Realistic open world games need the little touches to convince you of the reality within which you play. Perhaps it’s your character’s beard that grows a little more each day, maybe it’s the way mud builds up on his boots during wet weather, or how he makes a cup of coffee and talks to members of his 20-strong gang in the morning.

For the first time in the 15-year history of Call of Duty games, the developer Treyarch has decided to completely do away with the single player story campaign for its latest Black Ops offering. With context-free multiplayer shooters like Fortnite doing great business at the virtual tills, why spend the valuable resources crafting a 6 to 8-hour story mode that will get played through once and then long forgotten while the vast majority of gamers take the action online to the multiplayer battlefields?

Reinventing the wheel is no easy task, yet EA, the powerhouse publisher behind the multi-decade long FIFA series, manages to pull the digital rabbit from the hat year after year. The majority of the on-pitch action hasn’t changed in iterations, and nor does it really need to; it’s a slick, great-looking and responsive playing experience.

Design/Play/Disrupt at the V&A covers a wide variety of games that are spearheading the gaming world at the moment. It takes a closer look at eight of the most innovative and different games that have changed the world of gaming in the last five years.

Spider-Man is among the most popular videogame characters in the history of gaming. His swing and climb ability, plus a bit of meaty hand-to-hand combat, some nifty web shooter gadgetry, a slick repertoire of one liners and a cracking all-in-one body stocking encouraged publishers to serve up more Spider-Man games than pretty much any other character, bar the Bat bloke with the cool car. 

Technical innovators, industry role models and champions of inclusivity make up the shortlist of nominees in the games category for this year’s h 100 awards, an event that recognises the 100 most influential and innovative people across the breadth of the UK’s creative industries.

This strategic simulation game is an interesting take on the classic dinosaur franchise. Coinciding with the latest big screen release, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, the title puts you behind the virtual desk of theme park manager in a clever management sim that combines playing god with dinosaurs and playing host to the demands of an army of theme park visitors. Occasionally the two meet – and it never ends well. 

Are you a young blogger, vlogger or writer in the field of the arts, books and culture? If so, we've a competition for you to enter.

The Hospital Club’s annual h Club100 awards celebrate the most influential and innovative people working in the UK’s creative industries, with nominations from the worlds of film and fashion, art, advertising, theatre, music, television and more. For the second year running they are teaming up with theartsdesk – the home of online arts journalism in the UK – to launch a hunt for young talent.

Interactive stories are a tricky proposition. Make the on-screen action too passive and your audience feels like they’re watching a succession of cut-scenes. Tip the balance the other way and it’s just a game with pretensions of cinematic story telling. The idea that every decision you make in-game, whether it’s a dialogue choice or an action, will ultimately affect the outcome of the story is a bold ambition.

Brighton Festival is the UK’s leading annual celebration of the arts, with events taking place in venues both familiar and unusual across Brighton & Hove for three weeks every May. This year, the Festival boasts an eclectic line-up spanning music, theatre, dance, visual art, film, comedy, debate and spoken word, with visual artist David Shrigley as Guest Director.