Lauren Morton
Lauren started writing for PC Gamer as a freelancer in 2017 while chasing the Dark Souls fashion police and accepted her role as Associate Editor in 2021, now serving as the self-appointed chief cozy games enjoyer. She originally started her career in game development and is still fascinated by how games tick in the modding and speedrunning scenes. She likes long books, longer RPGs, has strong feelings about farmlife sims, and can't stop playing co-op crafting games.
Latest articles by Lauren Morton
![Minecraft - a player holds an artefact while standing beside a camel in a desert.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/dYae4Uzo5XKux7ab7aLCpJ-320-80.jpg)
Minecraft's first mob vote candidate for this year is a handy little crab
By Lauren Morton published
News We'll be voting for our next Minecraft creature again this year and the first contender is a crab.
![Minecraft seeds - A narrow but very tall pillar-like island with a village climbing its sides.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/5n4kvVbQRBgXgwaSZkuyCR-320-80.jpg)
The best Minecraft seeds for 1.20
By Lauren Morton last updated
Updated! The best Minecraft seeds for survival islands, villages, and cool new biomes at spawn.
![a knight character holding a red sword in Project Crawl](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/cxDUQUzYo6c486ZFku7W87-320-80.jpg)
Watch out, Dark and Darker: Suddenly there's another dungeon extraction game hitting PC, Project Crawl
By Lauren Morton published
News Another PvP fantasy extraction game is about to start alpha playtesting.
![Concept art of Solas for Dragon Age 4](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/qxgcrh6Sio9RZVojpL7a3J-320-80.jpg)
Former BioWare manager wishes Dragon Age had kept a 'PC-centric' and 'modding-driven' identity like Neverwinter Nights
By Lauren Morton published
News Aaryn Flynn wishes that BioWare had stuck to shipping modding tools with Dragon Age games.
![Starfield — a spacesuit-wearing character gestures broadly with arms spread open on an empty lunar surface. A blue, ringed world is visible in the sky behind](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/RT47jcRTS4Xq5jm3s2DrtF-320-80.jpg)
Starfield guide: everything you need to succeed in space
By Lauren Morton last updated
Star Chart We'll walk you through everything from your first character creation selections to your eventual journey into New Game+.
![We Were Here Expeditions: The FriendShip trailer - two players in winter coats and goggles steer a ship together through a storm](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/6bE32EE9etzRhjaxTbdqmk-320-80.jpg)
A surprise sequel to my favorite co-op game just launched and you have a month to claim it for free
By Lauren Morton published
News The We Were Here series has a new bite-size offshoot called Expeditions for series newcomers.
![Fae Farm title screen, several characters gather round one casting a spell with a wand in a grassy, pastoral town](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/6g8cgL87bXJoSCLzK6PECX-320-80.jpg)
Fae Farm magically solved all my little gripes with cozy farm sims
By Lauren Morton published
Fresh Farming This super cute farm sim really nails how to do the crucial first hours right.
![Two characters in spacesuits look at the camera](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/zK55dHcBcTsJnhA5WNQLJZ-320-80.jpg)
Following Skyrim tradition, Starfield already has an alternate start mod that lets you skip the intro and begin in cooler parts of space
By Lauren Morton published
News There are already two mods for giving you a different entry point to Starfield's world.
![The Sims 4- a white man with blonde hair wearing a blue sport coat crosses his arms and smiles](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/i4qUbWUztXKyou4vZSm3BF-320-80.jpg)
The next Sims game will be free to play without a subscription or energy mechanics, EA confirms
By Lauren Morton published
News After rumors this summer, we officially know the next major Sims game is going to be free to download.
![Frame of an animation by Joel Haver of a man in a space suit sitting in a cockpit surrounded by succulent plants](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/UzFdZFZQdBzYmqLKzVyiTk-320-80.jpg)
Bethesda commissioned the internet's rotoscope jokester to get goofy with Starfield
By Lauren Morton published
News The mind behind all those weird RPG skits has a succulent take on Starfield.
![Starfield - thousands of blocks of cheese spill out of the hatch of a cockpit](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/WwyLsrTgiSvyXVfidCMRUX-320-80.jpg)
Inspired by Starfield food physics, I have run my own tests to determine that cuboid foods rule
By Lauren Morton published
News Heard you all like watching food move.
![Starfield, Andreja looks angry, sitting at a desk](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/rMFpbMdbuB6ZfLEkP3y7TR-320-80.jpg)
AITA: My Starfield wife wants a divorce and all I did was chuck one grenade into a crowd of bystanders
By Lauren Morton published
News And telling her to "calm down" didn't help, somehow.
![Starfield — a close-up screenshot of a helmeted spacefarer, with a moon visible in the starscape behind](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/VCaRXUrQxLpimg82QFUQBF-320-80.jpg)
Starfield speedrunner engages ludicrous speed, completes New Game+ in under an hour
By Lauren Morton published
News And he thinks he can still shave almost 20 minutes off that time.
![Starfield factions - Barrett in his space suit and helmet outside a ship talking to the player](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/MmFGwyGiMDud7iiubjtmHT-320-80.jpg)
Starfield factions: all the galactic allegiances you'll deal with
By Funké Joseph last updated
Join Up Good news: you can become a space pirate or a space cowboy.
![Starfield, a ship airlock door is open, thousands of brown russet potatoes fall out into the hallway](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/yKW3Vp6KV3F6YeU6ceVkXM-320-80.jpg)
Starfield player stuffs thousands of potatoes into a room to marvel at how much better Bethesda's physics have gotten
By Lauren Morton published
News This will surely be the first of many item spill space simulations.
![Starfield - a person in a spacesuit looks at a ring planet](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/5L2vtWjkDG5Dxi75EN2tYR-320-80.jpg)
Starfield release time: when it unlocked in your time zone
By Lauren Morton last updated
Launch Time Your Starfield launch time depends on the version you purchased and your time zone.
![Starifled - a player holds their arms out, encompassing all the junk on the floor of their spaceship](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/nTfSiJjUHRQUJpiQfMCapg-320-80.jpg)
Surprising no one, Starfield players are already filling their ships with junk
By Lauren Morton published
News When you've absolutely got to grab every space wrench, your ship fills up fast.
![Starfield cities - Concept art of Akila City, a walled settlement surrounded by wilderness](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/vwhAV35p3Md29GUMpWbrK-320-80.jpg)
Starfield cities: all the major hub locations in the galaxy
By Funké Joseph last updated
Far Afield Settled Space is a pretty big place.
![Baldur's Gate 3 - Jaheira with a glowing green sword looks ready for battle](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/aBRq43syaDWpjSaac5WDif-320-80.jpeg)
We scientifically ranked Baldur's Gate 3's party members on hotness, toughness, and meme-ability
By Lauren Morton published
RANKED An objectively correct PC Gamer team ranking of all 10 Baldur's Gate 3 companions.
![Palia - a player claps standing in front of a night market stall full of chapaa plushies](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/8fbpKP3H6uDuLFFZQWK7XG-320-80.jpg)
Palia's first seasonal event adds exactly the kind of communal minigame I was hoping for
By Lauren Morton published
News The nightly Maji Market is a good initial take on a typical MMO season event.
![Dark and Darker - three teammates stand in a castle room by torchlight](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/SgRP38MEX8o4QTW3792fAP-320-80.jpg)
Dark and Darker wiped player progress today due to an influx of cheaters
By Lauren Morton published
News The PvP dungeon crawl wiped progress today but also brought back voice chat.
![Stardew Valley](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/FM9XipJdY57f3XaxnoXob4-320-80.jpg)
This Wordle-like game makes you catch and guess Stardew Valley's fish
By Lauren Morton published
News This is not the Wordle-like game I was expecting next.
![Spaceship flying](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/72Bvjb4eeTEWgRmJJbZuXb-320-80.jpg)
You can launch Starfield as early as August 31, its global release times confirm
By Lauren Morton published
News Bethesda has shared the global launch timing for Starfield beginning with the early access for Premium Edition buyers.