Visic on YouTube and D4CLoveTrainn on the Silksong subreddit are two Silksongers of the admirably deranged, number crunching variety: Each one independently tested the DPS of every crest (weapon moveset) in the game, and their results exactly corroborate each other.

Such analysis is possible thanks to XiaoHaiNB's ShowDamage HealthBar mod on the Nexus, which reveals both a bar and the hidden numerical value of every enemy's health. The DPS values focus on damage from straight nail attacks, with both authors noting that this doesn't show the whole story: General feel, platforming utility, charged attacks, and tool/spell combos are all factors to consider as well. That said, here are their numbers, with Visic reporting flat damage at max upgrades, while D4CLoveTrainn shows percentage (plus or minus) vs. the base Hunter crest.

• Beast with temporary buff: 78.9 / +55%
• Hunter (with max no-hit bonus): 69.4 / +36%
• Wanderer: 68.3 / +34%
• Beast (no buff): 52.4 / +0%
• Hunter (no bonus): 50.9 / +0%
• Architect: 50.2 / +0%
• Witch: 45.7 / -10%
• Reaper: 41.6 / -18%
• Shaman: 41.5 / -18%

Both crest investigators praised Architect's charge attack, which offers a powerful multihit with high burst damage. Indeed, Architect's middle of the road DPS is less of an issue with that attack in mind, as well as its focus on using Silksong's powerful tools as opposed to regular attacks.

Beast and Hunter at the top slightly oversell them, as they require a great deal of skill and timing to take advantage of: Beast is tied to a five second buff that triggers when you heal, and Hunter's max damage requires landing 12 hits in succession without taking damage yourself—though there is also a middle bonus for just six hits in a row.

Which leaves my go-to, the Wanderer, as the de facto nail attack DPS king when it comes to consistent, real world use. Wanderer also just feels good, with attacks that come out super fast and a more straightforward down air "pogo" move like in the first Hollow Knight, as opposed to the Hunter's diagonal dive.

ALL crests ranked and explained in detail. from r/Silksong

But even with Architect and Wanderer looking like the real S-tier picks, I'm impressed at how balanced the movesets still are overall. Wanderer is held back slightly by suboptimal tool slots, while even the bottom of the barrel Reaper, with low DPS and no game changing bonus, has a niche as a long range, relatively "safe" pick with a nice feel. Shaman has a spellcasting specialization, while Witch has a unique offensive heal and strong charge attack in its own right. Hunter and Beast, meanwhile, seem like they could have a lot to offer high-skill players who can avoid getting hit or take advantage of a limited attack window⁠—D4CLoveTrainn sees speedrun potential in them.

Both authors have more to their analysis than just DPS numbers, like potential tool combos with different crests. Visic also breaks down damage per hit for different moves, while D4CLoveTrainn shows the damage bonus for each level of nail upgrade, plus a subjective assessment of how each crest feels to play. They're worth diving into for Silksicko power gamers. As for me, I'm just going to keep hitting things with crazy Wanderer DPS.

While I understand the appeal of renovation sims like House Flipper, I simply cannot bring myself to play them. The idea of spending hours fixing up a fake house seems downright perverse when I cannot find time to maintain my own real, increasingly dilapidated abode.

You might say the obvious solution is to take some time off and get those many annoying odd jobs done, and you would be wrong. The solution is clearly for someone to make a game like House Flipper, but with a setting sufficiently detached from reality that I can convince myself that I am not wasting my time playing it.

It is with open arms, therefore, that I welcome The Lift, a "supernatural handyman simulator" that takes the core premise of House Flipper but switches out its crumbling bungalows and mouldy condos for a massive, Soviet-core scientific facility. It's basically Abiotic Factor for DIY sickos, and I am already buckling up my neglected toolbelt in anticipation.

You play a moustachioed engineer awakened from stasis in the bowels of the Institute, which The Lift's developer Fantastic Signals describes as "humanity's most advanced research facility—until a catastrophic incident left it drifting through the void, plagued by cosmic decay and slowly fading into oblivion."

At a glance, the Institute resembles the Talos 1 from Arkane's brilliant immersive sim Prey. But instead of sneaking around and blasting aliens with psychokinetic mind powers, The Lift tasks you with fixing up this forsaken research centre with tools, spare parts, and a big dollop of elbow grease.

The Institute is split into different floors, each of which poses a substantial renovation challenge. These range from fixing up furniture with hammers and screwdrivers, to more elaborate engineering challenges like rewiring electrical circuits. Indeed, there seems to be a substantial puzzling element to The Lift, with you digging into the guts of various bits of complex machinery, managing the torque of generators and rerouting supercomputer cabling.

Not every job is quite so down to earth (if rewiring a supercomputer can be considered mundane). The Institute is filled with strange, reality-defying locations that you'll need to use pop-up ladders and other traversal equipment to explore. Some of these locations appear to be infested by a tendril-like alien lifeform, which you can clear up using what is essentially a sci-fi vacuum cleaner.

The trailer (viewable above) is primarily a mood piece, showcasing the premise in a very watchable claymation short (though it worth noting the game doesn’t actually look like that). There is some actual footage of The Lift itself at the end of the trailer, though, and it looks like precisely what I need to further ignore the fact that my house is slowly falling down. The Lift doesn’t have a specific release date yet, but don't expect it to arrive until next year.