Xbox’s weirdest studio is on a roll

GamingCloseGamingPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All GamingEntertainmentCloseEntertainmentPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All EntertainmentReportCloseReportPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All ReportXbox’s weirdest studio is on a rollDouble Fine followed up its game about a sentient lighthouse with a multiplayer brawler about pottery.Double Fine followed up its game about a sentient lighthouse with a multiplayer brawler about pottery.by Andrew WebsterCloseAndrew WebsterSenior entertainment editorPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All by Andrew WebsterApr 25, 2026, 1:00 PM UTCLinkShareGiftImage: Xbox Game StudiosAndrew WebsterCloseAndrew WebsterPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All by Andrew Webster is an entertainment editor covering streaming, virtual worlds, and every single Pokémon video game. Andrew joined The Verge in 2012, writing over 4,000 stories.For a while there, it seemed like Double Fine might be struggling under the Microsoft corporate umbrella. The game studio led by Tim Schafer is beloved for offbeat titles like Brütal Legend and Broken Age, but after being acquired by Microsoft in 2019, its only new release for years was a long-awaited sequel to Psychonauts. Of late, though, Double Fine is on something of a roll. Last year the studio released the wonderfully strange Keeper, a game about a sentient lighthouse. This week, it launched Kiln, a multiplayer brawler with adorable spirits and a whole lot of pottery. It’s yet another oddball delight that could only come out of Double Fine.At its most basic, Kiln is a four-on-four competitive game. The goal of each team is to gather water throughout a map, and use it to put out the fire in the opposing team’s kiln. Douse the enemy’s kiln first and you win. It’s sort of like a streamlined take on League of Legends, with a similar structure, but much more clear and obvious goals. There’s no leveling up, no minions, no farming XP. Just a bunch of people running around beating each other up, while trying to carry water across the level.RelatedThis weirdo Xbox game about a walking lighthouse is a KeeperXbox’s new era needs games like Forza Horizon 6Layered on top of that simple core is a pottery theme that adds all kinds of interesting wrinkles. In the world of Kiln, each player is a cute little floating spirit that operates a bit like a hermit crab. In order to actually participate in matches, the spirits must inhabit a pot. The kind of pottery you’re inhabiting makes a big difference. They’re essentially character classes; big pots might be able to take a lot of damage while holding little water, while a fragile bottle-shaped pot is the opposite, making it great for offense.The best part is that you actually sculpt these pots yourself using a virtual pottery wheel. It’s fun and tactile, as you use the joysticks to move up and down a clump of clay and shape it. As you progress in the game you’ll unlock various ways to customize them through little add-ons or colorful glazes. It’s really satisfying to take full control over how your character looks. You can craft a whole bunch of pots, but in each match you’re allowed to bring three with you…

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