Kara Phillips
Kara is an evergreen writer. Having spent three years as a games journalist guiding, reviewing, or generally waffling about the weird and wonderful, she’s more than happy to tell you all about which obscure indie games she’s managed to sink hours into this week. When she’s not raising a dodo army in Ark: Survival Evolved or taking huge losses in Tekken, you’ll find her helplessly trawling the internet for the next best birdwatching game because who wants to step outside and experience the real thing when you can so easily do it from the comfort of your living room. Right?
Latest articles by Kara Phillips
![Outside the apartment in a world half painted full of droplets in Été](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/uWSLwYEcFgsHCLCWGe9C85-320-80.jpg)
I'm hopeless with a brush and canvas IRL, but this cosy painting game has me feeling like the next Van Gogh
By Kara Phillips published
Bigger picture Paint the town.
![Donut County - a barn advertising eggs falls into a gint hole in the ground near an orchard](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/E8Jyhzm8eeLjUqukTTYqD8-320-80.jpg)
The 18 best cozy games on PC that aren't farm sims
By Lauren Morton last updated
Cozy Games If you need more chill in your game library, these are the best cozy games you can play on PC.
![Blue Scarab game image of a cabin in a field surrounded by police tape at sundown](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/eKiotyLbTNB6S8K73zcURo-320-80.png)
'Cozy exploration meets true crime' on horseback is the MMO I didn’t know I wanted
By Kara Phillips published
News Let's see where this goes.
![Master Chief in Halo series](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/pGyDmdniqHURMK2tN3Kh56-320-80.jpg)
The misfiring Halo TV series has been cancelled just as the Chief actually found a Halo ring
By Kara Phillips published
News It's better to quit while you're ahead
![Gameplay from League of Legends' Swarm mode, showing a team of players battling foes in an urban map.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/ipWNb5k6UjaRkDsnV9pRfk-320-80.jpg)
I've never been interested in League of Legends but its new Vampire Survivors mode might be the thing that kickstarts my esports career
By Kara Phillips published
News Could this be the start of something new?
![Nanoleaf bulb deals Prime Deal](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/7KM6azDahfzCm3EfpNNyA7-320-80.jpg)
These Prime Day RGB lighting deals mean I will never have to use the big light again
By Kara Phillips published
Prime Day Let there be light.
![8BitDo controllers on a blue background](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/qdL2KoUk8sUBwdqfybqMYd-320-80.jpg)
I'd take any one of these discounted retro 8BitDo gamepads over any other Prime Day controller deal you might find today
By Jacob Fox published
Prime Day I'd take the retro brand's modernized controllers, too. In fact, just give me the lot, thank you.
![Keyboard switch and seaweed keycaps prime day deal on blue background](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/pnTaJSxTrmqDZ8agTZTgtP-320-80.jpg)
These Prime Day keycap and switch deals have convinced me that it's time to change my all-pink, aggressively loud keyboard
By Kara Phillips published
Prime Day It's time to put pink in the past.
![Flock](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/QEH5vsYxqugxP3fNghZHWC-320-80.png)
This creature collector has you tracking down quirky critters atop a giant bird, and I'm addicted to finding every last one
By Kara Phillips published
Take flight Nothing can stop me.
![Minami Lane](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/UieJtU8e53A7ZL4M8mY3yM-320-80.jpg)
Minami Lane finally convinced me that not all management simulators are invented to stress me out
By Kara Phillips published
Cutesy control At last, I feel like I can be in control.
![Fallout: New Vegas wallpaper](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/mEJqjBDKtFjZVwgzftL95W-320-80.jpg)
Fallout: New Vegas console commands
By Jody Macgregor last updated
cheat sheet Here's a list of all the best console commands, cheats and item codes in Fallout: New Vegas.
![Frogun Encore Renatta using her gun to cross a gap in a sandy level](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/V5S95qLoozr4Gjkc7poocH-320-80.jpg)
This platformer frustrates me like no other, but now I'm addicted to beating my own personal best and can't stop
By Kara Phillips published
Hop to it Frogun Encore has reminded me of what I loved so much about the first game.
![A crow flying over a forest with a horse in Just Crow Things](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/f2ZaC3ENpTBgaf2b4Qq2eV-320-80.jpg)
Finally, another chaotic animal game that has given me the same sadistic satisfaction as Untitled Goose Game
By Kara Phillips published
Feathered Friends You can poop on them too
![Best racing games: Forza Horizon 5](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/yXbBbApvJpxnXXPepbkcHc-320-80.jpg)
The best racing games on PC
By Phil Iwaniuk last updated
green flag The best racing games you can play on PC today, from hardcore sims to arcade racers.
![Counter-Strike 2 header image](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/xz2HxeuCGUzmZKoWCdp8JV-320-80.jpg)
The best free PC games
By Shaun Prescott last updated
Freebies Forever Our frequently updated selection of the best free games right now.
![Reka - a witch in a nighttime woods walks towards a cottage with chicken legs](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/jYCALw8C9E9gxFxVwW52E3-320-80.jpg)
Witchcraft simulator REKA has everything I could ever want as a witch's apprentice, like mushroom foraging, an army of crows, and oh yeah—a customisable chicken-legged cabin
By Kara Phillips published
Wicked Witch Living the dream.
![The Elder Scrolls 6 teaser trailer - the stylized logo "The Elder Scrolls VI" over a sweeping landscape of mountains and arid plains.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/eh4UWhvd6WXwJhXHTCDoE7-320-80.jpg)
The Elder Scrolls 6: everything we know about the next return to Tamriel
By Omri Petitte last updated
scroll locked The Elder Scrolls 6 is still very far away, but we've collected all the news and rumors while we wait.
![The decorated interior of a van in Camper Van: Make it Home](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/t6pD9v2KrDgFcQ3MbLoreJ-320-80.jpg)
This van life-themed unpacking game promised me pure relaxation, but I got so angry about a paella pan it kept me up at night
By Kara Phillips published
No room I'm never having paella again.
![Prickle puzzle with Dadhog and a hoglet](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/zGsqyKMj3ZN9x6h9uavLq7-320-80.jpg)
Grid-based puzzle game Prickle may look simple, but it's an adorable test of endurance
By Kara Phillips published
Prickly pals You'll always find your way back home.
![null](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/z4m4dgvrrZnpgEXjb2sJiV-320-80.jpg)
Let's pour one out for these no-shows we were desperate to see during Summer Game Fest
By Kara Phillips published
Maybe next time Maybe in the next life.
![Minecraft 1.21 - a player stands in a Trial Chamber near some copper panes](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/KJoJXN7ZbgFFQbdChsAYCZ-320-80.jpg)
Minecraft 1.21: everything we know about the next major Minecraft update
By Lauren Morton last updated
Minecraft 1.21 The 1.21 update is all about new combat challenges so far.
![The wetlands you restore covered in frog-themed furniture in Kamaeru: A Frog Refuge](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/GioStuLPPxJGNtbpGTtBU4-320-80.jpg)
I thought I'd never get the same satisfaction from a creature collector as I did with Neko Atsume until I played Kamaeru: A Frog Refuge
By Kara Phillips published
New friends Finally, the itch has been scratched.
![A deer-like creature walking up a hill to a blossom tree in Tales of Seikyu](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/SrAZrZNyKEabDGyayCtc3m-320-80.jpg)
Gone are the days of cows and chickens in farming sims, I'm replacing my farm animals with yokai in Tales of Seikyu
By Kara Phillips published
PCGS This fantasy farming simulator plans to offer a world of weird and wonderful yokai, and I'm all for it.