The trends of the digital world are ever-changing. Over the last couple of years, gaming has seen a huge spike in popularity. This has both provided the momentum for some awesome new releases, but also increased the risk gamers run just by playing. With popularity comes, unfortunately, scammers, ready to catch eager fans unawares – which means that we have to be even more on guard online than before. Below, we’ll give you our best tips to staying safe while looking for new games and recommend the current releases we find the most exciting.
How to make sure you’re on a safe site
One of the easiest ways to stay safe online is to make sure that the website you download your new game from is secure. This may sound like an insurmountable task, but it’s actually fairly easy and uncomplicated. It’s also great knowledge not just for gaming, but also for using the Internet in general.
An easy way to make sure a website is benign is by looking at the URL. If the URL starts with https, it means that the page is secured using a TLS/SSL certificate (the ‘s’ is literally for secure). Another simple method is to look at the domain name. Scam sites tend to use names that are very close to those of sites we know already, but with small differences, e.g. like two letters being switched. This is a big red flag and is in most cases a telltale sign that the site is a scam.
These tips should help you feel safe online when choosing which site to download your next game or software from. For example, you can find many of the games that are trending on Holyfile, which is a trusted source for software downloads.
Gaming trends: Retro, relaunches and strategy games
Now, let’s get to the fun part: The gaming trends! Of course, new contenders with innovative releases are constantly entering the gaming world – but when an old, familiar game makes a comeback, the nostalgia is hard to resist. Below, we’ll give you the lowdown on some of the most exciting releases right now.
Retro games for console and old-school computer
Retro gaming is really seeing a comeback these days, throwing it all the way back to the beginning of console gaming. Remember Donkey Kong? We’ve also seen the recurrence of Sonic and PinBall games, and good old computer games are also having their moment in the sun again. Now more than ever, people are truly reveling in the pure nostalgia of these games.
Relaunches: Old games made new
It’s not just games in their original form seeing a comeback. Developers are also reworking their original ideas and relaunching old games to fit today’s tech standards. This way, we get to revisit the old worlds, but in the high quality that we’ve gotten used to. As an example, Total War: Warhammer 3 has just been released, taking us all the way back to 1983 – when it was originally a board game. This goes to show how games stay with us for many years.
Strategy games are still going strong
Strategy games have been trending for a while and continue to do so, with many gamers appreciating the mental challenge of working strategically. When new games like Elden Ring are released, it gives them a new world to learn how to navigate, get lost and win in – while simultaneously putting them through the mental gymnastics they enjoy so much. What’s not to like?
