Week 40 came and went and had some updates to deliver. here were three titles set to release, including Bhagpuss’s penultimate release, so scores looked set to change as we get into the final dozen-ish weeks of the league.

We started somewhat into 2025, so I suspect that we will only get 50 weeks, which will leave… checking the calendar… eleven and a half weeks left in the year for us.  So the week 52 post will be on the first Sunday in 2026 and will be the final tally.

And, just to start sketching out plans, I will probably put up the 2026 league as soon as the new year starts and tentatively plan the opening draft for Saturday, January 10, 2026… assuming people want to give it another go.  We shall see.  Look for a post in December to solidify this and any rule changes.

But that is getting way ahead of myself, as we’re still in October and we need to see where we left off last week.

Week 39 Scores

For week 40, Bhagpuss was the first up, with Absolum launching on Thursday.

• Absolum
  • [Picked by Pretty Blue Fox Games (Bhagpuss)]
  • Now has a score of 87.9

That was a very respectable score, and the best score of the week.

Absolum

That extended the lead that Bhagpuss already had over the rest of the pack.

• Publisher Score Updates
  • Pretty Blue Fox Games (Bhagpuss)
  • Score has gone UP from 102.1 to 120.0

With one more title to go, everybody else can start to do the mental math as to how well their remaining picks have to do in order to challenge Bhagpuss.

The next evening, two more titles were marked as release and their scores hit the board.

• Battlefield 6
  • [Picked by Rusty Shackleford (Shilgrod)]
  • Now has a score of 84.1
• Little Nightmares III
  • [Picked by Rodent Entertainment (Arhanta)]
  • Now has a score of 73.6

Battlefield 6 had its own impact on the board.

Battlefield 6

Its release managed to vault Shilgrod into second place.

• Publisher Score Updates
  • Rusty Shackleford (Shilgrod)
    • Score has gone UP from 86.2 to 100.3
    • Moved from 4th place to 2nd place
  • Neutical Publishing (Cyanbane)
    • Moved from 2nd place to 3rd place
  • Hare Brained Schemes (p0tsh0t)
    • Moved from 3rd place to 4th place
  • Rodent Entertainment (Arhanta)
    • Score has gone UP from 26.6 to 30.4

By contrast, Little Nightmares III and its modest score did not do much to help Arhanta, who is operating under the baggage of the poor score for Lost Soul Aside and the weight of a bad counter pick.

And for all of the weight of those three picks… that was about it for score changes for the week, with the board ending up looking like this.

Week 40 Scores

The league projection, which now has a lot of real scores to deal with, puts Bhagpuss’s final score at 130 points, a substantial margin over the final score estimates for the next three on the list.  Everybody gets four free drops, so it might be time to decide if we’re all holding the optimum hand.

Meanwhile, Bhagpuss had to deal with a change in his own lineup as we got word that Mina the Hollower had gone from a set ship date to TBA status.

• Mina the Hollower
  • [Picked by Pretty Blue Fox Games (Bhagpuss)]
  • Release date changed from ‘Friday, October 31, 2025’ to ‘TBA’.

Meanwhile, Shintar got some good news as one of her picks got a date nailed down.

• PowerWash Simulator 2
  • [Picked by Play Forever Mwahahaha (Shintar)]
  • Release date changed from ‘Fall 2025’ to ‘Thursday, October 23, 2025’.

There was one bid this week for Lumines Arise, and it wasn’t difficult to guess who that was for.

• Bids
  • Lumines Arise
    Won by Pretty Blue Fox Games (Bhagpuss) with a bid of $5
    Dropped game ‘Mina the Hollower’ conditionally

So by Saturday night the upcoming releases looked like this.

Week 41 Coming Up

Next week will be a big week for me with Pokemon Legends Z-A landing, a Switch-only title.  I am depending greatly on the insular Pikachu-loving Nintendo community to go hard on their franchise love.

I acquired that title back in week 18 in a trade for Donkey Kong Bananza, that title ending up being worth 23 points on the board.  Will Pokemon match or beat that, or will I end up having been the loser on that trade?

In addition Potshot gets another release with Keeper due up as well.

That is where we stand as we head into week 41.

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