What we've been playing – mud slides, 9-0 wins, retro difficulty anguish, and space hoppers

4th October

Hello and welcome back to our regular feature where we write a little bit about some of the games we’ve been playing. This week, Kelsey digs out the DS to play The Urbz, for some reason; Tom inadvisably asks Jim for some help in Baby Steps; Marie leaps over a wall on a space hopper; Ed is determined to learn Final Fantasy Tactics, which keeps kicking his ass; Connor buys Persona 5 Royal in a Steam Sale; Chris gives a potted review of EA Sports FC 26; and Bertie tries to work out if he likes Steam sensation Megabonk.

What have you been playing?

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

To see this content please enable targeting cookies. The Urbz: Sims in the City, DS

I recently had the urge to revisit all of The Sims games on Nintendo DS and started with The Urbz, which is an absolute nightmare in terms of balancing your Sims’ needs and their relationships, but it’s all worthwhile to see the story of Daddy Bigbucks’ downfall unfold. Unapologetically goofy, they just don’t make Sims games like this anymore, though I’d sure as hell love to see more story-based console iterations of Sim adventures.

Baby Steps, PS5 ProBaby Steps is Death Stranding for Masochists Watch on YouTube

20 minutes into Baby Steps and I’m texting Eurogamer video’s Jim Trinca with a screenshot asking if I’ve gone wrong. I felt the game was pointing me in one direction and I deliberately looked around to go off in another, and well, I regret it. I’m stood at the bottom of a large mudslide of a hill, seemingly only able to get about half way up. Jim replies, stubbornly: “The only right way is up.”

Thanks, Jim.

Wobbly Life, Xbox Series X

I did not expect to get sucked in by Wobbly Life, but after a week of wobbling around the various different islands, I dare to say I’m hooked. And I first realised this game had me in its clutches when I stole my neighbour’s space hopper and used it to hop over the raised bridge into the city.