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Welcome to our latest recap of what’s going on in the indie game space. One very well-known indie found its way to iOS devices this week, though there are other new releases worth highlighting and plenty of other upcoming games to tell you about. First, though, there was a (paywalled) story in Game File this week that caught my eye. It’s about how Google’s AI Overviews feature offers up false video game tips. That’s a problem the developers of a game called Trash Goblin — a cosy shopkeeping game in which you chip away at junk to unearth trinkets you can restore and sell — have been dealing with. AI Overviews offered incorrect information about the game to some players, as well as the crew at Spilt Milk Studios when they tested the responses. For instance, AI Overviews suggested that a player could damage a trinket when they were removing debris from it, which is not true. It also in some cases delivered the correct information, but pointed the user to an incorrect source. In addition, AI Overviews offered information about another game entirely. This is obviously not ideal for players or the team behind Trash Goblin.  We’ve seen many cases in which AI Overviews get information blatantly wrong. Like other large language models (LLMs), it guesses what the next word or words should be in its responses based on its training data. LLMs are about generating sequences of text; they’re not designed to deliver facts (one reason why there’s a disclaimer on AI Overviews that reads “AI responses may include mistakes”). They often just make stuff up. If you’re looking for help with a game, you’re far better off finding a community of players you can chat to. You might be able to find a clear, helpful guide to the game in question on an actual video game website, written by a professional video game guide writer. If, that is, you can evade AI Overviews to get to those websites in the first place (thankfully, it’s easy to turn off AI Overviews for your Google searches). New releases IO Interactive is independent, which means Hitman World of Assassination fits within our remit here. This week, the bundle of three core Hitman games from the last decade arrived on iPhone (iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, as well as the iPhone 16 lineup) and iPad. Supported iPad models are iPad Pro and iPad Air (M1 chip or later), as well as the A17 Pro iPad mini. Hitman World of Assassination is a sandbox stealth game in which you’re given a mission (usually taking out a target) and it’s up to you how to carry that out. Getting to know the layout of each level so you can plan your approach and escape is key. Understanding the route and actions of the NPCs will stand you in good stead too. The iPhone and iPad versions have touch controls with context-sensitive buttons. You can, of course, opt to use a third-party controller instead. IOI says it tapped into Apple’s MetalFX tech to help ensure the iOS port looks good. Hitman World of Assassination costs $70 on iOS. That’s fairly steep, but IOI says the game offers over 100 hours of gameplay. Alternatively, you can play the first location for free, and buy any of the 24 levels individually for $3 each.  In addition, the game is coming to Apple Silicon Macs later this year. IOI will also bring the roguelite Freelancer mode to the iPhone and iPad versions down the line with a free update. Another game landed on new platforms this week as Alawar’s Karate Survivor hit PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch for $6. As the title suggests, this is a survivor-style martial arts beat-’em-up.  You’ll be able to use the environment to your advantage by picking up items to use as melee or projectile weapons, kicking objects toward goons and swinging locker and microwave doors into bad guys’ mushes. You can unlock hundreds of different moves and there are permanent upgrades as well. First-person action-adventure Davy x Jones has set sail in early access on Steam. Until September 4, you can snap it up for $6.66. After that time, it will cost $10. However, the price will increase ahead of the game’s full release on PC and consoles, which is slated for late 2026. In this early version, you’ll have access to the main gameplay and combat systems (including legendary weapons), several islands, an array of enemies and some cinematic executions — hopefully involving a kraken. You’ll take command of a half-ship, half-whale vessel called Abby as you attempt to escape the underworld and seek revenge as the legendary pirate. Regular readers of this roundup will know that I’m a sucker for a game with a great title. Prop Haunt, which riffs on the prop hunt modes in many other games, is definitely one of those (as is another one I’ll mention later on). This is a spooky 1 vs. 4 multiplayer horror title from Silent Forest Games that just hit Steam early access for $15. The ghost players possess objects and it’s up to the investigator to find and stop them. The ghosties can teleport, blend into their surroundings and so on, while the investigator has cameras and other gizmos at their disposal Currently, there are four playable ghosts with different haunting styles, two maps and support for public and private lobbies. More maps, ghost powers, investigator tools and procedural prop generation are in the works. Upcoming Bye Sweet Carole had flown below my radar until the release date trailer popped up but, goodness, does it look gorgeous. The team at Little Sewing Machine took a hand-drawn approach to the art of this narrative-horror game, which mimics the look of classic animated films. Even the song in the trailer aligns with the type of showtune you’d hear in Disney movies. You’ll take on the role of Lana Benton, a young girl who sets out to find out the truth

Overdrive’s digital book lending app Libby is adding — you guessed it! — AI. The new Inspire Me feature is an AI-fueled discovery tool tuned to your local branch’s collection. Following a soft launch this month, it will be officially available in September. To avoid the pitfalls of a full-on chatbot, Overdrive is limiting the discovery process of the feature. Instead of typing freely into a prompt box, you’ll start by answering several canned preference questions. These include categories (such as fiction and biography), age groups (adult or child) and preset adjectives (like “clever” and “silly”). You can also let it make recommendations based on your previously saved titles. The AI will then spit out five suggestions from your local library. Overdrive says Inspire Me prioritizes ebooks and audiobooks that are immediately available. Each recommendation will include a brief explanation of how it aligns with your stated interests. Some in the library community reacted sharply to the feature. “Smoke is pouring out of my ears,” librarian Rachel Storm posted on Bluesky (via TechCrunch). “I’m honestly surprised it took this long for them to enshittify Libby,” Orion Kidder responded.  Libby’s AI privacy policy states that Inspire Me only sends tags connected to “a random selection of titles you have saved” to the model. The policy says it only sends the book titles, not any other details about you or your device. Overdrive says it designed the feature to minimize energy impact and will monitor its footprint over time. As long as there isn’t anything sneaky tucked in beyond that, this sounds like a relatively tame (and potentially handy) use of AI. Then again, I sometimes spend my work hours writing about the truly disturbing shit, so take my perspective as you will. Regardless of your perspective, the feature will roll out broadly in September. You’ll find it by tapping the Libby icon in the app menu. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/libby-is-adding-an-ai-book-recommendation-feature-190903260.html?src=rss

Meta is re-training its AI and adding new protections to keep teen users from discussing harmful topics with the company’s chatbots. The company says it’s adding new “guardrails as an extra precaution” to prevent teens from discussing self harm, disordered eating and suicide with Meta AI. Meta will also stop teens from accessing user-generated chatbot characters that might engage in inappropriate conversations. The changes, which were first reported by TechCrunch, come after numerous reports have called attention to alarming interactions between Meta AI and teens. Earlier this month, Reuters reported on an internal Meta policy document that said the company’s AI chatbots were permitted to have “sensual” conversations with underage users. Meta later said that language was “erroneous and inconsistent with our policies” and had been removed. Yesterday, The Washington Post reported on a study that found Meta AI was able to “coach teen accounts on suicide, self-harm and eating disorders.” Meta is now stepping up its internal “guardrails” so those types of interactions should no longer be possible for teens on Instagram and Facebook. “We built protections for teens into our AI products from the start, including designing them to respond safely to prompts about self-harm, suicide, and disordered eating,” Meta spokesperson Stephanie Otway told Engadget in a statement. “As our community grows and technology evolves, we’re continually learning about how young people may interact with these tools and strengthening our protections accordingly. As we continue to refine our systems, we’re adding more guardrails as an extra precaution — including training our AIs not to engage with teens on these topics, but to guide them to expert resources, and limiting teen access to a select group of AI characters for now.” Notably, the new protections are described as being in place “for now,” as Meta is apparently still working on more permanent measures to address growing concerns around teen safety and its AI. “These updates are already in progress, and we will continue to adapt our approach to help ensure teens have safe, age-appropriate experiences with AI,” Otway said. The new protections will be rolling out over the next few weeks and apply to all teen users using Meta AI in English-speaking countries. Meta’s policies have also caught the attention of lawmakers and other officials, with Senator Josh Hawley recently telling the company he planned to launch an investigation over its handling of such interactions. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has also indicated he wants to investigate Meta for allegedly misleading children about mental health claims made by its chatbots. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/meta-is-re-training-its-ai-so-it-wont-discuss-self-harm-or-have-romantic-conversations-with-teens-182418587.html?src=rss

IFA, Europe’s answer to the CES, kicks off on September 5 in Berlin, Germany. The show likely won’t be the biggest source of news in September — Apple’s iPhone launch event is officially happening on September 9 — but it is usually home to its fair share of announcements. IFA 2024 featured new “AI PCs” from ASUS and Dell, including the first Inspiron laptop with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Plus chip. There were plenty of more unusual ideas, too: Honor used the show to introduce a laptop with a detachable webcam, for example. Based on the companies that are confirmed to have presence at the show, similar themes will be woven through IFA 2025. AI and features enabled by it will likely be everywhere, especially in home appliances. Laptops, whether they’re running Intel’s Panther Lake chips or something Arm-based, are sure to be in the mix. And smart glasses will likely continue to be a going concern. Below are the companies who are confirmed to be holding events at the show, and what we think they might announce. Samsung Samsung With the Galaxy S25, Galaxy Z foldables and Galaxy Watch 8 in the rear view, there aren’t many personal electronics Samsung has left to announce this year. That could be why the company’s IFA press conference seems focused on the smart home. Samsung’s IFA presentation, dubbed “AI Home: Future Living, Now” is supposed to be focused on the company’s home appliances. Specifically, Samsung says it will “highlight the transformative potential of AI in the home.” Samsung already showed off how AI plays into its new Bespoke AI home appliances at CES 2025, so it’s possible the company could have new additions to the lineup. It’ll hopefully also share when its Ballie robot will be available for purchase. We also know for a fact that Samsung is hosting a virtual Unpacked event on September 4, which could point to some other products the company will show off at IFA 2025. All signs point to the next Unpacked being about tablets and midrange phones. Samsung is rumored to be announcing both the Galaxy Tab S11 and S11 Ultra, which will carry over the general look and feel of the company’s past tablets with a few important tweaks, according to WinFuture. Besides battery improvements and Android 16, the biggest change Samsung is reportedly making is using a MediaTek Dimensity 9400 chip in the tablets rather than its own Exynos models or something from Qualcomm. The Snapdragon 8 Elite is considered the top of the line, so opting for MediaTek could raise questions about performance, but we’ll have to use the tablets to know for sure. Samsung is also rumored to be announcing the Galaxy S25 FE at the event. It becomes less clear by the year what “FE” or “Fan Edition” means, but the Galaxy S25 FE is expected to have some meaningful improvements over the Galaxy S24 FE. Alongside a Samsung-designed Exynos chip, the S25 FE is rumored to feature an improved 12MP selfie camera and a 4,900mAh battery with 45W charging, according to SamMobile. Acer Sam Rutherford for Engadget Like Samsung, Acer is hosting its own press conference at IFA 2025. The company’s description of the event is frustratingly vague, but does suggest announcements focused on both productivity and gaming. At IFA 2024, Acer introduced multiple Copilot+PCs, including updates to the company’s Swift and Aspire lines with the latest Intel Core Ultra chips and Windows AI features. Updates to both lineups seem highly likely at IFA 2025. Don’t be surprised if Acer shows off some more concept devices, too. The company’s Acer Project DualPlay, a laptop with a detachable game controller, was a big hit at last year’s show, and something the company is bound to top. When it comes to handheld gaming PCs, Acer’s detailed its plans to sell three different sizes of handheld, the Acer Nitro Blaze 11, Blaze 8 and Blaze 7, but yet to release them all globally. It might make sense to use IFA 2025 to finalize that and tease whatever it’s working on next. Lenovo Sam Rutherford for Engadget When it comes to Lenovo, the company has a tried and true playbook for events like IFA. It demoes a slew of new laptops, updates its non-foldable Motorola phones and introduces one or two absolutely bizarre concept devices. The pattern seems like it’ll repeat for IFA 2025. If the stars of last year’s show were a 16-inch Legion gaming laptop and an “Auto Twist” concept that swivels with a voice command, this year Lenovo’s looking at a different kind of rotation. Leaker Evan Blass shared images at what looks like a new concept laptop with a display that can be rotated into portrait orientation. Blass also shared images of three new Moto phones, and two new Lenovo tablets. Lenovo has a habit of showing off concept devices at trade shows, some of which are precursors to shipping products — a la the ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 w/ rollable display — while others will never see the light of day. At next week’s IFA/Innovation Week, that concept will be a… pic.twitter.com/PMIJdowgHG — Evan Blass (@evleaks) August 28, 2025 Lenovo has a new handheld PC of its own to announce, too. The company released the Lenovo Legion Go S earlier this year, and now it’s reportedly ready to announce the Lenovo Legion Go 2. The new handheld is rumored to feature a new AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme chip, the same detachable, Switch-style controllers and more RAM. If Lenovo announces the handheld, it’ll likely be the most powerful handheld gaming PC available for purchase, with a price tag to match. …but most eyes will probably be on the second-generation Legion Go (whose doppelganger, the Steam-powered Legion Go S, was revealed earlier this year at MWC). pic.twitter.com/G03WzvODBj — Evan Blass (@evleaks) August 29, 2025 Hisense Hisense According to the event description for Hisense’s IFA 2025 press conference, the company plans to “further upgrade its RGB-MiniLED TV with powerful hardware improvements

Yooka-Replaylee, the remaster of the platformer Yooka-Laylee, will be available on October 9. It’ll be playable on PC, Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and Switch 2. It’s getting both a digital and physical release, and preorders for the physical versions are up right now. Speaking of physical copies, the Switch 2 version will include the full game on the cartridge and no game-key card. Nintendo has given developers the option to release cartridges that are basically empty shells, called game-key cards, that require an immediate download upon being slotted in the console. Collectors aren’t exactly keen on this practice, so an actual cartridge release for Yooka-Replaylee is a welcome bit of news. This is a remade and enhanced version of Yooka-Laylee, which was itself an homage to 3D collectathon platformers like Banjo-Kazooie. Developer Playtonic is staffed with people who worked on Rare titles like the aforementioned Banjo and the Donkey Kong Country games. Yooka-Replaylee brings some new features to the table, including updated challenges, a fully orchestral soundtrack and, of course, more stuff to collect. There’s also a bigger map, a refined story and enhanced graphics. It looks pretty nifty. The digital version of the game will cost $30, while physical copies will cost $50. There’s a promotion going for long-time fans, as those who already own the game will get 30 percent off so long as they buy the remaster on the same platform family as the original. This means Switch to Switch 2, PS4 to PS5 and Xbox One to Xbox Series X/S. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/yooka-laylee-remaster-comes-to-consoles-and-pc-on-october-9-180052250.html?src=rss

Big-time creators on Instagram just got a bit of welcome news. The platform is introducing inbox management tools to make it easier for influencers to wade through endless messages and requests. The tools include multi-select filters that let users sort through messages faster to find important correspondences. Remember, popular creators are getting hundreds upon hundreds of messages each day. The software lets these influencers add, edit or remove any filter, which should be helpful.  View this post on Instagram A post shared by Instagram’s @Creators (@creators) Instagram has also added the option to create custom shortcuts that prioritize the message folders that are accessed most often. Users can create new folders that “reflect their preferences.” These folders can be reordered based on the most-used message types. The company says these tools will give “creators the freedom to explore their creativity while building workflows that work best for them.” This toolset is just for popular influencers with more than 100,000 followers. The plebes, myself included, will have to make do with the current inbox. However, Instagram is making this feature available to Professional accounts. The platform did recently add some stuff for garden variety users. There’s a controversial new map to track friends and software that lets people reset all of their recommendations. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/instagram-adds-inbox-management-tools-for-creators-and-big-accounts-175621549.html?src=rss

HoYoverse’s next gacha game has shades of Teamfight Tactics and Pokémon. The developer describes Honkai: Nexus Anima as a “creature-collector adventure strategy game.” HoYoverse first teased the title in May at the Honkai: Star Rail Concert 2025. In Honkai: Nexus Anima‘s game world, a sudden rupture has shattered the balance between opposing forces (Nexus). You’ll explore the realm, forging bonds with the resulting creatures (Anima) scattered about. It sounds like gameplay will revolve around auto-chess, pet-training mini-games and world hub exploration. Honkai: Nexus Anima is still in development, so a release date hasn’t yet been announced. But HoYoverse will soon conduct a closed beta (the Nexus Bond Test) on Windows and iOS. You can visit the registration page until September 12 if you want to give it a shot. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/hoyoverses-star-rail-spinoff-is-honkai-nexus-anima-173638312.html?src=rss

Despite some fallout between President Trump and Elon Musk, the White House appears to still be in Musk’s corner. Wired is reporting, based on documents obtained by the outlet, that the White House allegedly directed leadership at the General Services Administration (GSA) to include xAI’s Grok on its list of approved AI vendors. xAI is owned by Elon Musk and was not included in the slew of approvals the GSA issued in August that saw the agency add OpenAI, Google and Anthropic to its list of vendors. In emails sent last week and published by Wired, agency leadership demands xAI’s products be included. “Team: Grok/xAI needs to go back on the schedule ASAP per the WH,” writes Josh Gruenbaum, commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service, one of the branches of the GSA. “Should be all of their products we had previously (3 & 4),” likely referring to Grok 3 and Grok 4, which are iterations of xAI’s LLM chatbot. Carahsoft, a major government contractor that resells technology from third-party firms, is mentioned. “Can someone get with Carahsoft on this immediately and please confirm?” wrote Gruenbaum. According to Wired, Carahsoft’s contract was modified to include xAI earlier this week. As of Friday morning, both Grok 3 and Grok 4 are available on GSA Advantage, an online marketplace where government agencies can purchase products and services. xAI announced a version of Grok for US government agencies in July, when it appeared that GSA approval for the chatbot was all but certain. Shortly beforehand, the chatbot went off the rails and started spouting Nazi propaganda and antisemitic rhetoric while dubbing itself “MechaHitler.” This came in the wake of Musk and Trump’s public spat over the president’s spending bill, after which GSA approval of Grok seemed to stall. Why the change in directive now is unclear. There were no details in the reporting regarding pricing or whether xAI will be offering discounted services to the federal government. Earlier this month, both OpenAI and Anthropic began offering their large language models to federal agencies for just $1 in an effort to drive adoption among the government workforce. xAI still holds a $200 million contract with the Pentagon to develop AI workflows within the US Department of Defense. These AI models have been in the hot seat lately as increasingly disturbing cases of hallucinations and errant behavior have arisen. Just this week, OpenAI is facing a wrongful death lawsuit alleging that ChatGPT spent months discussing and ultimately enabling the suicide of a teen boy. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/the-white-house-reportedly-ordered-xais-grok-to-be-approved-for-government-use-165625891.html?src=rss

Microsoft just launched a service for Xbox Insiders that brings all cloud-playable games, along with play histories, to the official Xbox PC app. This includes console exclusives spanning multiple generations and hundreds of other releases. The service extends to games owned by the player and Game Pass titles. The big hook here is that recently-played games will follow people across devices, including Xbox consoles, PCs and Windows handhelds. This will make it easier for folks to jump back into something, even when going from, say, an Xbox Series X to a PC. Xbox The new “play history” section of the PC app and Xbox console UI will display cloud games as recently-played titles, and this list follows people wherever they go. It includes cloud-powered game saves, so there will be no wasted time. Being as this is all part of Xbox Cloud Gaming, players will be able to start a game on a console and finish on a PC, even if that title isn’t available natively on the second platform. There’s also a new search filter in the library section for cloud games, along with a “jump back in” list on the home screen of the app. “While the large tiles highlight games you’ve recently played on your current device, the play history tile shows games you’ve played across any Xbox device, making it easy to pick up where you left off,” the company wrote in a blog post. This is all thanks to the redesigned library feature for the Xbox app. This allows games purchased from various platforms to all be launched from the same place. Update, August 29 2025, 12:05PM ET: Microsoft has confirmed that cross-device and cloud-playable play history is now rolling out to everyone, following a successful testing phase for Xbox Insiders. If you’re playing on an Xbox console, you’ll find the play history tile on your home page, while on the Xbox PC app it sits under the Most Recent section in the sidebar menu, as well as in its dedicated tab in My Library.  This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox-cloud-games-will-soon-follow-you-just-about-everywhere-183603601.html?src=rss

The right add-on can make a good iPhone experience even better. Whether you’re looking to boost your battery life, level up your mobile photography or just keep your device safe from daily wear and tear, the best iPhone accessories are the ones that add real value without getting in your way. From MagSafe chargers and wireless earbuds to stands, mounts and portable power banks, there’s no shortage of ways to customize how you use your phone. We’ve tested a wide range of products to help you narrow it down. Whether you’re using the latest iPhone or holding onto an older model, the best iPhone accessories can enhance your day-to-day in meaningful ways — whether that’s making your morning commute smoother, improving your FaceTime setup or just keeping your screen crack-free. Best iPhone accessories This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/accessories/best-iphone-accessories-140022449.html?src=rss