If you’re the kind of PC builder who wants to show off their hard work, then this Cyberpunk 2077 gaming PC build might be right up your alley. Built for the Cooler Master Case Mod World Series 2024 competition, this cleverly designed open frame PC has been lovingly crafted with custom mods and high spec components, giving it more than enough power to battle your enemies in Night City.

This incredible PC build uses one of the best graphics cards you can buy right now, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080, with the Nvidia GPU taking pride of place, mounted to one of the Cooler Master open air frame PC case panels. The case, a Cooler Master MasterFrame 700, also packs in set of powerful components, including an Intel Core i9 14900K, one of the best Intel gaming CPUs from the last generation.

We spotted this incredible build in a post on builds.gg, the PC build community website. The builder, Mayhem Modz, has shared several impressive PCs over the years, with this particular entry showcasing some serious love for the Cyberpunk universe. The Cooler Master MasterFrame 700 gives a great view of all the major components, but it’s Mayhem Modz’s own additions that really make this PC pop.

Along with the high spec GPU and CPU, this build has 48GB of Corsair Vengeance DDR5 RAM, rated to 7200 MT/s. It also has an impressive 4TB of storage, thanks to two Kingston Fury Renegade PCIe 4.0 M.2 SSDs. The Asus ROG Strix 1000G 80+ Gold PSU, meanwhile, gives 1000W of potential power, while an EKWB water block and full-size radiator helps to keep the system cool – helped, no doubt, by the open frame nature of the case itself.

This is a powerful gaming PC, no doubt, but the real work of art can be found in the mods. Mayhem Modz has added custom Militech-themed panels to the back, with the yellow and gray standing out against the MasterFrame’s default black chassis, with further panels surrounding the motherboard, and a custom etched perspex panel to attach to the front. The RGB lighting found throughout the build adds a nice blue and purple contrast against the yellow, finishing off the look with a number of etchings, custom cables, and yellow fan covers.

This build showcases CD Projekt Red’s futuristic sci-fi game perfectly, and with an RTX 4080 and 14900K, it’s got more than enough power to play it, too. While this particular design can’t be bought, you can pick up a Cooler Master MasterFrame 7000 PC case from Amazon and have a go at creating your own open-air masterpiece by visiting this link here.

If you’ve never built your own PC before, we’ve got a comprehensive how to build a gaming PC guide that you can check out next. It’ll talk you through the entire process, including picking out the right components for any budget.

December 21, 2024: We have checked for new Dress to Impress codes to add to our list, which now totals over ten active codes.

What are the new Dress to Impress codes? Look no further if you want to strut your stuff on the catwalk with all the latest fashion accessories. The latest DTI codes grant you the hottest cosmetics to add to your ensemble and create a stunning new look, and it’s as simple as entering a code or two.

As the name suggests, Dress to Impress is all about fashion, collecting new clothes, and trying out different styles. Unlike most Roblox games, these DTI codes permanently unlock a set of items to add to your wardrobe. If you’re looking for extra freebies, we also have codes for some of the other best Roblox games such as Blox Fruits codes to help you get an edge on the competition. Alternatively, you can check out our list of Dress to Impress outfit ideas.

New Dress to Impress codes

Here’s a list of all the active Dress to Impress codes to redeem right now:

• 1CON1CF4TMA – Dress (NEW)
• 4BILLION – Skirt & Corset set
• B3APL4YS_D0L1E – Doll
• MEGANPLAYSBOOTS – Shoes
• CH00P1E_1S_B4CK – Street-style outfit (shirt, shoes, and skirt)
• D1ORST4R – Star-themed bag & hair bow accessory
• S3M_0W3N_Y4Y – Gold-handled axe with a red jewel
• UMOYAE – Blue corset-tutu dress
• M0T0PRINCESSWAV – Gold red tiara with red jewels
• KITTYUUHH – Caseoh’s kitty cat
• KREEK – Kreekcraft’s hat
• BELALASLAY – Off-shoulder jacket
• FASHION – Sabrina’s Met Dress
• M0T0PRINCESSWAV – Golden Crown
• C4LLMEHH4LEY – Free item
• CHOOPIE10K – Free item
• M3RM4ID – Free item
• ITSJUSTNICHOLAS – Free item
• LANATUTU – Skirt item
• SUBM15CY – Necklace and eyelashes
• LABOOTS – two pairs of boots
• LANA – a new outfit (frilly pants, ruffed crop top, and legwarmers)
• TEKKYOOZ – a handbag with a black bow.
• LEAHASHE – Leah hoodie and Ashe pants.
• LANABOW – Bow accessory

Expired codes

• WINTERUPDATE
• THEGAMES
• SWEETHEART
• REWARD4CLASS1C

How to redeem Dress to Impress codes

To claim the active Dress to Impress codes, you need to:

• Go to the official Dress to Impress Roblox page and open the game.
• Click the button with three stars on the left side of the screen.
• Enter the code and click the tick button to redeem.

This will permanently unlock the associated fashion accessory, which you can wear at any point from then onward. To wear the item, click its icon on the code redeem screen, and your character should automatically put it on.

You can then tinker with the item’s color by using the color wheel on the screen’s right-hand side. You can take it off by clicking the hat icon on the right-hand side and then clicking the X underneath the item you wish to remove.

How to find more Dress to Impress codes

The easiest way to get more Dress to Impress codes is to bookmark and keep checking this page for when the next batch appears. This saves you from needing to sign up for any services and gets you new accessories as soon as they become available.

However, if you don’t mind going to get them from the source, your best bet is to sign up to the Discord server, which you can find a link to via the Dress to Impress Roblox page and by looking at the announcements tab. This will require you to watch some YouTube videos of previous developer streams to get the codes, and it can take a while to get to the point where you learn the codes, so it’s probably best to leave that busy work to us.

And with that, we’ve come to the end of our Dress to Impress codes guide. If you want more clothing that works across all Roblox games, feel free to check out our list of Roblox promo codes. We also have a list of Roblox music codes to claim now if you fancy spicing up the soundtracks to your favorite experiences.

December 21, 2024: We’ve checked for new Doors codes.

What are the new Doors codes? Doors is a horror game on the Roblox platform that’s not for the faint of heart – especially if you’re sensitive to jump scares. Your goal is to advance through a series of doors while avoiding the terrifying entities that give chase. Thankfully, our list of the latest Doors codes is here to help you reach Door 100 in one piece.

The latest Doors codes unlock a trove of additional supplies in the Roblox game – including Knobs, Revives, and Boosts – so be sure to redeem them before they expire. We’ve also included a step-by-step guide on how to redeem Doors codes. Bring some levity to the spooky escape room by tuning your radio to the best Roblox song IDs. If you’re a Roblox enthusiast, our Shinobi Life 2 codes and Project Mugetsu codes are sure to be of value.

New Doors codes

Here are all active Doors codes:

• 5B – 5 Revives, 105 Knobs
• SCREECHSUCKS – 25 Knobs

Expired codes

• THEHUNT
• 4B
• THREE
• SCREECHSHUCKS
• TEST
• 100MVISITS
• 500MVISITS
• ONEBILLIONVISITS
• 2BILLIONVISITS
• PSST
• LOOKBEHINDYOU
• SORRYBOUTTHAT

How do I redeem Doors codes?

It can be easy to overlook where to redeem Doors codes, but we’ve broken it down into a few simple steps to get those rewards into your hands in record time:

• Launch Doors from its official Roblox page
• Open the Shop menu from the bar on the left-hand side
• Copy and paste the code into the text box where prompted
• Hit the checkmark or press enter to redeem your Doors code successfully

How do I get more Doors codes?

The best way to get more Doors codes is to bookmark this page, of course! New Doors codes don’t release on a schedule, but in our experience, they generally crop up to celebrate visitor milestones. If you’re desperate to get your hands on new Doors codes as soon as they appear, we recommend keeping an eye on the official Twitter page and Discord server. However, we recommend that you take it easy and let us do the searching – all you need to do is check back regularly for all the latest Doors codes.

Doors is one of the best Roblox games available on the platform, but we’ve also got some Roblox promo codes if you’re after some free cosmetics and pets outside of the horror game hit.

December 21, 2024: We’ve checked for new Death Ball codes.

What are the new Death Ball codes? If you’re looking for some free gems to afford the anime-inspired skin of your dreams or the best blades and skills you need to keep up with the competition, then you’ve come to the right place as we’re here with some codes to help you win a round of Death Ball.

Of course, this is a very similar game to one of the most popular Roblox experiences out there, but with an anime twist. Incidentally, we have all the latest freebies in one place if you’re looking for the latest Blade Ball codes, and if you prefer anime gems, these some Haze Piece codes, Fruits Battlegrounds codes, or Anime Champions Simulator codes will get you free stuff there too.

New Death Ball codes

Here are all active, working Death Ball codes:

• xmas – 4k Gems
• jiro – 4k  Gems

Expired Death ball codes

• derank
• newyear
• mech
• 100mil
• divine
• sorrygems
• spirit
• foxuro
• kameki
• thankspity
• 3KLIKES!
• 2.5KLIKES!
• RELEASE
• launch

If the code has expired, is invalid, or is already used up, there will be an error message telling you so. If the code works, a chime will play and you should see the number of gems.

How to get more free Death Ball gems

There are a couple of other things you can do to get free gems. The first is to go to the Roblox page and like the game, then join the Roblox club. Load up the game again and visit the Verify pedestal. This will give you a bonus of 1,000 gems.

You can also get more by clicking the More button at the top left of the screen and clicking Daily Rewards. Here, you’ll find that each day you log in, you can get an ever-increasing number of gems. So you’ll get just 250 gems when you first log in, but once you reach day 30, you’ll get 7,500 gems for logging in.

How do I redeem Death Ball codes?

Follow these steps to learn how to redeem Death Ball codes:

• Launch Death Ball from its Roblox page.
• Click the More button at the top left of the screen.
• Select Codes to bring up the codes screen.
• Type in the code and click Verify to redeem the code.

How do I get more Death Ball codes?

By far the simplest way to find the latest Death Ball codes is to wait and keep checking this guide. We’ll do the legwork when it comes to finding new Death Ball codes, so check back periodically. If you’d rather find them for yourself, though, there are some to be found via the Death Ball Roblox page, such as following SubZeroExtabyte on X, formerly known as Twitter, or the Death Ball Discord.

When is the next Death Ball update?

The next Death Ball update, set to launch on November 25, includes the Cursed Spirit raid boss and a new champion. We’re expecting a new code to drop then, too. The boss will respawn every 15 minutes for the duration of the event.

With the newest Death Ball codes at your fingertips, you can now get the best skins and weapons to outlive the competition. Alternatively, if this one isn’t for you, there’s a whole list of the best Roblox games with some trending experiences. Incidentally, we also keep regularly updated guides with all the active Roblox promo codes and the best Roblox music codes for those who want more free stuff.

Two months after it opened its doors, Ashes of Creation Alpha Two is entering its second phase. The ambitious new MMORPG from Intrepid Studios has already had some exciting moments since it first entered the public testing stage, but it’s taking a big step forward with this update. There are two new playable races to try out, another dungeon to tackle, three more Nodes in the Sandsquall Desert, a marketplace, the ability to purchase player housing, and a holiday event.

The second phase of Ashes of Creation Alpha Two ramps up the amount of time you’ll have to play – servers will be kept on as much as possible through Monday January 6, and after that will be live for at least five days per week as Intrepid builds towards its always-on third phase in May 2025. Two new playable races join the MMORPG – Jinn-influenced humans known as the Vaelune that come from the Sandsquall Desert, and the dwarven style Dünir.

The new dungeon is the Befallen Forge, and you can take a look at it in action as part of the developer livestream above. This underground complex is tied to the Dünir, and you’ll be able to uncover the curse that struck them (along with plenty of valuable loot, of course) as you plunder its depths. A dracolich world boss will also be introduced to the zone in the future, which you can think of as essentially an undead dragon that game director Steven Sharif describes as “an agent of the corrupt forces.”

Three new Nodes, Ashes of Creation’s regions, have been introduced in the Sandsquall Desert, and the world around them has been “significantly adjusted.” You’ll be able to buy player housing for the first time. Called Freeholds, these require you to be level 20 to purchase and will cost 100 gold in the current testing phase. Sharif notes that Freeholds are a “very, very, very large system” that will roll out in stages across phases two and three, so this is just the first implementation. You’ll be able to introduce some plants and animals to your new property once you’ve paid up.

Marketplaces are another major addition – these essentially act as a trading hub that allows you to list your items and resources for sale. “This is a first implementation,” Sharif cautions, “so it’s possible there may be some bugs.” Rounding things out is a special holiday update to celebrate the season. The team says it hopes to have some more Verran holidays in the full game, but for now, you can expect a wealth of more traditional festivities.

As for what you can expect moving forward, Sharif says, “In phase two you’re going to see some more focus on balance, as well as the new systems and features that we’re going to be implementing. You’re going to see some expansions of the playable space in the world and the new Nodes we’re going to be bringing online.

“You’re going to see some more player-centric systems like sieges, expanded war systems, and guild systems,” he continues. The Rogue class will also make its debut, with the Summoner and other races next on the development checklist once that’s in the game.

Ashes of Creation Alpha Two phase two is live now. Taking part requires the purchase of an Alpha Two second wave key, which is priced at $110. Note that while this will include access to future test phases, it doesn’t include the final game. You can check the phase two patch notes courtesy of Intrepid Studios for the full list of changes.

Playing with other real people can be a lot of fun, so we’ve picked out the best multiplayer games to try in 2024. If you’re trying to budget carefully this holiday season, here are the best free Steam games to help keep your spending in check.

You can also follow us on Google News for daily PC games news, reviews, and guides, or join our community Discord to stay in the know.

The zombie game I’m most excited about at the moment is State of Decay 3. The first two games find the perfect balance between survival, exploration, and base building in a way few other games do. State of Decay 2 even had years of free updates, making it one of the most supported games the genre has ever seen. That’s all come to an end now, though, so all we can do is wait for the sequel. Well, unless you’ve never played State of Decay 2 and have $3 going spare, that is.

With the State of Decay 3 release date still seemingly ages away, we’re going to need plenty of zombie games to keep us busy until then. If you’re waiting for the sequel and have never touched the last game in the series, however, now’s the perfect time to give it a shot. State of Decay 2 is currently the cheapest it’s ever been on Steam, and it’s a full-blown survival sim experience.

As if on queue, the zombie apocalypse has left you in charge of attempting to rebuild civilization. Set in a co-op sandbox, you need to scavenge for items, build a base, recruit fellow survivors, balance your incoming and outgoing resources, and explore as much of the world as possible. Everything in State of Decay 2 comes back to the community – you must recruit and look after survivors, use their unique traits for the right situation, and adapt to their disadvantages. You’ll want to be extra careful, too, because if you’re controlling a survivor and they fall to the horde, they’re gone for good.

If you’re new to State of Decay 2, the Juggernaut Edition comes with absolutely everything you’d ever need. You get three extra add-on packs, a new map, remastered graphics, and more. New players even have an improved tutorial, making the game’s opening moments that much more streamlined and informative.

While we had the final State of Decay 2 update earlier this year, we’re fortunate in that it sets up the game for the long haul. New community screens mean you can access the stashes of all the survivors in your base, which makes organization and item swapping much easier. A momentum mechanic now slows you down in the water, with 4×4 cars the best at resisting the push of the waves. The final update even comes with new outfits, frees up any time-gated content, and adds more weapons and vehicles to the world spawn pool. State of Decay has gone out in style, and now it’s cheaper than ever.

State of Decay 2 Juggernaut Edition is 90% off until Thursday January 2, so expect to pay its lowest recorded price of $2.99 / £2.49 until then. You can learn more here.

We also have all the best open-world games and survival games you need to try today, if you want even more to play.

You can also follow us on Google News for daily PC games news, reviews, and guides, or join our community Discord to stay in the know.

21st December

Hello! Welcome back to our regular feature where we write a little bit about some of the games we’ve been playing over the past few days. This week, we love a nice festive level, tackle some plant-based puzzles, and explore a brilliant open world while wearing some tremendous outfits.

Catch up with the older editions of this column in our What We’ve Been Playing archive.

Astro Bot, PS5

Look, I’ve got so many games on my list that I’m keen to play, but when Astro Bot got a free winter/holiday themed level I had to play that immediately. It’s, as expected, rather lovely. I wrote a completely original song, not at all based on an existing Christmas classic, to celebrate its release.

DualSense rings, are you listening,

What a pain, Retro Rampage

A beautiful sight,

Puzzle Piece tonight,

Walking in an Astro wonderland.

Gone away is the Deckster,

Here to stay is my blister

Damn that time trial,

Live in denial,

Walking in an Astro wonderland.

-Tom O

Botany Manor, Xbox Series X

Welcome to the last weeks of December, aka: the weeks where we play ‘Let’s mop up all the millions of great games we missed from earlier in the year’. I’ll be honest, readers, despite playing loads of games from January to March this year, and then another truckload in these latter months from September onwards, I’ve got a great big gaping hole of games I’ve missed from the spring and summer months – something I’ve been trying to rectify with some rapid-fire quickplays lately to see what grabs my attention and what doesn’t.

One game I wolfed down in a single evening recently was Botany Manor, a sedate puzzle game about growing all sorts of weird and wonderful plants inside a picturesque Somerset stately home. These aren’t your typical roses and daffodils, though. Rather, these rare and exotic strains will only bloom under very specific circumstances – the right room temperature, say, or having its soil juiced up to a particular pH by crushing certain apple varieties into it. My favourite was the Wolfglove, which only bursts into life when you recreate specific sounds and wind speeds inside an old tower to mimic the environment of its mountainous home.

It’s very artfully done, and the puzzle of working out what conditions you need to induce require a fair bit of brain power to suss out, putting together clues and information from notes, letters and observations you’ll find strewn about the desks, bins and tables of the manor. I was expecting it to be another one of these cosy game pushovers where all the thinking is done for you, but I was pleasantly surprised by the rigour of its cerebral challenges. Plus, it’s just a wonderful space to noodle about in, its bright and vibrant colour palette and seemingly interrupted spate of picnics and discarded deckchairs bringing touches of The Witness to it. It’s a very jolly time, if a little summery for such a wintry, end of year playthrough.

-Katharine

Infinity Nikki, PS5

Despite playing a lot of open-world games (welcome to guides writing), there’s not many that I genuinely enjoy exploring. I may get sucked into ticking-off side quests for a short while, but there’s a reason the last Ubisoft game I completed was Assassin’s Creed 2: open worlds just seem so big, and scary, and boring a lot of the time. But when a game understands what its audience wants, an open-world isn’t a challenge anymore – it’s an invitation.

Watch on YouTube

Infinity Nikki invites us to find hot air balloons, bubble blowers, magical hopscotch, and giant bird-like Sky Monarchs, which you can ride on the back of to take in the fairytale sights of Miraland. There are also adorable fairy-like Faewish Spirits to help, cute animals to pet, and thousands of pieces of clothes to customise your Nikki with, to fit whatever style you’d like to see her in while exploring.

It’s massive, yes, but Infinity Nikki’s world seems like it’s designed in service to how happy and joyous it can make you feel, not how much it can pack in to keep you distracted. It’s not perfect – there are bugs at launch, and the standard open-world trappings like collectibles are still present, but for the most part, Infinity Nikki is about as upbeat and cheerful as it gets in video games. Not what I was expecting from a series with its roots in the mobile dress-up genre, that’s for sure!

-Jessica

Don’t get too festive in the comments just yet. We’ve got a Christmas special edition of What We’ve Been Playing going live on Christmas Day morning. See you then.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard, PS5

I’ll admit I’ve never been the biggest Dragon Age fan, though as a lover of fantasy RPGs and Mass Effect, on paper the series is right up my street. I’ve played Origins and Inquisition, but they always felt a step behind their big sci-fi brother and, beyond some fun characterful moments with companions, felt generic compared to others of the genre.

Veilguard has changed my view a little. Its streamlined gameplay is more akin to Mass Effect but better and more focused for it, while the new visual style helps to give the game its own identity. With its rounded characters, flamboyant hair tech, and soft lighting, I feel like I’m playing a Pixar fantasy in a L’Oreal advert, with some truly spectacular environments too. It looks great!

It’s been years, though, since I played Inquisition and without deep lore knowledge the story of Veilguard felt nonsensical and its characters not as immediately likeable. And beyond its dated quest design, it was the repetitive combat that frustrated me above all. I played as a mage and spent most of my time dodging enemies rather than attacking: between constant aggro, enemy animations that seem perfectly timed to interrupt your spell-flinging, and a lock-on that constantly removes itself when interrupted by the environment, I was near catatonic with rage by the game’s end.

And yet (!), somehow I felt compelled to see it through. For the most part I found Dragon Age: The Veilguard to be mindless and monotonous, but I think that’s actually what I needed right now. After a long year of plenty of lengthy, complex and challenging RPGs, I was keen to lounge on the sofa and sink into something a little more relaxing. The check-list missions, button-bashing combat, and follow the marker quests proved surprisingly engrossing. Right now, that’s good enough.

-Ed

Well, we’re into the month of December, and temperatures are beginning to get close to freezing here in old England-land. What I’ve decided to do, in lieu of the cold weather, is take the time indoors to review some more keyboards, although this time with a focus on smaller choices that are rather interesting. Yes, I really am a nerd.

Nonetheless, here are three options and a fun wildcard for you to consider, ranging from a seriously customisable 65 percent choice to a ‘board with my favourite layout and some interesting changes and another 65 percent option which revives an important custom option from a decade ago.

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Drop CSTM65 review: An SFF option with a hot-swappable case

Buy:

First up is the Drop CSTM65, whose name explains pretty much exactly what this ‘board is all about – a custom 65 percent choice. It offers the benefit of a smaller form factor layout for both providing more desk space and being on trend, while also coming with the fun of a hot-swappable plastic top case. That’s right – the CSTM65’s top housing can be replaced simply by taking the case off by lifting upwards to reveal the metal innards beneath. With my sample, Drop sent the keyboard in black, and provided the Overgrowth decorative case to go with it ($35) which can be swapped on in a matter of seconds. It completely changes the look of the keyboard, and is an ingenious and cost-effective way of giving your setup a new look without dropping a lot more on a new keyboard.

You also get funky aesthetic choices elsewhere on this standard, fully-assembled model with side-printed ABS keycaps. From the top down, they are blank, meaning you’ve got to be a competent touch-typist at least, although they can at least be swapped out for other keycaps with more standard legend placement if you’d prefer. These are ABS keycaps, so come with a cheaper feel than the PBT I crave, but nonetheless are decent enough under finger.

Connectivity here is purely wired via a USB-C to USB-A cable provided in the box, while inside the CSTM65 in pre-built form comes with either Gateron Yellow KS3 linear or Gateron Brown Pro 3.0 soft-tactile switches. My sample came with the latter. They’re a reasonable clone of MX Browns, although the tactility isn’t as crisp or present, and with the switches being lubricated, it has had the unfortunate side-effect of dampening the feeling a tad. With this in mind, they are comfortable switches to use for typing and the occasional piece of gaming, although if they aren’t what you’re after, you can soon change them to other switches with 3 or 5-pin mounting as the CSTM65 is hotswappable.

Acoustics here are also solid with the lubed switches, polycarb case and innards, and the range of sound-dampening foam that lives inside the CSTM65. There isn’t any case rattle or ping, and it sounds excellent. The RGB lighting on offer is bright, and with the side-printed keycaps, certainly adds to the overall aesthetic. It is addressable with the CSTM65 supporting both QMK firmware flashing and VIA, as Drop’s own online configurator where you can flash firmware choices directly to the keyboard. It is a little fiddly, but makes for powerful customisation.

In its prebuilt form, the Drop CSTM65 is going to run you $129, which for a mechanical choice with this much customisation, is rather decent value for money. Not many keyboards offer as much modularity as the CSTM65 without you paying a fair bit more, and if that’s what you’re after, this is an excellent keyboard.

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WhiteFox Eclipse review: Reviving one of the most important custom ‘boards from a decade ago

Buy:

The WhiteFox Eclipse may not be the first keyboard that comes to mind when it comes to talking about some of the most important keyboards of all time. That discussion is usually reserved for the IBM Model F or M (and usually brought up with its mention of well-made clones). However, I’d argue, as Alpaca Keyboards (the folks behind the Whitefox Eclipse) would, that Matt3o’s Brown Fox is one of the most.

Allow me to explain – the WhiteFox Eclipse is a modern reproduction of one of the first custom keyboards developed from the ground up from a member of the mechanical keyboard hobbyist community – namely Matt3o on Deskthority. You might have heard of Matt3o before – he used to collaborate with Drop/Massdrop on a range of keycaps, with some of his designs still stocked. Back in 2013, he set out to build a custom keyboard from the ground up, opting to go for an laser cut acrylic case; hand-soldered, plate mounted MX switches (MX Blues for the main keys, MX Red for arrow keys and MX Green for the space bar) aluminium plate and some lovely brown keycaps, christening it the Brown Fox.

From there, the keyboard was launched in collaboration with Massdrop and Input Club in 2015 with some tweaks, known as the White Fox, which became the most-backed keyboard on Massdrop at the time, and popularised a form of the 65 percent layout that has since become a favourite for enthusiasts. The interesting part comes a couple of years later when Alpaca, the makers of the new Whitefox Eclipse, was established by former members of Massdrop’s mechanical keyboards team, who then set out to make a new version of the Whitefox keyboard. After a few years of development, the WhiteFox Eclipse was brought to market.

The similarities between the old WhiteFox from Massdrop and the new Eclipse model here are mostly cosmetic, with the same clean white finish, a similar ‘TrueFox’ 68 percent layout with a nav cluster and arrow keys on the right hand side, and the same Cherry profile dye-sub PBT keycaps. It results in a keyboard that looks gorgeous and wonderfully modern.

My sample is the plastic case version, although you can also get it with an aluminium case, much like the Massdrop version. It’s reasonably sturdy, although comes with some flex under pressure. By default, the WhiteFox Eclipse is a tall and flat keyboard with the case being quite thick and with it coming with full-size switches. This means it can be quite difficult to use without it being raised up to a more comfortable angle. To this end, I’m especially grateful for the magnetic feet that are provided in the box.

On the older Massdrop version, you got a serious amount of choice with the switches inside the WhiteFox. In total, there were 11 to pick from with a range which were the most popular among users of Massdrop at the time. You had a choice of more standard options such as Cherry MX Red, Blue, and Brown, alongside their Gateron clone counterparts, as well as odder options from the MX lineup that are rare even now – MX Green, Clear and White. You also got Gateron Green and Clear options, as well as Zealios switches, which were Gateron soft tactile switches that offered a similar force to MX Clears, a higher actuation point, and a supposedly even smoother actuation.

With the Eclipse version here, things are a lot simpler. This keyboard comes with pre-lubed Gateron Yellows inside, which are a 50g linear switch that feel especially smooth under finger. Unlike other Gateron choices in the past, these have a consistent, responsive keypress which felt excellent to use when typing up plenty of words in articles and such. Their lubrication also allowed for fantastic acoustics alongside the presence of a lot of poron foam inside the case for dampening. If these switches aren’t to your liking though, the WhiteFox Eclipse is hot-swappable. That’s one benefit of this newer version against the Massdrop option.

This keyboard is also gasket-mounted, which has become a standard feature on a lot of prebuilt mechanical choices these days, lending the typing feel to have a slightly bouncier and perceivably more responsive feel against other options. It works in the Eclipse’s favour, offering a comfortable experience, all things considered.

Connectivity is handled by Bluetooth connectivity on up to 3 devices, with pairing on each channel handled by holding down the Fn and Q, W or E keys respectively. The WhiteFox Eclipse also plays nicely on both Windows and macOS and worked without an issue on both OSes in my testing. For macOS use, there are also Mac-specific keycaps included in the box, alongside blue-coloured and Fox accent keys to stay true to the original, a keycap and switch puller, a double-ended spudger for accessing the keyboard’s innards and a fantastic quality braided USB-C to USB-A charging cable.

Alpaca rates the WhiteFox Eclipse’s 4000mAh battery to last for around 90 hours on a charge. This is pretty solid overall, and means you’ll be able to go for a good couple of weeks before needing to charge it back up again. That 90 hour runtime is also with the RGB lighting on, which is great. Turn it off, and this extends all way to 10 days.

There isn’t any additional software here, with customisation limited to changing the RGB lighting mode through a series of keyboard shortcuts. There are a range to choose from, with most of them displaying colours of the rainbow in a slightly different patterns, although some only do this in red and white, or a different shade of blue. You can use Fn and M to change the pattern, and Fn and K to cycle through different colours for the pattern. There is single colour backlighting contained within these settings, although isn’t as easy to access as with actual software.

The WhiteFox Alpaca is an interesting successor to the original choice, adding some modern functional touches to one of the most important custom keyboards of the last decade. The market may have shifted a fair bit since the original version’s release, but there’s no doubt that this reimagined version still holds up in 2024.

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HHKB Studio review: The legendary Japanese keyboard returns, although with a different everything

Buy:

I’ve been using an HHKB Professional Hybrid Type-S, which is one of our favourite small form factor keyboards, on and off for the last 18 months. On its own, the HHKB is an expensive Japanese cult sensation known for its electro-capacitive switches which are unlike anything else, and its odd layout. The HHKB Studio is the PFU Corporation’s attempt to offer a first-party HHKB for the more normal mechanical keyboard enthuisast – allow me to explain.

There are two big differences with this new Studio model against the normal models, the first of which is its choice of switches. As opposed to opting for the classic Topre electro-capacitive options inside, the Studio uses silent linear switches from Kalih with a 45g actuation force. They were surprisingly smooth to type on and felt responsive for day-to-day working, although I still prefer electro-capacitives in my normal HHKB. They just have a crisper keypress because of their unique tactility that you miss out on with linears such as in the HHKB Studio, but the Kalih switches inside felt excellent for office work while also being super quiet.

The other big difference against the normal HHKB is the addition of a trackpoint slap bang in the middle of the alphanumeric keys. The trackpoint is recognisable for being in the sea of IBM and Lenovo ThinkPads across from the 1990s to today, as well as other laptops from that era. It was a patented tech by Lenovo in 1997, although with its expiry, it has made its way into other products, such as the HHKB Studio. In essence, it is a pointing stick that offers a way of moving your mouse cursor without the need for a mouse.

It takes some getting used to, and you do have to be precise with it, but the trackpoint is a reasonably useful addition to the HHKB Studio’s arsenal. There are also gesture pads around the bottom of the Studio for making tasks such as scrolling easier, as well as dedicated mouse buttons below the space bar for left, middle and right click. That’s an interesting addition, and one I did find myself using a fair bit – more than I thought I would, admittedly.

Along with the trackpoint, the HHKB Studio also bundles in some interesting gesture pads, which allow you to use the sides of the board’s chassis for commands such as increasing and decreasing volume, or scrolling through a web page. It’s an interesting addition here, although not one I found myself using too much due to its unfamiliarity compared to a traditional rotary dial.

It’s worth discussing the HHKB layout just before I move on, as it looks a bit weird. It’s all thanks to a collaboration between Japanese computer scientist Eiiti Wada and the PFU Corporation, the Japanese firm that makes the HHKB. Wada wanted a layout that would work with the range of different operating systems and computers he used in the mid 1990s. What resulted is a very comfortable layout with some small, but worthwhile modifications, such as moving the Ctrl key to where Caps Lock would normally be to reduce the distance your fingers need to travel for performing common functions such as Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V, removing the key between Backspace and Enter to make it easier to hit both of them, and moving the Function key to a row above its placement on a traditional keyboard.

The HHKB Studio also works without a hitch on Windows and macOS, although comes with macOS keycaps by default – as an aside, the dye-sub PBT keycaps here are some of the best I’ve used. There is multi-point Bluetooth with it being able to connect to up to four devices at once, with pairing a breeze thanks to a key combo. There isn’t any USB receiver action here though, although having Bluetooth is arguably easier. I certainly had no trouble.

Software comes in the form of the HHKB Studio Keymap too, which allows you to remap keys, as well as add functions to dedicated keys, such as enabling the gesture pads’ functionality with a modifier key. In addition, there are also several function layers to program keys on to provide a fair amount of flexibility. It may not be as powerful as VIA, but the software is quite useful. The only issue is that it has to be used when the HHKB Studio is plugged in, which has you reaching for the cable if you want to remap any keys.

Then there’s the price – you might want to make sure you’re sitting up for this. The HHKB Studio is yours for £325/$329, which is hilariously expensive for a niche keyboard. It’s only something I’d recommend if it’s what you’re really after. Personally, I like the HHKB Studio, but then I am kind of the target market. For everyone else, if you want the HHKB experience in layout only with more customisation choices, this is great, but for everyone else, get a more ‘standard’ HHKB. You’ll thank me later.

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Wildcard: NCR-80 R2 review: A DIY keyboard kit with retro sensibilities

Buy:

I usually include a wildcard, or odder, choice in these roundups if you want to consider something that’s even more niche than the three choices above for small form factor keyboards. Allow me to introduce you to the NCR-80 R2.

On its own, it’s a TKL mechanical keyboard kit that you can purchase in barebones form with a PCB, stabilisers and case. There aren’t any switches or keycaps included, so you will need to purchase these separately.

In a world where mechanical keyboard design has become increasingly zany, bright and perhaps a bit wacky in some cases, the NCR-80 might seem a little boring. There is a good reason for this, though. This beige plastic case is designed to mimic the older Cherry G80 and G81-3000 models from the 1990s, and does so admirably. Having used my fair share of G80-3000s old and new (my very first mechanical ‘board was one with MX Blues), I can safely say that the NCR-80 nails it, and arguably improves on those late-era versions with an injection moulded plastic frame that suffers from no flex whatsoever. It also leans into the G80-3000’s look with bright green functioning lock lights in the top right corner, a lovely NCR logo in the opposing corner, and a totally-not Cherry label on the reverse.

Of course, as a more modern take, you get benefits such as a USB-C port for wired connectivity, while there is full QMK and VIA support for controlling key functionality and programming on different layers. The PCB inside is also hot-swappable, and you can have whichever switches you want in here, as long as they’re 3 or 5 pin. You will have to supply your own though, as this is just the chassis, PCB and stabilisers.

The very kind folks at MechBoards UK sent this over, and specced it out with some TTC Golden Blues. I felt like it had to be something clicky because it leans into the romanticised era of loud keyboards that the G80-3000 was born into back in 1988. These are 37g tactile switches with a total travel of 3.5mm, making them lighter and snappier than your standard MX Blues. I found them quite comfortable to use for writing up all sorts of content, and being a lighter switch, you could conceivably use them for gaming, if you’re a madman. Nonetheless, the Golden Blues in here fitted well with the feel of the NCR-80, as do the lovely beige keycaps provided, which round off the look wonderfully.

I may swap the switches out down the line for a spare bag of MX Black Clear Tops that I’ve got in storage somewhere. Those are part of the recent series of ‘official’ MX reissues that included proper versions of the MX Ergo Clear community mod, and the revival of the MX Orange. Clear Top Blacks, or Nixies as they’re affectionately known, were initially made for a run of keyboards produced by Nixdorf in the 1980s, so I feel they’d fit well in here, but that’s for another day.

The thing with the NCR-80 is is that it isn’t one of these kits that cost an arm and a leg. At £120/$90 online, it’s one of the more ‘affordable’ ones I’ve come across, and one that blends wonderful retro charm with livable features and fantastic customisation in a lovely overall package. If you can get one, it’s definitely worth it.

So, there you have it. Four reviews of some small form factor keyboards I’ve indulged in testing over the last few months. If you’ve got any recommendations for other products for Will or I to test, feel free to drop them in the comments below or pester me on Twitter @RBithrey or on Bluesky @rbithrey.bsky.social.

NetEase’s PvPvE sandbox action horror, Once Human, started testing its mobile port back in September, and now we finally have a mobile release window: April 2025.

In an end-of-year livestream, NetEase also revealed what new features Meta-Humans can expect when the mobile version drops, including three new scenarios: Code: Purification, Code: Deviation, and Code: Broken. The latter is a 10-day PvP scenario, whilst the first two are PvE.

We’ll also get to experience the all-new Visional Wheel from 16th January, which introduces new wrinkles to gameplay courtesy of new weapons, powers, and rules, as well as making enemies stronger and adversely impacting player sanity. Oh, and there’ll be a holiday event running across Christmas and the new year, too.

Once Human is also expected to come to console – complete with cross-platform support – as well. There’s still no date on that, though. Sorry.

Interested? Head on over to the official website to pre-register your interest now. Right now, over 26 million Meta-Humans have signed up, unlocking a slew of free gifts including cosmetics, skins, decorative items, and crafting resources.

I gave Once Human a modest three out of five stars when I reviewed it for Eurogamer, saying it offers a deeply moreish open world scavenge-em-up, but weak action and generic clutter hold it back. Since launch, however, NetEase has ramped up its premium in-game offerings, including cosmetic loot crates.

“Not for one moment did I expect a F2P live service offering to be anything other than an unmitigated slog stuffed with the pitfalls and unforced errors of every other game I started and stopped playing, so wildly over-saturated is this genre. But here I am, late at night again, fashioning myself a Slippery When Wet sign to put beside my water tank.”

The developer behind NetEase’s survival free-to-play horror, Once Human, recently said the feedback it’s received about the game’s second season has been “quite demoralising”.

A video game charting the true story of the Nakba, the ethnic cleansing of Palestinian Arabs in 1948, has secured three-quarters of its crowdfunding goal with over three weeks still to go.

Dreams on a Pillow – a “pseudo-3D stealth adventure game about a land full of people being made into a people without land” – tracks Omm, a young mother from an olive farmers’ family in al-Tantura. With Omm, you’ll traverse historical events and stories of the Nakba as she attempts an escape towards Lebanon in the North.

The crowdfunding page explains that Palestinian game developer Rasheed Abueideh is “asking for your support and blessing as he sets out on his largest game project so far, which has been a dream of his for almost a decade”. To date, it has realised £104.5K of the £155,823 Abueideh seeks to raise and is set to close on 13th January.

“Almost exactly a decade ago, as an Israeli invasion tore through Gaza, Rasheed Abueideh recognised the power of games: they let players step into someone else’s reality,” the description explains.

“Not long after Rasheed began development of Liyla & The Shadows of War, a game that brought to life the harsh realities of living under invasion, apartheid, & occupation. The development was fraught with obstacles and rejections: Apple declared the game ‘too political’, and temporarily banned the game – and while publishing funding in the games industry were aggressively funding games, a Palestinian game was deemed ‘too controversial’. Rasheed persevered, and Liyla became a global phenomenon.”

Abueideh said Dreams on a Pillow is “proof that games can tell the stories of anyone, anywhere”. For more, head on over to the crowdfunding page, where pledges range from £24 to £8000.