Lauren Morton
Lauren started writing for PC Gamer as a freelancer in 2017 while chasing the Dark Souls fashion police and accepted her role as Associate Editor in 2021, now serving as the self-appointed chief cozy games enjoyer. She originally started her career in game development and is still fascinated by how games tick in the modding and speedrunning scenes. She likes long books, longer RPGs, has strong feelings about farmlife sims, and can't stop playing co-op crafting games.
Latest articles by Lauren Morton
![Moonlight Peaks - a small vampire poses by a jack-o-lantern in front of their spooky castle and cauldron](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/PrRaFJQRBhSWV6ScQK4qZF-320-80.jpg)
The new demo for this cozy vampire farm sim gives you one week to decorate your spooky property
By Lauren Morton published
News The first demo for cute and spooky Moonlight Peaks launched today.
![Minecraft animation - A sniffer and goats stand together on a grassy hill with mountains in the background](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/7Wq9YziR6Yfux4SRBEYhp6-320-80.jpg)
Minecraft mob vote 2023: when and where to vote
By Lauren Morton last updated
Mob Vote All three of this year's mobs have been announced, so don't miss your chance to cast a vote.
![House Flipper 2 - A first-person view of a kitchen area with pink walls and a bar with stools and other decor](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/JScoxcDjCwexv46jHSXhxg-320-80.jpg)
House Flipper 2's sandbox mode basically looks like The Sims build mode in first person
By Lauren Morton published
News The much-requested Sandbox Mode lets you build houses from scratch and then un-flip them.
![modern warfare 3](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/J9BSmkS5ipx6f3GxPRT7Hi-320-80.jpg)
Modern Warfare 3 beta weekend times and how to redeem a beta code
By Lauren Morton published
CoD Time Here's when and how to get in on the Modern Warfare 3 beta weekend.
![Sky Children of the Light - a player in a blue hat and cape flies away from a temple in the sky](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/uPH79SKK3dxEieYxwP2VBg-320-80.jpg)
The cozy MMO I've waited 4 years to play on PC finally has a Steam demo
By Lauren Morton published
News Thatgamecompany's Journey-like live service game can finally be played on PC.
![The PC Gamer Top 100 2023](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Me5FFqnHsYvxJC5nZvGfoR-320-80.jpg)
The top 100 PC games
By Phil Savage published
Class of 2023 PC Gamer's annual list of the best games you can play on PC.
![Minecraft - a player holds an artefact while standing beside a camel in a desert.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/dYae4Uzo5XKux7ab7aLCpJ-320-80.jpg)
Minecraft's first mob vote candidate for this year is a handy little crab
By Lauren Morton published
News We'll be voting for our next Minecraft creature again this year and the first contender is a crab.
![a knight character holding a red sword in Project Crawl](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/cxDUQUzYo6c486ZFku7W87-320-80.jpg)
Watch out, Dark and Darker: Suddenly there's another dungeon extraction game hitting PC, Project Crawl
By Lauren Morton published
News Another PvP fantasy extraction game is about to start alpha playtesting.
![Concept art of Solas for Dragon Age 4](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/qxgcrh6Sio9RZVojpL7a3J-320-80.jpg)
Former BioWare manager wishes Dragon Age had kept a 'PC-centric' and 'modding-driven' identity like Neverwinter Nights
By Lauren Morton published
News Aaryn Flynn wishes that BioWare had stuck to shipping modding tools with Dragon Age games.
![Starfield — a spacesuit-wearing character gestures broadly with arms spread open on an empty lunar surface. A blue, ringed world is visible in the sky behind](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/RT47jcRTS4Xq5jm3s2DrtF-320-80.jpg)
Starfield guide: everything you need to succeed in space
By Lauren Morton last updated
Star Chart We'll walk you through everything from your first character creation selections to your eventual journey into New Game+.
![We Were Here Expeditions: The FriendShip trailer - two players in winter coats and goggles steer a ship together through a storm](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/6bE32EE9etzRhjaxTbdqmk-320-80.jpg)
A surprise sequel to my favorite co-op game just launched and you have a month to claim it for free
By Lauren Morton published
News The We Were Here series has a new bite-size offshoot called Expeditions for series newcomers.
![Fae Farm title screen, several characters gather round one casting a spell with a wand in a grassy, pastoral town](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/6g8cgL87bXJoSCLzK6PECX-320-80.jpg)
Fae Farm magically solved all my little gripes with cozy farm sims
By Lauren Morton published
Fresh Farming This super cute farm sim really nails how to do the crucial first hours right.
![Two characters in spacesuits look at the camera](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/zK55dHcBcTsJnhA5WNQLJZ-320-80.jpg)
Following Skyrim tradition, Starfield already has an alternate start mod that lets you skip the intro and begin in cooler parts of space
By Lauren Morton published
News There are already two mods for giving you a different entry point to Starfield's world.
![The Sims 4- a white man with blonde hair wearing a blue sport coat crosses his arms and smiles](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/i4qUbWUztXKyou4vZSm3BF-320-80.jpg)
The next Sims game will be free to play without a subscription or energy mechanics, EA confirms
By Lauren Morton published
News After rumors this summer, we officially know the next major Sims game is going to be free to download.
![Frame of an animation by Joel Haver of a man in a space suit sitting in a cockpit surrounded by succulent plants](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/UzFdZFZQdBzYmqLKzVyiTk-320-80.jpg)
Bethesda commissioned the internet's rotoscope jokester to get goofy with Starfield
By Lauren Morton published
News The mind behind all those weird RPG skits has a succulent take on Starfield.
![Starfield - thousands of blocks of cheese spill out of the hatch of a cockpit](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/WwyLsrTgiSvyXVfidCMRUX-320-80.jpg)
Inspired by Starfield food physics, I have run my own tests to determine that cuboid foods rule
By Lauren Morton published
News Heard you all like watching food move.
![Starfield, Andreja looks angry, sitting at a desk](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/rMFpbMdbuB6ZfLEkP3y7TR-320-80.jpg)
AITA: My Starfield wife wants a divorce and all I did was chuck one grenade into a crowd of bystanders
By Lauren Morton published
News And telling her to "calm down" didn't help, somehow.
![Starfield — a close-up screenshot of a helmeted spacefarer, with a moon visible in the starscape behind](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/VCaRXUrQxLpimg82QFUQBF-320-80.jpg)
Starfield speedrunner engages ludicrous speed, completes New Game+ in under an hour
By Lauren Morton published
News And he thinks he can still shave almost 20 minutes off that time.
![Starfield factions - Barrett in his space suit and helmet outside a ship talking to the player](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/MmFGwyGiMDud7iiubjtmHT-320-80.jpg)
Starfield factions: all the galactic allegiances you'll deal with
By Funké Joseph last updated
Join Up Good news: you can become a space pirate or a space cowboy.
![Starfield, a ship airlock door is open, thousands of brown russet potatoes fall out into the hallway](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/yKW3Vp6KV3F6YeU6ceVkXM-320-80.jpg)
Starfield player stuffs thousands of potatoes into a room to marvel at how much better Bethesda's physics have gotten
By Lauren Morton published
News This will surely be the first of many item spill space simulations.
![Starfield - a person in a spacesuit looks at a ring planet](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/5L2vtWjkDG5Dxi75EN2tYR-320-80.jpg)
Starfield release time: when it unlocked in your time zone
By Lauren Morton last updated
Launch Time Your Starfield launch time depends on the version you purchased and your time zone.
![Starifled - a player holds their arms out, encompassing all the junk on the floor of their spaceship](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/nTfSiJjUHRQUJpiQfMCapg-320-80.jpg)
Surprising no one, Starfield players are already filling their ships with junk
By Lauren Morton published
News When you've absolutely got to grab every space wrench, your ship fills up fast.
![Starfield cities - Concept art of Akila City, a walled settlement surrounded by wilderness](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/vwhAV35p3Md29GUMpWbrK-320-80.jpg)
Starfield cities: all the major hub locations in the galaxy
By Funké Joseph last updated
Far Afield Settled Space is a pretty big place.