Wallet threat level: May 18, 2026

Wallet threat level is extreme once again! After the studio that made Disco Elysium split up, different developers have claimed they’re “the developers of Disco Elysium”. One of them is releasing a new game, Zero Parades: For Dead Spies. The wary Disco Elysium fan might consider that a wallet threat.

This week sees the release of a major first-party Nintendo title: Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, which seems very charming and could be a major wallet threat for those of us with young children. This week also features the release of Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight, which seems to encompass every piece of Batman media, including the Arkham games from Rocksteady and all the Batman movies. How can they possibly do all that in one game and still have a coherent narrative? Find out later this week.

This week also sees the release of an immersive sim headed by Warren Spector and Paul Neurath. Originally Thick as Thieves was envisioned as a PvP experience but is now a $5 release with a four-hour campaign that can be enjoyed as a solo experience or in co-op. 

But the most dire threat is from the Forza Horizon series reaching Japan. I will confess that I paid the extra $60 for the premium edition and I’m playing this early. Virtual Japan is even more beautiful than I had envisioned, and it’s just a delight to be exploring Tokyo and its surrounding countryside while trying to constantly remember that I’m driving on the wrong side of the road.

Monday (5/18/26):

• Corsairs – Battle of the Caribbean (PC) – “Get ready to scour the waves of the Caribbean in search of glory and riches! An immersive strategy game set amidst the world of buccaneering. Navigate tumultuous seas and manage a diverse crew to establish maritime dominance and ensure your fleet’s future.”

Tuesday (5/19/26):

• Forza Horizon 6 (Xbox Series X|S, PC) – “Discover the breathtaking landscapes of Japan in more than 550 real-world cars and become a racing Legend at the Horizon Festival.”

Wednesday (5/20/26):

• Thick As Thieves (PC) – “Thick as Thieves is a stealth-action heist game, playable solo or with a partner in crime in co-op multiplayer. Master the art of thievery through cunning gameplay across a 4-hour campaign in this dynamic new take on stealth.”
• Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core (PC early access) – “DEEP ROCK GALACTIC: ROGUE CORE is a 1-4 player co-op FPS action roguelite featuring sci-fi dwarves, alien horrors and procedurally-generated caves. Join the elite dwarven Reclaimers and fight through perilous mining facilities infested with deadly Core Spawn. For Rock and Stone!”
• Phonopolis (PC) – “Phonopolis is a story-driven puzzle adventure set in a hand-painted 3D world made of cardboard. Solve a wide variety of playful puzzles and help Felix end the Leader’s oppressive influence in a resonant dystopian city inspired by avant-garde art.”

Thursday (5/21/26):

• Yoshi and the Mysterious Book (Switch 2) – ” Play as Yoshi and help a mysterious talking book named Mr. E remember the creatures living within his pages. Open him up, explore colorful habitats, and experiment with each creature to learn all kinds of surprising facts across every page. On your journey, you might find Bowser Jr. popping up in habitats! What could he be up to…?”
• Burden Street Station (PC) – “A surreal, narrative adventure game where you shapeshift during conversations to uncover how God went missing.”
• Gallipoli (PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC) – “Land on the battlefields of the Ottoman Fronts of World War 1! Gallipoli brings the most authentic WW1 FPS battles yet, with desert warfare, beach landings, historical classes and realistic weaponry.”
• Luna Abyss (PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC) – “Luna Abyss is a single player story driven action-adventure with fluid platforming and bullet hell combat. You are a prisoner sentenced to explore a derelict megastructure that sprawls deep beneath the surface of the mimic moon Luna. You are tasked with recovering forgotten technology from within the Abyss and the lost colony it consumed. Every move you make will be overseen by your artificial prison guard named Aylin.”
• Schrodinger’s Cat Burglar (PC) – “Portal with cats – Become entangled in a quantum puzzle adventure! Mittens gains the incredible power to be in two places at once. Explore twisted test chambers, make mischief and evade capture by a whisker!”
• Zero Parades: For Dead Spies (PC) – “From the creators of Disco Elysium comes ZERO PARADES – an espionage RPG. You’re a brilliant but tormented operant on one final desperate assignment. Gather your broken network, untangle a web of lies, and prove yourself on the world stage – or blow it all up again.”
• Starbites (PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch 2, Switch, PC) – “Bitter—a desert planet riddled with the refuse left behind by an interstellar war. 45 years ago, the war suddenly ended when all of the spaceships crashed onto Bitter for reasons unknown. Now, a young salvager named Lukida hopes to escape this planet, but a sudden attack by a giant robot sets events into motion that will change her life—and the face of Bitter—forever.”
• Table Flip Simulator (PS5, Xbox, PC) – “This physics-based puzzler turns everyday frustration into cathartic destruction as you throw, smash, and flip tables through levels inspired by modern life. Your adventure begins with a bad day at work, when your boss demands you work overtime on your birthday, and escalates into a heroic journey to become the President of the most powerful nation on Earth: Antarctica.”

Friday (5/22/26):

• Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight (PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch 2, PC) – “Rise as the Dark Knight and experience the essential Batman story in a bold, action-packed adventure with hard-hitting combat, an open-world Gotham City, and the signature LEGO charm that fans know and love.”
• Bubsy 4D (PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch 2, Switch, PC) – “Join Bubsy on a new, intergalactic, platforming adventure! Yeah, we couldn’t believe it either. The world’s most infamous, wise-cracking bobcat has returned to 3D with new challenges, new moves, and even more purrsonality – in space! Run, jump, glide, and roll across alien planets, battle robotic sheep, and collect tons and tons of yarn. What could possibly go wrong?”
• Don’t Fall (PC) – “Will you manage to reach the summit? In this challenging 3D platformer, roll, jump, and climb through levels filled with obstacles and traps across diverse biomes. A precision challenge where every move counts as you navigate increasingly complex worlds.”