“I love the idea of using bumper stickers as a form of self-expression, but I got to thinking about how ‘permanent’ they are, and how my own style, mood and taste tends to change relatively quickly,” he says. “I wanted to see how I could resolve those things – could I make a bumper sticker that was always up to date? Would it still be interesting if it wasn’t permanent?”
On track
Figuring a changeable bumper sticker would be both practical and fun, he initially decided to experiment by connecting a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W computer to a 5-volt HDMI display before working out a way to gather and share information about the song he was currently listening to in near real-time. He figured the best method would be to connect the Raspberry Pi device to the internet and make use of the online music service Last.fm. “It’s a ‘scrobbling’ tool that you can use to keep track of everything you listen to, regardless of where you’re listening from,” Guy explains.
By connecting Spotify to his Last.fm account, Guy had a way of grabbing details about his most recently played tune. Raspberry Pi could then pull that information and send it to the display for others to view. Since he wanted his project to look like a bumper sticker, this entailed creating an easily updated graphic – one with black text on a yellow background – that could be easily updated with new details – and Guy came up with the idea of using an image file that could be produced and rendered just before it was shown.
To enable this, Guy turned to a social website called Val Town which allows developers to code in the cloud. He wrote a small chunk of code – referred to as a val – that would access and fetch his Last.fm profile to gather details of the last song he was listening to. He then, with the assistance of Val Town’s AI, wrote another val to use a Javascript HTML5 canvas library to lay out the bumper sticker using the information gathered. This involved a lot of trial and error to make the text fit correctly, but he was able to successfully create, export and display a PNG image without any manual intervention.
Driving forward
With the nuts and bolts of the project in place, it was time to start refining. “I always start with components I already have or already know how to use,” Guy says. “I then quickly get as close as I can to a finished version, and then I see if there are any deal-breakers or cheap and obvious ways to improve the design. I find that momentum, as well as the ability to see and feel a project early on, really helps me stay on track, even if I know I’m going to have to revise things.
Given the idea was to create a device that looked as much like a real bumper sticker as possible, Dupont swapped out the display for an 11.3-inch strip LCD. “Size, shape, and readability came before anything else,” he explained. Figuring he’d be drawing power from a 12-volt car battery, he also grabbed a couple of breakout connectors and a buck converter to knock the power down to five volts.
Initial plans to connect the Raspberry Pi computer to the internet using a hotspot on his phone were revised as well. Dupont realised that he’d need to manually connect Raspberry Pi to the hotspot every time he got into his car and he knew, in his heart of hearts, that he would eventually tire of doing this, causing him to eventually consign the project to a drawer. To avoid this situation, he utilised a Particle Baron IoT development board which he also happened to have lying around.
“The main advantage of the board versus using the phone as a hotspot is that I never have to touch it or remember to turn it on,” he says. The board connects to Raspberry Pi and uses cellular data, the bonus being there are no monthly fees. The data is limited in quantity, but there’s more than enough for Guy’s intended use which makes for a perfect fit. With everything working, it was then a case of installing it, which required a spot of in-car wiring – and some dismantling of the vehicle’s interior panels.
The right path
The Raspberry Pi and other components were affixed to the back of the display panel which was also fitted with magnets to allow the device to be easily secured to the back of the car. For a neat finish, the device was placed in a heat-shrink sleeve that happened to be the perfect size. A bit of cutting was then required to allow the screen to show through, and Guy used some glue around the cuts for weatherproofing.
It works well. Powered by the car battery as soon as the vehicle is turned on, it immediately connects to the internet, grabs the required information and displays it. “Honestly, everything went pretty smoothly with this build,” Guy said. “It’s funny, but the thing that held me up the most was trying to figure out which HDMI settings would make this oddball display show what I wanted it to!”
Guy particularly likes the fact that it’s entirely automated so he always knows that it’ll be displaying his songs when he tootling down the road. “It lives with the car, which also means the sticker continues to work even if my wife is driving,” he laughs. “I’m afraid to ask whether she thinks that’s a bug or feature!”
Looking for a fun and creative way to brighten up the holiday season? With the Arduino Plug and Make Kit, you can build an interactive LED light installationthat reacts when someone walks by – perfect for spreading cheer and adding a high-tech twist to your decorations.
This project is easy to make, super fun to use, and fully customizable. The component includes the UNO R4 WiFi, Modulino Distance, and Modulino Buttons as well as all the cables and accessories you need to bring your decorations to life. All you have to add is a 5 V LED strip (like this one, for example).
Your step-by-step guide to LED magic
Anyone can recreate and personalize this project for festive lights: with the Plug and Make Kit’s snap-together design and Arduino Cloud integration, creating something amazing has never been easier. Just follow this step-by-step tutorial on Project Hub, complete with code templates and wiring instructions.
Here’s what you’ll need:
Arduino Plug and Make Kit, which already includes UNO R4 WiFi, Modulino Distance, Modulino Buttons, and Qwiic cables
A 5 V LED strip
Some jumper wires
A power bank (optional)
The project starts similarly to our recent jack-o’-lantern project, with the Modulino Distance sensor detecting movement and triggering an action. But in this case, instead of a scary cackle you’ll recreate whimsical light animations on the LED strip. These are pre-configured, and can be easily controlled either with Modulino Buttons or remotely, via the Arduino Cloud dashboard: you can adjust the color of the LEDs, select your favorite animation, and even set the lights to react only when someone is near – perfect for adding a playful surprise.
Why stop at festive lights?
The Arduino Plug and Make Kit makes it easy to expand your project. With its versatility, you can modify the interactive lights to fit any creative idea. Add more sensors for different triggers, or use other Modulino nodes to include audio effects, track data, or create patterns based on the weather – your imagination is the limit!Ready to spread some light and joy? Build your own interactive light project and share it with us! Upload your designs to Project Hub or email creators@arduino.cc to get in touch. We can’t wait to see how you make the season bright with Arduino!
“Using a Raspberry Pi Pico, a light dependent resistor (LDR), a breadboard, some DuPont cables, and tape, I automated the famous Google T-Rex game,” Bas explains. “The LDR detects differences in analogue measurements whenever it senses cacti, which are always dark-coloured and appear on the same plane. The analogue-digital converter [ADC] port of the Pico measures each passing cactus ten times per second. After a 0.2-second delay, the Human Interface Device [HID] library simulates pressing the ‘up’ button on the keyboard, making the T-Rex jump at the right time.”
For Bas it was a fun way to show people he teaches and trains how the HID libraries work in code: “I’ve found that simulating single or multiple key presses with embedded processors stimulates the creativity and inventiveness of training participants,” he tells us.
See the light
Raspberry Pi Pico was the obvious choice for Bas. “[It’s] easy to obtain, very cost-effective, and supports MicroPython, CircuitPython, and Arduino C++,” Bas says. “It has a small form factor, can be easily soldered onto a prototyping board using castellated connections, or placed into a breadboard using headers. Personally, I like the Pimoroni Pico Explorer Base for prototyping, as it includes a breadboard, LCD screen, buttons, and breakout connectors. I especially appreciate the MicroPython and CircuitPython capabilities – they’re easy to explain to students, powerful, [and have a] wide range of libraries.”
The build itself is fairly simple – an LDR is placed in front of the screen, with tape acting as ‘blinders’ to stop other light interference. A pull-up resistor was used to stabilise the measurements too.
“The program displayed the measured [light] values in real time, making it easy to define and adjust the threshold values to trigger the T-Rex’s jump,” Bas further explains. “I stored the delay time for simulating the ‘up’ button press in a Python variable, allowing for easy adjustments through Thonny.”
Jumping ahead
What’s next for the T-Rex Jumper? “I have various future plans for these types of educational setups,” Bas says. “I’m always excited when participants in my trainings come up with creative ideas for using HID functions in combination with sensors and actuators, as it means I’ve succeeded in educating them about computer science and improving their digital literacy. Personally, I find it very rewarding to develop and create accessibility tools for people with disabilities, as they can greatly improve quality of life and make a meaningful difference.
Speaking of the creative ideas they came up, here’s just a few: automatic typing poem generators, pedal-based keyboards, automated testing tools for user interfaces, automatic swiping of dating apps… the list goes on.
Our latest updates for Android and Pixel are packed with tons of AI-powered features — including Expressive Captions, an all-new feature that brings more feeling to captions, Gemini’s saved info, which remembers important information for you, and updates for Call Screen so it’s even easier to respond. Check out all the updates below.
Starting today, new AI features and more from Android can help you express yourself authentically and connect your digital life with real-world experiences. From audio captions that capture intensity and emotion, to image descriptions enhanced with Gemini, to clearer scans in Google Drive, check out the latest updates:
Expressive Captions are part of Live Caption, so they’re built into the operating system and available across apps on your phone. This means you can use Expressive Captions with most things you watch, like livestreams on social platforms, memories in your Google Photos reel and video messages from friends and family. When enabled, captions will occur in real time and on device, so you can use them even while you’re on airplane mode.
Bringing Expressive Captions to life
To build Expressive Captions, our Android and Google DeepMind teams worked to understand how we engage with content on our devices without sound. Using multiple AI models, Expressive Captions not only captures spoken words but also translates them into stylized captions, while providing labels for an even wider range of background sounds. This makes captions just as vibrant as listening to audio. It’s just one way we’re building for the real lived experiences of people with disabilities and using AI to build for everyone.
Starting today, Expressive Captions will be available in the U.S. in English on any Android device running Android 14 and above that has Live Caption. This is part of our work to find even more ways to bring emotional expression and context to captions.
ZephyrOS is an open-source, real-time operating system (RTOS) designed for low-power, resource-constrained devices. We are transitioning Arduino cores to ZephyrOS to ensure continued support and innovation for developers. This change follows ARM’s deprecation of MbedOS, which has historically powered some of our cores. By adopting ZephyrOS, we are introducing a more modern, scalable, and feature-rich RTOS that aligns with the evolving needs of the embedded development community. This ensures that Arduino users have access to a robust, actively maintained platform for creating advanced applications.
With this brand new beta program, we invite our community to explore, test, and contribute to this significant new development in Arduino’s evolution – one that will allow old and new Arduino users all around the world to continue using the language and libraries they know and love for many years to come.
What is ZephyrOS?
ZephyrOS is a state-of-the-art RTOS designed to enable advanced embedded systems. It is modular, scalable, and supports multiple hardware architectures, making it an excellent choice for the next generation of Arduino projects.
Flexibility: Customize and scale the system to your specific needs.
Extensibility: Benefit from a rich ecosystem of libraries and subsystems.
Community-driven innovation: Collaborate with a vibrant open-source community.
What’s new in this core?
The Arduino core for ZephyrOS brings significant changes to how Arduino sketches are built and executed. However, the integration between Arduino core and ZephyrOS operates seamlessly under the hood, providing advanced RTOS capabilities like real-time scheduling and multitasking, while keeping the development process as straightforward as ever. This means you can enjoy the best of both worlds: the ease of Arduino and the power of a modern, robust RTOS.
Dynamic sketch loading: Sketches are compiled as ELF files and dynamically loaded by a precompiled Zephyr-based firmware.
Zephyr subsystems: Leverage features like threading, inter-process communication, and real-time scheduling.
Fast compiling: Since only a thin layer of user code and libraries are compiled, while the rest of the ZephyrOS is already binary, compilation is faster and resulting binary files are smaller.
How to get started
Ready to dive into the future of Arduino development with ZephyrOS? Head over to our repository for comprehensive installation instructions, troubleshooting tips, and detailed technical documentation.
Contribute to the beta!
This is your opportunity to shape the future of Arduino development! We welcome feedback, bug reports, and contributions to the core. Visit the GitHub Issues page to report bugs or suggest features. Your feedback will play a critical role in refining this integration and unlocking new possibilities for embedded systems.
Visit theArduinoCore-Zephyr GitHub repository today and start exploring this exciting new platform! Thank you for being a part of the Arduino community.
The digital skills gap is one of the biggest challenges for today’s workforce. It’s a growing concern for educators, employers, and anyone passionate about helping young people succeed.
Digital literacy is essential in today’s world, whether or not you’re aiming for a tech career — yet too many young people are entering adulthood without the skills to navigate it confidently and recent research shows that many young people finish school without formal digital qualifications.
Whilst this challenge is a global one, we’re exploring solutions in England where computing has been part of the national curriculum for a decade and the option of studying for a qualification (GCSE) in computer science is available to many 14-year-olds.
The SCARI report shows that GCSE computer science isn’t available in every school in England, and even where it is available, only a fraction of students opt to study it. Where GCSE computer science is offered, the focus is not on broader digital skills, but more on programming and theoretical knowledge which, while important, doesn’t support young people with the knowledge they need to succeed in the modern workplace.
How the Manchester Baccalaureate will help tackle the digital divide
At the Raspberry Pi Foundation, we’re working with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority to tackle this challenge head-on. Together, as part of their Manchester Baccalaureate initiative, we’re developing a self-paced course and certification to tackle the digital skills gap directly.
The Raspberry Pi Foundation Certificate in Applied Computing is designed to be accessed by any pupil, anywhere. It includes a series of flexible modules that students can work through at their own pace. Targeted at young people ages 14 and up, the certificate covers three stages:
Stage 1 – Students gain essential digital skills, preparing them for a wide range of careers
Stages 2 and 3 – Students dive into specialisations in key tech areas, building expertise aligned with in-demand roles
What we’ve learnt in Manchester so far
We recently visited Oasis Academy Media City to hold a workshop on digital skills and get input on the certificate. We welcomed educators and industry experts to share their insights, and their feedback has been invaluable.
Teachers pointed out a common challenge: while they see the importance of digital skills, they often lack the time and resources to add new material to an already packed curriculum. By offering the certification as bite-sized modules that focus on specific skills, it makes it easier to slot the content into the timetable, and helps students with limited access to school (due to illness, for example) engage with the course.
Educators were particularly excited about the opportunity for students to specialise in areas tied to in-demand roles that are currently being recruited for and our goal is to make the qualification engaging and relevant, helping students see how their learning applies in the real world.
Next steps
We’re thrilled to share that, in November, we’ll be piloting this qualification in schools throughout Manchester. We’ll gather invaluable feedback from young people as they embark on this learning experience, which will help us refine the course.
Our full qualification will launch in 2025, and we can’t wait to help students approach their futures with curiosity and confidence.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming industries, and education is no exception. AI-driven development environments (AIDEs), like GitHub Copilot, are opening up new possibilities, and educators and researchers are keen to understand how these tools impact students learning to code.
In our 50th research seminar, Nicholas Gardella, a PhD candidate at the University of Virginia, shared insights from his research on the effects of AIDEs on beginner programmers’ skills.
Nicholas Gardella focuses his research on understanding human interactions with artificial intelligence-based code generators to inform responsible adoption in computer science education.
Measuring AI’s impact on students
AI tools are becoming a big part of software development, but what does that mean for students learning to code? As tools like GitHub Copilot become more common, it’s crucial to ask: Do these tools help students to learn better and work more effectively, especially when time is tight?
This is precisely what Nicholas’s research aims to identify by examining the impact of AIDEs on four key areas:
Performance (how well students completed the tasks)
Workload (the effort required)
Emotion (their emotional state during the task)
Self-efficacy (their belief in their own abilities to succeed)
Nicholas conducted his study with 17 undergraduate students from an introductory computer science course, who were mostly first-time programmers, with different genders and backgrounds.
By luckybusiness
The students completed programming tasks both with and without the assistance of GitHub Copilot. Nicholas selected the tasks from OpenAI’s human evaluation data set, ensuring they represented a range of difficulty levels. He also used a repeated measures design for the study, meaning that each student had the opportunity to program both independently and with AI assistance multiple times. This design helped him to compare individual progress and attitudes towards using AI in programming.
Less workload, more performance and self-efficacy in learning
The results were promising for those advocating AI’s role in education. Nicholas’s research found that participants who used GitHub Copilot performed better overall, completing tasks with less mental workload and effort compared to solo programming.
Nicholas used several measures to find out whether AIDEs affected students’ emotional states.
However, the immediate impact on students’ emotional state and self-confidence was less pronounced. Initially, participants did not report feeling more confident while coding with AI. Over time, though, as they became more familiar with the tool, their confidence in their abilities improved slightly. This indicates that students need time and practice to fully integrate AI into their learning process. Students increasingly attributed their progress not to the AI doing the work for them, but to their own growing proficiency in using the tool effectively. This suggests that with sustained practice, students can gain confidence in their abilities to work with AI, rather than becoming overly reliant on it.
Students who used AI tools seemed to improve more quickly than students who worked on the exercises themselves.
A particularly important takeaway from the talk was the reduction in workload when using AI tools. Novice programmers, who often find programming challenging, reported that AI assistance lightened the workload. This reduced effort could create a more relaxed learning environment, where students feel less overwhelmed and more capable of tackling challenging tasks.
However, while workload decreased, use of the AI tool did not significantly boost emotional satisfaction or happiness during the coding process. Nicholas explained that although students worked more efficiently, using the AI tool did not necessarily make coding a more enjoyable experience. This highlights a key challenge for educators: finding ways to make learning both effective and engaging, even when using advanced tools like AI.
AI as a tool for collaboration, not replacement
Nicholas’s findings raise interesting questions about how AI should be introduced in computer science education. While tools like GitHub Copilot can enhance performance, they should not be seen as shortcuts for learning. Students still need guidance in how to use these tools responsibly. Importantly, the study showed that students did not take credit for the AI tool’s work — instead, they felt responsible for their own progress, especially as they improved their interactions with the tool over time.
Rick Payne and team / Better Images of AI / Ai is… Banner / CC-BY 4.0
Students might become better programmers when they learn how to work alongside AI systems, using them to enhance their problem-solving skills rather than relying on them for answers. This suggests that educators should focus on teaching students how to collaborate with AI, rather than fearing that these tools will undermine the learning process.
Bridging research and classroom realities
Moreover, the study touched on an important point about the limits of its findings. Since the experiment was conducted in a controlled environment with only 17 participants, researchers need to conduct further studies to explore how AI tools perform in real-world classroom settings. For example, the role of internet usage plays a fundamental role. It will be relevant to understand how factors such as class size, prior varying experience, and the age of students affect their ability to integrate AI into their learning.
In the follow-up discussion, Nicholas also demonstrated how AI tools are becoming more accessible within browsers and how teachers can integrate AI-driven development environments more easily into their courses. By making AI technology more readily available, these tools are democratising access to advanced programming aids, enabling students to build applications directly in their web browsers with minimal setup.
The path ahead
Nicholas’s talk provided an insightful look into the evolving relationship between AI tools and novice programmers. While AI can improve performance and reduce workload, it is not a magic solution to all the challenges of learning to code.
Based on the discussion after the talk, educators should support students in developing the skills to use these tools effectively, shaping an environment where they can feel confident working with AI systems. The researchers and educators agreed that more research is needed to expand on these findings, particularly in more diverse and larger-scale educational settings.
As AI continues to shape the future of programming education, the role of educators will remain crucial in guiding students towards responsible and effective use of these technologies, as we are only at the beginning.
Join our next seminar
In our current seminar series, we are exploring how to teach programming with and without AI technology. Join us at our next seminar on Tuesday, 10 December at 17:00–18:30 GMT to hear Leo Porter (UC San Diego) and Daniel Zingaro (University of Toronto) discuss how they are working to create an introductory programming course for majors and non-majors that fully incorporates generative AI into the learning goals of the course.
To sign up and take part in the seminar, click the button below — we’ll then send you information about joining. We hope to see you there.
The Poly+ 5 is a Raspberry Pi 5 case in two flavours and colours. The case itself is moulded plastic with none of the aluminium work we’ve come to expect. The slightly transparent slidable top cover is available in red or black with a black base in both cases. The standard model comes with a 30mm PWM fan and an array of heatsinks. For a few more pounds you can opt for the mightier THRML-30 unit if you’re going to be running things hot. This is a similar unit to the official cooler with a fan and a large heatsink in one. If you forgo the fan you can fit a standard HAT in the case too (albeit one without any protrusions).
Assembling the case is straightforward. Attach the fan to the cover, pop on the heatsinks and clip everything together. It took no more than a few minutes. This is a clip-together screwless case (with the exception of the fan). The fan connects to the new fan header, so you get active, responsive cooling, just like the official equivalent.
In that case
In terms of usage: well, it’s a case and it does that job well. At no point did the Raspberry Pi leap out and do a runner, so we’ll call that a win. The fan was whisper-quiet throughout. There are no impediments to port access with the exception of the GPIO, which is fully covered. A thoughtful touch is the addition of a power button in a striking orange on the exterior, and next to that, unusually for a budget case, is a cover for the SD card (although this cannot be secured as with the NEO case). The base features ventilation slats to ensure good air movement from the fan. It stands on four rubber feet (also supplied).
Argon is trying to bring its design ethos to the budget market, and does it succeed? It’s certainly pleasing to look at, although lacking the sleek lines of the ONE or the elegant curvature of the official cases. What it does have in spades is value for money. At just £6 this is a great choice if you just need a protective, cooling.
Verdict
8/10
It’s a case. No fancy features, no extravagant design, no fancy lights. It is something that will protect and cool your Raspberry Pi well and at a fantastic price. If that’s what you need, look no further.
The Arduino Plug and Make Kit is all about turning creative sparks into reality in mere minutes. With its intuitive, snap-together design, even the wildest ideas become achievable – fast, fun, and frustration-free. That’s exactly what Julián Caro Linares, Arduino’s Product Experience team leader, discovered when he built his latest project for our in-house Make Tank: Button Clash, an arcade-inspired game for two players.
Button Clash was a popular attraction among the interactive demos we had at the Arduino booth at this year’s Maker Faire Rome! By connecting it via Arduino Cloud, we were able to collect stats in real time (fun fact: the left side won 54% of the matches!).
Meet Julián Caro Linares, Plug and Make Kit Star
Julián brings together technical expertise and passion for robotics, making, and human-centered design to create documentation, tutorials, and more for the Arduino Pro ecosystem. “Our team gets to truly transform prototypes into products,” he says. “It’s exciting to figure out the best way to explain to users how awesome these tools are, and to help them truly learn to create what they want or need.”
When it came to Button Clash, Julián drew inspiration from his love of physical interfaces and the pure satisfaction of smashing arcade buttons: “This game puts players into ‘inner childhood’ mode, where all you want to do is beat your opponent!”
Button Clash
Button Clash is a two-player game that challenges you to press an arcade button faster than your opponent. The rules are few and intuitive:
Once both players press their buttons simultaneously, the game begins with a simple melody played by the Modulino Buzzer node.
Smash your button as fast as possible, to fill your side of the LED matrix on the Arduino UNO R4 provided in the Plug and Make Kit.
The first player to take over half the matrix wins!
Building this game is a breeze thanks to the Modulino nodes and Qwiic cables in the kit. The arcade buttons require just a bit of soldering, but add a unique retro charm: well worth the extra step, in our opinion! The result is a highly engaging, customizable game that’s perfect for parties, family nights, or just unleashing your competitive spirit.
Creativity made easy
For Julián, the best part of the Plug and Make Kit is how it simplifies the process of turning out-of-the-box ideas into real projects. “Like the name says, you can just plug the different Modulino together and make your project: no matter how unconventional it is,” he says. Explore the full tutorial to replicate Button Clash on Arduino’s Project Hub and get inspired to create your own fun and interactive games! With the Plug and Make Kit, you can start your creative adventure today.
Everyone loves looking at exotic animals and most of us only get to do that at zoos. But, of course, there is a lot to be said about the morality of keeping those animals in captivity. So, good zoos put a lot of effort into keeping their animals healthy and happy. For more intelligent animals, like elephants, enrichment through intellectual stimulation is a solid strategy. With that in mind, a team of Georgia Tech students worked with Zoo Atlanta to give elephants a musical toy to enrich their lives.
Like the toys you get for your dog, this device’s purpose is to give the elephants some mental stimulation. It provides them with an activity that they can enjoy, thus improving their lives. It works by playing specific tones (known to please elephant ears) when the elephants stick their trunks in holes in a wall. In essence, it is similar to an electronic toy piano for kids — just optimized for elephant physiology.
An Arduino Mega 2560 board plays the tones through a DY-SV5W media player module, which outputs an audio signal to an outdoor speaker system. Each hole in the wall has a VL53L0X ToF (Time of Flight) sensor to detect trunks. Those sensors were paired with ATtiny85 microcontrollers that tell the Arduino when a trunk is present.
The researchers also added a real-time clock and an SD card reader to log activity, giving the team the ability to evaluate the response from the elephants. In the same way that you can tell your dog loves his new toy by how much he plays with it, the team was able to determine that the elephants enjoyed their musical device over the course of about a week.
“I used Raspberry Pi because I was recently working with Raspberry Pi and cameras for another project, a digital sensor for a film camera,” says Michael. “Although there are definitely simpler solutions with cheaper microcontrollers, I find it valuable to start with techniques I know rather than going down rabbit holes of learning new tools. I used two separate boards because Raspberry Pi 5 is my home server and NAS, which I did not want to mount on the kitchen window.”
But there’s a catch: the food that Michael was leaving out for the cats was also attracting birds, for which cat food is potentially unhealthy, so he needed to find a way of identifying birds and scaring them away. He eventually settled on a minimal solution that just – only just – qualifies for the label of ‘robot’: an actuator (a Tower Pro micro servo) connected to a chopstick that taps on the window to scare the birds away. If Raspberry Pi 5 detects a bird, it sends a request to Raspberry Pi Zero to activate the servo.
“Defining ‘robot’ is hard to pin down and frequently leads to disagreement among roboticists,” says Michael. “I believe that a robot is any physical thing with sensors and actuators. While some definitions require autonomy, that excludes arguably robotic things like human-piloted mecha or heavy industrial equipment. Relaxing the requirement of autonomy frames robots as tools that complement rather than supplant our abilities, which I find valuable in the current hype wave of AI and ML.
“There are commercial products that do similar things, like the Bird Buddy or pet-oriented indoor security cameras. By the time that I could hack those to get the functionality I wanted, I might as well have started with open-source tools.”
“My favorite projects include Blossom, an open-source robot platform that I developed during my PhD, and the Leica MPi, a swappable digital sensor for a Leica film camera. I’m currently taking a sabbatical at the Recurse Center, a programming retreat in New York, where I am exploring alternative HCI hardware and brushing up on AIML for robotics.”
We all know that the future of manufacturing lies in IoT — yet the path to adoption can sometimes feel daunting. But what if you could simplify the process and start seeing results quickly? That’s exactly what we’re going to explore in our upcoming Arduino Cloud Café webinar on December 10 at 5PM CET / 11AM EST.
This session is a unique opportunity to hear from experts at Arduino, AWS, and Atlas Machine as they dive into how industrial IoT is transforming manufacturing operations. Whether you’re just starting to explore IoT or looking for ways to optimize your existing systems, this webinar is for you.
What to expect
In this session, we’ll be sharing actionable tips and insights to help you easily integrate IoT into your operations:
Learn how to collect data quickly — without months of delays.
Understand how to retrofit your legacy equipment and get real-time visibility into your operations.
Discover how to integrate the data from Arduino devices with the rest of your business systems on AWS for smarter decision-making.
We’ll also be sharing real-world success stories, including how Atlas Machine & Supply leveraged Arduino (Opta and Arduino Cloud) and AWS solutions for predictive maintenanceand remote monitoring across their global fleet of industrial equipment.
And don’t forget, we’ll have a live Q&A session at the end, where you can ask our experts anything. Feel free to submit your questions throughout the webinar, and we’ll do our best to address as many as possible.
Meet the speakers
We’re excited to be joined by a fantastic lineup of speakers who are experts in their fields:
Richie Gimmel, CEO at Atlas Machine & Supply
Danny Kent, IoT Development Director at Atlas Machine & Supply
Andrea Richetta, Principal Product Evangelist at Arduino
Gabriel Verreault, Senior Manufacturing Partner Solutions Architect at AWS
Why you should join
If you’ve been looking for a way to simplify IoT adoption in your manufacturing operations, this is your chance to learn from industry leaders who are making it happen. Whether you’re trying to modernize old equipment or integrate IoT into your larger business strategy, you’ll walk away with valuable insights and tips you can start using right away.
Save your spot today! Don’t miss out on this chance to hear from the experts and get your questions answered. We can’t wait to see you there!
Another key element for The Great Circle’s take on the character was in having him change over time – MachineGames isn’t looking to create a static icon of who Indiana Jones is, but offer a meaningful exploration of how he grows after ‘Raiders’ and before ‘The Last Crusade’. That comes down not just to the story, but the game itself – MachineGames has found ways of hinting at Indy’s personal growth through mechanics.
“There are several ways we have worked with this,” begins Torvenius. “Throughout the game we reward the player with Adventure Points. These points can be spent to unlock skills that you find in ability books. These are basically new skills you learn throughout the adventure – and all these skills and moves you unlock have been carefully crafted to fit the character of Indy. Some of these are things like more health or stamina and others are related to handling the whip – all features intimately tied to Indiana Jones. This gives a sense of experience building up.
“We also have a visual progression with his hat and jacket becoming a tad more beaten up throughout the experience, and the same goes for the journal. Indy’s journal becomes more and more built out, and shows stains and scribbles on the pages to emphasize the player’s journey. All of these things combine to work together very nicely – the player will never be left feeling that the character of Indy is not evolving throughout the game.”
And, of course, playing the majority of the game in first-person plays a major part here too. While it may seem a challenge to set the game within a character so defined by his look, it gave MachineGames a chance to use their experience within this area – particularly in the recent Wolfenstein games.
“We knew this was super important challenge from the get-go,” says Andersson. “Luckily, this is not our first rodeo. Big parts of the team have worked together on story-driven first-person games all the way back to The Chronicles of Riddick and The Darkness. Also, I think the Wolfenstein series surprised the world by having a very interesting and relatable character with B.J. Blazkowicz, so we have had a lot of experience with this.”
“One important thing that has been part of our DNA for a very long time – and is definitely something that helps create great characters – is that we put story front and centre,” adds Torvenius. “We always start with a strong narrative, and we always end with a narratively strong ending. And our experience is weaving those stories tightly with solid gameplay.
“Having the perfect mix of strong cutscenes and interesting gameplay, driven by an interesting character that is complex with many nuances, that continues to evolve throughout the game, is crucial. A good story survives everything and that’s why we’re always so very focused on getting the story just right.”
Welcome to Next Week on Xbox! In this weekly feature we cover all the games coming soon to Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Windows, and Game Pass! Get more details on these upcoming games below and click their profiles for further info (release dates subject to change). Let’s jump in!
This story is a metaphor for climbing the corporate ladder. Get To Work is a punishing, yet satisfying experience about a young man on a mission to conquer the corporate world… on rollerblades. Maneuver a slippery character with rollerblades on both his arms and feet, who only knows how to move fast.
A hand-animated JRPG adventure that draws from genre classics. Join Jae as he goes on a journey with his best friends to try and fix the past in a story full of laughs, tears, and Elemelons. Engage in silly battles that involve timed hits, meter, and teamwork.
An isometric, story-rich RPG with a unique take on turn-based combat, character development features, and investigation mechanics, facing you with morally ambiguous choices – set in a world teeming with mysterious powers and strange ethereal beings called salutors.
Prepare to descend into the depths of the Underworld in Godsvivors! As a powerful god of Olympus, your mission is to challenge the ruler of the Underworld, Hades, and restore the balance of power. Battle through waves of demonic foes in this roguelite bullet-hell adventure, where every second counts. Godsvivors offers an action-packed journey through hell, blending fast-paced combat with a satisfying bullet-storm experience. Will you conquer the Underworld and emerge victorious?
After getting their home planet destroyed by a meteor, the cats’ only option was to flee on a spaceship and embark on a journey to find a new suitable planet to colonize and live. Super Astro Cat is a 2D pixel art shoot ‘n run with a jetpack mechanic. Choose wisely, as all their 9 lives are in your hands!
Lara found a magical backpack that gives her the power to fly through the skies and collect Light stars scattered across an enchanted kingdom. Embark on this journey filled with exciting challenges, helping Lara overcome obstacles, capture each star, and advance through the levels.
The Father of Final Fantasy, Hironobu Sakaguchi, and renowned composer Nobuo Uematsu return to deliver an original RPG story. Mechteria—a deathly mechanical infection that robs humans of their emotions and lives—is slowly engulfing the world. The protagonist Leo awakens with only one memory left to him in a strange land abundant with machines. Using the Warp Device that was left behind, Leo must now embark on an interdimensional journey to reclaim his lost memories and save the world from the mechteria infection.
The 2002 third-person survival horror shooter that serves as a sequel to the genre-defining 1982 film is back, remastered by Nightdive Studios to bring this innovative blend of fast paced squad action meets survival horror to the modern era. Where the movie ended, the true terror begins.
Where most of his customers find meaning in pastimes like worshipping deranged space gods, feeding random crap to a sentient black hole, endlessly digging for The Treasure, or mentally enslaving donut shop workers, Wilbur lives a more humble life, fixing the galaxy’s ills one broken ship module at a time. Fix stuff, read stuff, upgrade stuff, talk about stuff, discover stuff, and do all that stuff again, but better.
In the realm of Symphonia, music acts as a source of life and energy. Embody a mysterious violinist, brought back to life in a declining world. Your violin and bow are both your instrument and a means of transport. Catapult yourself through the world, and complete levels by solving exciting platforming challenges while re-activating the machinery that brings life and energy back to this world.
Grab a pencil and paper to write down what you need because no one is going to help you. You play the role of a detective who has been assigned a case. When you arrive at the crime scene, you find a hotel with several rooms. At that moment you will have to discover what has happened, but it will not be easy. You will have to be very attentive to your surroundings to find all the possible evidence. If you are a good detective you will find the truth that is hidden behind the walls of each of the rooms in “The Motel”.
Set in a huge open world reminiscent of the Americas during the golden age of steam trains, Railroads Online puts you in the role of a pioneer helping to shape the future of America. Build tracks, traverse vast landscapes in various steam locomotives, transport goods to earn money, and customize and buy new locomotives and equipment as you grow to become a railroad tycoon.
A free-to-play football game that features real footballers with a rich metagame. UFL offers tons of unique content like various club kits, boots, gloves, balls, and stadiums. In UFL, you create your club from the ground up, assembling a team of real-world footballers customized to your liking. Compete with players worldwide, climb the ranks, and win championships!
Dive into the action of American patrolling duty! Put on your uniform and step into the shoes of an American police officer with Highway Police Simulator. This game brings the heart-pounding action of the American Highway Patrol right to your fingertips. Immerse yourself in the unique challenges and serious police duties that officers face on a daily basis and truly feel what it’s like to patrol the highways while maintaining law and order.
A memory of a sweet kiss from last night. A lost cell phone. Three suspects. Become the main character’s helper, make story choices, collect hints, and clear mini-games. A full-scale mystery romantic comedy interactive movie.
Xbox Play Anywhere / Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Smart Delivery
You’re Alex, a rookie backpacker taking a much needed break from modern life. Your trip is interrupted when you are suddenly shipwrecked on Ambrosia Island; a beautiful long-forgotten place of myth and sunshine. It’s home to the gods of Greek mythology. They’re real after all, even if they are having an identity crisis. Can you discover the secrets of Ambrosia Island in this sun-drenched ‘Friend Em Up’ adventure?
You play as a Monarch in possession of an ancient soul-stealing crown with magical abilities. With its power, establish a kingdom in a perilous wilderness and defend it from mutants and bandits roaming the land. Build, gather resources, farm the land and more to turn your fledgling realm into a commanding, self-sustaining kingdom. As your fame grows, more will flock to your banner – but so will those who have come to overthrow you, including your friends in up to six-player co-op.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle™: Digital Premium Edition
Purchase the Premium or Collector’s Edition to secure up to three days of early access ahead of the game’s December 9 release date. Uncover one of history’s greatest mysteries in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, a first-person, single-player adventure set between the events of ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ and ‘The Last Crusade’. The year is 1937, sinister forces are scouring the globe for the secret to an ancient power connected to the Great Circle, and only one person can stop them – Indiana Jones.
A superhero team-based PvP shooter. Assemble an all-star Marvel squad, devise countless strategies by combining powers to form unique Team-Up skills and fight in destructible, ever-changing battlefields across the continually evolving Marvel universe!
Path of Exile 2 is a next generation free-to-play Action RPG created by Grinding Gear Games. Journey across the deadly continent of Wraeclast, meeting multiple immersive cultures while facing off against evil in many forms. Path of Exile 2 features twelve character classes, 240 Skill Gems, hundreds of equipment base types, a six-act campaign, more than a hundred unique boss fights, a deep endgame system and so much more.
Set in Japan around the early Edo period, Aiko’s Choice is a stealth strategy game that takes place within the story of Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun. This standalone expansion focuses on one of the main game’s protagonists: the kunoichi adept Aiko. She is a master of camouflage and distracts enemies disguised as a Geisha. Although Aiko was certain that she left her old life behind her, Aiko’s former sensei, the cunning spymaster Lady Chiyo, reappears from the shadows to challenge her. Together with her deadly companions she sets out to hunt down the ghosts of her past…
Find incredible new challenges, amazing graphics and improved mechanics. As a great monarch, you will fight many new and dangerous enemies using your clicker skills. Every click on your screen summons powerful warriors, deals crushing blows to enemies and directs the magic of nature into battle. Get ready for exciting battles, strategic decisions and unforgettable adventures! The future of the kingdom depends only on your skill and determination. Are you ready to become a real hero and save the world?
An exciting combat game that breaks with traditional schemes. Instead of the typical punches and combos, strategy boils down to three buttons: rock, paper, and scissors. Get ready for a cerebral challenge where your quick thinking and mental agility are key! Hop on the elevator of fun and prepare to act swiftly! Face all kinds of rivals and prove that you can outshine everyone in the arena. Become the undisputed champion!
Westild’s Law offers dynamic shootouts where you must cleverly use every element of your arsenal to achieve victory. Throw dynamite to clear your path or send enemies flying, you can throw your weapon at your enemies to stun them when ammo runs low and then take their weapons. Also when the situation gets critical, activate “ultra-sense”, slow-down time and enhance your abilities to showcase the true power of the hero.
Beat the Machine: Rebooted is a top down retro roguelike arcade shooter where you must defeat the virus T.O.M (Totally Overpowered Machine) that is invading Sector VIII. Play as Damon, the cocky cadet, willing to aid Sector VIII from total destruction. Guided by Logan, Syncopia and Pete, natives of Sector VIII, traverse across 25 levels corrupted by T.O.M’s virus brigade.
An intense top-down twin-stick shooter rogue-like game that plunges players into the heart of a zombie apocalypse. As a lone survivor, your mission is to navigate through procedurally generated levels filled with relentless zombie hordes, utilizing a diverse arsenal of weapons and character abilities to stay alive.
In this 3D roguelike action game, you are a Valkyrie, choosing blessings from the Nordic gods to build your unique combat style. Go to complete the Taboo Trial guided by Loki. Unlock different Valkyries in Valhalla, each playable with distinct styles. Take up the weapons of the gods to challenge the “giants”, each weapon having a distinct combat style.
Choose your ingredients, slice, prepare, plate and serve delicious dishes with style in fun mini-games! The MasterChef judges will evaluate your dish based on your performance and speed. Complete and unlock new recipes, challenges, and mini-games along your cooking journey!
Bringing the beloved book series to life, dive into this action-packed, humor-filled adventure. The key to the city has fallen into the hands of a supa bad guy, unlocking all the prison doors and releasing many evildoers. Help Dog Man and his friends chase down the supa bad guys in their most impawsible mission yet!
Have you heard of ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude, but haven’t tried any of them yourself? Navigating the world of large language models (LLMs) might feel a bit daunting. However, with the right approach, these tools can really enhance your teaching and make classroom admin and planning easier and quicker.
That’s where the OCEAN prompting process comes in: it’s a straightforward framework designed to work with any LLM, helping you reliably get the results you want.
The great thing about the OCEAN process is that it takes the guesswork out of using LLMs. It helps you move past that ‘blank page syndrome’ — that moment when you can ask the model anything but aren’t sure where to start. By focusing on clear objectives and guiding the model with the right context, you can generate content that is spot on for your needs, every single time.
5 ways to make LLMs work for you using the OCEAN prompting process
OCEAN’s name is an acronym: objective, context, examples, assess, negotiate — so let’s begin at the top.
1. Define your objective
Think of this as setting a clear goal for your interaction with the LLM. A well-defined objective ensures that the responses you get are focused and relevant.
Maybe you need to:
Draft an email to parents about an upcoming school event
Create a beginner’s guide for a new Scratch project
Come up with engaging quiz questions for your next science lesson
By knowing exactly what you want, you can give the LLM clear directions to follow, turning a broad idea into a focused task.
2. Provide some context
This is where you give the LLM the background information it needs to deliver the right kind of response. Think of it as setting the scene and providing some of the important information about why, and for whom, you are making the document.
You might include:
The length of the document you need
Who your audience is — their age, profession, or interests
The tone and style you’re after, whether that’s formal, informal, or somewhere in between
All of this helps the LLM include the bigger picture in its analysis and tailor its responses to suit your needs.
3. Include examples
By showing the LLM what you’re aiming for, you make it easier for the model to deliver the kind of output you want. This is called one-shot, few-shot, or many-shot prompting, depending on how many examples you provide.
You can:
Include URL links
Upload documents and images (some LLMs don’t have this feature)
Copy and paste other text examples into your prompt
Without any examples at all (zero-shot prompting), you’ll still get a response, but it might not be exactly what you had in mind. Providing examples is like giving a recipe to follow that includes pictures of the desired result, rather than just vague instructions — it helps to ensure the final product comes out the way you want it.
4. Assess the LLM’s response
This is where you check whether what you’ve got aligns with your original goal and meets your standards.
Keep an eye out for:
Hallucinations: incorrect information that’s presented as fact
Misunderstandings: did the LLM interpret your request correctly?
Bias: make sure the output is fair and aligned with diversity and inclusion principles
A good assessment ensures that the LLM’s response is accurate and useful. Remember, LLMs don’t make decisions — they just follow instructions, so it’s up to you to guide them. This brings us neatly to the next step: negotiate the results.
5. Negotiate the results
If the first response isn’t quite right, don’t worry — that’s where negotiation comes in. You should give the LLM frank and clear feedback and tweak the output until it’s just right. (Don’t worry, it doesn’t have any feelings to be hurt!)
When you negotiate, tell the LLM if it made any mistakes, and what you did and didn’t like in the output. Tell it to ‘Add a bit at the end about …’ or ‘Stop using the word “delve” all the time!’
How to get the tone of the document just right
Another excellent tip is to use descriptors for the desired tone of the document in your negotiations with the LLM, such as, ‘Make that output slightly more casual.’
In this way, you can guide the LLM to be:
Approachable: the language will be warm and friendly, making the content welcoming and easy to understand
Casual: expect laid-back, informal language that feels more like a chat than a formal document
Concise: the response will be brief and straight to the point, cutting out any fluff and focusing on the essentials
Conversational: the tone will be natural and relaxed, as if you’re having a friendly conversation
Educational: the language will be clear and instructive, with step-by-step explanations and helpful details
Formal: the response will be polished and professional, using structured language and avoiding slang
Professional: the tone will be business-like and precise, with industry-specific terms and a focus on clarity
Remember: LLMs have no idea what their output says or means; they are literally just very powerful autocomplete tools, just like those in text messaging apps. It’s up to you, the human, to make sure they are on the right track.
Don’t forget the human edit
Even after you’ve refined the LLM’s response, it’s important to do a final human edit. This is your chance to make sure everything’s perfect, checking for accuracy, clarity, and anything the LLM might have missed. LLMs are great tools, but they don’t catch everything, so your final touch ensures the content is just right.
At a certain point it’s also simpler and less time-consuming for you to alter individual words in the output, or use your unique expertise to massage the language for just the right tone and clarity, than going back to the LLM for a further iteration.
Ready to dive in?
Now it’s time to put the OCEAN process into action! Log in to your preferred LLM platform, take a simple prompt you’ve used before, and see how the process improves the output. Then share your findings with your colleagues. This hands-on approach will help you see the difference the OCEAN method can make!
Sign up for a free account at one of these platforms:
ChatGPT (chat.openai.com)
Gemini (gemini.google.com)
By embracing the OCEAN prompting process, you can quickly and easily make LLMs a valuable part of your teaching toolkit. The process helps you get the most out of these powerful tools, while keeping things ethical, fair, and effective.
If you’re excited about using AI in your classroom preparation, and want to build more confidence in integrating it responsibly, we’ve got great news for you. You can sign up for our totally free online course on edX called ‘Teach Teens Computing: Understanding AI for Educators’ (helloworld.cc/ai-for-educators). In this course, you’ll learn all about the OCEAN process and how to better integrate generative AI into your teaching practice. It’s a fantastic way to ensure you’re using these technologies responsibly and ethically while making the most of what they have to offer. Join us and take your AI skills to the next level!
A version of this article also appears in Hello World issue 25.
Over the past two years, we’ve been working behind the scenes to improve the process of setting up your Android phone and transferring your information, so you can bring what’s important to you, with you.
Here are the top four updates we’ve made to make the switch even easier:
1. Android Switch on phones around the world
To make the process of switching to a new device as simple and straightforward as possible, we launched Android Switch, our streamlined onboarding experience, with several phone manufacturers.
We know it’s important to be able to get your chats, calendars, contacts and more on your new device, including the nitty-gritty information like your Wi-Fi, screen lock and Google account. That’s why our Android Switch experience walks you through clear steps to get set up and to learn about the features on your new device.
2. Faster data transfers
If you’re using a cable to switch from iOS to Android, it’s 40% faster to transfer your data compared to 2023. This saves hours for people who have a lot of data to move from phone to phone.
Having the information you care about on your new phone is essential to making it feel like your own.
3. More flexibility for switchers and upgraders
If you’d rather check out your new phone first and transfer your data later, we’ve got you covered. Available with Pixel 9 and coming to more Android phone makers in 2025, you can quickly complete your initial setup and get your data when you’re ready. When ready, just head to Settings to copy data from your old device or check out the app on Google Play. From there, you’ll be able to connect to your old device and get the information you want, when you want it.
For those upgrading an Android device to a new one, we’ve got an express setup option. You can opt to transfer only the information that is stored on the device, and none of the information you already have stored in the cloud. And, if you have a Pixel Watch, that device will prompt you to transfer data to your new phone at the end of setup.
4. Easier messaging with the people you love
Of course, the way you connect with friends and family is just as important as the information on your phone. This year, Apple adopted RCS. Now, whether your loved ones are on Android or iOS devices, you can send high-res images and videos, react to text messages with any emoji you like, and add or remove people from group chats.
This year’s top entertainment on Google TV had it all: action-packed thrills, dramatic twists, and even a few laughs. But with so much great content out there, it can be hard to keep up.
Today, we’re making it easier for you to look back at the most popular shows, movies, and music from this year with the Best of 2024 collection on Google TV devices and the Google TV app. So whether you’re in the mood to re-watch, or finally tune in to that show everyone was talking about, Google TV makes it easier to choose what to watch, with the best of 2024 all in one place.
You can save Best of 2024 content to your watchlist to enjoy later and share your favorite titles with friends and family using the share button on the Google TV app.
Dive into action with the most watched movie
Looking for a good action thriller for your next movie night? “Road House,” the remake of the 1989 classic, has an edge-of-your-seat plot, a superstar cast, and a touch of nostalgia. Check
Until the 21st century, cathode-ray tube (CRT) TVs were pretty much the only option. As such, media was made to suit them. Retro video game consoles in particular look best on CRT TVs. But those old TVs are getting hard to find and desirable models are now quite expensive. So, bitluni built his own “fake CRT TV” that works using lasers and UV magic.
Conventional CRT TVs work by shining an electron beam onto a phosphorescent screen, which glows for a moment after being excited by the electrons. Electromagnetic coils deflect that beam so it can scan across the X and Y axes of the screen. Add some clever modulation and you’ve got moving pictures.
The fake CRT made by bitluni works in a similar manner, except it has a 405nm laser pointer instead of an electron beam, stepper motors instead of deflection coils, and a screen printed in special UV-reactive filament instead of a phosphorescent screen. The two stepper motors move mirrors to direct the laser and an Arduino Nano board controls those through a CNC shield.
However, that system is far slower than that of a real CRT, so bitluni had to operate it a bit differently. CRT TVs normally make raster images by scanning across the entire screen, row by row, until the beam reaches the bottom and the process repeats. The fake CRT TV works displays vector graphics instead. That means that it moves the laser to trace the lines of the shapes to display, which is the same way that old tube oscilloscopes worked.
But that is still pretty slow, so bitluni can’t display anything particularly complex or fast-moving. Still, it looks great in the 3D-printed retro-style enclosure. It isn’t suited to playing Super Mario Bros., but it is a nice decorative piece.
The holiday season is upon us, and the ID@Xbox team is thrilled to showcase this month’s picks for Indie Selects. But first, we want to extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone for supporting independent games on Xbox over the past year. Indie Selects is our special platform to celebrate the incredibly weird and unique. Someone’s perfect game isn’t necessarily a massive blockbuster IP, but may be a polished and emotionally resonant story, a brand new spin on an existing idea, or just something truly unusual. Thank you for checking out our recommendations and supporting amazing game creators on our platform.
Secondly, instead of giving you a one-week December Selects collection, we decided to build out 3 weeks’ worth of 2024 Indie Select Highlights. Each week, starting December 11, we’ll be highlighting and promoting 18 of our favorite titles that launched this last year. Be sure to check out the Indie Selects section in the Xbox Store (head to the Games Home tab and a few rows down) every Wednesday for more must-have indies.
Finally, on January 28, 2025, we will celebrate the one-year anniversary of this program with a 2024 Anniversary Collection. Our team will pick six top Indie Selects from the previous year that we believe are absolute must-haves and place them in this prestigious shrine for all to witness. We have more surprises, new sales, and new collections planned for 2025, but for now, let’s focus on the present.
This month is stuffed. There were so many titles to choose from that truly pushed the envelope in terms of unique design, mysterious mechanics, dramatic storytelling, and the art of fun. We all made some strong cases for what we wanted to champion. Some of us were still in our October bag and needed something terrifying to get the heart pumping. A lot of us, understandably, wanted to build a bond with a giant wolf that we could ride on to our next adventure. Several of us wanted to get lost in something: a mysterious world, impossible choices, or maybe just our own creativity. We ended up with a list that thankfully kept everyone happy here and we’re sure that there’s something here that you won’t soon forget. Here’s what we’ve got for you this month (in no particular order):
I don’t know if any of you are looking for more reasons to get emotional, but Neva will hit you right in the feels. I played through last weekend and found myself in awe of its beautiful presentation, visual splendor, and haunting soundtrack. I was also reduced to tears on occasion. It’s an incredibly moving piece of software that also happens to be quite fun and compelling to play.
This follow-up to the gorgeous and emotionally charged Gris from Nomada Studio shows a studio honing in on their craft. Gris was an impactful work of art; Neva takes that core formula and adds satisfying yet simple platforming and combat to the mix. The game is only about 5 hours from start to finish but those hours will make you reflect inwardly and touch your heart in ways that are rare for games. If the combat scenarios get a bit tricky for you, the game offers a “Story Mode” difficulty that removes the health bar entirely and allows you to play without the fear of dying.
Neva
Devolver Digital
☆☆☆☆☆104
★★★★★
$19.99
Neva is an emotionally-charged action adventure from the visionary team behind the critically acclaimed GRIS. Neva chronicles the story of Alba, a young woman bound to a curious wolf cub following a traumatic encounter with dark forces. Together they embark on a perilous journey through a once-beautiful world as it slowly decays around them. Over time, their relationship will evolve as they learn to work together, helping one another to brave increasingly dangerous situations. The wolf will grow from a rebellious cub to an imposing adult seeking to forge his own identity, testing Alba’s love and their commitment to one another. As the cursed world threatens to overwhelm them, Alba and her courageous companion will do whatever it takes to survive and make a new home, together.
Animal Well is an illusive, beautiful, 2D pixel art Metroidvania full of abstract puzzles in haunting, living environments. You play as a squishy little blob in a dark and wet world that offers up its own interpretive language on how to proceed beyond to the next area. As you progress through new areas, you’ll gain access to more routes as you find mysterious tools and understand their mechanics. The creatures populating the well create an interesting dynamic as you discover their purpose. Some animals are essential to solving complex problems and because there’s no real combat, other animals often must be cleverly avoided which in-and-of-itself can be its own puzzle. Even as you traverse area after area, the game is packed with so much to do and so many more secrets to find – well after the “ending”.
This is one of those special games that leaves an imprint. It took me some time to nail down what exactly it was that gave me goosebumps during each minute of my playthrough. Finally, it hit me. Your tiny, bright little blob, though very alive and cute, isn’t really the main character: The environment is! There are so many small moments and interactions with the environment that are so wonderfully satisfying, and they just keep happening one after the other. Delving into the deepest mysteries of the environment felt like I was asking the developer directly, “What were you trying to do here?” At some point, my goals for what I wanted to get out of the game shifted as I uncovered more and more secrets and felt rewarded for examining every pixel shift. If you relish finding everything in a game without looking for help online, prepare to put your skills to the test and enjoy the ride.
ANIMAL WELL
Bigmode
☆☆☆☆☆99
★★★★★
$24.99
Hatch from your flower and spelunk through the beautiful and sometimes haunting world of Animal Well, a pixelated wonder rendered in intricate audio and visual detail. Encounter lively creatures small and large, helpful and ominous as you discover unconventional upgrades and unravel the well’s secrets. This is a truly unique experience that can make you laugh in fear, surprise, or delight.
Planet Coaster 2 is gratifying for anyone who loves theme park and strategy simulations. As someone who loves both strategy and creativity, this game hits me in all the right ways. From the beginning, you enter a very vibrant world with spectacular visuals. The in-game characters are great at guiding you through the UI, tasks, and management of the park. There are so many possibilities on how you can design and build your dream theme park –and I can spend hours doing this! The coaster builder is very intuitive and allows for lots of creativity, letting you craft rides that are as crazy and wild as your heart desires. The management aspect pulls you right back to reality as a park owner, as you need to balance staff, finances, and guest satisfaction to keep everything running smoothly.
Being able to share your creation with other players – and being able to download theirs – adds another level of collaboration and fun to the community. It’s astonishing to see just how creative others can be! And even better than that, you can incorporate their vision into your own park. Whether you’ve spent endless hours managing parks before or new to the genre, Planet Coaster 2 provides the perfect mix of community, strategy, and creativity!
Planet Coaster 2
Frontier Developments
☆☆☆☆☆192
★★★★★
$49.99
Create a splash with Planet Coaster 2 – sequel to the world’s best coaster park simulator! Reach new heights of creativity, management, and sharing as you construct the theme parks of your dreams combining epic water rides and coasters to delight and thrill your park guests. Dive in now! EMBRACE CREATIVITY Expand your imagination: Enhanced and improved building and pathing tools let you create spectacular, true-to-life theme parks, complete with sprawling plazas. Make your mark on the world as you shape terrain and populate your park with stunning swimming pools and thrilling rides. It’s never been easier to bring your dream park to life. Next-level customisation: Embark on the coaster park experience of a lifetime as you push the boundaries of creativity like never before! Unleash your imagination as you build the most awe-inspiring themed creations with unparalleled customisation tools! For the first time, intuitively add scalable scenery and objects to every ride to elevate your park and give your guests a day to remember. Combine epic water and coaster rides: Create the ultimate experience for your thrill-seeking guests using piece-by-piece construction. Build a vibrant array of exhilarating rollercoasters and jaw-dropping thrill rides. Design a seamlessly interconnected park paradise with glistening swimming pools and twisting water flumes. Create unforgettable experiences: Surprise and amaze as you bring the dramatic flair of real-world theme parks to your guests with the brand-new event sequencer tool, while sophisticated global illumination lighting brings the theme park experience to your home with stunning visuals and striking authenticity. MASTER MANAGEMENT Find the secret to success: Balance thrilling your guests with managing your budget – populate your park with amazing efficiently powered attractions and the right amenities to boost your rating and become a theme park master. Take care: Provide for your guests’ health, well-being, and happiness so your park can thrive. With all-new waterparks comes the need for shade, sunscreen, lifeguards, changing rooms, and more to ensure everyone has their best day both in and out of the pool. Satisfaction guaranteed: Understanding the wants and needs of your guests has never been easier! The new ‘heat maps’ feature lets you understand the wider park’s needs at a glance before diving deeper into the details -simply select any guest to see how they and their immediate group are enjoying your theme park. SHARE THE RIDE Create together: Unleash your collective creativity in Sandbox Mode. Take turns to work on building a park with players around the world using a shared cross-platform save! Play together: For the first time ever, collaborate with friends in Franchise Mode to create the best theme park empire and compete with others to reach the top of worldwide leaderboards! Visit together: Soak up the fun and get up close and personal, as you experience other players theme park creations first hand – explore their worlds in first person as a park guest! Share creations: Share anything and everything! Upload coasters, rides, or even full theme parks for other players, and download and delight in other’s creations. All are easily accessible from the cross-platform Frontier Workshop both in-game and online.
Phasmophobia is a truly engaging horror experience in which you need to figure out what kind of ghost is haunting the locations you are investigating by using various ghost detecting tools. Each type of ghost creates specific supernatural phenomena that you need to identify and to puzzle out in your journal. If you get the correct ghost type, you win.
The secret sauce is in the experience you have while searching for the clues. The game masterfully uses classical horror cues like sound or light to create the feeling of a haunted house, reacting to your actions and making you always fear for your life. As you cannot really fight back, your only option is to get things done as quickly as possible while avoiding the danger.
Finally, the game is a great one to play with a few friends. Nothing beats hearing your friends screaming in your voice chat that they are about to die and the silence afterwards. That’s both the funniest part of the game – as well as the scariest.
Phasmophobia (Game Preview)
Kinetic Games
☆☆☆☆☆568
★★★★★
$19.99
Free Trial
This game is a work in progress. It may or may not change over time or release as a final product. Purchase only if you are comfortable with the current state of the unfinished game. INVESTIGATE
Immersive Experience: Realistic graphics and sounds as well as a minimal user interface ensure a totally immersive experience that will keep you on your toes.
Unique Ghosts: Identify over 20 different ghost types, each with unique traits, personalities, and abilities to make each investigation feel different from the last.
Equipment: Use well-known ghost-hunting equipment such as EMF Readers, Spirit Boxes, Thermometers, and Night Vision Cameras to find clues and gather as much paranormal evidence as you can. Find Cursed Possessions that grant information or abilities in exchange for your sanity. PLAY YOUR WAY
Locations: Choose from over 10 different haunted locations, each with unique twists, hiding spots, and layouts.
Game Modes: With 5 default difficulties and daily and weekly challenges, there are plenty of ways to test your skills.
Teamwork: Dive in head first, get your hands dirty searching for evidence while fighting for your life. If you’re not feeling up to the task, play it safe and support your team from the truck by monitoring the investigation with CCTV and motion sensors.
Custom Difficulty: Create your own games to tailor the difficulty to your or your group’s needs, with proportional rewards and come up with crazy game modes of your own! MULTIPLAYER
Co-operate: Play alongside your friends with up to 4 players in this co-op horror where teamwork is key to your success.
Play together: Phasmophobia supports all players together, play with your friends with any combination of input types.
Cross-play: Play alongside your friends on other platforms. Full details on the latest status of the game, how you can give feedback and report issues can be found at https://kineticgames.co.uk/.
Fear the Spotlight is a retro, ’90s-inspired horror game focused on puzzle solving, gripping story, and avoiding detection. Vivian and Amy sneak into their school at night for a séance which, of course, goes horribly wrong and Amy disappears. Now Vivian must search the school for her friend and uncover the mystery of the school’s past.
During the search you’ll be stalked by a monster – more specifically, a man with a spotlight for a head. There’s no combat, so you’ll need to avoid detection at all costs while you explore and solve puzzles which allow you acquire key items to progress further. This isn’t the type of horror game that is full of heart-pounding jump scares, but a slow build of creeping, uneasy, tension that adds to a great narrative experience.
Fear the Spotlight
Blumhouse Games
☆☆☆☆☆39
★★★★★
$19.99
Fear the Spotlight is an atmospheric third-person horror adventure with a disturbing mystery to unravel. Sneak into school after hours with Vivian and Amy, survive a séance gone wrong, solve tactile puzzles, and, whatever you do, stay out of the spotlight… Sunnyside High has a dark history. When Vivian enters the deserted corridors for a seance with the rebellious Amy, she suddenly ends up alone, and at the mercy of the monster who wanders the halls. Vivian must avoid its gaze, find her friend, and uncover the disturbing, murderous truth of a decades old tragedy. Fear the Spotlight is a creepy love letter to classic 90s horror experiences with a focus of rich storytelling, puzzle solving, and a tense atmosphere. This is a perfect narrative horror game for those new to the genre. ESCAPE THE NIGHTMARE The séance went terribly wrong. Amy has disappeared, and the school has transformed into a nightmarish version of its former self. Play as Vivian to uncover a dark hidden past while attempting to save both you and your friend DELIGHTFULLY HORRIFYING GAMEPLAY * Sneak to avoid detection from an unknown entity in tense hand-crafted stealth moments as Vivian explores the ominous darkness of the school corridors * Solve highly tactile puzzles that pay homage to classic genre favorites while evolving gameplay to satisfy modern horror fans * Explore the eerie setting of a derelict Sunnyside High with a flashlight, screwdriver, wrench, and more to uncover a web of mysteries 1990s ATMOSPHERIC DREAD Explore the hellish version of Sunnyside High as Vivian in this ode to classic 90’s teen horror. A retro art style, tense audio design, and a nostalgic setting will delight both veteran fans and those new to the horror genre AN EXPANDED STORY Dive even deeper into the dark world of Fear the Spotlight with an extensive additional storyline Fear the Spotlight is the first title to be published by Blumhouse Games, a video games label within Blumhouse Productions focused on championing the most creative and unique takes on the horror genre.
This is a love story. Right? Slay the Princess is a visual novel… but more like a choose your own adventure with the goal to slay the princess. But why? That’s what you need to find out by exploring several dozen prompts from the voice of a “narrator”, who sheds more light on the situation. The genius here is that your approach will determine your path, invite more voices to join the narrator, and alter the perception of each situation.
As your behavior becomes more defined, the princess’s physical form will manifest accordingly. This all culminates in the ending of one story and the beginning of another – again and again – as you progress through the hidden story beneath it all. The black and white pencil art is fantastic, the musical score is intense, and the voice acting is top of its class. It’s dark, creepy, charming and incredibly intriguing. Oh, and you’ll die a lot. Don’t worry about that. Just keep going. It’s worth it.
Slay the Princess – The Pristine Cut
Serenity Forge
☆☆☆☆☆204
★★★★★
$17.99
You’re on a path in the woods, and at the end of that path is a cabin. And in the basement of that cabin is a Princess. You’re here to slay her. If you don’t, it will be the end of the world. She will do everything in her power to stop you. She’ll charm, and she’ll lie, and she’ll promise you the world, and if you let her, she’ll kill you a dozen times over. You can’t let that happen. You do care about the fate of the world, right? Slay the Princess – The Pristine Cut is a fully voice-acted horror tragicomedy featuring the impeccable talents of Jonathan Sims and Nichole Goodnight, with lovingly hand-penciled frames by Ignatz-winning graphic novelist Abby Howard. This game features a princess. She’s very bad and you have to get rid of her for all our sakes. She’s just an ordinary human Princess, and you can definitely slay her as long as you put your mind to it. Hopefully you won’t die. But if you do, you’ll die a lot. Be careful and stay focused on the task at hand! What you say and what you believe will shift the story in dramatic ways. Ah, but what’s in the Pristine Cut? Are you sure you want to find out? If you do, you’re likely to discover things that are best left experienced directly. Seriously, turn back. … Oh, you’re still reading? Very well, I shall tell you. The Pristine Cut contains, precisely: – 3 brand new chapters replete with mysteries—and consequences.
– Never before seen Princesses who will all murder you without a second thought.
– Expansions to familiar routes: The Den, The Apotheosis and The Fury each have more than doubled in length.
– Over 35% more content overall—and all of it filled with great opportunities to listen to me and do your job.
– A new ending. And hopefully one that saves the world rather than damns it. – Gallery to Track Your Progress: Cherish your memories, relive your exploits, and uncover deeply hidden secrets with the new gallery feature.
– Over 1,200 New Hand-Penciled Frames hand-illustrated by Abby Howard.
– Over 2,500 New Lines of Dialogue fully voiced dialogue by the impeccable Jonathan Sims and Nichole Goodnight. Yes, prepare yourself for an expanded journey filled with new perils, difficult choices, and unforgettable encounters. Will you stay on the path to slay the Princess, or will the new chapters alter your fate? (That said, while I wish free-will weren’t a thing here, I cannot emphasize this enough: you have to slay her. Please.)
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