opinion

The Video Games You Should Play This Weekend – August 21, 2026

by Kyle Hilliard on Aug 21, 2026 at 05:26 PM

Happy weekend to you! Look – usually I try to have some kind of relevant detail in this opening paragraph related to what happened this week, or what to look forward to this weekend, but there is simply no time today. Have some links. Have some recommendations. My brevity today and the clear need to leave and prep other things will make sense next week, I promise. We have a busy (but exciting) one ahead of us.

The Sinking City 2

Marcus Stewart

I’ve always heard The Sinking City described as a respectable but flawed survival-horror experience (though practically a must-play if you love H.P. Lovecraft). I never played it, but that's okay because The Sinking City 2 is a completely standalone story starring a different protagonist, making it a perfect entry point. I’m several hours into the adventure and am generally enjoying its eerie atmosphere and its 1920’s Lovecraftian art direction, even if its Resident Evil-inspired gameplay, while serviceable, is a step or two below the lofty bar set by Capcom’s flagship horror series. I like the game’s emphasis on puzzle-solving and connecting clues to solve investigations, letting me test my noggin in a more detective-like manner. Lovecraft fans will be happy to know this game is appropriately strange, quirky, and often disturbing. If you’ve already played Resident Evil Requiem this year and need to scratch another survival-horror itch, The Sinking City 2 offers, from what I’ve played thus far, a totally solid experience.

Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter Demo

Eric Van Allen

It feels like just last year that we got a remake of the first Trails in the Sky game, and that's because it was! Nihon Falcom is back with the second entry in its remade Sky saga on September 17, but a demo is out now if you want to dip in early.

The Trails 2nd demo will let you carry save progress forward into the main game, as the best of demos do, so it's a nice way to get a little taste of what's to come in the next entry. I do highly recommend you play all of Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter before playing any of the 2nd Chapter; some big plot revelations happen in the final hours of 1st Chapter, and you wouldn't want to spoil yourself on them. But for Trails fans, this is pretty exciting. I'm very eager to return to Estelle's journey as an up-and-coming Bracer prodigy, and to finally start uncovering some of the broader mysteries surrounding all the drama in Liberl that played out in 1st Chapter.

Dogpile

Charles Harte

When Dogpile came out on PC in December 2025, I had a blast playing it, but mostly found myself wishing it was on a different platform. Its bright art style and straightforward design seemed like a perfect fit for Switch or a mobile app, but it wouldn't be until this week that that wish would come true; as of yesterday, Dogpile is out on iOS, Android, and Switch 1 & 2.

The easiest recent game to compare it to would be Suika Game, where players combine matching fruits by dropping them in a tank and hoping physics will help you drop them in the right place. 2048 is another easy comparison, though it lacks the physics element. Dogpile takes this idea, but trades fruit or numbers for various breeds of dog – combining two of the same fuses them into a single, larger dog. But Dogpile stands out with its roguelike deckbuilder mechanics. It feels like a silly, borderline nonsensical fusion, but in practice it makes perfect sense. You have a "deck" of dogs that randomly appear to be dropped on your board, and you can even give them modifiers. A dog might bark, for example, and shake up the other dogs, moving pups around to combine. But other dogs can have negative traits, like one that prevents them from fusing for several drops. There are also dog tags to collect and different decks to amass. It's a tad overwhelming to list the mechanics here, though – the thing I like most about Dogpile is how intuitive it is, and if you decide to check it out, I think you'll feel the same way. It also helps that it's free to start on mobile.

1000xResist

Charles Harte

I love 1000xResist, and I wrote a whole review explaining it, so I'm very happy to see the game launched on Switch 2 earlier this week. I played the original on Switch 1, and while it was powerful enough of a console to bring me through to the credits, the performance struggles at times. Textures are blurry, load times are long, and I even had a handful of crashes. I haven't had a chance to try the Switch 2 version yet, but developer Sunset Visitor claims it brings the game to a level of performance on par with PC, which would make for a much better experience. That said, whether you play it on Switch 2, PC, or even a Switch 1, it's a fantastic game worth checking out. With wonderfully written dialogue, intricately-woven themes, mind-boggling world-building, and memorable, flawed characters, I stand by the statement that it's one of the most ground-breaking stories in video game history.

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