Feed aggregator

Some 42 million people in the U.S. who rely on SNAP benefits could soon join the already long lines at the nation's food banks and pantries that are also serving struggling federal workers.

(Image credit: Michael M. Santiago)

New research on VPN adoption reveals that China ranks last, but only in terms of downloads from Apple App Store and Google Play Store

It appears we all might have missed the announcement of a new Astro Bot PS5 external hard drive from Sony and Seagate – but you can pre-order it now.

Both more complex and more personal than its predecessors, Europa Universalis 5 feels like a greatest hits album from Paradox.

I'd bet all my money that you never saw The Witcher season 4 episode 5 coming, but according to the cast, its legacy is "intentional".

Lanterns reportedly won't make its HBO Max debut until Supergirl has taken flight in theaters.

Playing Europa Universalis 5 as a long-time fan of Paradox grand strategy games is like going into the star gate in 2001: A Space Odyssey. Everywhere you look, whirling past you, you see influences from its predecessors and contemporaries. "Oh, look, you can change production methods like in Victoria 3, the rulers are like they are in Imperator, and the levy system feels like Crusader Kings 2!"

Review info

Platform reviewed: PC
Available on: PC
Release date: November 4, 2025

If you have yet to play any of the Europa Universalis series, they have always been one of Paradox's beefier offerings, focused on early modern history. This fifth instalment has effectively cranked up the scale and given you a microscope with which to observe the minutiae of your nation.

Let's begin with the time period that it covers – your game starts in 1337, a year that saw the start of the Hundred Years War, Petrarch visiting Rome for the first time, and, apparently, the founding of Berkshire's Bisham Priory. The next few centuries are yours to seize control of, one way or another, and you can do this on an hour by hour basis, should you choose.

It starts more than a century before games in Europa Universalis 4, allowing for some extra time in the late Middle Ages, before knights give way to hussars. This also neatly allows the game to introduce situations, a new feature in EU5 that makes certain events play center stage, more than they did in its predecessor.

For example, when the Hundred Years' War kicks off (pessimistically still named that in 1337), it's easy to, at a glance, see the strength of each side and who is in whose alliance, which lets you check whether you can tip the balance. Situations spring up throughout the game and include such historical moments as the struggle between the Guelphs and Ghibellines and the Reformation.

(Image credit: Paradox Interactive)

This new starting point also comes with a price – the Black Death will start raging its way around the world after a few years. In both of my campaigns as Castille and as Holland, my population was halved by the pandemic. In EU4, a plague meant losing income or autonomy; here, it actually matters on a much greater scale. The game models your nation's population whether you are a one-province minor or a great power, and each dead subject means one less job, one less soldier, one less bit of productivity for your nation. It's my favorite change in the game, and represents a trend away from abstractions and towards more concrete, important measurements of a nation's abilities.

Best bit

(Image credit: Paradox Interactive)

Fighting for new colonies in North America with the English. They thought that they had me, but they didn't bank on me being allies with France, who promptly stomped them.

Abstractions were everywhere in EU4. Your provinces could be developed, but that didn't really mean much beyond being slightly richer and the province having a few more buildings. Administrative, diplomatic, and military points, known as mana, functioned as your ability to develop provinces, to promote generals, and to research new technologies, which were very limited in number. Mana doesn't exist here, beyond some ratings that allow you to see what your rulers and courtiers are best at. You develop provinces by directing a minister to do so, while research is now based on more concrete factors like your people's literacy.

The tech tree is a genuine delight, too – the number of techs is boosted by a ridiculous degree, with each of the game's ages, bar the very first, having more than 100 techs. It's much more like a tech tree that you might find in Civilization than the, once again, abstracted variant encountered in EU4.

Choosing a national focus at the start of a new age also unlocks certain specific techs, and you can focus on administrative, diplomatic, or military techs. As you progress along the techs, you'll unlock new laws to codify, new government reforms to shape your state, and more. States are more fluid than in previous instalments, too – gone are national missions that could railroad your progress.

Here, you can shape your nation however you like along various axes representing things like centralization vs decentralization, aristocracy vs plutocracy, and traditionalist vs innovative. These can be changed at any point by assigning one of your cabinet members to influence the nation, while government reforms represent powerful ways to change your nation's central ethoses.

Call of Ducats: Early Modern Warfare

(Image credit: Paradox Interactive)

The genre EU5 occupies is often referred to as map painting games, and, as you'd expect of a game that kicks off with the Hundred Years' War, waging wars is integral. You can't just let your neighbors have that tasty trade good, after all. The military aspect of the game feels like a mesh of EU4 and the Crusader Kings series.

As mentioned, you can call up levies, but you can also (and should) build a professional military, too. Capturing forts and cities gives you a zone of control, so focusing on those rather than individual provinces is the order of the day. It's far from exhilarating, but it does interweave wonderfully with the game's systems.

Soldiers and sailors are people, so calling up either land or naval levies reduces the population in their home area. This means that for each levy called up, local food production and raw materials output drop, and troopers lost from your levies are lost from your wider population. If your military is professionalized, you won't be calling up big Bjorn the farmer anymore, so he can keep tilling his land, making them a potentially better value proposition.

War is more expensive than it's ever been in the series, and not only because of the effects on population. You also need to factor in upkeep costs and the ability for your soldiers to find food, a new resource, while doing their grim duty. How you do this isn't particularly well-explained (one of the game's few pain points), so until you figure it out you can expect to wind up with quite a few of your men dropping dead from attrition. The Clausewitz quote that "War is the continuation of policy with other means" is made very plain here, and it affects your country to a massive degree.

A map that's truly off the charts

(Image credit: Paradox Interactive)

What a map it is to paint, though. Just staggeringly enormous, with a dizzying number of countries to play as, from the Aak'u to Zutphen. Everywhere you look, you notice little touches. Some are obvious, such as the way that all but the smallest nations will be made up of multiple locations, allowing for more development options for small countries, with each area having a good that you extract with a Resource Gathering Operation (RGO).

Others are more subtle, such as the increase in the size of the Holy Roman Empire, which is made up of many more states than it was previously, or that zooming in on a location shows individual buildings that you've built, and hovering over them will tell you what they are.

The only problem that I've noticed is that native peoples seem to be underrepresented; there's really not that many of them, particularly in North America, and that's a real shame. I imagine it will improve over time with DLC, but at the moment, they're thin on the ground.

In addition to the traditional fare of grand strategy games, that is, landed powers, you can also play as landless nations for the first time. You can, for example, play as the Bank of Peruzzi or the Hanseatic League and be a kingmaker without ever actually owning any land directly. Landless nations are pretty sparse in terms of options at the moment, but I still appreciate it, as playing a bank seems like ‘playing tall’ (developing your nation rather than conquering others' lands) taken to its logical conclusion.

(Image credit: Paradox Interactive)

Whichever type of nation you play as, you'll be up against AI that feels more aggressive than in previous games. In multiple games, I saw France (and it is always France) conquer chunks of Aragon or gobble up German provinces by the pfund. Whether I was fighting them as Spain or allying with them like a remora fish allies to a shark as Holland, they were a major force to be reckoned with. I was at one point able to break EU4 over my knee, but the same strategies don't seem to work here, so be prepared to learn it all over again.

Speaking of learning, EU5 is both the most accessible and most complex that the series has ever been. New automation features allow you to hand off control over taxes and trade to the AI, should you choose, and it's pretty darn good at it, too. This is pretty necessary, as until you've paid your deposit, measured in, conservatively, tens of hours, you're going to have some trouble reading the UI.

It's often not particularly clear how to do certain things or which menu you need to open to do them (I'm looking at you, RGO construction menu). The tutorial is noticeably better than in earlier Paradox titles, but still leaves some things unexplained, which is frustrating.

The only other small nitpick that I have with the game is that it recycles a good number of events and achievements from EU4. I appreciate that completing, say, the Lion of the North achievement is going to be different in this game, but I'd have preferred some fresh challenges. Similarly, as you roll from month to month as an experienced EU4, you'll recognise some of the event pop-ups and their options.

Despite these small issues, Europa Universalis 5 represents a huge leap forward for the series. While writing this review, I've been pondering who I would like to play as next, which economic approaches to use, and what other parts of the world I want to see. Monumentally complex but more accessible than ever before, it is already a grand strategy classic and already a worthy replacement for its predecessor.

Should you play Europa Universalis 5?

(Image credit: Paradox Interactive)Play it if...

You want a game that takes a deep dive into both politics and economics
This is a game that has a ridiculously in-depth economic system and the ability to shape your nation's politics in radically different ways.

You've ever enjoyed a grand strategy title or would like to give them a try
This is an essential title for those who are experienced with grand strategy games, but the automation features make it ideal for newcomers.

You're a history buff
Covering nearly 500 years of history, you'll experience some of the world's most important moments.

Don't play it if...

You don't want to invest significant time into learning a game
This is a game that you have to invest a decent amount of time in before really understanding how it all works. Expect your first few games to be very sub-optimal.

You want to play as native peoples, particularly in North America
Native peoples are sadly quite lacking in EU5 at release, with North America being particularly empty.

Accessibility

Accessibility features are pretty lacking in Europa Universalis 5, but there is a colorblind mode, which is likely the most important accessibility feature for a game like this. A high-contrast map mode would be a great addition, as would the ability to change the game's font.

How I reviewed Europa Universalis 5

I played as both Castille and the Netherlands, and also tried playing as the Bank of Bardi, giving me a good look at several different nation types. In addition to this, I took part in colonisation and exploration, the Reformation, and several other key events throughout the game. I played the game on my PC, which has an Intel i7 12700f CPU, 32GB of RAM, and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 graphics card.

First reviewed October 2025

Air fryers for quick meals in small spaces, tested by our team of experts in real-world conditions.

Our Zenfolio review delivers all the information, insight, pros and cons you need to make an informed decision on whether this is the right portfolio website builder for you. 

Finding the best website builder for your portfolio is a crucial step in showcasing your work, demonstrating your talent, and getting in front of a new and potentially profitable audience. Which is best for you will depend on several factors ranging from your technical skills to how you want to represent yourself online. 

Zenfolio is one of the best portfolio website builders on the market, offering a host of tools built specifically to help photographers get their work online and grow their photography businesses. 

Our experts have tested the Zenfolio portfolio website builder, assessing areas including ease of use, tools, and features to help you make an informed decision on whether it might be the best option for you. 

Plans and pricing

(Image credit: Zenfolio)

Plan

Paid annually

Paid monthly

Portfolio

$7/mo

$9/mo

PortfolioPlus

$11.50/mo

$23/mo

ProSuite

$20/mo

$40/mo

Zenfolio offers three paid plans with both monthly and annual payment options. There’s also a 14-day free trial that you can use to test the platform and get a feel for its features and tools 

Portfolio plan

At the cheaper end of the spectrum sits the Portfolio plan. This plan includes a great selection of templates, 15GB of photo storage, and the ability to connect your own domain name. 

PortfolioPlus plan

Upgrading to the PortfolioPlus plan and you will have access to everything in the Portfolio plan, along with a more powerful site editor, 150GB of photo storage, and the ability to sell prints, digital copies, and videos directly from your website. 

ProSuite plan

Finally, the ProSuite plan gives you everything in the PortfolioPlus plan, plus you will gain access to a suite of powerful features designed for professional photographers, including automated client campaigns and an all-in-one booking, invoicing, and payment solution. You'll also get access to its helpful QR code workflow.

Zenfolio features

Zenfolio boasts an excellent list of photo-specific features (Image credit: Zenfolio)

Zenfolio’s photography portfolio website builder is backed by a suite of advanced features to help you get the most out of your site. Below we list some of the most noteworthy.

When you sign up for a new Zenfolio account, you will have access to a suite of free photography website templates, mobile-friendly themes, a drag-and-drop editor, and more. 

Showcase your work through public galleries to help you gain more clients. Then, you can create custom photo galleries complete with password protection to help you share work with existing clients. Alternatively, set up a simple online store using Zenfolio's ecommerce platform to sell photos, videos, or other content. 

You will also have access to a suite of advanced marketing tools, with a focus on helping you grow your social followings. Integrations are available for all major social media platforms, and there’s even a range of SEO tools to help you increase your organic search traffic. 

Zenfolio also offers BookMe, an advanced tool that automates booking, scheduling, gallery creation, and commerce for professional photographers.

BookMe streamlines and simplifies a photographer’s daily workflow by automating a multitude of functions that traditionally added hours to a photographer’s workday. The BookMe feature comes as standard on the ProSuite plan or can be added at an additional cost to other plans. 

NextZen update

In the summer of 2025, Zenfolio launched NextZen, which it describes as a totally reimagined platform, built to speed up the workflow from shoot to sale.

This update included several new features across the board, including new AI tools for creating galleries and tagging work, as well as dedicated features for streamlining high volume photo processing. It also rolled out custom pricing for individual photos and upselling prompts that can help maximize profit via client orders.

New, modern website template options have also been added, along with improvements to the client experience with enhanced “Favorites” management across multiple galleries.

Interface and in use

The Zenfolio editor is simple and intuitive (Image credit: Zenfolio )

To get started with Zenfolio, you can either sign up for a premium plan or take advantage of the 14-day free trial. No credit card information is required to begin the free trial, and the only things you need to provide are a name and email address. 

Once you’re signed up, you will be guided through a simple four-step setup process. Here, you will be able to specify the type of site you want, select an initial design, upload a few photos, and add SEO information. 

The website editor itself is quite simplistic, but it does come with enough tools for you to customize your design. Change color schemes, rearrange or re-order design elements, and add your own content for a truly personalized portfolio. 

Finally, there’s an impressive media management area that lets you upload and organize your photos and videos. Create custom galleries on different pages, add password-protected client galleries, and showcase your work for prospective customers. 

Support

There are various support options available (Image credit: Zenfolio)

Zenfolio offers numerous support services, including live support and a range of self-help resources. Reach out to the customer service team via live chat, online ticket submission, or email, and expect an answer quite quickly.

You can also book a free one-on-one setup session to get connected with a Zenfolio expert who can help you get your site started. 

Or, take advantage of the great range of self-help resources, which include detailed guides, full webinars, and more.

Zenfolio competition

As far as portfolio website builders go, Zenfolio certainly isn’t a bad option. However, there are some alternatives that are certainly worth considering. 

For example, Wix is known as the world’s most powerful website builder. Take advantage of the platform’s power to build a highly functional, personalized portfolio. It’s similarly priced to Zenfolio, and there are numerous add-ons available through the Wix App Market that you can use to add extra portfolio functionality to your site. 

Squarespace is another decent option, particularly for those who value high-quality designs over all else. It’s known for its excellent portfolio templates, highly attractive designs, and impressive editing tools. And while Squarespace certainly isn’t the easiest website builder to use, its section-based editor allows a passable amount of design flexibility. 

Zenfolio review: Summary

At the end of the day, there’s a reason why Zenfolio is one of the world’s top-rated portfolio website builders. It offers an array of tools to help you showcase photo and video content, along with eCommerce features to help you sell your work, a beginner-friendly editor, and more. 

On top of this, Zenfolio is very competitively priced, has great customer support, and boasts a noteworthy media organization portal. 

The bottom line: If you’re looking for an affordable, highly functional portfolio website builder, Zenfolio should certainly be among your top options. 

Wear a pair of these glasses and let Gemini AI tell you about the world as you walk through it.

No, you're not being invited to invest in South American businesses, you're being scammed into handing over Microsoft login credentials.

There's only a matter of hours left until the Vertuo Pop early Black Friday deal shoots back up to retail price.

VPN services have been a key tool for Russians trying to avoid state surveillance in the latest clampdown

From the Nespresso Pixie to the five-star-rated Vertuo Pop, these are the early Black Friday Nespresso deals worth grabbing now.

Commentary: Episode 2 takes an upsetting trip to the supermarket, and I'm still trying to figure out why it affected me so deeply.

In a baffling move, AMD ends support for relatively recent RX 6000 GPUs – and gamers are up in arms (myself included).

As the YouTube TV and Disney Channel deal breaks down, over 20 channels are now missing – but there's still places to watch them.

BritCard: political theatre versus progress, and the case for smarter digital ID.

Businesses operating ICS systems need “effective communication and collaboration," the Canadian government warns.

Samsung's TVs get first access to HDR10+ on Disney+