Animal Well
Image: Bigmode

Ah, the weekend. We've missed you, friend.

Before we look at what we've got planned over the next couple of days, let's take a look back at this week, shall we?

It's been a pretty big one, admittedly. For the first time, Nintendo itself has finally acknowledged the existence of the 'Switch 2' after the release of its latest financial earnings report. Hooray! There's not a lot else to go on right now, but we also know that a Nintendo Direct will be broadcast in June.

As part of the report, Nintendo also confirmed that the Switch has now exceeded 140 million units sold, while also revealing that both Princess Peach: Showtime! and Mario vs. Donkey Kong have passed 1 million sales each.

Elsewhere, the Tears of the Kingdom soundtrack has been officially announced alongside a Master Works art book, Nintendo announced Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition for the Switch, and Japan's Nintendo Museum is now complete and scheduled to open in Fall of this year.

Phew! Now let's see what we're playing.

Ollie Reynolds, Staff Writer

I'm going on my holibobs this weekend, so truth be told, I probably won't be playing much of anything; a good book will suffice as I lay by the pool.

That said, I will be jumping into Animal Well for as much as I can before I depart. I'm not very far into it yet, but I can certainly see why it's so well regarded. I can't wait to dive into it properly upon my return!

Felix Sanchez, Video Producer

This weekend, I’m finishing Baldur's Gate with a pal from Canada after many months of play sessions. It’s been an epic ride, but I’m also more then ready to put the game behind me now.

Animal Well has also been taking up my time, so I’ll be trying to find more of the game’s secrets, because there’s oh so many.

Gonçalo Lopes, Contributor

Ongoing conquest efforts in Unicorn Overlord continue, like the game just refuses to end despite steady process of the past weekends. The charming Little Kitty, Big City release is just another stark reminder I should already have let a house cat adopt me decades ago. I also really want to finish Sclash story mode. While the simple gameplay premise has been done before elsewhere, this game is so exceptionally executed in the art department. It is a real shame I have no friends to proper play this in local versus mode.

My game of the week is Animal Well. If you stumble into someone saying “Oh here we go, another indie metroidvania with 8-bit pixel aesthetics…” feel free to throw this masterpiece in their face. Plus possibly delivers the best in-game firecrackers ever programmed in the history of video games!

Kate Gray, Contributor

I'm still on my Stardew Valley-with-mods kick. I'm in a sort of mental slump, and I don't need anything too taxing; I just want to turn off brain and let crop-growing wash over me. I've been pairing it with a rewatch of Breaking Bad, for some reason. It's a weird vibe and it sort of makes me feel like I'm growing a veeeery different kind of crop, but it's engrossing!

I've got a few games on my list from this past week, though! It's been good eating for indies. I'm putting off Hades 2 until the full launch because I don't like playing EA games — I want the finished product, even though I hear H2 is already veeeery polished. Also, Animal Well, which sounds excellent, and Crow Country, by the excellent folks who made Tangle Tower. But first, I have to get over the mental slump. Wish me luck!

That's what we have planned for the weekend, but what about you? Fill in the following poll with the game that you will be maining over the next few days and then slide into the comments to let us know what other titles are on the cards.

What are you playing this weekend (11th/12th May)?

(You can select up to 5 answers)