Summer Heat, Secret Reviews, and Pirate Ships: Inside the LagPing Team's Weekend Playlist

It's that time of the week again when gaming journalists put down their press releases and pick up their controllers — or in some cases, their board game rulebooks. The editorial team at Rock Paper Shotgun has shared their weekend gaming plans, and the lineup spans everything from swashbuckling on the high seas to navigating the intimidating difficulty curves of a 4X strategy sequel. It's a snapshot of what engaged, opinionated games writers actually play when no one is watching — and when someone very much is.

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced is clearly the weekend's unofficial theme, with multiple staff members sailing into its pirate-filled world. Jeremy is particularly enthusiastic, noting that the game beats out last year's Assassin's Creed Shadows in nearly every respect — from its protagonist Edward Kenway to its mercifully lean opening hours, free from the lengthy cutscene barrage that bogged down Shadows. Mark, meanwhile, is recovering from what sounds like an extremely committed playthrough last weekend involving rum and cannon fire, and plans to continue a separate RPG called Esoteric Ebb before getting back to the seas.

On the strategy front, Ollie is deep in the trenches of Endless Legend 2, burning through multiple consecutive playthroughs in an effort to decode the game's pacing before toning down the difficulty. The early turns, he notes, are a chaotic gauntlet where armies are vulnerable and opponents attack from every direction — a problem of knowledge rather than execution. Meanwhile, editorial director Julian is wrestling with Frosthaven, the sprawling dungeon-crawling board game, and finding its dual-use card system surprisingly demanding even in its prologue stages.

Edwin is heading to Tennocon, Digital Extremes' annual fan expo celebrating Warframe and the upcoming Soulframe. The event draws massive crowds of cosplayers and dedicated fans, and Edwin plans to spend most of his time in the event's quieter Zen room — apparently steering clear of anyone in elaborate mecha headgear. James, in classic weekend-column tradition, is being deliberately vague about a secret review game while teasing that he might squeeze in some Hollow Knight: Silksong, which is enough to set off speculation in any gaming community.

The column is a long-running tradition that doubles as both a staff check-in and a reader engagement prompt, inviting the audience to share their own weekend plans in the comments. It's a refreshingly human moment in games media — proof that even people who cover games professionally are still grinding through difficult strategy games, losing repeatedly, and enjoying every second of it. With Black Flag Resynced clearly making waves across the team, it may be the sleeper hit of the summer.