Twisted Tower Turns a Theme Park Into a Bloody Climb to the Top

Theme parks are supposed to have rides, overpriced snacks, and mascots waving at children. Twisted Tower apparently looked at that formula and decided the mascots needed weapons to turn your fun night into a fright night.

Released August 18, 2026, Twisted Tower is a single-player first-person action-adventure from Atmos Games and publisher 3D Realms. The game drops players into an abandoned 1950s-inspired theme park filled with corrupted fairy-tale mascots, deadly traps, puzzles, and a tower that probably violates several hundred building codes.

 A VERY DIFFERENT KIND OF THEME PARK 

Creator Thomas Brush has openly cited BioShock, Disney World, and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory among the inspirations behind Twisted Tower. That combination becomes pretty easy to understand once you see its whimsical attractions mixed with dark environments, strange characters, and considerably more violence than your average amusement park brochure.

Players are trying to reach the top of the tower while uncovering secrets connected to the protagonist's past and attempting to save the love of his life.

Of course, explaining a place this strange only gets us so far. So let's see what happens when the amusements attack.

 TOYS ARE NOW WEAPONS 

One of Twisted Tower's more noticeable ideas is its weapon selection.

Instead of handing players another collection of ordinary military firearms, Atmos Games built an arsenal around toys and amusement-park absurdity. Weapons include a rubber-band pistol, whack-a-mole mallet, dart-firing Tommy Gun, bubblegum chain-gun, sniper slingshot, ray gun and, because somebody had to do it, a farting shotgun. Excuse yourself with every reload.

Players can upgrade those weapons while collecting additional toys that provide abilities like grappling.

That gives exploration a little more purpose than simply checking behind every suspicious-looking crate because years of video games have trained us to do so.

 FIVE STOPS ON THE WAY UP 

The climb takes players through five major environments: a hotel, waterpark, clown casino, carnival forest and space station. Different paths can also be selected during playthroughs, giving players reasons to explore alternate routes if they return for another climb.

The combination of shooting, platforming, exploration, puzzles and environmental storytelling makes Twisted Tower more than a straight corridor shooter, even if shooting creepy mascots remains a fairly significant part of the job description.

 THE TOWER IS ALREADY FINDING AN AUDIENCE 

The early Steam response has been strong.

As of August 22, Twisted Tower has an Overwhelmingly Positive user rating, with 95% of 791 Steam reviews currently recommending the game. That number will continue changing as more players enter the tower, but the opening reception has clearly been positive.

Twisted Tower normally costs $14.99 USD, with a 10% introductory Steam discount bringing it to $13.49 through September 1, 2026. It is currently available for PC through Steam.

Anyone interested should also know that the game contains blood, gore and violence involving its monstrous mascots, so don't mistaken it for an invitation to bring the little ones along for the ride.

Twisted Tower takes the familiar idea of an amusement park and turns it into something considerably less OSHA-friendly. If BioShock-style atmosphere, strange weapons, horror and shooting fairy-tale mascots sound like a reasonable way to spend an evening, the tower is officially open.

Just keep your arms in the ride.

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Eyeing the... Tech: CMF By Nothing Watch 3 Pro

I'm all for technology making my day easier. If I'm wearing something "smart" on my wrist from the time I leave home until I'm winding down at night, give me more than a clock and a step counter at a good price.

That's what caught my attention with the CMF by Nothing Watch 3 Pro. And right now, the price makes it even harder to ignore.

The Watch 3 Pro is currently available for $69 for a limited time, bringing quite a collection of smartwatch features into a much more affordable price range.

And yes, it works with Android and iPhone. As an iPhone user, that really caught my eye. 😄

 A Good-Looking Watch With a Great Display 

The Watch 3 Pro features a 1.43-inch AMOLED display running at up to 60 fps, with automatic brightness adjustment and a 91% screen-to-body ratio.

There's plenty of room for personalization, too. You get more than 120 watch faces, including animated, interactive and Always-On Display options. You can even turn your own photos or short five-second videos into watch faces.

The watch uses a metal frame with a silicone strap and carries an IP68 dust- and water-resistance rating, giving it some protection against the everyday situations you're likely to encounter while wearing it.

 Okay, What Can It Actually Do? 

Quite a bit.

You can make and receive Bluetooth calls from your wrist, with two microphones, a built-in speaker and AI-based noise reduction. Up to 30 contacts can also be synced to the watch for quick access.

Then there are the smaller functions that can actually become useful throughout the day:

* Alarm

* Calendar

* World clock

* Weather

* Stopwatch

* Timers

* Calculator

* Flashlight

* Camera remote

* Music controls

* Find My Phone

* Notifications

* Quick message replies

* To-do reminders

* Voice assistant

* Breathing exercises

* Menstrual-cycle tracking

* Do Not Disturb

* Gesture shortcuts

* Voice recording

* Recording transcription

That camera remote is particularly useful when you want to position your phone somewhere for a group photo or recording and trigger the camera from your wrist instead of racing against a timer.

The built-in recorder can capture up to 30 minutes at a time, and recordings can be transferred to the Nothing X app and converted into text. Nothing says those recording files remain locally stored on your phone rather than being uploaded to its cloud for transcription.

 Fitness Gets Plenty of Attention Too 

The Watch 3 Pro supports 131 sports modes, so we're talking about considerably more than running and walking.

There's cycling, hiking, basketball, soccer, boxing, yoga, skiing, snowboarding, Pilates, CrossFit, strength training, rowing, tennis, golf, pickleball, swimming-related activities, skateboarding, rock climbing, dancing, martial arts, kayaking and plenty more.

Seven types of exercise can also be automatically detected, allowing the watch to recognize certain activities and prompt you to begin tracking if you forgot to start a workout manually.

For outdoor activities, dual-band L1 + L5 GPS provides independent positioning, with support for GLONASS, Galileo, Beidou and QZSS. That should be especially useful for tracking routes through cities or more complicated terrain where positioning can become difficult.

There's even a 3D warm-up and stretching guide, estimated post-workout recovery times, heart-rate zones, training-load information, VO₂ max insights and customizable running plans.

 Keeping Track of Your Wellness 

Outside of workouts, the Watch 3 Pro provides quite a few ways to monitor general wellness.

It supports:

* 24/7 heart-rate monitoring

* Resting and exercise heart rate

* High and low heart-rate alerts

* 24/7 blood-oxygen monitoring

* Low blood-oxygen alerts

* Stress monitoring

* Enhanced sleep tracking

* Sleep-stage tracking

* Nap detection

* Step counting

* Calories burned

* Distance traveled

* Exercise duration

* Active Score

* Hydration reminders

* Stand-up reminders

* Guided breathing

Nothing's enhanced sleep mode uses continuous heart-rate monitoring to provide more detailed sleep-stage information, while its Active Score combines activity intensity and movement into a weekly measurement of your physical activity.

Of course, these are wellness features rather than medical diagnostic tools, so I'd look at them as information that can help you better understand your habits rather than something replacing professional medical equipment or advice.

 Nothing X Adds Even More 

Pairing the watch with the Nothing X app gives you a central place for device settings, health information, fitness plans, SpO₂ data, VO₂ max information, recovery data, voice memos and other features.

Your fitness information can also sync with Apple Health, Google Health Connect and Strava, so you aren't necessarily starting from scratch if you already use one of those platforms.

For United Health Care users: If you use a smart watch with the capability of connecting with your phone (Android for example) you can earn money while taking those daily steps... and even sleeping for 7 hours per day. Just access your UHC app, and once you're in... go to the Rewards & Spending section that will show you how much you've earned. This can land you at least $300 per year. Since you're able to earn money without the watch, you can even use the rewards to buy a smart watch, redeem them for a Digital Visa gift card, or One Pass Select. Let your watch pay for itself. -  Blu 

Nothing also offers Essential News, which can deliver a morning digest to the watch based on topics you're interested in, including technology, health, entertainment and global news.

 And You Don't Have to Charge It Every Night 

Nothing rates the Watch 3 Pro for up to 13 days under its typical-use testing, around 10.5 days with heavier use, or approximately 4.4 days with Always-On Display running for 12 hours each day. Your actual results will naturally depend on how heavily you use calling, GPS, health monitoring, workouts and the display.

That's something I can appreciate because I already have enough things asking me for a charger. My phone's battery saver is on right now.

 Could It Be Worth Your Time? 

This is where the CMF Watch 3 Pro makes sense to me.

It doesn't need to pretend it's an Apple Watch or compete feature-for-feature with every premium smartwatch. Instead, Nothing has packed in calling, messaging tools, GPS, fitness tracking, wellness monitoring, productivity functions, recording, transcription, customization and genuinely useful everyday conveniences.

That's a much more interesting proposition than simply saying it's an "affordable smartwatch."

Some people want something attractive on their wrist that helps them stay connected, keeps track of their activity, provides useful information throughout the day and doesn't turn into another complicated piece of technology demanding their attention.

The CMF by Nothing Watch 3 Pro seems to understand the assignment.

That's quite a bit of something coming from a company called Nothing.

Could it be worth your time?

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Top Audiences Last Week + Grab... Caravan SandWitch free for a limited time!

This week is off to an amazing start, which was kicked off by the awesome weekend we had. Shout out to Melvin, I didn't expect our encounter to land us at a pizza buffet. I thought I was gonna turn into a slice of pizza. I need to learn how to make pizza at home, but I can only imagine burning it up. (Momma No!) And no... I don't just walk around with gummies in my pocket, I just had them that time. (Haha) Shout out to Rosanna... I hope you're able to spend some time funning it up with your family while in Orlando. And (oh yeah) Blu also ran into Kevin Del Aguila from Hazbin Hotel this weekend.

Anyway, it's that time again... so grab your favorite snack or potty trained puppy, and let's jump into the Top Audiences Last Week!

 This Week's Top 

Eyeing the... Tech: OnePlus 15T - The Gamer's Smartphone...

Tech This Out: Can Immerse Gaming Hive 2.0 Unlock Your...

FTS: Where Winds Meet Unveils "Heaven's Threshold": The...

Top Audiences Last Week + Grab... Beacon Pines free for a...

LIFTED feels like Back to the Future meets Tomb Raider...

Eyeing the... Tech: Dell XPS 13

 Top 10 Audiences (no changes this week) 

     Fire Force     

1. US USA

2. GB United Kingdom

3. JP Japan

4. DE Germany

5. CA Canada

6. CH China

7. FR France

8. TH Thailand

9. HK Hong Kong

10. SG Singapore

Philippines, Ireland, and Vietnam... came close!

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MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls Throws Hands With History — and Gives Artists Something to Love!

Marvel characters throwing hands in a fighting game isn't anything new. In fact, Marvel has been part of fighting-game history for more than three decades (if you didn't know). What's new is the way Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls adds to that history, grabs it by the collar, gives it an... anime makeover, and says, “Alright, let's run this back a little differently.”

Developed by Arc System Works in collaboration with PlayStation Studios and Marvel Games, MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls launched on August 6, 2026 for PlayStation 5 and PC, including the Epic Games Store and Steam. The Standard Edition is priced at $59.99 USD, with Digital Deluxe and Ultimate editions also available.

And if you enjoy fighting games, Marvel Comics, character design, manga, animation, or simply watching ridiculously powerful people punch one another through walls, there's quite a bit here worth paying attention to.

 So, What Exactly Is MARVEL Tōkon? 

At its core, Tōkon is a 4v4 tag-team fighting game.

Arc System Works could've went with the previous 2v2 or 3v3 formula we've seen in previous tag fighters, but they... took it a step further to take things over the top. The developer specifically wanted to challenge the traditional format with something different. You build a four-character team from a launch roster of 20 Marvel heroes and villains, with characters including Spider-Man, Wolverine, Storm, Iron Man, Captain America, Black Panther, Doctor Doom, Magneto, Blade, Ghost Rider, Carnage, Green Goblin and others. The roster might end up looking like something out of a Mugen game after awhile.

Don't allow “4v4” to scare you away if you aren't the type of person who spends six hours in Practice Mode learning what happens when you cancel a cancel into another cancel while standing 3.7 pixels... from the corner. It's awesome to watch your heroes assemble, especially when that's the finishing blow.

Tōkon was deliberately designed so that newcomers can get into the fight without needing to master four different characters immediately. Arc System Works allows players to use beginner-friendly Link Attack combinations, Quick Skills and assists while more experienced players can dig into traditional command inputs, character switching, advanced combos, counters, positioning and team synergy. Traditional command inputs even provide additional rewards, including higher damage and Skill Gauge generation. That was a very smart move.

Accessibility shouldn't mean removing depth from a fighting game. It should mean opening the front door and allowing people to decide how deep into the property they want to go. Explore the crib, know the layout like the back of your hand... or don't. Either way, good luck with that.

Tōkon appears to understand that, but we hope that you aim to get your money's worth.

 Marvel Has Been Throwing Hands for a LONG Time 

For younger gamers who primarily know Marvel through the MCU, Spider-Man games or modern comic releases, it's worth pointing something out:

Marvel has serious fighting-game history, so they've already been here and... it's great to see them making moves yet again. If anything it's been long enough, and I love what they did with Capcom (for the most part)... but that doesn't mean that I don't want them to step away from doing their own thing.

Before there was MARVEL Tōkon, there was X-Men: Children of the Atom.

Capcom released that game in arcades in 1994, putting characters like Wolverine, Cyclops, Storm, Psylocke and Magneto into the type of fast 2D combat the company had already become famous for. Capcom followed that foundation with Marvel Super Heroes, and then things started getting really interesting. If only I had something to capture my gameplay back then, I was a beast... and loved to sweat the competition to exploit their slip ups.

X-Men vs. Street Fighter arrived in 1996 and introduced the two-character tag-team structure that would help define what became the Marvel vs. Capcom style of fighting game. That was followed by Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter, and then Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes in 1998.

"This is one of the best years ever!" - Blu (1998)

Then came the monster... Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes. (I still have it on the Sega Dreamcast, along with other gems.)

Released in 2000, MVC2 became one of those fighting games that didn't simply exist—it became part of fighting-game culture. Massive roster, ridiculous assists, huge combos, wild team combinations and enough chaos happening on screen to make someone walking past an arcade cabinet stop and ask, “What in the hell are they playing?”

Marvel and Capcom would eventually return with Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, carrying the series into another generation with 3v3 battles. Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 remains available today, while Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite followed in 2017.

So when Tōkon arrives with tag mechanics, assists, screen-filling attacks and Marvel characters beating the brakes off one another, there's history behind it.

The difference is that Capcom isn't behind the wheel this time. Arc System Works is... and I'm liking what I'm seeing.

Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection gives you 7 awesome games from the past... for $24.99! Now let's get back to the action... bub.

 Arc System Works Was One Heck of a Choice 

We're talking about the studio responsible for Guilty Gear, BlazBlue, and Dragon Ball FighterZ.

Translation: Somebody knew exactly who to call... and it wasn't the Ghost Busters!

Arc System Works has built a reputation around fighting games that can look like hand-drawn animation while actually operating through carefully constructed 3D character models, camera work and animation techniques. Bad add stuff too.

Marvel also didn't ask Arc System Works to simply imitate an American comic.

Early in development, the team actually experimented with a shader meant to recreate a more traditional Western comic-book appearance. According to producer Takeshi Yamanaka, Marvel encouraged Arc System Works to lean further into the studio's own identity instead. The result was a stronger Japanese animation influence mixed with recognizable Marvel character design.

That was the right call, and I salute them for not tying their hands so they can wow the crowd. Why hire Arc System Works just to tell them, “Okay, now don't look like Arc System Works?” Let the cooks cook... and they showed out on this dish!

Iron Man can look like Iron Man while carrying a little mecha energy. Storm can still be Storm while being reinterpreted through Japanese character-design sensibilities. Spider-Man doesn't suddenly stop being Spider-Man simply because somebody approached his silhouette, animation or visual presentation differently either. That's part of what makes adaptation fun.

 Comic Fans Should Feel Right at Home 

Tōkon doesn't simply borrow Marvel characters for the fights and call it a day.

The game's Episode Mode tells an original Marvel story built around the Challenge of the Champion. The Champion of the Universe has arrived looking for worthy opponents, with Earth facing destruction if its fighters can't satisfy his desire for battle. Teams are assembled, preliminary fights take place, and whoever comes out on top earns the opportunity to challenge the Champion himself.

On the road to fighting... the Champion, your journey is through the pages of a comic book that documents the heroic efforts of your team. My first go round is with the Amazing Guardians.

You get to enjoy their storyline via cutscenes + a wealth of motion... comic art while they figure things out during their preparation to fight this cosmic muscle-bound maniac who's ready to destroy the planet.

All while trying not to stress each other out (excluding Quill in my case).

They pulled no punches on the comic book experience here, and I see comic book fans eating them up. On the other side of that sword... I see some people possibly feeling like the comic book sections of the Episodes are a little too drawn out. I noticed this, but I tried to keep the perspective clear that this is an experience where the art team wanted to flex their muscle and give the episodes a well rounded comic book style experience... where we read/listen to the motion comics to a certain extent, and them boom:

So I look at episode mode differently than I would with a standard game with drawn out dialogue. Arc System Works and Marvel didn't simply rely on the cutscenes, so that's why I feel like comic fans will appreciate these episodes even more. The motion comics blend American comic-book presentation with Japanese manga artwork and full voice acting.

And that brings me to another group I think will appreciate this game. Artists!

There's some low-key love being shown to artists here (in a deeper way), and I appreciate it.

Especially comic book artists.

I'm not saying Marvel or Arc System Works officially labeled Tōkon a “tribute to concept artists.” They didn't. I'm saying look at the presentation. You can see it in the comic art boards displayed all through out the game (i.e. the blue boundary guidelines and marginal data boxes you see here).

The episode panels, the character-select presentation, the exaggerated poses and the visual language connecting Japanese manga with American comic books... shows the work the artists put in.

Arc System Works specifically said the character-select screen drew inspiration from both American comics and Japanese shōnen manga, while certain match-ending sequences are presented using manga-style panels.

That gives parts of Tōkon the feeling of watching ideas leap off a character designer's sketchbook and start fighting each other (and I think they were kinda aiming for that when fights occur after reaching certain pages in the comics). I'm immediately reminded of the concept art that some products have on their packaging (i.e. 1More headphones) and the final design leads to the physical product in the box of their hi-res options.

And for anyone who has spent time drawing characters, designing costumes or working through multiple versions of the same idea before finally saying “Yep, that's the one,” there's something satisfying about that.

Even the game's final key art deserves attention. It was created by Yūki Katō, the game's main character artist, with additional finishing work from Arc System Works' 2D artists.

That's worth highlighting because video game artists can sometimes disappear behind the finished product. That's something I missed about 2D Street Fighter games... and wished gave us an updated version of that via a new badass title.

We celebrate the character. We celebrate the studio. We celebrate the franchise. But somebody had to sit down and actually figure out what these characters were going to look like. Tōkon puts that visual design front and center... and as an artist myself, it's just awesome to see.

 This Isn't Marvel vs. Capcom — and That's Okay 

I think this is probably the most important thing to understand about Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls for Marvel vs Capcom fans. It doesn't need to be Marvel vs. Capcom! 

As you know, we've had the pleasure of speaking face to face with plenty of you, so it's safe to say we've heard more than a few thoughts about video games. There are some gamers who have yet to play Marvel Tōkon, and immediately bring up Marvel vs. Capcom's mechanics with fingers crossed for this new IP.

Nothing wrong with wishful thinking... but Marvel Tōkon isn't Marvel vs. Capcom. Those games have their own mechanics, character, history and identity (with Capcom all over and through them). What Marvel needed was another developer capable of looking at their fighting-game history and saying, “What can we do next?”

I believe Marvel Tōkon is a nice answer to that question.

Arc System Works didn't throw away the idea of a Marvel tag fighter. It expanded the team to four, redesigned how players access those teammates, introduced its own visual identity and wrapped the experience in a presentation that sits somewhere between comic books, manga and high-end anime.

That's far more interesting than simply trying to make Marvel vs. Capcom 5... without Capcom. This title is also published by PlayStation, not... Capcom. But again, that's okay! I can only imagine how long we would've had to wait, but I'll leave that alone.

Even Marvel Games has been open about the larger ambition. Marvel Games general manager Haluk Mentes said during development that the goal was to re-establish Marvel as a major presence within the fighting-game community, with Arc System Works' anime-inspired style and tag-team expertise helping drive that direction.

The area where I pump my breaks is the price. The standard edition is fine, but the other two editions are steep. Digital Deluxe is $84.99 and the Ultimate edition is... $99.99! 

In the Digital Deluxe Edition, you get:

• Base game
• Year 1 Characters & Stage Pass (result screen character poses, four characters, one stage post-launch)
• Howard the Duck (Lobby Avatar)
• Cosmo (Lobby Pet)

In the Ultimate Edition, you get:

• Base game
• Everything in the Digital Deluxe Edition
• Spider-Man "Advanced Suit 2.0" Costume
• Storm Punk Rock Costume
• Iron Man Classic Costume
• Captain America Classic Costume
• Doctor Doom Supreme Ruler Costume
• Animated Chromatic color unlock for all 20 launch characters
• Set of result screen character poses

If you plan to expand your roster, and see yourself buying them Year 1 Character and Stage Pass... then you're better off buying the digital deluxe for less. It's still a pretty penny, so if you make that move... get your money's worth and game on!

 + Sophi 

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