of them are available now. And if you’re looking for more ways to kill time while you’re at home, check out some great Blu-ray deals.
The week’s new releases
Buy now
Rent
Click To Unmute
Size:
Want us to remember this setting for all your devices?
If you enjoyed the recently-released Netflix original series V-Wars or October Faction, you’ll be disappointed to know that they’ve both been canceled, according to a report from Variety. Neither of these shows had been on the service for more than four months.
Debuting in early December, V-Wars was based on the IDW comic series of the same name. The Netflix original follows scientist Dr. Luther Swann and his friend Michael Fayne, as they deal with a deadly outbreak that turns people into vampires. As this is happening, a war between humans and vampires breaks out. The series starred Ian Somerhalder and Adrian Holmes. The first season consisted of 10 episodes.
Additionally, October Faction has been cancelled, after debuting in January. The series follows a couple, Fred and Deloris Allen, that spends their days hunting monsters, and they become members of a secret organization. Starring Tamara Taylor and J.C. MacKenzie, the first season consisted of 10 episodes as well.
This news arrives just as the fantasy-horror series Locke & Key gets greenlit for a second season. The official Locke & Key Twitter account revealed the information in a short video to excite fans. In his review of Season 1, GameSpot’s Michael Rougeau said, “if the Netflix version is your first introduction to Locke and Key and you don’t mind some cheesy writing, you’ll probably enjoy the show just fine, without all the baggage of the high expectations that fans have been lugging around for the decade-plus since Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez’s masterful horror comics series debuted.”
Dwayne Johnson has confirmed that a sequel to 2019’s Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw is in active development.
Screen Rant reports that Johnson, who starred alongside Jason Statham in the Fast & Furious spin-off last year, firmed up early sequel plans while responding to his fans on a recent Instagram Live Q&A.
“We are developing now the next film, the next [Hobbs & Shaw] movie, and I’m pretty excited about it,” the actor confirmed. “[We] just gotta figure out the creative right now, and the direction we’re going to go.”
In our review of Hobbs & Shaw, we said the film proves the “franchise still has places to go and people to see” despite being “the most removed stylistically and thematically from the first Fast & the Furious.” We praised Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, and Vanessa Kirby for ensuring that there’s still fun to be had in a F&F movie “not centred around cars or racing.”
“I’d love to see Ryan Reynolds come into the next Hobbs & Shaw. I think he would be a great team member,” Johnson previously told IGN. “I’d love to see Kevin Hart come into the next Hobbs & Shaw. The goal in this one was to set up what the future teams would look like. And who I felt people would find it really appealing to see Hobbs with and create this new unique team.”
