Free-to-play dark fantasy action RPG Dark December from developer Needs Games has officially launched on PC, Android, and iOS with crossplay and cross-progression. It marks a return to the world of Undecember, this time with more streamlined gameplay built around three core character classes.
If you’re not already familiar with the series or need a little refresher, Undecember was a quarter-view hack-and-slash game with no classes. It introduced a world created by 12 beings who shared their powers and brought peace and prosperity to the land. In time, they came to be worshipped as gods. But then a 13th being arose, who introduced evil to the world and corrupted mankind.
Dark December brings you back to that world, but many years before the events of Undecember and in an alternate timeline. The camera can now be moved freely, and it also marks a departure from the complex progression systems of its predecessor, instead focusing on timing, skill use, and streamlined growth in three character classes: Berserker, Raven, and Morgana. The system is designed to be more approachable, so players new to the series can feel comfortable jumping into this prequel without missing anything.
Berserker is your classic melee-based physical attacker that uses a two-handed greatsword to unleash powerful strikes. It has very high HP and defense, so it’s meant to rush headlong into enemy hordes and take out large groups with its heavy strikes. Their unique ability sends them into a berserk state, which speeds up their attacks and makes them capable of dishing out big damage very quickly.
Raven is an archer class that can use multiple different arrow types to take advantage of enemy weaknesses. It’s quick and agile, so it’s designed to constantly stay on the move while keeping enemies at arms’ length and picking them off with precise strikes. Where Berserker is meant to soak up damage, Raven is meant to avoid it altogether.
That leaves Morgana, a spellcasting class that wields a staff and can summon spirits. It uses the staff to unleash poison and fire spells, while summons are infused with elemental energy and can be used for a variety of things. Some deal damage matching its elemental type, while others apply debuffs. So Morgana is all about strategy and versatility, combining their abilities to deliver steady, continuous damage.
As you’d expect, each of these classes unlock unique skills as they level up, and these can be further powered up through skill upgrades and the Support Rune system. Each skill has two Support Rune slots, where you can equip Support Runes that provide all kinds of different bonuses. Each skill also has its own type and attribute, and Support Runes can only be equipped in slots that are compatible with that type and attribute.
Offensive runes provide bonuses like increasing damage, crit rate, or expanding AoE range. Defensive runes can do things like shielding you or reducing damage. And utility runes can enhance status effects, reduce cooldowns, or increase skill usage count. These are just a few examples of each type, there are plenty more options to choose from. And you can freely swap out Support Runes at any time, giving you the chance to test out lots of different builds or change things up strategically for particular fights or situations.
While progression has been simplified and combat has been streamlined, that doesn’t mean it’s easy. It’s not about memorizing one ability loop you can simply use over and over to decimate everything. You need to learn what works in what situations, adapt to new things being thrown at you, and use your abilities at the right time.
The central narrative of Dark December will take you through several different locations, and a waypoint system allows you to teleport between those areas quickly as well as return to a central hub area. There are also other gameplay modes you can play if you want to take a break from the main story.
The Abyss of Chaos is a dungeon that allows you to choose what region it’s based on, which alters its level and the rewards you can get from it. It also houses a randomly occurring event called the Realm of Chaos, which spawns powerful bosses that drop rare materials and resources.
The Hall of Oblivion is a challenge mode where you can choose the difficulty level and fight bosses from around the world. And Dimensional Rift: Veles is a defense mode where you and up to three other players can team up to see how long you can survive against neverending waves of enemies.
The monetization system is mostly focused on cosmetic items such as costumes and wings, and the game is designed so players who choose not to spend money are not at a disadvantage. Some stat-increasing items are also available through alternative routes, such as crafting or obtaining them directly through gameplay. This approach is intended to let players who prefer not to spend still enjoy the game without feeling pressured to pay.
Dark December is available to download now on PC, Android, and iOS. To keep up with the latest news and info, you can follow the game on Discord, YouTube, or TikTok.
I spend an unhealthy amount of time playing games so you do not have to gamble your weekend on something mid. This week’s deals list is stacked with games I have finished, bounced off, and in a few cases lost entire evenings to by accident. If you are short on time or money, these are the cuts worth making.
In retro news, I'm celebrating the 15th birthday of LittleBigPlanet 2, a sacktacular PS3 classic that elevated 2.5D platforming and user-generated content to new heights. At the shallow end of this pool you had a wonderful, co-optional story campaign for up to four floaty sackpersons. Waiting beyond that, however, was a black hole Create mode whose enhanced logic and Move support delivered mind-boggling community-built gems.
My mates and I sunk way too many hours into the hilaribad physics ofSuper LBP Fighter II Turbo and the professional indie levelSealed Fate. Truly, LBP2 was a golden age of UGC where innovators (and not shameless copiers and half-arsed memers) were king. It pains me to think that those creations died with server shutdown.
Just Dance 2026 Ed. (-68%) - A$44 Ubisoft keeps these annual refreshes tight, and this one is still the easiest way to turn your lounge room into chaos without learning a control scheme.
Sonic Frontiers (-45%) - A$55.10 Sega finally let Sonic stretch his legs. Open zones feel odd at first, then click hard once the speed tech sinks in.
Bayonetta 3 (-38%) - A$49.20 Platinum at full throttle. Messy, maximalist, and completely committed to the bit in a way few studios still are.
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope (-39%) - A$49 Smart tactics with jokes that mostly land. The Rabbids calm down, the systems deepen, and the soundtrack goes harder than expected.
Dredge Del. (-60%) - A$15.10 Fishing, but haunted. The slow reveal of its story is the hook, and the expansions round it out nicely.
Dead Space (-57%) - A$47.70 A remake that understands restraint. Familiar scares hit differently thanks to new audio tricks and smarter enemy pacing.
Cyberpunk 2077 Ult. (-41%) - A$70.60 This is the version CD Projekt meant to ship. Dense quests, sharp writing, and Night City finally feels alive.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor (-62%) - A$41.80 Bigger and bolder than Fallen Order, with custom stances that reward experimentation if you stick with it.
Sonic Frontiers (-76%) - A$24.40 At this price, its rough edges are easy to forgive. There is a genuinely good Sonic game buried in here.
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 (-55%) - A$31.60 Still immaculate. Muscle memory comes back instantly, and the soundtrack does half the emotional lifting.
Xbox One
Mass Effect Leg. Ed. (-67%) - A$32.90 Three all time RPGs, cleaned up just enough. If you missed Shepard the first time, this is the definitive run.
Dead Island 2 (-43%) - A$39.70 Goofy, gory, and more confident than expected. It knows exactly what kind of dumb fun it wants to be.
Dishonored 2 (-77%) - A$9.10 One of the best immersive sims ever made. Every level is a puzzle box if you are patient.
Adam Mathew is a passionate connoisseur, a lifelong game critic, and an Aussie deals wrangler who genuinely wants to hook you up with stuff that's worth playing (but also cheap). He plays practically everything, sometimes on YouTube.
Best Buy just dropped the price of the 4-pack Govee 1,200-Lumen RGBWW A19 Wi-Fi Smart LED Light Bulbs to just $42.99 with free delivery. This set normally retails for $65 and Best Buy easily has the lowest price everywhere: Govee has it for $59 and Amazon has a 2-pack for $40. This is Govee's highest end and brightest A19 light bulb.
4-Pack Govee 1,200-Lumen RGB LED Light Bulbs for $42.99
These particular light bulbs are Govee's brightest RGB bulbs at 1,200 lumens and have a higher output than most other color changing LED bulbs, which are more commonly found in 800 lumen and 1,000 lumen intensities. They're equipped with RGBWW LEDs, which have dedicated warm white LEDs that do an excellent job of replicating the 2.7K-3K color temperature of incandescent bulbs. The bulbs sync to your Govee app over Bluetooth and 2.4GHz WiFi. If you are already invested in the Govee ecosystem, these should be your de facto choice if you need a brighter bulb.
Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.
Best Buy has restocked its inventory of open box Asus ROG Strix Scar gaming laptops equipped with the GeForce RTX 5090 mobile GPU. Here's a chance to get Asus' highest-end and most powerful laptop of 2025 for just 3,257.99 for an "excellent condition" unit. If you were to get it new, it would cost $4,500. Mind you these are pre-owned, but they are Geek Squad verified and sometimes still have all or some of their original warranty.
Note that Open Box availability depends on your location.
Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 RTX 5090 Gaming Laptop for $3,258
Open Box - Excellent Condition
The Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 features a gorgeous 18" 2.5K 240Hz Nebula HDR (Mini-LED) display, Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX processor, GeForce RTX 5090 GPU, 32GB of DDR5-5200MHz RAM, and a 2TB NVMe SSD. The top lid boasts solid aluminum construction, but the base is made of plastic to keep the weight down (7.7 pounds for an 18" gaming laptop is pretty decent) and reduce heat transfer to the keyboard and palm area so that your hands don't get toasty while gaming.
The Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX is a top performing CPU
The Scar is equipped with the Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX Arrow Lake-HX processor, which boasts a max turbo frequency of 5.4GHz with a whopping 24 cores and 40MB total L2 cache. According to Passmark, this is second most powerful Intel mobile CPU available right now and goes head to head with AMD's Ryzen 9 9955HX.
The GeForce RTX 5090 is without doubt the fastest mobile GPU you can get
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 is the most powerful mobile graphics card on the market, performing about 15% better than the RTX 5080. It also has considerably more VRAM (24GB vs 16GB), which can come in handy when playing games at higher resolutions (like on an attached 4K monitor) or if you're planning to use this as a mobile creator or AI workstation. Everyone is also probably aware by now that current generation VRAM is in extremely high demand, so getting 24GB of GDDR7 in a $3K laptop sounds like a great "deal" at the moment.
Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.
A jump starter is an essential part of car's emergency kit and you don't need to pay a premium for a cordless model that gets the job done reliably. While you're at it, why not get one with additional functionality. For a limited time, Amazon is offering the Wolfbox 4000A Cordless Jump Starter, which doubles as a 24,000mAh 65W USB power bank, for $64.99 with free shipping after you apply 50% off coupon code "T8WLUR5G". You don't need to be an Amazon Prime member to get this deal. Wolfbox is a well-known brand and its products are higher quality than other similarly priced jump starters.
Wolfbox Cordless Jump Starter and 24,000mAh Power Bank
The Wolfbox is a 2-in-1 device. First is a 12V cordless car jump starter that can supply a whopping 4,000A of peak power. It's powerful enough to jump start a 10L gas or diesel engine, and the 88.5Wh lithium battery can do it up to 40 times before needing to recharge. Cordless jump starters essentially make traditional jumper cables obsolete for most people, since you no longer need the assistance of someone else's car (or a tow truck) to get you back on the road.
The Wolfbox also doubles as a massive 24,000mAh power bank with two outputs: one USB Type-C port with 65W of Power Delivery and one USB Type-A port with 18W. This will charge your iPhone 17 or smartphone several times over but it can also fast charge even the most power hungry handheld gaming PCs like the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X or Legion Go 2. If you are on a long car ride and your gaming console runs out of juice well before you reach our destination, I'd certainly consider that an emergency!
Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.
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