Alice Jovanée

Tech, Gaming, Commerce, and Deals Writer. Formerly of Polygon, The Verge, PC Gamer, PCMag, and Lifewire.

My Recent Work

Rogue •

Why doesn’t anyone know Guybrush Threepwood’s birthday?

How old is The Secret of Monkey Island, really?

The Secret of Monkey Island, one of the most important point-and-click adventure titles ever developed, turns 35 this year, but why can’t anyone agree on when the game launched? For a long time, fans assumed it was Oct. 15, echoing the official word from Lucasfilm Games; however, the game’s own lead designer, Ron Gilbert, has refuted this fact on many occasions. But unfortunately, the correct answer is about as clear as a mug of grog.
PCMAG •

HP 400 Quiet Wireless Mouse Review: A Capable, Colorful Budget Clicker

Outside of the fun color options (blue, pink, and purple, in addition to white and black), the HP 400 is a fairly standard wireless mouse. The modest ambidextrous design features ribbed grips on either side, making it easier to pick up. The mouse has a typical five-button layout. A small button situated just below the scroll wheel is the only non-standard addition to this unassuming piece of hardware (more on the button later).The bottom of the mouse slides back to reveal the battery and a slot...
Rogue •

How Tiny Bookshop became a cozy love letter to literature

Books were always a big part of my childhood. My dad bought and sold rare books out of our home, and, after exhausting our supply of children’s literature for bedtime stories, my mother would read us classics like Mutiny on the Bounty.

Perhaps that’s why the adorable indie game Tiny Bookshop resonated with me so well. Developed by a small team with a clear love of literature, you’ll manage, decorate, and curate a trailer-bound storefront to sell and recommend books to the residents of a quaint...
PCMAG •

HP 725 Multi-Device Wireless Keyboard and Mouse Combo Review: Only the Rodent Rules

Both the keyboard and mouse in the HP 725 Combo have black plastic chassis and aluminum highlights, and they look great as a matching pair. Aesthetically speaking, they're ideal candidates for nearly any workstation or cubicle. The HP 725 Keyboard is a slim, full-size keyboard that measures 0.7 by 16.6 by 4.8 inches (HWD), while the dimensions of the HP 515 mouse are 1.6 by 2.9 by 4.5 inches. Neither of these peripherals is particularly hefty, with a combined weight of just 1.3 pounds (1.1 pound...
Rogue •

Gunner, Heat, PC! Developer interview

We spoke with the small team making one of the best modern armor simulators to learn more about sustainable development and putting steel on target.

I’ve always loved tank sims, and while there are plenty of modern games that let you drive a wide variety of armored vehicles, they often sacrifice accuracy for the sake of accessibility. However, since discovering Gunner, HEAT, PC! a couple of years ago, I’ve been thoroughly impressed by its commitment to a portrayal of armored combat that feels a...
PCMAG •

8BitDo Retro R8 Review: This NES-Inspired Gaming Mouse Is No Gimmick

It’s rare to find a gaming mouse that adopts the facade of a novelty item but features hardware that’s actually no joke. It's even rarer to find all of that for just $49.99. But the 8BitDo Retro R8 is all of that and more. This is an excellent budget mouse that effectively balances its nostalgic inspiration with impressive specs, while maintaining a relatively low price. It's our latest Editors' Choice pick for budget wireless gaming mice.

Emulating the aesthetics of the 1983 Nintendo Entertain...
PCMAG •

SteelSeries Rival 3 Gen 2 Review: A Near Bull's-Eye for Budget Gamers

The Rival 3 Gen 2 features an ambidextrous, six-button design, presented in a matte ABS plastic shell that measures 1.5 by 2.7 by 4.8 inches (HWD). It has a 1,000Hz polling rate, which is rather low but acceptable for a budget gaming mouse.A few differences set the wired and wireless versions apart (aside from the obvious, of course). The wireless model comes in black, white, Aqua, or Lavender (the latter two newly added for Gen 2). With the wired version, you only get the monochromatic options....
Polygon •

Lego’s next Lord of the Rings set takes us to The Shire

Via an adorable featurette starring Sean Astin, aka Samwise Gamgee, Lego has pulled back the curtain on its latest set inspired by The Lord of the Rings. The Shire Lego set will be available to pre-order for Lego Insiders on April 2 for $269. Everyone else will have a chance to reserve this set starting on April 5. If you’d like to pre-order this set ASAP, a Lego Insiders membership is free, and will net you access to exclusive discounts and other promotions.In the reveal trailer, Sean Astin get...
Polygon •

Four classic Command & Conquer titles are now open source

In an uncharacteristically charitable move, EA has just made the source code for four of its legacy Command & Conquer titles freely available to the public under the GPL license. This includes the restored original source code for both Command & Conquer and Red Alert, as well as the SAGE-powered Command & Conquer: Renegade and Command & Conquer: Generals. While fan projects like OpenRA and OpenSAGE have produced their own approximations of the code that powered these titles, having free versions...
Polygon •

8Bitdo wants you to fall in love with its latest controller

The 8Bitdo Ultimate wireless controller quickly established itself as one of our favorite third-party controllers thanks to its extensive features and relatively low price. Three years after its launch, 8Bitdo is bringing a significant series of upgrades to the already amazing controller with the 8Bitdo Ultimate 2, available to buy on Amazon for $59.99 in purple, white, and black.The Ultimate 2 doesn’t distinguish itself from its predecessor aesthetically, retaining the same Xbox-style layout wi...
Polygon •

Yes, Your Grace: Snowfall is going to put my conscience in mortal peril

I missed out on the original Yes, Your Grace when it launched in 2020, but I devoured it on my phone in a single evening. My only issue with the kingdom management title? There wasn’t enough of it. Thankfully, the launch of its sequel, Yes, Your Grace: Snowfall is right around the corner, and a free Steam Next Fest demo is now available, full of morally ambiguous decisions to weigh heavily on your soul.Snowfall picks up shortly following the events of Yes, Your Grace, with a short animatic to fi...
Polygon •

The best weapon in Helldivers 2? Your phone

The war against managed democracy in Helldivers 2 is escalating quickly. Angel’s Venture has been torn apart by the Meridian Singularity, and our only hope of stopping it currently lies within the Terminid-infested horror of The Gloom. Quickly calling in stratagems with a few Bile Titans barrelling towards you is tricky business and can often be the difference between a successful extraction and becoming bug chow. Thankfully, there’s an awesome tool in the Helldivers’ arsenal that may help turn...
Polygon •

These video games kill fascists

Listen, I’m all about staying abreast of current events — but watching the fascist, white, cis, hetero patriarchy put boots on the necks of anyone they want to gets old fast. Sometimes, engaging in civil discourse in the marketplace of ideas falls short, and you just need to unleash some unbridled rage on some fools. If you feel like dismantling the systems of oppression with wanton destruction, these games provide that sweet feeling you get from bringing the ruling class down a peg. While the e...
Polygon •

The Lemokey P1 HE ditches the Hall-effect tax for keyboards

Keychron makes great yet affordable keyboards that balance function, minimalist looks, and quality. It’s making waves with its new $169 Hall-effect gaming keyboard called the P1 HE, which it recently launched under its gaming arm Lemokey. The company name might sound like a joke, but Keychron’s DNA is apparent in the P1 HE, which offers superb acoustics and build quality. Not only that, its Hall-effect analog switches set it apart at this price, as does its extensive support for modifications. W...
Polygon •

The Video Game History Foundation opens its digital archives to the public next week

Starting Jan. 30, the Video Game History Foundation (VGHF) will be opening its digital archives to the public. Still a work-in-progress, these archives will be one of the largest repositories dedicated to the study and preservation of video game history, and will feature over 1,500 issues of out-of-print game magazines, in addition to promotional material and other game development assets.An accessible digital archive has been a goal of the VGHF since its founding in 2017. While it would be one...
Polygon •

GOG joins Europe’s largest game preservation coalition

Games marketplace GOG has joined the ranks of the European Federation of Video Game Archives, Museums, and Preservation. This follows the November 2024 announcement of the GOG Preservation Program, the platform’s independent effort to ensure that games remain playable on modern hardware, even if the titles can no longer be officially sold on GOG or other marketplaces. So far, this program includes more than 100 DRM-free titles (which means you don’t need a separate license to play them), with ne...
Polygon •

Want to add a bigger SSD to your ROG Ally? Here’s how to do it

Now, taking apart your expensive piece of hardware can be intimidating, but with our step-by-step tutorial, which includes the necessary tools and components, we’ll get you and your ROG Ally to the finish line in no time. And, in case you haven’t already customized your ROG Ally, we’ve got a number of must-have ROG Ally accessories we think you’ll like.Most of the tools you’ll need for this project, like spudgers and a #0 Phillips-head screwdriver, are easy enough to get piecemeal online or at y...
Polygon •

Massive mod is the best new Command & Conquer game in over a decade

The classic real-time strategy franchise Command & Conquer has been largely neglected by its caretaker EA in recent years, but modders have used open-source tools like OpenRA to carry the torch for almost a decade, regularly patching and improving the original Command & Conquer and its sequel Red Alert with new quality-of-life features. In some cases, dedicated fans have even managed to use the engine behind the games to make something unique. One such mod, Combined Arms, a project which has bee...
Polygon •

Star Fox 64 has a fan-made PC port and it’s great

Harbour Masters, the team responsible for the excellent PC ports of N64 classics like Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask, have returned with an awesome adaptation of Star Fox 64. While the classic arcade flight-sim game has been playable outside of its native hardware for some time, the new port, dubbed Starship, brings a number of enhancements to the original, including support for ultrawide resolutions, unlocked frame rates, and even rumble support for modern Bluetooth controllers.Nintendo has...
Polygon •

You can burn fascist propaganda in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle too!

I didn’t need another reason to love Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, but an unexpected feature has quickly cemented it as one of my favorite games of 2024. Early in your adventure, you’ll likely notice a number of fascist propaganda posters littering the cities and villages you visit. While you can’t get rid of these eyesores at first, once you obtain a lighter, you can burn them! The game doesn’t advertise this particular feature, but I’m delighted that the developers added this extra bit o...
Polygon •

Indy’s puzzles make me feel way too smart

Is it really a puzzle if you already know the solution just by looking at it? Triple-A titles often have simple brain teasers that range from annoying to downright pedantic. Solving another abstract version of the Tower of Hanoi puzzle doesn’t fill me with pride or make me feel particularly intelligent. This is why the diversity of challenging and fun riddles I’ve encountered in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle feels so refreshing.The man with the hat might be best known for stunts and for fis...
Polygon •

SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds are a great buy at $159.99

SteelSeries is attempting to cram some of the best qualities from its excellent gaming headsets into wireless gaming earbuds. The Arctis GameBuds offer punchy and accurate sound quality, but perhaps the biggest perk they have over the competition is their price. You should expect to pay up to $199.99 for competing models from the likes of Razer, Sony, or Logitech, but the GameBuds undercut them a bit at $159.99 while retaining many of the same premium features, such as noise cancellation and bro...
Polygon •

Brush up on your insult swordfighting skills, someone is making an unofficial Monkey Island game

A new, unofficial entry in the Monkey Island saga is currently in development from indie studio BeanAdventureAgency. Designed as a love letter to the classic point-and-click franchise, The Booze of Monkey Island is available as a free, early-access download and nails the atmosphere and wit of the earlier adventure titles.The most recent official series entry, 2022’s Return to Monkey Island, had all of the necessary ingredients for a worthy sequel to the point-and-click franchise, including the o...
Polygon •

Science compels us to pick up this adorable Outer Wilds replica Hearthian Lander

Fangamer has just produced an incredibly detailed model of the Hearthian Lander from Outer Wilds that you can purchase for $99.99. The model itself is built to 1/58 scale, and measures about 7.9-inches tall and 10.6-inches wide when fully assembled. Just note that this detailed model arrives as a collection of decals and unpainted sprues, so you’ll need to put it all together before you decide to smash it into the campsite of some poor, unsuspecting spacefarer.Best described as Groundhog Day in...
Load More