I like survival games because they let me live out my fantasy of leaving the computer behind forever and building a log cabin out in the woods all by my lonesome. No internet, no noisy eaters, just peace. Because isolation is so core to my dream, I rarely partake in MMOs, but Pax Dei's free weekend has piqued my interest.

Pax Dei isn't a new diversity programme, it's a "social sandbox MMO" where you can build your own home, make your own clothes, and generally just live out a medieval life. The idea behind it is that everything is player-led. You can set up a market stall full of goods you've made yourself, from armour to flowers, and trade with other players.

There's also dungeon diving, where you'll rummage up the gold you need to buy wares from community merchants, and you can join clans and form villages and even castles if you've got enough people playing with you.

Despite my preference for solo experiences, the emphasized focus on community building is so far off what I usually go for that it's swung around to interesting for me, and the fact the game is free to play until Monday, January 26 means I'm tempted to dip into it this weekend and see if I gel with it.

When it first launched into early access back in June, 2024, a lot of the more community-focused features hadn't been added yet, but more elements have come to the game since. One is the controversial plot token system. To build, you first need to claim a plot of land. To keep that little slice of heaven, you need plot tokens, which you can get by paying a monthly subscription. In the Steam reviews for Pax Dei—which are 'Mixed'—a lot of people complain about it. Who wants to pay a digital landlord?

Others praise the game's visuals and how far it's come since early access, but the fact that you can lose part of your village if a player doesn't pay for a plot token one month is enough to put a lot of people off.

If you do give the free weekend a try and enjoy Pax Dei, you'll be happy to learn it's also 40% off until February 2, making it $18 (£15).

Perennial Star Wars fan favorite Darth Maul is back in his own Disney Plus series. In the first Shadow Lord trailer, it looks like Sith is about to hit the fan for those in the orbit of the iconic villain.

The teaser, which you can see above, sees Maul making his mark once more in a galaxy far, far away, even getting on the radar of an Empire that wants him dead. It appears Inquisitor Marrok is one of the first on Maul's tail.

From there, there's action aplenty as Maul draws in his new apprentice, a Twi'lek. It all amounts to one of the more intriguing Star Wars projects in some time: Maul, positioned as neither hero nor villain, trying to shape the galaxy in his own imperfect image.

Taking place around a year after the events of The Clone Wars, Sam Witwer once again returns to voice Maul. As revealed at a Star Wars Celebration 2025 panel, Witwer is also involved creatively with the project.

"I'm very excited about him being able to review the scripts and provide input in all of that as well," Lucasfilm animation vice president Athena Portillo said at the Tokyo panel (via Variety). "Dave Filoni and Sam created the character for animation, and so it’s very important to hear his thoughts as well for the character depth."

The event also featured a separate, behind-closed-doors trailer that gave fans at Star Wars Celebration a first glimpse of Maul and his newfound protege.

Speaking to IGN, Maul also hinted that the Shadow Lord series will wrestle with the Sith's hated Jedi no longer being a force (pun not intended) in a galaxy far, far away.

"He was trained his entire life to hate and kill Jedi, and he killed more Jedi than people were aware of in the Clone Wars," Witwer said. "And now they’re gone. How does he feel about the Jedi, his sworn enemy – how does he feel about them now that they are gone?"

The first two episodes of Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord are released on Disney Plus on April 6.

For more, check out the upcoming Star Wars movies coming your way very soon.