Dystopika is a beautiful cyberpunk city builder without the ugly details

Your only mission in this dark, futuristic city builder? Make cool skylines.

Some of my favorite games deny me the thing I think I want most. Elden Ring refuses to provide manageable save files (and I paid for it). Balatro withholds the final math on each hand played (and its developer suggests avoiding calculators). And the modern X-COM games force me to realize just how much a 98% chance to hit is not the same as 100%.

Dystopika (Steam, Windows) is a city builder in maybe the strictest definition of that two-word descriptor, because it steadfastly refuses to distract you with non-building details. The game is described by its single developer, Matt Marshall, as having "No goals, no management, just creativity and dark cozy vibes." Dystopika does very little to explain how you should play it, because there's no optimal path for doing so. Your only job is to enjoy yourself, poking and prodding at a dark cyberpunk cityscape, making things that look interesting, pretty, grim, or however you like. It might seem restrictive, but it feels very freeing.

Dystopika launch video.

The game's interface is a small rail on the left side of the screen. Select "Building" and a random shape attaches to your cursor. You can right-click to change it, but you can't pick one. Place it, and then optionally place the cursor near its top to change its height. Making one building taller will raise smaller buildings nearby. Reaching certain heights, or densities, or something (it's not explained) will "unlock" certain new buildings, landmarks, and decorations.

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Dystopika is a beautiful cyberpunk city builder without the ugly details

Your only mission in this dark, futuristic city builder? Make cool skylines.

Some of my favorite games deny me the thing I think I want most. Elden Ring refuses to provide manageable save files (and I paid for it). Balatro withholds the final math on each hand played (and its developer suggests avoiding calculators). And the modern X-COM games force me to realize just how much a 98% chance to hit is not the same as 100%.

Dystopika (Steam, Windows) is a city builder in maybe the strictest definition of that two-word descriptor, because it steadfastly refuses to distract you with non-building details. The game is described by its single developer, Matt Marshall, as having "No goals, no management, just creativity and dark cozy vibes." Dystopika does very little to explain how you should play it, because there's no optimal path for doing so. Your only job is to enjoy yourself, poking and prodding at a dark cyberpunk cityscape, making things that look interesting, pretty, grim, or however you like. It might seem restrictive, but it feels very freeing.

Dystopika launch video.

The game's interface is a small rail on the left side of the screen. Select "Building" and a random shape attaches to your cursor. You can right-click to change it, but you can't pick one. Place it, and then optionally place the cursor near its top to change its height. Making one building taller will raise smaller buildings nearby. Reaching certain heights, or densities, or something (it's not explained) will "unlock" certain new buildings, landmarks, and decorations.

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Rivian: Physische Knöpfe im Auto “sind Bug, kein Feature”

Rivians Software-Chef findet, dass Knöpfe im Auto eine “Anomalie” sind. Auch komplexe Funktionen will er idealerweise per Sprachbefehl verfügbar machen. (Rivian, KI)

Rivians Software-Chef findet, dass Knöpfe im Auto eine "Anomalie" sind. Auch komplexe Funktionen will er idealerweise per Sprachbefehl verfügbar machen. (Rivian, KI)

US Space Force warns of “mind-boggling” build-up of Chinese capabilities

Russia and China “have developed and demonstrated the ability to conduct war fighting in space.”

The chief of the US Space Force has warned that China is putting military capabilities into space at a “mind-boggling” pace, significantly increasing the risk of warfare in orbit.

“The number of different categories of space weapons that [China has] created and ... the speed with which they’re doing it is very threatening,” said General Chance Saltzman, head of space operations at the US military’s recently created force tasked with protecting American interests in space.

Saltzman spoke during a tour of Europe to raise awareness about the potential for conflict in space with powers including China and Russia and the need to cooperate with European allies to improve deterrence capabilities.

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US Space Force warns of “mind-boggling” build-up of Chinese capabilities

Russia and China “have developed and demonstrated the ability to conduct war fighting in space.”

The chief of the US Space Force has warned that China is putting military capabilities into space at a “mind-boggling” pace, significantly increasing the risk of warfare in orbit.

“The number of different categories of space weapons that [China has] created and ... the speed with which they’re doing it is very threatening,” said General Chance Saltzman, head of space operations at the US military’s recently created force tasked with protecting American interests in space.

Saltzman spoke during a tour of Europe to raise awareness about the potential for conflict in space with powers including China and Russia and the need to cooperate with European allies to improve deterrence capabilities.

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Fungi may not think, but they can communicate

Fungi form distinct networks depending on how food sources are arranged.

Fungi can be enigmatic organisms. Mushrooms or other structures may be visible above the soil, but beneath lurks a complex network of filaments, or hyphae, known as the mycelium. It is even possible for fungi to communicate through the mycelium—despite having no brain.

Other brainless life-forms (such as slime molds) have surprising ways of navigating their surroundings and surviving through communication. Wanting to see whether fungi could recognize food in different arrangements, researchers from Tohoku University and Nagaoka College in Japan observed how the mycelial network of Phanerochaete velutina, a fungus that feeds off dead wood, grew on and around wood blocks arranged in different shapes.

The way the mycelial network spread out, along with its wood decay activity, differed based on the wood block arrangements. This suggests communication because the fungi appeared to find where the most nutrients were and grow in those areas.

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