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Hey Pixelkiners! Minecon happened over 4th of July weekend in London, and from this blocky paradise came a trailer for the new Minecraft game, Story Mode, which will be made by Telltale Games. It looks pretty epic. There’s a quest, possibly a dragon, and there will be choices because that’s what Telltale is famous for. If anyone can turn Minecraft into a good story it’s these guys, so keep an eye out for that.

Minecraft is also getting a bunch of new features: dual-wielding objects and enchanted arrows among them. The mobile version of Minecraft will receive upgrades to make it more like the console version: hunger bars and dynamic weather among them.

A group of teachers have made a mod for Minecraft called ComputerCraftEdu. It adds programmable turtles into the game to teach kids programming concepts. Check it out at Pixelkin.org.

Gravity Falls is one of my favorite cartoons and I would kill for a game version of it. Fortunately, I don’t have to, and also that would be super illegal. Keezy Young made a list of video games that are like Gravity Falls, for all the Mystery Twin fans in your family. Included are puzzle-mystery game Jenny LeClue and Five Nights at Freddy’s because….remember that one episode in the creepy arcade? Yeah.

Pewdiepie, one of YouTube’s breakout Let’s Players, reportedly made over 7 million dollars last year. Which is…an awesome amount of money. Some people have problems with this, and Pewdiepie made what is actually a hilarious and eloquent video addressing it. It’s well worth a watch, whether you’re a fan or not—but almost especially if you’re not. He reads and addresses some of the negative comments that people have made towards him. Let’s get one thing straight: when someone makes money off YouTube, they’re not taking money from your pocket or from another Let’s Player who you think is funnier and should be more popular. Pewdiepie makes money off views. People who complain about that could probably stand to do something better with their time. Check out that video, minor warnings for language use (mostly on the part of the commenters).

A 2014 study from University of Buffalo indicates that violent video games might actually provoke empathy responses in players. Specifically, the people playing the games felt both guilt and sympathy when they were asked to behave unfairly in the game. This runs contrary to the assumption that violent games make you an emotionless husk. Learn out more about about that study by following the link.

The amazing game Journey is coming to the PlayStation 4! Originally released in 2012, Journey is a really emotional, introspective game about a cloaked figure on a pilgrimage. It’s only a couple hours long, and it’s well worth playing multiple times. Check out the trailer and get hyped. 

We all know we should drink more water, but what if not drinking water meant you were killing an adorable virtual plant? We’re loving Plant Nanny, the app where you drink water and every time you finish a glass you get to water your virtual plant. The app tells you how much you need to drink a day, and eventually your little plant grows up and you get a new one. It’s free on Android and iOS. Keezy Young’s review of it is linked here.

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This article was written by

Simone de Rochefort is a game journalist, writer, podcast host, and video producer who does a prolific amount of Stuff. You can find her on Twitter @doomquasar, and hear her weekly on tech podcast Rocket, as well as Pixelkin's Gaming With the Moms podcast. With Pixelkin she produces video content and devotes herself to Skylanders with terrifying abandon.