RUINER is a top-down action shooter created in the spirit of cult cyberpunk anime and game classics. RUINER has quick and brutal, yet sophisticated game play, an original world, matured story line and a unique visual style. It was born out of passion for great games but also for pushing the boundaries. RUINER is Reikon Games' take on cyberpunk motifs without it being a pure cyberpunk game. Their main inspiration is the world we live in. Because the future's already here.

Reviews:

• 84/100 PC Gamer
• 75/100 Metacritic Critics
• 7.5/10 Metacritic Users
• Very Positive - Steam

You can grab your copy of Ruiner at the Epic Game store for free until 11/13/19.
Download Ruiner

Nuclear Throne is Vlambeers latest action roguelike-like about mutants that spend their workdays trying to fight for the throne in a post-apocalyptic world. The radioactive waste in the world allows mutants to get ahead by mutating new limbs on the fly and the abundant availability of powerful weaponry makes the quest to become the ruler of the Wasteland one fraught with peril. All of this is really just an excuse for us to make a fun action game.

You can grab it here at the Epic Game Store for free this week, through 11/13/19.
Download Here

You take another drink as the canvas looms in front of you. A light flickers dimly in the corner. You’ve created countless pieces of art, but never anything like…this. Why haven’t you done this before? It seems so obvious in retrospect. Your friends, critics, business partners—soon, they’ll all see. But something’s still missing…

You look up, startled. That melody… Was that a piano? It sounded just like her… But, no—that would be impossible. She’s gone. They’re all gone.

Have to focus. How long has it taken to get to this point? Too long, but it doesn’t matter. There will be no more distractions. It’s almost finished. You can feel it. Your creation. Your Magnum Opus.

Dare you help paint a true Masterpiece of Fear? Layers of Fear is a first-person psychedelic horror game with a heavy focus on story and exploration. Delve deep into the mind of an insane painter and discover the secret of his madness, as you walk through a vast and constantly changing Victorian-era mansion. Uncover the visions, fears and horrors that entwine the painter and finish the masterpiece he has strived so long to create.

Features:

• Psychedelic horror – A sense of insanity means each turn of the camera may completely change the look of your surroundings.
• Victorian setting – Explore a game world inspired by masterpiece paintings, architecture and décor from the 19th century.
• Original and classic art – Numerous pieces of original art and music flesh out the story and environment.
• Story-focused exploration – Only through exploring the environment can you uncover the details of the painter’s dark and tragic past.
  

Layers of Fear is developed by Bloober Team and published by Aspyr.

Layers of Fear is available for free from the Epic Games Store from Now until Oct 31, 2019.

Grab it here while you can!
https://www.epicgames.com/store/en-US/product/layers-of-fear/home

Today through Thurs, Oct 31, Q.U.B.E. 2 is available for free from the Epic Games Store.

In Q.U.B.E. 2, players step into the shoes of Amelia Cross, a British archaeologist, who has awoken on a strange alien planet. With the help of fellow survivor, Emma, players must face the challenging puzzles of the Q.U.B.E. in order to try and find a way back home.

Key features stated from Epic Games:

• Master eleven puzzle areas and solve over 80 individual puzzles
• Explore diverse environments that expand the Q.U.B.E. world
• Experience an all new adventure and brand new characters
• Interact with new and improved game mechanics
• Original musical score composed by BAFTA nominated composer, David Housden
• Full color blind support, using symbols as a color aid
  

Game Scores

• Very Positive - Steam
• 76/100 - Metacritic Critics
• 7.4/10 - Metacritic Users
• 7/10 Good - GameSpot

Q.U.B.E. 2 is developed by Toxic Games and published by Ten Hut Games.

You can find it for free on the Epic Game Store this week located here:
https://www.epicgames.com/store/en-US/product/q-u-b-e-2/home

This help article was written with the intent to help those that may be running into performance issues with Magic: The Gathering Arena. This is not intended to be a fix, this is only to help give some possible improvement in performance, hopefully enough to make some of your experience go from "Unplayable" to "It is tolerable now".

For those that want more info, even if you are not tech-savvy, I will be writing a Part 2 of why this is all happening, what it means, and why it's important in easy to understand wording.

Note that before you start reading this, don't let the legth of the article scare you. Depending on which hardware you have, you will be skipping 2/3 of these sections!

A few terms to understand while you read this article are:

• PC - Personal Computer, this can be any desktop or laptop, focusing on Windows 7 or 10 based computers only.
• CPU - the Central Processing Unit, also known as the Processor. This is the Intel or AMD name you are probably familiar with. This is the brain of your PC and processes everything you do behind the scenes.
• GPU - Graphics Processing Unit, also known as the Video Card, Graphics chip or many other names. nVidia, AMD and Intel are the three names you most often associate with for GPU manufacturers. This is what processes everything that you visually see on the screen.

The CPU thinks about all the stuff behind the scenes, then sends it to the GPU to show you what it's doing. Everything you see on the screen, such as your web sites, your text document or your YouTube video that you're watching is processed by the CPU then sent to the GPU to draw on the screen for you to see.

As far as gaming is concerned, the CPU thinks about all the complex things Arena is doing, such as how the card is moving across the screen and what it's doing, such as making an animated effect, etc. It then sends this information to the GPU which processes it and draws it on the screen. The end result is you seeing a cool card flipping out of your hand onto the battlefield and a big creature animating out of it. They work together to make all of this happen.

Even though cards are a 2D object (they're just cardboard), you need to realize that they are running in a complete 3D rendered virtual environment. This takes a lot of power to make happen. If your computer is not up to the task, it's going to run very slow because the CPU and GPU just can't process all of the data fast enough to make it appear smooth on your screen while you play.

Because of this, it is only able to process and show you only a few frames at a time, and then just skips all the rest in an attempt to catch up. This is what gives you low Frames per Second (or FPS).

60 FPS is what you want to aim for, but I found that anything steadily over 25 FPS seems perfectly playable, albeit not very crisp or sharp looking. The more we can go over 30 FPS, the smoother and more fluent it becomes. My goal here is to get your closer to 25-30 FPS if we can. Anything over that is just icing on the cake for you.

I go much more in depth in Part 2 of this article if you care to read it. If not, continue on to some possible performance improvements.

I am only going to go over a few basic changes that nearly anyone can do.

There are a lot more advanced options out there, but most of it is not really necessary and will only add to your issues. Don't fall down the path of bad advice on the internet and disable and delete half your Windows files. That kind of advice will only make things worse and will not fix your game being slow.

I do this for a living, and see people bringing me computers all the time that won't boot and run slow because they followed bad advice on the internet to attempt to fix their problems.

These quick performance tweaks are quickly reversible with a few clicks and have no permanent ill effects on your computer.

One requirement is that if you are using a laptop is that you absolutely must have it plugged in in order to have maximum performance.

A fair warning, setting everything to maximum performance will really heat up a laptop quickly. Please play on a hard flat surface. If you are on a couch, or bed, please set a large book or magazine or other hard flat object under your laptop. Fabrics will block the vents and cause your laptop to overheat.

Another fair warning is that if any of these GPU driver updates or changes cause your computer to crash, then you have other things going on that are a lot worse than trying to make your game run faster. If this happens, you should seek local help in getting your computer working again.

I take no responsibility for anything that happens to your PC, you have been warned.

This help article will be broken down into 4 sections:

• Step 1 - Find CPU and GPU Model Number
  
• Step 2 - GPU Driver Update
• Step 3 - Windows Power Settings
• Step 4 - GPU Power Settings
• Step 5 - Arena Graphics Settings

I will only focus on the easy and free options in this article.

Lets start by updating your GPU drivers first. There may or may not be any updates for your GPU depending how old your PC is.

You will need to find out what your GPU is first, and maybe your CPU, depending on what you have, and whether your Windows version is 64bit or 32bit.

To get this information without too many clicks, you can hit your Windows key, and type "command", then hit Enter.

It will open a command prompt. At the prompt, type in the following:

• wmic cpu get name     then hit Enter
• wmic path win32_VideoController get name     then hit Enter
• wmic os get osarchitecture     then hit Enter
  
• winver     then hit Enter, a window will pop up stating if this is Windows 7 or 10
  

This will output two separate lines with the model of your CPU and the model of your GPU. Write these two lines down.

As you can see in the screen above:

• Intel HD Graphics is my GPU
• Intel Pentium N3710 is my CPU
• Windows is 64bit
  
• Windows version is Windows 10
  

Now that we have this information, we can move on to updating our GPU drivers.

nVidia Driver Update

For those with nVidia GPUs, you can click HERE to go directly to nVidia's driver download site.

From here, use the drop downs menus to select your exact GPU model, then click Search

On the next page, you should be presented with a Download button.

Download the driver and install it.
Reboot your PC when it has completed.

Skip down to Step 3.

AMD Driver Update

For those with AMD GPUs, you can click HERE to go directly to AMD's driver download site.

Once here, use the sliding boxes to select your exact GPU model, then click the Submit button.

On the next page, find the correct download for your version of Windows and click the Download button.

Download the driver and install it.
Reboot your PC when it has completed.

Skip down to Step 3.

Intel Integrated Graphics

For those with Intel Integrated Graphics, you may need to do a bit more work to find your driver update.

In the first step above when you looked up your GPU model in the command prompt, if it gave you the exact model number, you can skip ahead and go right to the download instructions.

If it didn't specify a model number, you will need to do a bit more digging to figure this out. Often it just says "Intel HD Graphics" and does not give you a model number.

If this is the case, you will need to look at the CPU Model number you wrote down earlier in Step 1.

The CPU listed here is a Pentium N3710. The first number in the model number will be the generation that it is. In this example the number is 3, so this is a 3rd Generation Intel CPU. This information will be needed in the next step.

Click HERE to visit the Intel Graphics Drivers support page

On this page, scroll down and click the appropriate generation link.

Next select the appropriate driver for your version of Windows.

On the final screen, again look for the appropriate download option for the version of Windows that you have. Typically the top one is the one you need. Note that it says Windows 10 64 bit, this will also include Windows 7 in the same download.

On the final screen, again look for the appropriate download option for the version of Windows that you have. Typically the top one is the one you need. Note that it says Windows 10 64 bit, this will also include Windows 7 in the same download.

Click the Download button.
Download the driver and install it.
If you get a message about you already having the latest driver, then you can cancel the install and continue on to the next step.
Reboot your PC when it has completed.

Now we need to change the Power Plan in Windows.

For the Windows power settings:
On your keyboard, press the Windows Key + R
This should bring up the Run box.
In the Run box, type in      control powercfg.cpl     and click OK.

It should open the Power Options in the Control Panel.

Note that it defaults to Balanced. You will need to change this to High Performance.

Select High Performance and close the window. You may skip down to Step 3 to change your GPU Power Settings.

If you don't see High Performance in the list of power plans, you will need to create one.
Click the Create a power plan link to the left.

Next select High Performance

Give it a name in the field below. I called mine High Performance, you can call it whatever you like.

When you are finished, click Next, and you should now have a High Performance power plan to select. Make sure your new High Performance power plan is selected and close the window.

WARNING: When you start up Arena or any other program that takes a lot of power to run, if using a laptop, it may heat up very quickly, and the fans may spin up very quickly and run loud. Please make sure your laptop is on a hard, flat surface so it has adequate cooling. Cloth surfaces, such as a bed, couch or your lap, may block air flow to the cooling system under or around the sides of the laptop. This can cause it to overheat and shut down, or cause it to slow down to the point it's running even slower. I take no responsibility for your computer overheating or becoming damaged.

Next we will look over settings to change for the GPU driver software that you have. Remember which one you have, it will be either Intel, nVidia or AMD, and skip to the appropriate section below.

For those of you with Intel integrated graphics, please follow this section. If you have AMD or nVidia GPUs, then skip this section and look for the appropriate heading below the GPU that you have.

Right-Click on your desktop, and select Graphics Properties.
Note that it should have a little blue icon exactly as you see below. Only this specific option will launch the correct Intel graphics screen to edit in the next step.

Next, it should open the Intel HD Graphics Control Panel.

Click on the Power icon.

Select Maximum Performance.
Click the Apply button at the bottom of the window and then close the window.
Skip ahead to Step 5 for Arena Graphics Settings.

For those with nVidia GPUs, please do the following. If you have an Intel or AMD GPU, then please see the appropriate Graphics Settings sections above or below this section for your specific GPU.

Right-click on your desktop, and select NVIDIA Control Panel

Navigate the menus on the left to find Manage 3D Settings

Scroll down on the main window and change Power management mode to Prefer maximum performance.

Once you have made this change, close the window and skip to Step 5 for Arena graphics settings.

For those of you with AMD GPUs, you will follow this section. If you have an Intel or nVidia GPU, you will need to look for the appropriate section above for your GPU's settings.

Right-click on your desktop and select AMD Catalyst Control Center

If your screen does not look like the one below, then click the Preferences button on the top right, and select Standard View. It should then take it out of advanced mode and show you the more simplistic settings that you will see on the following screenshots.

Select Power

Select PowerPlay

Change the Plugged In drop-down to Maximize Performance
Slide the Enable Vari-Bright slider to the left to Maximize Quality

At the top of the AMD Catalyst Control Center, click on the green Start arrow button
This will bring you back to the main screen.

Next, click on the link for Gaming Performance, found under the Gaming section.

Next click on Mipmapping

On the Mipmapping screen, slide the slider all the way to the left for High Performance.

Click back on the green Start menu arrow at the top again.

Back on the Main Menu, click on the Image Quality link in the Gaming section.

Next click on Anti-Aliasing Method

Slide the slider all the way to the left to Performance.

That's it for the AMD GPU settings.

Lets move on to Step 5 and change a few Arena graphics settings.

Launch Arena and go into the Graphics Settings

You can find the settings located in the upper right corner of the screen after clicking on the gear icon.

You will want to test with the same thing on the screen. The game will run slower the further along you get since there are more cards and animations happening. So test either when you keep your hand, or test when you're 5-6 turns in and there's a bunch of stuff on the battlefield. Sparky will time out your game after a while, so maybe every couple of minutes, just click something. I typically Attack All, then cancel, then Attack All again, then Cancel, it keeps the game active while I can play with all of the graphics settings.

Also, turn on this little diagnostics tool from inside MTG Arena. To do so, simply press Left Shift and the Period key. You will see an FPS meter in the bottom right hand corner as seen below.

NOTE: After making a change in the Graphics settings, you will need to reset the average for the FPS meter. To do this, just turn it of, and back on again by simply pressing Left Shift + Period keys for off, then press again for back on. This is important to show the change in average FPS, otherwise it's still averaging your FPS from previous settings which will be incorrect for what you are looking for.


Set everything to the following settings as seen below. Then start up a game in Practice mode so you can play with all the settings.

The above settings should be optimal for many people.

Here's what everything does to help you tweak your own settings.

• Full Screen - Check or Uncheck, up to you.
  • Unchecking it changes to Windowed mode, which also lowers the resolution. It both looks sharper and runs faster at the same time. Give this a try if Full Screen is too slow.
• Resolution - Start with maximum resolution, then work down.
  • Lower this setting a little at a time until you get a balance between acceptable game play, and how it looks visually. Lowering the resolution too much will make it blurry and hard to read the card text, but will speed it way up.
  • If you have a really high resolution monitor but a lower powered PC, you will need to adjust the resolution in Arena down until it's at an acceptable playable level.
  • Even a laptop with a built in screen can have a resolution higher than the rest of the laptop can keep up with for gaming, so you still may need to lower the resolution in-game.
• Quality Level - Set to Custom
  • This makes the below options visible or not.
• FPS Limit - Set to 60
  • If 60 is not an option, change to VSync
  • This is how many frames per second it is showing on your screen. The closer you can get to 60 the better. For slow PCs, you can set your FPS goal to 30fps.
  • Do not set to anything higher, as it will put undue strain on your computer to try to keep up while not giving you any better visuals.
• Anti-Aliasing - Set to Low.
  • This helps get rid of the jagged edges of the card edges and text on the cards.
  • Setting to High on a slow computer typically lowers your FPS by 3-8 FPS depending on how slow your computer is. While it may look crisper, it may be much to slow to play enjoyably.
• Shadows - Turn OFF
  • Shadows add a huge amount of processing strain to most games. Being a card game, we really don't need this. Turn it off.
• Bloom - Turn OFF
  • This gives visual lighting effects, especially in the fire or other light intensive effects. It makes it glow basically. You don't need this, and it will add a lot pr processing strain to your slow computer.
• Motion Blur - Turn OFF
  • This is something typically found in 3D shooters. It's where the camera focuses directly on the object of action (the you just played for instance) and blurs the rest of the screen until the object has stopped. I don't know why a card game needs this, and it adds undue processing strain to slow PCs. Turn if OFF.
• Ambient Occlusion - Turn OFF
  • In a nutshell, this is for more lighting effects. This makes the dark side of the moon dark since no light is showing behind it. In a card game, we really don't need to have these effects on since we only see the top flat side of a card. This adds a huge strain to slower PCs. Turn this OFF.

I saw a 2-5 FPS improvement from doing all of this.

If you start lowering your resolution, you will see in creases from 2-30 fps immediately.

The main improvement on the really slow PCs is just going to be lowering your resolution. Going from, say 1920x1080 down to 1366x760 gave an additional 7fps going from 22fps to 29fps and making it very playable at those settings.

You will need to find the right combo of resolution and windowed vs full screen mode.
Once you find an acceptable resolution, then change Anti Aliasing from Low to High and see if your computer can stomach the extra processing or not. If not, simply turn it back off.

Your PC may be running a tun of stuff in the background that's killing your performance too. This is not hard to disable, but you need to know what you're doing first, so perhaps seek help for some of these suggestions.

Disable Arena Trackers
I found that untapped.gg, one of the most popular options, made Arena runs 4fps slower on slow PCs. You may want to turn this off.

Also, if you are running more than one tracker, keep in mind that all of them are trying to read Arena's log data all at the same time, meanwhile Arena is trying to also write more log data. This kills your disk performance, and wastes processing power.

Task Manager Startup Items
Check your Task Manager Startup tab

You don't need 80% of what runs in there to be running all the time.
Disable all the obvious things an reboot.

All of those things will run perfectly fine when you click on their icons. They don't need to be running all the time when you aren't using them. Simply right-click on the Enabled wording after each item, and select Disabled.

Once you've gone through this list, reboot. Your PC will probably boot up noticably more quicker too.

Turn off Streaming Overlays
Apps like OBS, Discord, FRAPS and more are all constantly processing all the data going on all the time while you're playing. These absolutely kill performance. You should be running a powerful computer to be running these while gaming. If you don't have a powerful computer, or even if you do, try closing them all and seeing if things improve.

So, I only see a few FPS improvement after all that, now what?

Well if that didn't get you much improvement, I am sorry to say, you will need to spend some money next. This will help determine if you should spend any money or just get a new computer.

RAM Upgrade
How much RAM do you have?

If the answers is less than 8GB, you may want to upgrade your RAM.

I saw an average of 4-9 FPS improvement going from 4GB to 8GB RAM. It also cut the game's load screen and match load screen time in HALF!

4GB RAM is anywhere from $10-20 on Amazon, eBay, etc.

Upgrading from 4GB to 8GB was the single largest gain in performance for any of these slow PCs that I tested.

SSD Upgrade
I only tested on Solid State Drive upgrade on one slow laptop. I saw a 1fps improvement across the board, so this really has no effect once the game itself is loaded. Now, the game did load even half as fast as it did with extra ram, and the match load screens were also halved from even the ram upgrade. But once the game started, there was only a 1fps improvement. This is an awesome upgrade for anyone not on an SSD, but not necessary if you're only looking for Arena performance improvement while actually playing the game. SSD's start at $30.

Video Card Upgrade
For those with Desktops using Integrated Graphics (Intel HD Graphics or similar), you will see a significant improvement by adding in a dedicated video card.
WotC's recommended card starts at an nVidia GTX 560, which is still quite old, but can easily be found on eBay for under $30.

GOG, or Good Old Gaming, is giving away The Witcher: Enhanced Edition for free for signing up for their news letter.

The Witcher was the beginning of one of the most popular game game franchises.

Your name is Geralt of Rivia and you are a witcher, that means you kill monsters for a living. You were given special training to be the best at what you do and your body has been enhanced with potent elixirs to help you do it.

Suffering from amnesia you remember nothing of your past. Kaer Morhen, the last remaining keep of the witchers, was attacked by a mysterious organization, just as you were starting to lick your wounds there. The battle is won but the secret recipe for the mutagen, a substance required to create more of your kind, has been stolen. The surviving witchers set out to find and reclaim it and punish everyone involved. Memory loss or not, you are one of them.

Set in a dark fantasy world with a unique medieval, yet somewhat modern, feel to it, The Witcher isn't just another fantasy RPG. With a deep story, complex characters, and tough choices that actually matter, this game will keep you glued to your monitor for days.

• Arguably one of the best RPGs ever made, with a mature, non-linear story and a challenging combat system
• Beautiful graphics and an enchanting soundtrack create a very unique dark fantasy atmosphere
• The Witcher's universe is created by Andrzej Sapkowski - bestselling fantasy author

Review Scores:

• 86/100 - Metacritic Critics
• 8.5/10 - Metacritic Users
• Very Positive - Steam Users
• 8.5/10 - Gamespot

You can grab your copy here:
https://www.gog.com/gwent-welcome-bonus

***** IMPORTANT NOTE BEFORE CLAIMING FREE GAME*****
After trying to claim my copy, it stated that I needed to have GWENT in my game library alraedy. This is a card game for The Witcher, much like Hearthstone. GWENT is also free, and it looks like this is a way for them to get more users signed up to play it.

In order for me to get it added to my library, I had to download the GOG Galaxy client (their game launcher, like Steam) and then fully install the game before it would be "added" to my games library. It's a 2GB Download, but was quick and easy to download, then uninstall.

Once I did this, I was able to refresh the free The Witcher page and it let me claim my free game.

You may also want to remove the GOG launcher from your Windows startup as well after doing all this.

Surviving Mars is the free game available this week from the Epic Game store. It will be available until 10/17/19.

If you scroll further down the product page, you will find both of the expansion free as well -  Surviving Mars: Mysteries Resupply Pack and Surviving Mars: Space Race.

About This Game

Surviving Mars is a sci-fi settlement builder all about colonizing Mars and surviving the process. Choose a space agency for resources and financial support before determining a location for your colony. Build domes and infrastructure, research new possibilities and utilize drones to unlock more elaborate ways to shape and expand your settlement. Cultivate your own food, mine minerals or just relax by the bar after a hard day’s work. Most important of all, though, is keeping your colonists alive. Not an easy task on a strange new planet.

Building a sustainable colony in space
Building on a planet not fit for human life challenges you to build a smart, functional colony. Bad planning isn’t about traffic jams, it’s about survival of your colonists. You really don’t want rolling blackouts in a city constructed in a place without oxygen.

Individually simulated colonists
Each colonist is a unique individual with problems and strengths that influence the needs and behavior of the other colonists. Things can get really interesting if your chief scientists develops alcoholism after one too many long nights in the lab.

Futuristic Space Dome construction
Retro-futuristic super structures housing colonists, factories and commercial buildings with their own “neighborhood personality.” Create colonies that value science over everything else, while tired workers drink their pay away at a local bar, or attempt a utopia among the stars.

Exploration of Mars’ secrets
Inspired by the classic sci-fi of Asimov and Clarke, Surviving Mars holds many secrets. During each playthrough players may encounter one of Mars’ individually crafted mysteries. Uncovering these secrets might bring your colony great fortune, or terrible ruin. What is that sphere that manifested itself outside colony HUB B, and is it friendly?

Randomized research tree
Combine static and random research through experimentation, which allows for a different experience for each journey through the game. Attain new scientific breakthroughs by exploring the uncharted terrain of Mars's surface.

Unique retro-futuristic aesthetic
A sleek, modern take on the bright futurism of the 1960s. A time of exploration and adventure.

Expansive mod support
Craft your own fantastic buildings, parks or even a mystery to share through Surviving Mars’s extensive and convenient modding tools. Share your finest creations with the community to build the perfect society.

Also
Cloud Save Support, Full Controller Support and Paradox Achievements

Reviewers give it:

• 80/100 - PC Gamer
• Mostly Positive - Steam
• 76/100 - Metacritic Reviewers
• 6.6/10 - Metacritic Users

You can find it here:
Download Surviving Mars

Minit is a peculiar little adventure played sixty seconds at a time. Journey outside the comfort of your home to help unusual folk, uncover countless secrets, and overcome dangerous foes, all in hopes of lifting a rather unfortunate curse that ends each day after just one minute. Minit is a collaboration between Kitty Calis, Jan Willem Nijman, Jukio Kallio & Dominik Johann.

You can grab it for free from the Epic Game store until 10/10/19.
Download Minit