Shops do take the Michael with seasonal goods, stocking for Easter as soon as Christmas passes and preparing for summer when I still barely see daylight, but I have been quite delighted to see Halloween stuff everywhere. If you have no use for a giant bucket of plastic spiders on October 7th, I don't know what you're doing with your life.

What are you playing this weekend? Here's what we're clicking on.

Adam: [Adam is in Poland for a games doodad, so he's likely playing whatever would be at a Polish games doodad. Polish games, probably.] Alec: I'm still on a Metroidvania high after Samus Returns on 3DS, so I'm going to belatedly catch up a few PC ones I missed, such as Axiom Verge, Sundered and Necrosphere, before my old brain once again loses the ability to mentally map out vast videogame dungeons. Alice: I've developed a bit of a bad attitude in Plunkbat, which is no good, so I'm taking a weekend out for singleplayer games. I've still got Infra, the delightful first-person adventure about inspecting structural damage, on the go and am having a great time. And I quite fancy a return visit to the weird hotel of The Norwood Suite to snap pictures and get the groove into my bones. Brendan: I am playing the part of a international affairs correspondant at a giant Europa Universalis LAN. Currently, the Indian nations are bankrolling conflicts all over the world and laughing about it non-stop. But some of our readers will be glad to learn that Ireland has been united and has a sizeable colony in "Irish Cuba". Graham: I have errands to complete this weekend, which means it's unlikely I'm going to find time to play games. That's fine. I will pretend as if I'm saving up my time to spend it on Middle-earth: Shadow of War next week, which sounds like a jolly old time despite its dour world. John: All in Nintendo in my life just now. In any squeaked out second I can find this weekend I'll be playing Zelda: BOTW and Metroid: Samus Returns. Am I still allowed in the treehouse? Philippa: This weekend I will be playing No Man's Sky. I will also visit the local butterfly sanctuary. If there's time I might try to fit in a spot of racing some anthropologists.

But you, dearest reader, what are you playing?